Little Bird

Oak Moon reminds me of Tree of Life, Atlas, and The Antikythera Mechanism. It smells like dry wood / tree / oak with a toasty, comforting, roasted vanilla sweetness and a hint of something clean and cool (snow note? a touch of eucalyptus?). I like this, though I prefer the other three blends for something similar.

I'm mainly getting pine, orange blossom, perfumey honeysuckle, and soapiness from Frost at Midnight, which unfortunately blends together to smell like some sort of household cleanser on me. As it dries down (after about an hour) it's less soapy (though there's still this clean, cool, men's aftershave sort of edge to the blend for me) and a smokiness creeps in from the tobacco. Piney, green, clean and masculine, and slightly smoky with just a touch of orange blossom.

Colder & Colder mostly smells like bpal's snow note on me, though less sweet and more clean/soapy smelling. It also smells like a hint of fresh mint leaves. Something here leans towards being masculine for me as well, like a dark muskiness. I wasn't really expecting to like this, but it's actually not as minty as I was expecting (I was expecting it to smell like mint mouthwash, lol). It reminds me of some of Violette Market's snow blends, which tend to be a bit cologne-like on me.

I was really hoping that this would be like Pink Snowballs with lemon instead of rose. I was hoping that it would be heavy on the chilly, creamy vanilla that's in blends like Snow White and Pink Snowballs. But I don't think that this really smells like vanilla at all. It's like bpal's snow note + sharp citrus, which turns high pitched and soapy smelling on me. It reminds me of dryer sheets

This starts off very fruity, with the orange blossom and berry smelling like fruity hard candy. As it dries down, the berry fades and I'm getting more of the floral. I don't smell any rose, but there's a humid, creamy, almost tropical white floral sort of smell that must be the angel's trumpet. I might have guessed that there was a gardenia note in this if I didn't know what the listed notes are. Angel's trumpet with a hint of orange blossom. It makes for a creamy, sweet, lightly soapy floral that's not unpleasant, but also isn't very complex smelling on me. I don't get any incense, sandalwood, or rose from this blend.

Thousands of Lights starts off reminding me of Schwarzer Mond. It's very dark, sweet, cola-like incense that smells warm and slightly powdery. As it dries down, the beeswax is stronger and makes the blend smell less dark and more golden. Something also starts to turn bright/soapy in the drydown. It smells a lot like Templum Victoriae atmosphere spray in the drydown. I like the beginning more than the drydown of this, but I'd recommend Thousands of Light if you enjoy beeswax scents at all.

Christmas Tree smells like a Christmas tree air freshener on me (reminds me of all of the pine scented offerings at Bath & Body Works around the holidays). It's soft, sweet pine with a bit of a sour edge and a touch of woodsmoke. It goes more sour on me over time, sort of reminding me of BO. I love the smell of real pine trees, but something about this is too strong and artificial on me, enough to give me a headache. I prefer bpal's Mistletoe for a pine scent (or Golden Priapus from the GC, as that is nicely softened by the vanilla and amber).

In the bottle and on my skin, Beautiful & Adored is an intensely sharp, biting sort of rose perfume with a hint of sweet pear in the background. As it dries down, it's less ROSE and more of a perfumey white floral smell with a touch of soapy clean, and I can't smell any of the pear anymore. I'm not getting any vanilla, currant or honey at all. Beautiful and Adored is very floral and perfumey on me, all rose musk and white gardenia. I think that this would have been really lovely if the pear and vanilla were stronger/there, but it's too floral-perfumey for me as it is. It starts to give me a headache after a while, because it's so sharp & perfumey.

Testing this again, the spice is much stronger and I'm not getting any of the vanilla icing that I liked initially. I get a blast of something like spree/sweet tarts candies (fruity, tart, slightly powdery candy) with a spiciness that reminds me of potpourri. My husband really hates this (said it was buttery and gross) and asked me to wash it off...

In the bottle, this smells like red cherry with a hint of buttery pumpkin and gingerbread spice. On my skin, it's gingerbread cookies and a sharp cherry note from the almond. And then it's like my skin just completely eats this scent. It goes through a phase where it's like a much lighter version of Pfancy Pfefferneusse, with the addition of cherry. So it's like warm shortbread cookies + tons of sour cherry. And within fifteen minutes I'm just left with this blah, extremely light, sour cherry smell. This was the Yule blend that I was most looking forward to, so it's a major disappointment for me. The only note that didn't sound good to me was the almond (as bpal's almond always does this wonky cherry smell on my skin), and it's the strongest note on me. I'm not getting any licorice or coconut at all. Light, sour cherry. I don't know if I got a messed up bottle of this or what (as that seems to be happening to me a lot lately), but I hope that this gets better and less sour cherry with age...

On me, this is a perfumey white floral sharpened with a cold, slightly soapy ozone and white musk. I wasn't really expecting this to be floral at all, but it smells strongly of something like tuberose/drugstore white floral on me. As it dries down, this thankfully softens a lot into more of a creamy, cool, perfumey white musk and slightly powdery amber with a floral-ish sweetness. I'm not getting the fir or grassy notes that others have mentioned. Winter Heavens is a strange scent...

The Phoenix at Midday is my favorite of this year's Phoenix blends, though I don't like it enough to purchase a full bottle. I get mostly a watery, sweet blood orange, herby-spicy geranium, and warm amber from this one. The amber doesn't go to full-out baby powder on me, but is a soft, dusty, warmth to the scent. It's pleasant, but pretty light on my skin. I prefer The Haunted Palace for an amber & blood orange blend, as it is heavier and sweeter.

Honeyed fig with a bit of rosewater sounded good to me, but this is a bit too sweet on me, and then ruined by the clean, slightly soapy jasmine smell in the drydown. I get lots of intensely sweet honey and a lightly spiced fig dessert smell at first, with a touch of perfumey rose. I like bpal's fig note, but the honey is cloying on me. It does remind me of Hony Mone, with the honey mixed with soapy floral, though this is less floral and more sweet. I'm not getting any of the patchouli.

In the bottle, The Phoenix at Dawn reminds me of bpal's Champagne blends, sort of like cleaning fluid mixed with fizzy booze. On my skin at first, this is like dry citrus candy and a shot of fizz with a creamy floral note to it. I liked it for a bit, but then it started to get sharper in the drydown, more like sharp rose perfume and sour lemons thrown into a mess of old champagne. This one is also really light on me, and only lasts on my skin for about an hour. I get mostly perfumey rose and sharp citrus from this one, with an undertone of booziness. I wish it had more of the creamy orange blossom and vanilla.

This smells like white floral perfume and white bars of soap over a bed of hay, with whisps of sharp, citrussy green tea and sweet honey that fade in and out. It's very soapy, sharp, and odd on me... I wound up having to scrub this off after only about a half hour, because it was giving me a headache. I usually enjoy wisteria notes, so I'm not sure what was so harsh and perfumey on me here.

I usually hate bpal's black musk, iris, and jasmine notes, so I wasn't expecting much from this. This actually starts off pretty nice on me, though. It's mostly orris at first, which is like a sweet, cool, powdery violet smell on me, with hints of something like green plants. Then, after about five minutes, the sour jasmine and sharp, perfumey iris come in and take over. The jasmine note has that sourness that makes me think of dirty bathrooms, unfortunately, so it winds up smelling like cheap white floral perfume spritzed in a rest stop bathroom... The Phoenix at Midnight winds up being too sharp/sour floral for me.

Dust of Snow is really light on me and only lasts about an hour on my skin, which surprised me with all of the strong floral notes. This mostly smells like bpal's snow note (slushy, sweet, cool, almost minty, a hint of pine) with a hint of lightly soapy lily and greenery. There's a bit of perfumey sharpness from the iris as it dries down. It's like clean floral perfume and snow note, but a little too perfumey and clean for me.

Jezebel reminds me of O with honeyed roses. I think the honey is similar and the sandalwood has that same powdery feel as O's amber for me. Jezebel - "A gloriously decadent blend of honey, roses, orange blossom and sandalwood."

Forum ate my first review, so here I try again... I don't think that Ondurdis smells much like Skadi or Snow Moon, which are two of my favorite winter/snow scents (though Skadi hasn't aged well for me). This is sharper, colder, and perfumey to my nose. It goes on like bracing menthol, a perfumey-chemical musk, and a little bit of sweet snow and sour pine. It's not sweet enough for me, though the drydown does sweeten up a bit, with perhaps a bit of a berry note to it. It mostly smells cold, clean, and perfumey to me. The scent starts off strong but has faded a lot within fifteen minutes.

I usually enjoy violet, lilac, and lavender, but Insupportable Misery turns soapy and sharp on my skin. I don't know that I'd pick out the lilac and violet, as it's more like lavender soap and a spritz of sharp floral perfume on me. It smells like lavender soap and sharp iris perfume on my skin, which I'm not loving. The whole thing fades a lot within an hour, leaving behind a vague, clean, perfumey floral smudge.

I love blue musk and have good luck with lily, carnation, orange, and geranium, so I had high hopes for this one. Initially, I get a burst of citrussy tea, but the drydown of this is all sharp floral. The only note that I'm really getting in the drydown is the tuberose. Sorrowful Affection smells like sharp, perfumey, chemical-y white floral on my skin. Sharp, harsh and slightly soapy.

I try the Lick It blends every year, hoping that they'll be more like the original Lick It 2005. Lick It 2005 is cooling and lovely, but still sweet... it really smells like peppermint hard candy to me, a perfect mix of mint and candy. This is more menthol/mint and reminds me of mouthwash more than candy. A little too intensely minty and not sweet enough for me. I do like the cooling sensation, but dislike the scent...

I like the name of this, but it's pretty much everything that I dislike in a fragrance. It's baby powdery, sharp, chemical-y perfumey, and not much else. It just turns to baby powder, sharp chemical musk (like cheap hairpsray), and a touch of soap on me. Blech. I usually like most of the floral notes listed in this, but I can't pick them out here...

Leather Phoenix isn't as bad as I was expecting it to be from the reviews. Thankfully, I don't get an overpowering or noticeable rose note. My bottle is mostly a dry, dusty leather smell with the matcha reminding me of the lab's bamboo note (pulpy, green, and lightly citrussy). Like cowboy leather with green citrus. I like this well enough to keep my bottle and see how it ages. It's really light on me now and fades within about 2 hours, but it's not unpleasant. I can't pick out any of the listed notes other than the faint, dry leather and greenish matcha.

I only got an imp-sized vial of this to test, as I was curious about the stout part (the bath oils make me break out when I use them in the bath or as an all-over moisturizer, because they're so heavy), so this is mostly just a quick scent review. As for the fragrance, I get mostly super-sweet honey and red hots cinnamon that burned my wrist where I applied this. I had a red, itchy welt where it touched my skin. I wouldn't use this if you're at all sensitive to spice notes.