Little Bird

Black musk and Ceylon cinnamon. I don't get any cinnamon or anything like spice from this at all, and spices are usually really strong on me. The black musk smells like baby powder and dark vetiver on me. I wasn't sure what people were talking about with the mentions of lemons in this one, but my husband smelled this on me and instantly said, "Lemons, but really perfumey and strong." I thought that it smelled like intense baby powder, which my hubby doesn't get at all (though he said it reminded him of baby oil after a while). Not for me... I don't really enjoy anything about this one. Reminds me of a powdery, simple vetiver. I thought that spice and black musk would be sexy, but this doesn't smell like spice or black musk on me...

My bottle of this doesn't have any blobs of chocolate absolute, but it does have a strong, sweet, dark chocolate smell to it. I get a fresh little burst of the ginger at first, like lemon and gingerbread cookies, but it quickly dries down to something like dark chocolate, dry, dark wood (like a dark sandalwood almost) and hints of dry, herby thyme and what reminds me of dry oakmoss. A very dark, woody, masculine sort of chocolate. I really like this one on my hubby.

I was hoping for something like White Chocolate & Strawberry (my all time favorite bpal blend) with a bit of dry, spicy carnation. I don't get any strawberry from this, though, and I can't really pick out the white chocolate either. Pink Moon 2012 actually reminds me a lot of High-Strung Daisies, but without the clean/breezy edge that Daisies has. It's sort of like pink bubblegum mixed with dry, potpourri-esque carnation and perfumey florals. The drydown is like dry floral and sugar with a touch of fluffy shaving cream soap, less pink. I prefer White Chocolate & Strawberry for, well, white chocolate and strawberry, and I prefer Hod and the previous Pink Moon for carnation scents... this is just oddly reminiscent of cheap, dried flower potpourri on my skin. Something just artificial and slightly off about it on my skin.

Ecstatic Revelry is a mess on my skin. Powdery amber, a weird and savory spiciness (smells like tacos on me :/) and a dirty smokiness from the tobacco and patchouli. As it dries down, the honey sweetens things up, but nothing about this smells right on me.

Calligraphy Practise reminds me of a bunch of other scents (Templum Victoriae atmosphere spray, Light of Men's Lives, Thousands of Lights, Luperci, The School). It's lots of slightly powdery, warm, woodsy sandalwood with a creamy, sweet beeswax and hints of bright, sweet resin & herbs. The beeswax and opoponax are a little too sweet on me, but I might keep my decant of this one for aging. Powdery sandalwood, sweet beeswax, resins and clary sage.

This has a bit of that green, herby, dill-like rose geranium note that I enjoy in Kostnice. The drydown is like a big, creamy, damp white floral (gardenia? lotus?) with hints of dill and rose geranium (sadly, the green/herby parts only last for the first fifteen minutes or so). I'm just guessing at the notes, of course, and I'm not the best with picking out floral notes. It's creamy, delicately sweet, slightly perfumey, slightly soapy, white smelling floral. Reminds me of Marc Jacobs' Blush. After a half hour, this smells like a floral, clean laundry sort of scent. Soapy floral.

Yeah, I think the 'cassis' was supposed to be 'cassia' in the description for this one. This smells a lot like cassia on me, in any case. Cassia is similar to cinnamon, but darker and with an earthy/woody tone to it. The Hell of Great Heat smells like tons of cassia and hints of dry, earthy patchouli. I agree that it's reminiscent of Sin, but this is spicier on my skin and makes my skin red & itchy.

This is a really intense, strong, soured rose perfume (the stuff that smells distinctly of perfume and not like real roses). It has a little sweetness to it at first, but mostly is a musky/perfumey, sharp sort of rose. I catch small hints of a darker note every once in a while, like smoky black vetiver or black leather, but mostly it's a loud rose perfume. Like 98% harsh, chemical-y rose and 2% something dark and smoky. And it gets worse and worse the longer it sits on my skin, turning sharper and more harsh smelling. It starts to give me a headache and that weird nosebleed feeling after a while. And it has tons of throw and vicious staying power on me, unfortunately. I find Peacock Queen to be softer, smoother and easier to wear for a simple rose perfume (and The Rose for more of a fresh rose scent). This might be my least favorite of bpal's roses, actually. Sharp, intensely sour, and harsh...

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.