Little Bird

Aglaea is another scent that is very happy and pretty and entirely 'not me'. First on, it smells like sweet spiced peaches. Like peaches that belong in a pie. It's all very country-kitchen on me. After a few minutes, the peach begins to smell a bit more fizzy and sparkling. Watered down peach rather than thick spicy peach. In the drydown the amber comes out more and the musk comes out a bit. It's a very golden and sunny scent. It's staying nice and light, not an overpowering fragrance. Fizzy peach and powdery amber. It's nice. I just never feel like myself when I smell like fruit. Yes, I'm odd.

Iago smells very cold and masculine on me. Leather blends tend to disagree with me if the leather is the main note that I can smell. First on, Iago is all leather, reminding me a bit of De Sade. After a few minutes, an earthier and slightly spicy smell starts coming in around the leather. Then, within 15 minutes, it is all swallowed by a sharp musky smell. I had to wash it off. On the boy, it starts out all leather and turns into baby powder. Iago is banished to my swap pile...

Every scent that I try with dragon's blood in it (with the exception of Dragon's Milk) conjures up the same mental picture when I wear it. A picture of rotting wildflowers in a dirty vase. Dragon's blood usually turns into an awful rotten floral smell. In Dragon's Eye, that rotten smell is backed up by more perfumey florals. Department store florals with a decomposing edge... After wearing this for about 15 minutes I started to feel irritated and was getting a headache, so I just washed it off. It started to get a bit of a salty aquatic note, but the rotting flowers were too much for me.

Carnivale is an interesting fragrance. My boyfriend smelled it when I first trried it on and said that it smelled like carnations. That surprised me, because I didn't think that Carnivale smelled like carnations. I was smelling sharp musky berries. It quickly dries down and smells like juicy fruit gum to me. Very powdery and a weakly synthetic fruity scent. After about a half hour, I think the carnation comes out more. Carnivale starts to smell amazing and spicy. It reminds me a lot of LUSH's Skinny Dip scent in this stage. At one point I actually thought that I smelled Skinny Dip and was looking for it, before I realized that it was Carnivale. An hour later it is all juicy fruit gum again. Powdery and unpleasant. I wish that it would stay in that spicy stage a bit longer...

Reading the description, this just sounds like too much floral for me. On my skin, as usual, the jasmine is overpowering. It smells like a very hyper and searingly bright floral. I wish that I could smell lemons and currant, but they never come out to play on me. After about a half hour of smelling like very strong jasmine, the blend starts to go soapy. I ended up washing it off. Jasmine soap is not my thing.

I expected this to be a light floral blend. It's more of a heavy fruit blend, though. It smells like cherry candy more than cherry blossom. The anise adds a medicinal black licorice smell under the cherry. I don't smell any sandalwood, but the anise gets stronger in the drydown. Overall it reminds me of cherry cough drops. Not awful, but not something that I want to smell like either.

I wore Gomorrah today entirely on accident. I only meant to sniff the imp, but somehow managed to spill half the imp down my left arm. I thought that this would be extremely overpowering, given the large amount on my skin, but it's still very subtle and light. The first thing that I noticed was FIG. Dark, almost bitter fig. There's no sweetness here at all. Fig has an almost woody smell on my skin. In the drydown I thought that it smelled a lot like unsweetened black tea. A very bitter (in a good way) blend. Light throw, but serious. Looking at the description now... I'm not sure what dates smell like, but I definitely never smelled any currant in this blend. I like this a lot, but I'm not sure that I'll wear it much. I prefer a sweeter fig than the fig that is in Gomorrah.

Rage? This scent doesn't seem angry at all. Unless you consider florals and fruit to be angry... Rage does not work at all on me. To start with it is all musky jasmine and rotten/sour dragon's blood. It's a sickening smell. Very strong and threatening to give me a headache. After about an hour, the currant and mandarin come out and I wish that the florals would disappear entirely, because I think that the currant and mandarin would be lovely on their own. Sweet orange and a sort of dark cherry scent are mingling together. Only to be swallowed up by the florals again after a while . Then, after the floral smells murdered the fruit, the whole blend took on a soapy smell. I had to just throw in the towel and wash it off at that point. I would never associate this smell with rage. The florals make my head pound though... it's definitely not a scent that works well with my skin chemistry.

Based on a Romany incense blend reputed to induce sexual dreams: Somalian rose, Moroccan rose and Bulgar rose with a sultry dribble of cinnamon. Harlot is hands down the worst BPAL blend that I have ever tried (on me). It's so strong and sharp. I thought that the combination of rose and cinnamon would be gorgeous, but I don't smell any cinnamon at all. This is bitter soapy roses and rotting roses on me. It's kind of burning my skin and making it red (and that has never happened to me before). It burns my nose when I smell it. Everything that could be bad about a perfume seems to be here in Harlot. It's so overwhelming and nauseating. I had to wash it off (several attempts to make it go away) and it will be going straight to my swap pile.

Lampades is a lighter, more subtle sort of fruity scent on me at first. The cranberry here doesn't smell like cranberry on me so much as a misty berry sort of smell (maybe a bit blueberry or blackberry-ish). It smells similar to berry flavored Kool-Aid; as it has a sweet, watery quality. The musk and lilies are always lingering lightly in the background as well, adding a perfumey, feminine edge to the whole thing. And the florals and musk here really do have a darker, smokier edge to them... nothing like the white, soapy lilies that I usually encounter. In the drydown, the ginger and spices begin to come out under the berries and musky floral. There's an earthiness here that makes me think of black patchouli, and a slightly dusty, sweeter spice. Lampades reminds me of Florence... it's like Florence's darker, not-so-sweet cousin. Very pretty and alluring.

I love patchouli and I like sandalwood, but roses sometimes do bad things with my skin chemistry. Not so with Rakshasa. The rose doesn't go soapy or powdery, it is a lovely sweet rose. Delicate and has an almost candy-like smell to it. The rose is the main thing that I smell for the first half hour. Sweet rose with spicy patchouli and incensy sandalwood behind it. Then the rose starts to fade away and the patchouli and sandalwood come to the foreground. I love it. It's sweet and spicy and sensual. This might be a 5 ml purchase for me.

On me, Nocturne was nothing but violets. Cold, somber violets. They turn very powdery in the drydown, but I didn't really notice after a few minutes because this is so light. I couldn't smell anything at all after 15 minutes. 2016 Frimp review: Sweet violet pastilles candy, powdery and sweet, with a drydown of violet pastilles, lilac sugar crystals, and a sharp, clean, gauzy white floral feel from the tuberose. This scent is lasting a lot longer on me now, with pretty heavy throw. I also find it to be more warm and candy-floral now.

On me, Magus is like a softer, dryer, simple version of Cathedral. It starts off smelling strongly of spicy cedar and smooth frankincense. It's very dry, sweet, and woodsy. More of the sandalwood comes out after a few minutes and it takes on a dry, powdery sort of smell. An hour later I thought that I smelled something like pencil shavings (but somehow better), then realized that it was Magus. This is definitely a very woodsy blend on me, perhaps even too woodsy for me to wear on a regular basis. I'll keep my imp and think about getting a bottle. ETA: I am loving Magus's soft woodsiness lately. It is overwhelmingly WOODS on me on its own, but I love it layered with other blends. I keep layering it with other things and it's just wonderful for adding a touch of woods to other scents. Midnight Mass + Magus + Obatala is one of my favorite blends lately

I adore patchouli and hate orange blossom. I was hoping that the patchouli would take over or that the two would balance each other out. Oddly, this blend is all orange blossom and vanilla on me. Ravenous smells like a bad creamsicle on my skin. The orange blossom takes on a burnt candy orange smell. Patchouli is nowhere in sight. It stayed the same for about an hour before I just washed it off. I don't know why orange blossom always smells burnt on me.

Le Serpent Qui Danse is pretty much exactly as advertised. The vanilla and violet make a delicate, sweet, girly, candied violet scent, and the gardenia adds a hint of a creamy, tropical edge. It's a sweet, simple, cool sort of floral (violets usually smell cool to me).

The Lady of Shalott is a very fleeting fragrance on me. It only lasts about 15 minutes on my skin. It's so sad, it's gorgeous when it first starts out. I get gardenia, which smells green and a tad fruity on my skin. Then I get the most wonderful aquatic scent. It's dark blue and slightly salty water. Deep, flowing, and a bit chilly. Then the entire blend goes soapy and fades away into oblivion

This starts off with a blast of tart, sweet, slightly powdery cherry (makes me think of black cherry kool-aid powder) and a whiff of black licorice. I wish that the licorice were stronger. It dries down to faint, tart cherry powder that only lasts about an hour total on me.

The fiery, volatile scent of cinnamon, thickened by myrrh, honeysuckle, and copal. I always feel awkward when reviewing a scent like Chimera. So many other people love it, I feel like I should love it too. Alas, I do not. This is almost unbearably strong cinnamon on me. I love cinnamon in blends, as long as I can smell other notes along with the cinnamon. It itself, it is way too strong and sharp for me. I agree that it smells like Big Red chewing gum (of which I hate the smell and taste). After about a half hour, the cinnamon is still strong... but now I'm getting a honey-ish note from this as well. I expected it to be floral, but it isn't at all. It's sticky sweet honey. A note that I also hate. I love foodie scents, but honey and I just don't get along. It's too sharply sweet and simple. Chimera makes me feel overwhelmed and kind of sick. I feel like this should be a holiday candle instead of a perfume that I would actually wear. My skin chemistry just amps up the cinnamon way too much.

A brilliant, ethereal scent: white musk, bergamot, heliotrope, peach and oakmoss White musk is usually awful on my skin. It gets very perfumey and bitter and gives me a headache. But sometimes, in rare instances, white musk is very creamy and adds a smooth, lovely note to a fragrance. The white musk in Fae turns out to be the lovely kind . I don't really smell any floral in this. It smells like true juicy peach laying on a bed of creamy white musk. It's sweet, but not sickeningly so. I don't wear fruity blends very often, but I'll keep my imp of Fae around for special occasions.

Torture King is amazing. I just now tried it and placed an order for another 5 ml. I had to snag another bottle before it was too late . If anyone has tried Cerberus, Torture King smells similar to it, to my nose at least. They have the same yummy spiced biscuit scent. It makes them foodie, but not overly so. All of the notes blend together to make Torture King so smooth and sexy. I can smell the spices, green grasses, smoky incense, and a splash of lime and musk. This would be amazing on a guy, but I'm not going to share it with my boy. It's a dominating blend with a nice bite at first, but it quickly softens down. Like a good lover who pulls your hair, spanks you, and bites you all over and then kisses you and strokes you gently until you've turned into a complete submissive puddle. I *love* this. It's wonderfully complex and amazing. It's exactly what I thought it would be like, based on the description. I can smell all of the notes over the course of wearing it. It's sexiness in a bottle.

This is the violet that I have nightmares about. The kind of violet that could wake up during the middle of the night and decide to strangle me for its own sadistic pleasure. This is such a deep, dark scent. Like looking into a well or cavern. Pitch black and empty. The violet doesn't go sweet or powdery as it always does on me. Something about the oily animalistic vetiver really turns the sweet, innocent violet into something evil. Saturnalia is violet done up like a dominatrix. I love this blend, but I can't wear it. It's really not me. I'm proud of the violet here though, it's all grown up and has a kinky sex life. ...don't mind me...

Skuld would be an amazing blend for anyone looking for a honey scent. A nice golden, slightly floral, completely drizzled in honey scent. I feel like an oddity of nature because I don't like honey. I don't like the taste or the smell of it. This does remind me a bit of Honey Moon. It's more of a pure honey blend than anything else that I've tried. I had to wash it off... bleh... I just don't like that sickeningly sweet smell.

I'm surprised that this scent works on me, because I don't really like bpal's iris (sharp, perfumey floral) or black musk (cheap men's cologne) notes. But I don't smell anything but violet from this, and it's a sweet, dark, creamy violet. I think that the sandalwood is adding a creamy edge and some depth to the violet. My husband loves this scent on me, and I like the simple, sweet violet as well.

Antony is one of the few masculine blends that I don't really like. I like the herbal combination of sage and basil, it gives it a sort of spicy green scent. However, the leather completely devours all of the other notes on me . I end up with a sort of funky/burnt leather smell. I don't understand it at all, especially since a lot of people didn't even smell leather in this. My skin chemistry is being evil. I'll have to try it out on the boy and see if this works on him, but it's definitely one that I can't get away with wearing.

Belle Epoque was not a winner at all on me. At first it smells like a bitter generic perfumey floral. Then it smells very soapy in the drydown. It smells like a bar of sandalwood soap. At times it shifts a bit and smells like something oddly burnt. It makes me feel sick to my stomach