Little Bird

First on, Coraline is similar to the clean, cool skin & honey notes that I get from Sara Pezzini. It's also similar to the watery musk and honey in Solstice Scents' Pharaoh blend. I'm not getting anything green or grass-like from this blend, though there is a hint of sweet, dried herbs and tart berry smell in the drydown. This is sensual, pretty, clean (slightly soapy), and delicately sweet. I like this, but I find the sexy clean skin & honey smell to be a bit odd in a scent representing Coraline, and I like the combo more in Sara Pezzini. I prefer the hint of leather in Sara Pezzini to the hint of dried herbs and tart berry in this one. Over time, the berry in this seems to turn more and more sour & strong smelling on my skin, and I start to find it unpleasant. My husband said that this reminds him of bug spray after a while.

This starts off smelling like a light, summery aquatic men's cologne - cool, musky, a little citrusy, and with an overall metallic/aquatic feel. The drydown is more cheap laundry soap than cologne. Like huffing a box of laundry soap powder. Not so good.

I get a little bit of sweetness from the vanilla and violet, but this mostly smells like a bar of creamy white soap to me. A little white musky as it dries down, but mostly a feminine soapy smell. The bathrooms in my grandma's house smell like this, so it's a slightly comforting scent to me, but not something I'll ever really wear.

The Court of Honor reminds me of bpal's tobacco flower note - an intensely soapy, dry, crumbling floral smell. It's a sharp, white, cool, soapy smell. The drydown has something of a sharp citrus note and the blend starts to remind me of lemon dish soap. Way too sharp and soapy for me. I had to scrub this one off after a half hour, because the perfumey, sharp musk + soap was giving me a headache

Dry, spiced coffee with a little bit of powdery, sweet rose. Fades quickly to mostly a sour rose with light coffee and an almost powdered sugar smell on me. I'm disappointed with the coffee note in this one. It's a lot weaker than I thought it would be, almost like a watered down cup of coffee that has cooled long ago (and has a bitter, metallic tone to it). This lasts about two hours on me and doesn't have great throw. I'm glad I only went with samples of the C2E2 scents this year, because none of them really smell good to me.

Little Egypt goes on smelling like a bright, resinous, light myrrh with a hint of something like citrus. A fresh smelling myrrh. Within a minute, though, it has a sour, perfumey, plasticy quality on my skin. It smells like melting plastic with a hint of real honey. And then it's gone. Doesn't even last a full 10 minutes on my skin. Very disappointing :/

I didn't even see the vetiver when I read over this note list, so I was surprised when I tried this on and it's a very dark, dank and earthy/ashen scent. Definitely lots of vetiver. I was hoping for more carnation and clove, but it's strong vetiver and a sour jasmine note on my skin with an undertone of pink pepper (which always smells weirdly of pink bubblegum and cheap craftstore potpourri aisle to me). The notes in this just don't seem to play well on my skin; it smells very strange and disjointed.

The champaca and sandalwood turn to baby powder with a headshoppy incense edge on my skin. The magnolia is perfumey, sharp white floral with a bit of soapiness. And the lemon/bergamot come off almost like a sharp lemon cologne. All together, it's like perfumey white floral with lemon dish soap and powdery, incensey sandalwood. Smells both clean and dry on me, and is too sharp for my tastes.

Cykranosh reminds me of cherry cough syrup at first, but dries down to sugary maraschino cherry with an almost musky/powdery undertone. It's too sweet for me, and it fades quickly. Only lasts about an hour total on my skin.

On me, this is buttery cinnamon (reminiscent of red hots candies, but with butter) and honeyed sweetness. There's an undertone of something sour in the drydown (maybe what is supposed to be the fermented note) and it seems to get more earthy/mushroomy over time. All in all, though, this isn't working for me. It starts off too spicy and reminiscent of bad potpourri and then smells off on me when the sour/fermented something creeps in. It was still going strong on me after an hour, but I had to scrub it off at that point.

Humpback Whale is heavy on the peppermint and ambergris for me. It smells like the Ambergris 2013 single note where it starts off like soapy aquatic and men's cologne and dries down with a bit of a smokier edge. Mixed with a strong, bracing peppermint. The mint, soap and cologne combo just makes me think of a man getting ready for work in the morning. It's a little too toothpaste-like for me.

On me, this is a soft, light, powdery scent with a delicate sweetness from the orris and honey musk. The rice milk, I think, smells cool and creamy, and maybe the gardenia is going a bit soapy on my skin. The drydown doesn't have much throw on me and fades into a clean, baby powdery sort of smell.

I love black currant, sugarplum, carnation and honeysuckle, so I had high hopes for this one. Unfortunately, I don't really get any of the sweet, fruity notes from this. I think it's mostly jasmine/a mish-mash of perfumey, sharp floral notes. The florals have that sharp, almost musky, hairspray smelling quality that is in a lot of classic floral perfumes. It gives me a headache after a while. This is one of the few scents in this series that is really strong and long lasting on me, and I wish that it weren't...

On me at first, this is a sweet, slightly powdery strawberry candy smell with hints of grass and a perfumey rose. The rose gets stronger and turns a little soapy on me in the drydown. Within an hour, it has faded a lot and leaves behind a smudge of perfumey rose soap with a powdery sweetness. White Chocolate & Strawberry is the only strawberry scent that I've really loved from the lab, and this one isn't a keeper for me either.

This does smell similar to the sweet lemon in Lemon-Scented Sticky Bat, but this has an addition of very soapy lavender added in. Lavender floral soap and sweet lemon. I don't really like soapy scents & probably won't wear this again, but this is okay. Like most of the scents in this series, though, it only lasts about an hour on my skin and doesn't have great throw.

I have a bottle of the original Ambergris single note, and I don't think that this one smells very similar. This single note has more of a bright, soapy aquatic feel to it, where the original doesn't smell aquatic/clean to me at all. Smells like soapy, salty aquatic with a hint of green and a hint of something like powdery, resinous amber that turns slightly smoky in the drydown. Has a bit of a men's cologne feel to it. After a while, it reminds me of Histoires de Parfums' Ambrarem fragrance. I actually like this more than the original Ambergris SN, but it's still not a favorite for me.

All of the scents I've tried so far from the Tremulous Song series are really light and don't have much throw or staying power on me. Rapunzel in Ballpoint is a light, soapy green apple. It smells like the lab's apple blossom single note to me. Doesn't even last a full hour on my skin.

I don't think that this is anything like the original Peony Moon, which was a tart, sweet, rose-like floral. It smelled like sweet pink and red flowers, and had an almost edible/foodie quality to it. This version of Peony Moon is very white and soapy smelling. It's like white bar soap mixed with perfumey white floral. It has that clean, watery floral edge that a lot of bpal's Asian inspired lunacy blends have. Way too soapy for me and gives me a headache after a while.

I love this in the vial and on my skin at first, where it smells just like opening up a bag of gummi bears. The drydown is less gummi bears and more a sour lime and powdery orange candy smell, though, which I like a lot less. I also keep thinking that I smell a hint of cinnamon for some reason. Doesn't have much throw on me and only lasts about an hour.

Arana smells similar to Atlas, Antikythera Mechanism, and Haloes.. which all share the oak + vanilla combo. It's dark, dry, slightly powdery oak wood paired with a creamy, sweet vanilla and a hint of what kind of smells like root beer on my skin. It's okay, but it goes a little too powdery on me in the drydown. I prefer Atlas, Antikythera Mechanism, and Haloes to this one, which are all a little more complex and a bit sweeter on my skin.

First on, Love is like a sugar dipped rose with a cakey vanilla and strawberry jam. I love the rose when first applied, but the rose fades into the background rather quickly. The drydown is fluffy, sugary vanilla/marshmallow with a hint of pink, candy strawberry and sugared rose. Very sweet, fun and girly. It might be a bit too sweet for me to wear a lot, but I think I'm going to order a full bottle of this one for when I'm in the mood for a sugary, fun, fruity rose. I think it's a really happy, fun, uplifting sort of scent. ETA: I ordered a second bottle of this after deciding that it was my clear favorite of the Tremulous Song series and it's become one of my pick-me-up scents. And my new bottle smells nothing like the old (one month older) one. The new one is sour, watery rose and a hint of cinnamon. I made a rule that I wouldn't order multiple bottles of bpal anymore because there are always huge 'variations' when I do, and I broke it because this was becoming one of my cheer-me-up scents. So disappointing... My second bottle is not really sweet at all. I don't understand how I get one bottle of Love that's strong marshmallow and strawberry with a hint of sweet rose and then the second bottle is watery, sour rose and no sweet notes. I've worn the two side by side on separate wrists and they're not the same scent. I feel wrong even reviewing bpal fragrances anymore, because it seems like whatever I receive & review is not going to be the same fragrance that other people might get... I think that Love is going to be the last bottle that I purchase from this company. The 'variations' are just too huge for me to ignore anymore.

This is a clean tea scent to my nose. It reminds me of white tea, which always smells a bit citrusy on my skin. The lilac fougere is reminding me of lilac scented dryer sheets and soap. I don't get anything like candy or red licorice, which is sad, because that's the main reason I wanted this scent. Mostly it's a light soap + citrus tea smell. Only lasts about an hour total on me.

Maybe Cockaigne in Wanderlust? "The weather is always mild, the wine flows freely, sex is readily available, and all people enjoy eternal youth. The Land of Plenty, also called Luilekkerland – the Lazy, Luscious Land: milk and honey, sweet cakes and wine."

Madagascan Vanilla Rum single note reminded me of Vanillary.

Bpal's dragon's blood usually turns a bit sour and off on my skin (like a vase full of rotting flowers sitting in stagnant, dirty water), and I get that here, mixed with the herbal-spicy geranium and rosemary. So it sort of comes off as rotting flowers with a dash of herb garden. I can't pick out any coffee, pepper or sandalwood. Soapy in the drydown.