Little Bird

I love the lab's fig and ambergris notes, but don't get either from this blend. Sumai No Sechie is mostly a zingy grapefruit and tropical white floral smell. The grapefruit turns slightly bitter smelling on me, but the overall feel is a light, citrussy fruity-floral perfume. It's the sort of scent that would probably give me a headache if it were stronger, but it's light and doesn't have a ton of throw on my skin. Not my type of scent.

This smells very pretty, but it gives me a headache after a while (the ozone and flower is a bit too much for me, sadly). The ozone and snow smell very clean and remind me of soapy laundry, but the honeysuckle gives it a warm, sunny, yellow edge rather than the typical, cold snow feel. I think that the pear might be giving it some extra sweetness, though I can't pick out the pear exactly. Pretty, clean, floral laundry soap. I asked my hubby what he thought of it and he said 'soap, but nice enough.'

I make a cologne for my husband that has notes similar to this, so I was excited to try Kagema. But, unfortunately, this is sort of a thin, sour, dirty scent. It starts off underwhelming on me (bone dry, splintery cedar with sour, almost metallic bay leaf and a hint of smoky, sour tobacco that reminds me of the lab's tobacco flower note), but is just gross in the drydown. The drydown smells like dirty pencil shavings and a hint of dirty ash tray. My husband refused to even try this one on after smelling it on me. I was hoping for a bold, dark, woodsy, spicy scent, but this is sour, dry cedar and dirty ash tray. I usually enjoy cedar and wood scents, but not this one.

I like strange foodie scents, so I was intrigued by this blend. At first, Following Instructions reminds me of a busy kitchen, preparing for a breakfast rush. It smells like wooden cutting boards covered in powdery flour, bread/pancakes, maple syrup, sweet ginger, and little whiffs of savory spices (kinda reminds me of bacon). As it dries down, bpal's amber turns to straightup baby powder and it doesn't remind me of flour or bread anymore. It's like baby powder, maple syrup and a hint of bacon on my skin. I really wish that bpal's amber notes didn't always turn to baby powder, because I might have liked this one... As it is, this just turns into a powdery, sickly sweet mess on me like mixing up a bowl of baby powder and pancake syrup.

Street Festival is a jumbled mish-mash of perfumey, fruity notes on my skin. It feels similar to the Chinese New Year scents (Earth Rat, Fire Pig, Metal Rabbit and friends). It's sort of like sweet tarts candies, citrus scented dish soap, and whiffs of lavender and perfumey fruit salad on me. I don't get the resins, tobacco, opium or clove at all, as the fruit notes amp up over everything else.

I get a strong blast of honey from this, which isn't my favorite note. It's very bright and sugary sweet. I think that the tobacco and myrrh are making it even sweeter than usual. As it dries down, there's a darker, gritty smokiness from the leather or tobacco, but mostly its a bright, sweet honey on me. Reminds me a bit of Possets' 'The Girls Love Leather.' I think that this is a little too sweet for me (and is way too sweet on my husband.. bpal oils tend to turn sweeter on him than on me), but I might keep my decant to try layering with other leather scents and maybe some clove.

The black tea (I think) is reminding me of a dark, earthy, smoky vetiver or tobacco. Sort of a dark, bitter, earthy woodsmoke. The mango and berry add a bit of bright, sweet, juicy fruitiness underneath the dark smoke, and it's an odd pairing for me. It's bright, juicy and sweet, but also dark, bitter and smoky. This reminds me of one of Sweet Anthem's perfumes (maybe Peter, which is notes of black currant, leather, champagne, lemon, matcha tea and patchouli).

This is sort of like strawberry flavored hard candy and sweet tarts candies (tart and slightly powdery), which is on the verge of being too sweet and too much for me, but the orange blossom tries to calm it down a bit. The orange blossom gives it an edge of smoky, sharp floral that cuts through some of the sweetness. I'm not sure that I would have guessed that it was orange blossom, as it has more of a perfumey, vague white floral feel on my skin. Mostly strawberry sweet tarts with a bit of floral sharpness. Definitely on the verge of being too sweet for me, but I'll probably keep my decant of this one. I have a lot of strawberry scents that I like more than this, though (White Chocolate & Strawberry, Kitty, Hollywood Babylon, Floating Brain, Pink Lace, and Strawberry Moon prototypes.. are all more complex and not as sweet as this one is on me... so maybe I won't keep my decant, lol).

I've realized that I'm not a fan of the lab's pink pepper note. It does smell like bubblegum (like a mix of pink bubblegum and juicy fruit with a sprinkle of cinnamon potpourri), but warm, spicy, strange and unpleasant on my skin. And I really don't like it mixed with the chocolate. This one is a scrubber for me.

This is mostly a sharp, kinda soapy lavender cologne smell on me, with hints of dry, bitter wood and perfumey rose. But mostly lavender soap. I like my lavenders to be more creamy, smooth, sweet and cool smelling. I really enjoy herby rose geranium, but can't pick it out here. The lavender seems to drown out the other notes.

This sounded really good to me (sandalwood incense with dark musk, honey and cloves? yes, please), but this turns powdery and perfumey on my skin. It's like baby powder, dusty clove, a whiff of incense, and a spritz of perfumey, sharp white floral. I haven't been liking bpal's clove scents lately (Fledgling Raptor Moon, Arachne of Lydia and Mourning Lace all have this weird, powdery/dusty clove that oddly reminds me of chapstick :/), and this isn't working on me either.

Strawberry, carnation, and clean vanilla/sugar scents all make me think of spring <3. White Chocolate & Strawberry, Kitty, Pink Moon 2007, and Very Slightly Haunted Dollhouse are some of my bpal favs. I've also been reaching for grapefruit-y florals lately (Cheshire Cat, Cheshire Moon, Monster Bait biggerCritters).

I just got a sniffy of this one, because I know that bpal's chamomile and verbena tend to be awful on me (though I do enjoy red sandalwood, oakmoss, sassafras and anise). And this is mostly chamomile and verbena (a bright, sour, herbal lemon). I get a hint of sassafras, but it smells medicinal here. I definitely don't need to search out more of this'n.

All of bpal's Chinese New Year scents smell similar on me (I think I have bottles of Earth Rat, Fire Pig, Earth Ox, Metal Tiger and Metal Rabbit, but just went with a decant of this one). They're a mishmash of citrussy fruit and floral notes with a heavy undertone of soapy dryer sheets that gives me a headache. They have subtle differences (one more melon-y, one more peach-y, one more soapy), but all smell mostly the same to me. Water Dragon is a similar soapy orange and sharp floral that gives me a headache with the strong soapiness. Glad I just went with a decant this year, as I don't need more of this one.

I haven't had good luck with any of the lupers that I've tried this year, and was hoping that this would be a delicate, sweet, sunny citrus and sandalwood sort of blend. I like citrus when it smells juicy and sweet, and can't deal with it when it's sharp and clean. Unfortunately, the mandarin, tangerine and maybe the yerba mate come off as very sharp citrus pith on my skin. The tuberose amps up on me in the drydown, very sharp and perfumey white floral. It's like a clean blast of soapy, citrus floral sharpness, without any sweetness to make it wearable for me. My hubby said that it smelled like floor cleaner :/. I don't get any of the woodsy, earthier notes. Fades really quickly on my skin, at least.

I keep trying blends with ambergris, because it's a note that I usually like, but I often can't actually pick out the ambergris in these blends. On me, Death of His Mistress is all about the matcha tea, patchouli and oakmoss. I get a gritty, dry, dirty smelling patchouli & oakmoss mix at first, and then it's more about the herbal, lemony, green tea as it dries down. I don't like the sharp lemon aspects, and I like it even less mixed with the gritty, dirtier notes. This just winds up smelling oddly sour, green and dirty on my skin. I only wore it for about an hour before I washed it off, and it was still going pretty strong.

I was expecting the rose in this to amp up on me (as it always seems to in bpal blends) and that it'd be rose with a background of powdery resins. But this starts off with a musky, perfumey rose and then dries down to something strange, like bitter herbs and pencil shavings. I get the amber after an hour, leaving me with its baby powdery scent and not much else. So, this quickly morphs from perfumey rose to bitter herbs and dry, splintery wood to baby powder on my skin. Not a winner for me.

I pretty much only get the apricot and jasmine notes from this. It's a yellowy scent with the sweet, juicy apricot (sort of smells like canned peaches on my skin) and sour jasmine. The drydown is less sweet and more of a clean, perfumey floral jasmine. I'm not a huge fan of bpal's jasmine notes, so this isn't working for me. Fades surprisingly quick on me, only lasting about an hour.

This sounded good to me up until the tuberose. I usually enjoy snow, cherry blossom and peach notes. Before the Snowy Window smells more pine/evergreen-ish than the usual snows notes on me, though, and the tuberose (of course :/) amps up to join it. I get a little undertone of sweetness from the cherry blossom, but it's not enough to settle down the sharpness of the pine and tuberose. Pine and perfumey white floral

I'm always intrigued by linen notes, but this is all tobacco flower all the time (unless the linen is making the tobacco flower even soapier than usual). This smells similar to blends like The Lady on the Grey and Tobacco Honey, where the tobacco flower also amped up and overpowered all the other notes on my skin. It's dry, sharp, soapy, white floral smell with a bit of sharp, gritty smokiness to it. I just find it soapy and gross smelling, unfortunately.

Bpal's hay notes tend to smell like lemon pledge wood polish, and I definitely get that here. But that lemony quality is made sharper and more unwearable for me with the perfumey floral and musk notes added in. As it dries down, there's a sharp, green, herbal quality from the catnip. Lemony, perfumey, sharp, and slightly herbal.

I wanted to try this for the ginger cream, as I love vanilla and creamy scents, but this is like a smoky vetiver (earth and woodsmoke) with sharp green grass and a bit of sweet, golden honey that doesn't feel like it's fitting in with the rest of the scent. As it dries down, it kind of reminds me of the smell of burning sage, but more green, with a vein of sour honey. I'm not getting anything really fizzy or spicy, so I'm not sure where the ginger is. It's reminding me of some of the Rappaccini's Garden blends.

This scent is so weird on me. I loved Peony Moon and was hoping for a similar scent, but this smells like sweet tarts candies + soapy laundry smell on me (maybe a soapy spring flowers thing). It starts off heavy and then fades quickly within five minutes, disappearing entirely before I've even had it on a full half hour.

I love ambergris and was hoping for a sexy, dark coconut that wasn't overwhelming on the sweetness. Unfortunately, the sugar cane + coconut gives this a sickly sweet, suntan lotion coconut feel for me. It smells cheap and artificial. As it dries down, there's almost a bit of a powdery incense feel in there as well, but mostly a plasticy, sugary coconut smell.

This is mostly sweet rose and clean rice flower on me. I can't pick out the peony, lilac and honey exactly, but I think they're adding a lot of sweetness to the rose. The drydown is still tons of rose, slightly less sweet, and with a powdery, clean edge. Not my favorite rose blend, but it's not bad.