Little Bird

I've tried Phantom several times, at various times of the month. I wanted to give it a fair shot because it is one of my friend's all-time favorite BPAL scents. This just does not stay on my skin at all. There is a split second of spicy myrrh and then it morphs into baby powder and disappears. Very much the phantom perfume. I almost like it just for that comparison. Like a real phantom, appearing in a sudden moment of clarity and then disappearing, leaving you with a few moments of lingering aftershock. The it's just gone. A passing memory. The imp will be going back to my dear friend though. I like a perfume that I can smell for more than 10 minutes and this is just lacking any sort of staying power once it hits my skin.

Kuang Shi didn't work on my skin at all. I like the smell of mango and mandarin orange, but the fruitiness here was just... odd. It was like fruit that didn't really smell like fruit. Sort of a dry and sharp orange scent. Not wet or sweet as fruits normally are. Underneath that smell was a light almost-pepper smell. In the drydown, this is all white musk. My nemesis . The best way to describe how white musk normally smells on me is 'cheap hairspray'. Sharp and bitter enough to make my brain explode. I had high hopes for a mango scent, but I can't smell anything resembling mango here at all. Another one for my swaps.

I would really love to find a great rose and incense scent. A scent where the rose doesn't smell bitter or soapy. Dark, sexy, and resinous. Hymn, unfortunately, is nothing but soapy floral on me. The rose starts out strong here, sharp and bitter. Then after a few minutes it's taken over by lily. And lily always goes soapy on me. Hymn just smells like sharp rose soap on me. It'll be one for my swap pile.

This is a very interesting scent. I definitely get the pineapple smell that other people have mentioned, but this has an overall dry, spiky sort of feel for me. It makes me think of deserts, cactuses, and hardy plants heated in the harsh sun. The pineapple-esque smell is an interesting, slightly earthy sweetness, not an outright, fakey-sweet pineapple smell. I can definitely smell the dry woods of the galangal and an incensey something as well. This even smells a bit sandy to me. It's like stumbling through the desert, surrounded by cacti & an oddly fragrant, fruity sweetness, with hints of a woodsy incense wafting through the air from somewhere off in the distance. Very interesting, and very evocative.

I haven't been doing so well with rose or floral blends lately, so I was hesitant to even try Two, Five & Seven. I thought that this would be another one that doesn't work on me as it smelled way too strong and perfumey when first applied. Then it started to smell more lush and green after a few minutes. Like sweet green grasses and wet green stalks. For a while the grassy scent is dominant and I *love* it. It keeps the roses settled down and in check. Then the green goes away and the roses start to come back. I kept waiting for this to go soapy or powdery or perfumey. I was pleasantly surprised when the roses stayed light and lovely. Light and sugary sweet. Like roses that have been dusted with powdered sugar. This is a rose blend that I can actually wear and I am contemplating an order of a full bottle.

When I first put on Prague, it smelled oddly like grapefruit to me. Crisp and citrusy. The drydown is all lilies. Soapy, powdery headache in a bottle. I hadn't worn this for more than 10 minutes before that familiar throbbing started in my brain. I'm not sure what it is about white florals that can induce a migraine so quickly... the floral seems so strong on me and just makes me ill. I can't handle it. My white floral loving friend was so happy when I gave this to her, she says it smells light, clean and crisp. She just can't wear it around me.

Eve was on my BPAL wishlist before I even tried any of the oils. It was a very newbie choice for me. The thought of honey and apple perfume made me blissfully happy. Now that I have an imp of it, I'm actually hesitant to try it though. I know what roses and honey do on my skin. I am wiser now. I'll still give it a try. First on it is lovely, fruity apple blossom. Pretty and almost edible. There's a bit of honey lingering in the background, but not enough to irritate me. The fuzzy sweetness is barely coming through. Then, as soon as it dries, the rose picks up and comes out full force. Within minutes it is all that I can smell. The poor delicate apple blossom never had a chance Drydown this is strong rose powder. I hate it when blends do this on me. Eve will be going back into my swap pile.

The greatest of all Aztec cities, and capital of their empire. Amber, hyssop, coriander, epazote, Mexican sage, prickly pear and Mexican tulip poppy. In the imp, this smells like fakey, sickly sweet apple candle (must be the pear making me think of apple candles). On my skin, it gets worse. It's mostly a cloying fruitiness, but with hints of spice and floral. It smells like wandering into a candle shop where all of the cheap smells are overwhelming, clashing together, and giving me a vicious headache. It even smells slightly waxy on me in the drydown. Not good. I had to scrub this one off after a half hour because it was literally making me nauseous.

So many dream/sleep products have lavender in them. This one does too. I don't dislike lavender, but I prefer it to be sweeter and creamier, where it's more herbal smelling here. Baku starts out all herby lavender with a bite of minty/medicinal eucalyptus. Then, after a few minutes, this morphs into a strong anise/black licorice with hints of medicinal, menthol eucalyptus. Not a keeper for me.

March Hare is so amazingly strong and fruity. I definitely would recommend it to anyone who is a fan of fruity blends. It doesn't work well on me and I'm not very fond of fruits. It starts out smelling like very strong apricots. They're overly sweet though. Like overripe apricots or apricots from a can to be used in cooking grand little desserts. In the drydown the clove definitely makes its presence known. The clove mixed with the apricot is making me think of pies. For a while the clove gets so overpowering that it's all that I can smell, but it mellows down and blends nicely with the apricot. This won't be a repurchase for me, just because I'm not crazy about fruit smells... but I like it nonetheless.

I've decided to update my review, since Spooky is a blend that I've been wearing quite a bit lately . Unlike some of the blends I've enjoyed, Spooky has managed to age *really* well, getting stronger and better with my skin chemistry over time. Where Tokyo Stomp is like candied mint and chocolate cookies, Spooky is like candied mint and warm, golden sugar cookies laced with buttery vanilla and toasted coconut. It's main notes are sweet, smooth, and warm, which is addictive and lovely when paired with the cold bite of mint. It's like Tokyo Stomp with brighter, sugar cookie & buttery vanilla notes instead of dark chocolate. This has become one of my favorite BPAL scents, and I'm glad I have a few bottles

Honeysuckle is one of the few florals that I love (along with black orchid and daffodil), but it tends to be too strong in perfume blends for me to actually wear. Vetivert is often too darkly woodsy/earthy for me to wear. I was hoping that the two would balance each other out nicely in Anathema. This smells like burnt wood and dried ashes on me. I waited for 2 hours before I tried to scrubbed it off (and this stuff does not come off easily) and gave up on it. It was such a strong burnt smell. Odd. I'm not sure what opium smells like or how it works on my skin chemistry... maybe it was the vetivert that went bad in this blend for me. I don't know. All I know is that I never smelled any honeysuckle at all. I just smelled like a recently burned down wooden building. -I love olympia301's icon for Anathema, though the actual imp will be headed for my swap pile-

Magdalene started out pretty promising on me. It smelled green and spicy. I agree with those who likened this to the smell of a greenhouse. Warm blooms and greenery. Then after about fifteen minutes, the green herbs start to take on a soapy edge and I start to worry... Magdalene turns into a vicious soapy white floral. Very perfumey and very headache inducing. I can't even pick out a specific floral scent or the usual sharpness of rose, it's just perfumey and overwhelming. I wanted to like this just for the name, but it'll be one for my swap pile.

Urgh. This is so sour, soapy and unpleasant on my skin. It's a cheap, generic, white bar soapiness that gets stuck in your throat, sour jasmine and sharp rose, and intensely sour citrus. Heavy, sour, sharp, soapy floral disaster. In the drydown, the carnation adds a really unpleasant spiciness in this case. I had to scrub this one off after an hour.

Loralei was a very mediocre blend on me. It makes me sad because everyone else seems to have described it as beautiful and dreamy. On me it just smells like a light aquatic and candied orange peels. In the drydown I get a dry woodsy smell, and then it is gone. All gone within 15 minutes. This one wasn't a winner with my skin chemistry.

The dragon's blood in Dragon's Tears isn't as awful or rotten as it usually is on my skin. It's still a rotten wildflower sort of smell, but it's not as strong here and it smells sort of clean. If that makes any sense at all to anyone. It smells more clean and metallic than resiny/floral. Dragon's blood, heavily salted. I get the salt, but not a real aquatic smell. Very odd. I'd never wear this. But it's something that I enjoyed smelling just because it's so strange. Salty-metallic floral.

Debauchery is actually *painful* for me to wear. It gives me a pounding headache in such a short while. Unlike most people, though, I actually like civet. It works well on my skin. It smells wild, untamed, dark and just good to me. It's the Egytian Musk that ruins this for me, and it's the only note I can pick out of this blend. A sharp, bitter, perfumey, powdery musk. Very cheap and headshoppy.

First on, psyche is all musky rose. It's very perfumey and I'm not liking it at all. Sometimes rose is very sharp and has an almost burnt sort of smell to it. That's the rose that I'm getting here. After about 15 minutes the rose is going soapy and the lavender is coming out and dominating the blend. In the drydown I smell like lavender soap. It's so rare that roses really work out well on my skin, this is another one that just doesn't work

I want to love ozones and aquatics, but they just don't seem to work on me in reality. Storm Moon is one of the strongest ozone fragrances that I've ever tried before. It starts out smelling like sharp cheap hairspray and dries down to dryer sheets. It smells of charged air and static. Very soapy and gives me a quick/vicious headache. I can see this working better on a man than a woman, but my guy hates it as well.

Hm. Phantom Queen was more sweet and purple on me. Crazy how people's skin chemistry can be so different. That's why it's always so hard for me to buy perfume for other people. I buy things that I'm sure the person will love, and it smells like something entirely different on them. Eden was very leafy green to me. Val Sans Retour is wonderfully green, but hard to find. I agree that The Dormouse is a lovely green/herbal scent. Envy... Roadhouse (dandelions)... Envy is an awesome green/mint/lavendar scent, so it sounds like one that your mother might really like. Good luck

In the bottle this smells like real fresh strawberries. Tangy and with a bit of greenery thrown in. On me, it smells like strawberry candy Strawberry Moon starts out smelling like Pink Moon's twin on me. Heavy pink candy. In the drydown it gets much lighter and creamier though. Musky strawberries and a creamy vanilla note. It's cavity inducing sweetness. I like this a lot more than Pink Moon. It's not something that I'll wear often (as I don't really like fruit scents), but it's a lovely pink sugar type of scent.

A song of love and madness: two roses, tolu balsam and ambergris with vanilla, labdanum, tobacco leaf, carnation and tonka. I didn't buy this on the site when it first came out, figuring that a rose and carnation scent just wouldn't be 'me'. Then I recently bought a bottle off of ebay just because I liked the label art. It was a pleasant surprise to find out that I actually like the way this smells too, lol. It is mostly rose. Very perfumey and strong at first, but sweet and soft in the drydown. It's gorgeous after settling on my skin for a few minutes. The vanilla really comes in around the rose and the fragrance is so sweet and creamy. After about an hour, the vanilla and rose start to smell a bit spicier, so perhaps that is the carnation making its presence known. Spicy vanilla rose Very nice. I'll probably decant away half of the bottle and keep the other half for my own use. I don't wear florals a lot, but I can see myself reaching for this one when I'm in that floral mood .

Tushnamatay is a very faint woodsy blend on me. I definitely smell the sandalwood, and it goes slightly powdery in the drydown, and something that reminds me lightly of cedar chips. It's a bit incensy and sweet as well. And this one has a sweet, clean fragrance lingering in the background that reminds me a bit of Dirty. This is sandalwood with tiny hints of cedar, sweet incense, and Dirty. I like it. It's very subtle and calming, with very little throw. I may never get a full bottle of this one, because there are sandalwood blends that I like more (erm, Magus), but this one is very light and lovely. 2018 frimp: Soft, baby powdery sandalwood with a darker, toastier, dry, brown wood underneath the white sandalwood. A little like cedar, and a little like warm, fuzzy, brown musk. Drydown is much the same, but with a hint of brown suede leather. All very soft and warm and powdery, and very light. Clings close to the skin. Almost a clean, lotion-y quality.

I love this when I first put it on. It smells like sweet tobacco, golden amber, and gorgeous smoky church incense on me. Sweet and golden and mouthwateringly good. Then, in the drydown... it smells rancid and burning. More like campfire smoke and rotting milk. I'm getting some of the sickening sweetness of 'honey butter'. The chill of leather in the background is also very off-putting to me. Thankfully, this fades quickly after the rancid stage. My skin just eats up the fragrance. I love the way this starts out, but the drydown is horrible on me. This will be going to my swap pile.

When first applied, this was so strong and sharp that I almost washed it off immediately. It was all sharp, bitter grapefruit and a strange body odor smell that was just... awful. It made my head ache. Giving this some time to dry, the grapefruit settles down quite a lot. After a good 15 minutes, the scent is still strong but not overwhelming, and the grapefruit smell (thankfully) is gone. Now it's all soft/pretty cherry blossom over a hint of herbal black tea. A very girlie fragrance that makes me visualize light pinks and milky white colours. Sweet and almost a bit powdery. It isn't a sexy scent on me so much as an ultra-pretty "I am a girl" scent. It's shy rather than seductive. If that makes any sense... I like this a lot in the drydown, though I'm not sure if I'll want a bottle of it. I'll keep my imp around for the days that I'm feeling very feminine and proper.