Little Bird

I was so excited to finally get a sample of this, because I really like the lab's mango note, but I don't get any mango from this it's mostly that fizzy champagne that I hate (falls somewhere between citrus scented cleanser and pukey booze), amped up with a little more of a citrus edge from the lychee.

I tracked down a bottle of this and regret the money & time I spent on it, lol. I usually love art shop smells and ink smells, but this smells like black pepper, maple syrup, powder and bitter celery on me. Weird and unpleasant. It doesn't make me think of ink or paper at all...

Hagsgate is one of my favorites for a veggie scent (from The Last Unicorn series): "An accursed bounty: rich black soil and hay, cucumber, tomato, red lettuce, summer squash, black eggplant, arugula, grape vine, artichoke, and a tangle of herbs marred by an undercurrent of vetiver, patchouli, and black moss."

I was hoping for gingerbread cookies and chocolate, but this blend isn't that sweet on me. The chocolate is almost earthy and bitter on me, with some slightly green, herbal tones that I'm not liking. Other than that, it's lots of ginger-y spice. This and the tomato chocolate have been my least favorite box of chocolates type scents.

I only have a sniffy/couple drops of this one to test, but it doesn't seem so bad. It's sort of a dark, herbal earthy, rooty scent with some sweet resins. I can't really pick out any of the listed notes, other than the opoponax/myrrh's resinous sweetness.

There are so many bold notes in this (and I would love a scent that really has noticeable notes of coconut, ambergris, incense and plum), but my bottle is nothing but sour lemongrass and soapy, sharp, white floral-y tobacco flower.

This isn't as dark, heavy and rich as I was hoping for. I wanted cocoa, vanilla bean, myrrh and amber to stand out, but it's pretty much a faint chocolate and wood scent on my skin. As it dries down, it's like faint chocolate and a whiff of faded Dragon's Milk with a hint of pencil shavings. I'm really hoping that this one improves with age, because the list of notes sound dreamy to me.

This is all patchouli all the time on me, and unfortunately is a type of patchouli that I don't like. It's a very dry, cheap smelling, slightly powdery patchouli with no real complexity or sweetness to it. It smells a bit of men's cologne musk in the bottle, but is nothing but patchouli on my skin. No bergamot, orris or pink pepper that I can discern. Reminds me of a less complex Fledgling Raptor Moon.

In the bottle and on my skin, this is like honey dusted tuberose and dry, grounding oakmoss. I thought that this scent would be awful on me, because I don't usually enjoy bpal's tuberose, jasmine or honey notes, but the florals don't turn as sharp as they usually do and the honey dust doesn't smell like bpal's usual realistic honey note. It smells like a sugary honey dusting powder with dry greenery and dry florals. Mori Girl smells very sophisticated and sensual on me, actually, like an expensive floral perfume dusted with sexy, glittery honey powder. The woodland mosses, I think, are giving off a sandalwood and oakmoss feel on me that is lovely and adds a beautiful forest feel to the base of the scent. Reminds me of Solstice Scents' Savannah fragrance (which is also tuberose & moss) and Possets' Melanie (ferns and musk) more than any other bpal blend I own. Very beautiful <3.

Dolly Kei is even sweeter on me than Hime Gyaru was, though this is super-sweet tobacco and resins where Hime Gyaru is cotton candy and sweet florals. This smells like very sticky, sweet chewing tobacco and very sweet myrrh on me with a bit of sandalwood. I wish that the sandalwood were stronger, because I think this needs more of a grounding, not-so-sweet note to it. This sticks around on my skin for about three hours, but doesn't have much throw at all. I think that this is my least favorite of the four anime event fragrances. Very sweet and simple.

Hime Gyaru is like a girly perfume crashed into an amped up version of Midway's sugary cotton candy. The pink musk and gardenia are a bit perfumey/sharp smelling, but I like the light edge they add against the sweeter notes. This is pretty much sugary pink cotton candy with hints of sweet rose, violet candy, and perfumey pink musk & gardenia. Bright, pink, girly and sweet. I think that it fits the Hime Gyaru style perfectly. It is a keeper for me

When I first put this on, I thought that it smelled exactly like Suave's Green Apple shampoo, and I see that others have mentioned that as well. Bpal's apple blossom always has a soapy undertone on me, and this definitely has that cheap, soapy feel on my skin. Like tart green apple (that turns a bit sour in the drydown) and a perfumey soapiness that gives me a headache there's also a dry, powdery something that comes out after about a half hour. It winds up smelling like a cheap, chemical-y, perfumey, soapy, sour, green apple with a side of powder. This is kind of a mess on me, but I've never liked bpal's apple blossom, so it's not surprising that this doesn't work for me...

Carnation is one of the few florals that I love, so I'm really happy to have a bottle of this. For me, bpal's Maiden smells like a true, fresh carnation (just like a green stemmed carnation in a florist fridge) and Hod smells like a sexy, spiced, creamy, foodie-ish carnation. Spanish Red Carnation reminds me of Hod, but this is more noticeably carnation and has more of a sharp edge of spiciness. Like a slightly less sweet and creamy and more spicy-sharp Hod. Dry, spicy, sensual carnation <3 and this has great throw and staying power on me.

The Orchard is surprisingly subtle on my skin. I expected something heavier from the notes, but it's mostly a light, sweet, tart plum note with hints of breezy floral rose and dry wood. I actually don't get much of the chocolate (which I am okay with, because I tend to dislike dark chocolate + fruit scents).

I love the bat labels on this series, but the scent is a mess on me. The patchouli smells dry and ashy, more like the patchouli I hated in occupywallstreet than the black patchouli I love in Depraved. My bottle doesn't have any 'cocoa absolute' (the dark, sludgey, delicious smelling stuff), but it does have a note in it that reminds me of chocolate scented markers. Which is to say that it smells incredibly cheap and chemical-y. As it dries down, a sharp, perfumey musk joins the mix and doesn't help matters at all. Cheap headshop patchouli, cheap chocolate scented markers and cheap, sharp musk. Blech.

I haven't really enjoyed any of the Dawn blends, but I think that this is my least favorite so far. To be fair, I'm not often fond of bpal's jasmine or tuberose, and those are the two main notes I get from this one. Mourning Victory turns into a slightly sour, very perfumey, sharp jasmine and white floral scent on my skin. Rose is usually really strong on me, but I actually don't get any rose from this, where it was very obvious in the other Dawn scents. Too much sharp floral for me.

This starts off as a very strong, sharp, dry carnation that reminds me of hairspray. As it dries down, there's that note + the sticky-sweet honey and a bit of warm, smoky red musk. I usually have good luck with carnation (I love Hod, a bunch of the Pink Moons, and Maiden), but this one turns soapy on me as it dries down. Smells like a warm, sultry, honey scented bar of soap and a spritz of sharp, chemical-y hairspray.

I love all of the listed notes in this and Dorian is one of my all time favorite scents, so I was so excited to try Jareth. Unfortunately, this turns cloying sweet on me and is like a lighter, sweeter Dorian with a weird leather note. Jareth does smell a lot like Dorian with the sweet, vanilla-y, musky quality to it, but this is even sweeter than Dorian, which makes it smell kind of sickly on me. There's a whiff of dark, smoky leather underneath all the sweetness and it just doesn't feel right to me here. It's almost a bit off and sour. Reminds me of Dorian layered with Perversion + extra sugar. And that sounds good to me, but it feels mismatched and is too sweet in reality. I'm glad I got a decant of this before going for a full bottle. I'll stick with Dorian.

All of the Fraggles seem to have a strange, artificial sort of quality to them (like a mix of candy and soaps), and Wembley has a strange plastic-y feel to it. Pineapple sometimes has a plastic-y, waxy edge on my skin, and I think that's what's happening here. Starts off as plastic-y pineapple and powdery banana candy, and dries down to a light, kind of powdery honey, mint, and whiffs of tropical fruit candy. Doesn't have much throw on me and only lasts about an hour overall. Of all the Fraggle scents, I only really enjoy Gobo and Uncle Travelling Matt, but they have no staying power to them

Lilac, violet sugar, and orris sounded like a dream blend for me, but Mokey isn't working out on my skin. I think the stephanotis and osmanthus are giving this a sharp, perfumey quality, and something in this turns weird and soapy. It winds up smelling like lilac scented laundry powder after a while, a bit too harsh and headache-y for me

In the bottle, this smells like very sour roses and dry, earthy dust. On my skin, this is dark, masculine-ish, sour, dirty and strange. It reminds me of a soiled barn smell (almost like smoky vetiver - cigarette smoke, hay, leather and feces :/). And it's very strong and intense. I wound up scrubbing this off after only about fifteen minutes, which is rare for me. This is definitely going in my top ten of least favorite bpals.

This is a pretty, perfumey scent on my skin. It's like a sharp white floral center, surrounded by the sweeter honey and vanilla, and darkened with a bit of dragon's blood. I normally have trouble wearing bpal's dragon's blood, but it smells incensey, dark and exotic here (rather than the rotting flowers scent it usually has on me). White floral perfume smudged with dark incense and sweetened with honey powder and perfumey vanilla. It's a little too floral on my skin after a half hour, as the honey and dragon's blood notes fade a bit, but I do like this one. Dragon's Milk is one of the only bpal dragon's blood scents I enjoy, and this is more dry and perfumey smelling than Dragon's Milk is on me, and Aegypti isn't as sweet. I'm happy to have a couple decants of this one, but I don't need a full bottle.

White Chocolate & Strawberry is my all-time favorite bpal blend, because it smells like real strawberries and creamy vanilla. I've found their other strawberry blends to either be too sweet/artificial or too green. Strawberry Moon 2012 is on the too sweet/artificial side of things. It smells like strawberry hard candy and strawberry scented dolls (tart and powdery) with an undertone of perfumey floral. I don't get the vanilla, grass or dandelion notes at all. Oddly, as this dries down, it kinda reminds me of Bath & Body Works' Sun Ripened Raspberry blend. Sweet, tart, perfumey, artificially fruity scent.

All of the Fraggle scents are kinda simple and artificial smelling, but I actually like this one. It smells like pear gummis, a little bit of tropical fruit, and a prickly, woodsy edge from the fig (almost a little like cedar to me, but I love the lab's fig note). I can't really pick out the chocolate. The only problem is that this seriously only lasts about five minutes on my skin, even if I slather.

Red is mostly red currant and cranberry. It's like wearing sweet tarts candies mixed with sour, red fruit punch. As it dries down, the musk gives the scent a perfumey edge, but it's still a very simple, kind've boring scent for me. Too tart/sour for my tastes.