Little Bird

I usually love patchouli, but bpal's red patchouli tends to smell like sweaty armpit on me. So Below is mostly baby powdery, musky amber, warm and golden and way too powdery & perfumey for me, with that earthy, sweaty armpit undertone. I do smell some coconut in the drydown, but not enough to save this blend. I'll pass on this one. Decant of 2017 version. Tons of baby powdery amber, sour musk and hints of oily, sour coconut and woody, dry patchouli. The patchouli isn't going funky/sweaty, but it's still too much powdery amber and dry, woody weirdness.

This smells really cheap and unpleasant on me the vanilla, honey, beeswax and cinnamon give off this burning candle and cheap vanilla air freshener vibe on my skin. Waxy, too sweet, and the cinnamon amps up on me in the drydown. It just smells too much like a cheap candle for my tastes.

Similar to the original, with lots of sharp, perfumey, floral-musk-opium-poppy. White department store floral perfume type of feel. I can actually pick out a gritty earthiness from the patch & tobacco and a bit of sweet fruitiness from the red musk and currant in this version, though. However, the opium poppy still ruins the whole thing for me.

The original Doc Constantine was lots of dusty wood and worn leather on me, where this is more noticeably fresh evergreen, musky-clean cologne, and a woodsmoke drydown. The smokiness amps up on my skin and kind of reminds me of burning sage or some other dry, herbal desert plants, which I guess is the chaparral. I actually prefer the original.

I didn't like the original version of Eshe (greenish, herbal jasmine, powdery/dusty sandalwood, and sharp, musky/perfumey floral), and this 2016 version smells exactly as I remember the old one, though I can't do a side-by-side comparison. Light, powdery, herbal-floral-jasmine.

I like Iulia more than Gennivre. Iulia is both more complex and softer on my skin. The original was astringent tea and tons of honey, but I can smell the creamy orange blossom, soft lemon, hint of cooling, watery mint, and a delicate sweetness from the honey rather than an overpowering honey from Iulia. Sugared white tea with hints of creamy orange blossom, soft lemon, cool mint and floral honey. Complex and gentle enough that the mint-citrus-honey isn't immediately reminding me of cough drops. I would very much like to drink a tea like this. As a perfume, it's a little too clean for my tastes, citrusy and springlike.

I didn't like the original Parliament and barely remember it, but I'm not loving this version either. It's a similar dry, dusty vibe and some sharp, perfumey smokiness from the opium. Smells harsh, chemical and dusty to me. Not getting any straw/hay scent, and my original review mentioned sweet tobacco, which I'm also not getting from the new version. Faint, dusty, perfumey, nondescript...

The original Midnight on the Midway didn't turn soapy on me at all, but this one does, and it smells watery from the blue musk. The original was a lot sweeter. I don't care for the new version.

The sarsaparilla gives this a spicy rootbeer scent, and the tobacco smoke still amps up more than I'd like on my skin. It smells like a gritty, sharp woodsmoke, woven through the pine. I don't really smell the almond that I could in the original, but I can pick out the woody coconut in this one. Still too smoky for me, and I find more and more that I can't pull off that root beer smell at all. After an hour, fades into a faint, woody, powdery/dusty scent with lingering smoke.

On me, this smells of strawberry cotton candy, creamy pink bubblegum, and flowers. The flowers smell like they've been dried and dusted with sugar crystals. Reminds me of blends like High-Strung Daisies (but not as fresh) and Very Slightly Haunted Dollhouse (with its sugared, dry carnation). The drydown really smells like cotton candy, a bowl of freshly sliced strawberries, and a hint of dry floral perfume. Pink, sugared, dry fruity-floral.

I like this so much. It smells of tangy lemons and soft, slightly vanilla-powdery, slightly waxy lilies on my skin. The lemon + lily winds up being a very authentic magnolia fragrance. Or else it was just always intended to be magnolia, lol. Magnolia always smells so romantic to me. I'll keep my frimp of this and continue hoarding The Bride, as they're the closest I've gotten to the perfect magnolia perfume.

Bitter, sour, slightly herbal lemon and a slightly soapy men's cologne. Has a lemon scented dish soap impression on my skin.

Cold aquatic cologne (has a generic, department store, clean, musky, aquatic men's cologne scent to it), a hint of bitter green plants, and something dry, dusty, and papery. Perhaps an amber or sandalwood note? Reminds me a lot of the Plague Doctor v10 prototype. Dries down to wafts of sandalwood incense smoke with just a hint of cold, clean cologne and that bitter greenery. Reminds me of burning notebook paper at times, or paper scented with sandalwood.

Frimp from the lab. This smells almost identical to Maison En Pain d'Epices to me "the scent of a freshly assembled gingerbread house, with swirls of multicolored icing, spice drop lights, meringue snow, pinwheel mint accernts, chocolate roof tiles, candy wafer pavers, and jelly stained glass." It's sweet tarts candies, powdered sugar, pumpkin cream and spicy cookies.

A sweet, gentle version of the lab's snow note. It's sugary peppermint and a soft, almost powdery, warm, creamy vanilla mixed in with the slushy, clean (but not aggressively soapy) snow note. Makes me think of melting snow and ice, peppermint candy, and snuggling up in a warm, furry jacket while wearing a warm vanilla perfume. Like all of the lab's snow blends, Lick It, and Snow White had a romp together. I like that this has mint and snow in it, but is still coming off as warm and vanilla-y to me.

I keep getting frimps of this in my lab orders lately (three frimps of it in my last order alone). It's crisp, watery cucumber, green grass and green beans. Similar to Squirting Cucumber, but Squirting Cucumber is more watery and creamy smelling, where this is more crisp, like snapping into a green bean and rolling around in green grass.

Goes on as honeyed lime cough drops, a bright metallic cologne, and a milky, creamy, clean fabric scent. The lime disappears pretty quickly and I'm left with wet, soapy-clean fabric hung out to dry on an outdoor clothesline, a creamy, honeyed sweetness, and a hint of cold metal. I don't find this to be unpleasant or sour at all, though it is a bit too soapy/clean for my personal tastes. I smell this and think of making out with an attractive man whilst hiding between damp sheets on a clothesline at a summer party in the country... which isn't bad at all. Clean, but sexy and honeyed, in the same way that Sara Pezzini is. This is basically the masculine counterpoint of Sara Pezzini for me.

I was thinking of snagging a bottle of this in the restock, but then realized that the bottles are now up to $32 per 5ml (and $32 for a tablespoon of oil is starting to get way too rich for my blood), so I pulled out my old decant instead. I never really got the motor oil note in this, and I still don't. The black musk is still very prominent and goes slightly powdery on me. The myrrh is sweet, syrupy, and cola-like, but there's also something here that reads very headshop/nag champa on my skin, which myrrh usually doesn't do. In the drydown, there's something like gritty, dirty, hot tar or charred, chemical black leather, and I'm wondering if that is supposed to be the motor oil. All in all, I think I'm ready to let go of my thoughts of owning a bottle of this.

I love this and am very happy to have a bottle. Ian is mostly leather on my skin, and it's a warm, well-worn, slightly dusty, cozy sort of leather to my nose. The rum is present, but doesn't smell overly boozy or sickly sweet for once. It's like a hint of almond liqueur on my skin that adds just a pleasant touch of sweetness. Patchouli adds a warm earthiness in the drydown after a couple hours. But mostly this is a gorgeous leather fragrance.

Starts off as a honeyed pine for about an hour, and the menthol edge to the pine mixed with the honey has a sort of cough syrup impression on my skin. After the first hour, starts settling into a soft, earthy, slightly gritty smelling patchouli. I love patchouli and am enjoying honey scents lately, but I don't like This nearly as much as I thought I would. The patchouli has an ashy quality to it that I don't care for, and I don't love the menthol pine and honey opening stage either.

Every note in this sounded good to me, except for the jasmine, so of course that's the loudest note in the blend. Bright, loud, slightly sour jasmine sweetened with a bit of honey and with a slight hint of dusty woods.

Most of bpal's chocolate scents turn to powder or plastic on me, and the marshmallows tend to be weirdly fruity or musky, so I avoided The Other Hot Chocolate for a long time. That is unfortunate, because this scent is amazing. It clings kind of close to the skin, but lasts all day on me, and my husband tells me that I smell like buttery caramel when I wear this. It smells like really thick, dark hot chocolate (like fudgy underbaked brownies + hot cocoa) to me for about a half hour and then shifts into a yummy, buttery, slightly salty, rice krispies treats type marshmallow. Sweet, creamy and perfect.

I like this version of Wild Men so much more than the previous one. The previous version went dirty and sour smelling on my skin, where this is so smooth, warm, and lightly sweetened. I'm mainly smelling the red amber and clove with a bit of patchouli and a gourmand sweetness from the vanilla flower (the clove & vanilla flower mesh together for a scent that's like baking cookies that are starting to burn around the edges, but sexier). Red amber is warm, sultry and resinous, and not turning to baby powder at all. I love the patchouli used in this too. It's a chewy, dark, sweet, almost damp sort of earthiness. I'm having a hard time describing this blend, because it is so SO good. Sort of like vanilla & clove cookies roasting over some warm, resinous, sexy amber with dabs of patchouli that's sweet and earthy-damp-tobacco-esque. A little masculine-cologne-like as it dries down, but sweet and dark and certainly not a traditional cologne. Sweet, resinous, clove. Amazing. I want backup bottles.

With the previous version of Zarita, I loved the opening (that smelled like creme brulee and orange blossoms) and hated the sharp, perfumey, white floral iris drydown. This new version of Zarita smells like the foodie opening stage of the old Zarita, minus the sharp iris drydown. I love it and it is so amazing. I'm getting lots of sugared cream and spicy carnation from this version, with a hint of creamy orange blossom, and it is fantastic. The carnation smells spicy and sugary, reminding me of Queen Alice's dry, apple cider spiced carnation. The orange blossom is creamy, sweet, and hangs out in the background. The sugared cream is the main player and it smells so delicious. It makes me think of creme brulee and bowls of vanilla-y whipped cream and white sugar with a slice of moist spice cake in the drydown. I was worried about the iris and white berries, but I don't smell either of them here. This version is a heavenly gourmand with no sharp florals at all. Beautiful on my skin

French Tobacco is my favorite single note, so I crossed my fingers and ordered two bottles of Bulgarian Tobacco. I love earthy, sweet tobaccos and hate gritty or smoky varieties (if it smells like standard cigarettes or ash tray, I can't stand it, but I love clove cigarette, cigar leaves, and chewing tobacco type scents). Thankfully, this isn't smoky, harsh or gritty at all. Bulgarian Tobacco makes me think of cigar shops and sticky-sweet, dark, rich, chewing tobacco leaves with a sprinkling of dark cassia/cinnamon. The spice amps up on me for a few minutes and I was like "oh no," but then it calms down and moves to the background. I'm not getting any smoke from this at all. It's chewy and sweet smelling with a damp, earthy, sweet tobacco leaf scent. I still love French Tobacco just a wee bit more, but Bulgarian Tobacco is gorgeous. Hoard worthy.