Little Bird

I wasn't really expecting to like this, and it's just okay on me. Eclat smells like very lemony, fresh, cool tea, with a bit of perfumey floral. I like Embalming Fluid and Shanghai more for lemony green tea smells.

For carnation, I'd recommend Maiden (Ars Amatoria) for a fresh Valentine's Day carnation sort of smell. And Hod is my favorite carnation, though it's LE, and it's more of a dry, sugared carnation smell. You might also want to try: Clemence (Carnaval Diabolique) - "Patchouli, Kashmiri tea, cardamom, black pepper, carnation, and clove." Spicy, carnation tea sort of scent. High-Strung Daisies (Mad Tea Party) - "Daisy, pink carnation, pink pepper, and sugar." I can pick out a bit of dry, sugary carnation from it, but it's more like clean linen, pink bubblegum, cotton candy, and wildflowers on my skin. Scherezade from Bewitching Brews. It doesn't list carnation at all, but it gives off a very incensey carnation scent on my skin.

I love gardenia <3 I get a pretty strong, creamy gardenia from Eternal. Also: *Sacred Whore of Babylon (Excolo) - Doesn't really list any notes, but I get creamy gardenia, soft spices, and something like honeyed almond-vanilla from this. Super pretty. *The Sluggard (Mad Tea Party) - "Pious frankincense, angelic gardenia, unsoiled pear, and staunch ho wood conflict with prickly, overgrown thistle, idle labdanum, and lethargic lavender." Is mostly creamy gardenia and hints of sweet pear on me. And these are my favorites for LE gardenia blends: *The Harp of Cnoc I'Chosgair - "Gilded amber, tiare, golden sandalwood, vanilla, cardamom, and tagetes." *Tiki Queen - "Monoi de Tahiti, vanilla, white coconut, tuberose, ylang ylang, white musk, red hibiscus, and neroli."

I was hoping for the creamy vanilla and citrus that some reviewers have mentioned, but the citrus here is a bit sharp on me (kinda reminds me of white tea with lemon), with a soapy edge. As it dries down, the scent sweetens up a little and goes slightly powdery on me. Clean, sweet, lemony-citrus scented powder.

Evening Cicadas and Red Peppers (Yule 2009 blend) reminds me quite a bit of Light Blue. Ebisu Making Love As Two Octopuses Look On (Lupercalia 2008) also has a similar feel for me.

While Elf is a misty forest full of berries and greenery, Half-Elf is more of a dry, industrial smelling scent. There's something like a hint of cold, medicinal menthol in here, something that gives off the impression of oiled gears and polished wood, and the oud and musk give off an impression of dark, dirty, well worn leather and bug spray (an association I often get from oud). It smells like a mechanic's shop to me, in a way. Wood, chemicals, hints of leather, manly musk, and dirty woods. The bug spray thing is overwhelming and sharp in the drydown, though, and I don't like the hint of vicks vaporub menthol.

I was hoping for more woodsy incense from this, but the rose amber and narcissus seem to freak out and take over on my skin. The rose amber is unpleasantly dry and powdery on my skin, and the narcissus gives the rose a sharper, more perfumey quality. I get whiffs of sweet myrrh every once in a while, but Cleric is mostly a sharp rose powder. It's a bit strong for about a half hour and then fades quickly on me.

I had huge hopes for this after trying (and loving) Elf v4, but this doesn't really smell anything like the prototype on me. I get the piney, herbal greenery that others have mentioned, slightly sharp and soapy, with a drydown that's green plus hints of something like citrus & berries + clean floral. Too soapy and a bit too sharp for my tastes. I was hoping for more of a honeyed fruity-floral, but this isn't very sweet on my skin. It's very strong and starts to give me a headache after a while.

Rose is super-strong on me, and the rose here amps up and drowns out the other notes. I don't get any leather from this, and the opium isn't as strong and sharp as it usually is on my skin. Vamp.Goth starts off as an almost juicy smelling rose with a sharp smokiness from the opium. As it dries down, it loses its fresh/juicy side and just fades into a perfumey, slightly powdery, dry smelling rose. There are a lot of rose blends that I like more than this one.

This is all soapy, sharp, chemical-y white floral smell on me. It's like a laundry soap scented with sharp floral perfume. I like gardenia, but can't pick out any one floral note from this. The drydown has a soured quality that reminds me a bit of the way some jasmine notes turn on my skin.

I agree with previous reviews saying this smells like red musk and leather. On me, the muskiness seems to amp up, and it has that fruity, warm, almost wine edge to it that red musk often does on my skin. Then there's a hint of smoky black leather that fades away as this dries down, and I'm left with warm, sweetish musk and a hint of powder.

I was hoping for more of a pink rose with a creamy/milky, softer edge (maybe something like Pink Snowballs), but my skin amps up rose notes, and this is pretty much a rose single note on me. This smells like dry, dark red rose to me. Slightly perfumey/sharp. I like a lot of bpal's rose scents, but this one won't make my top ten.

Anjali v3 smells like evergreen, sweet spices, and tart berries on my skin. It dries down to mostly sweet spices and more of a dry, resinous, woodsy smell. It reminds me a bit of a holiday potpourri, and would probably be better in an oil warmer than on me.

I don't have much of this one to test, and it disappears within about ten minutes on me, but I do find this pleasant enough and kinda wish that I had more to slather. I get something that reminds me of white sandalwood - creamy, slightly powdery woods, and something warm and sweet, like a warm vanilla, and maybe a hint of sweet spice. It's like the scent of baking cookies + dry wood and baby powder. I like it, but wish it had better staying power.

This smells sort of like perfumey white floral and soap on me. It makes me think of spring floral scented dryer sheets. Not so good, and the sharpness starts to give me a headache after a few minutes.

Ninon is a definite wow fragrance on me. It changes a lot over the hours, morphing beautifully, and is strong and long lasting (I put it on last night and can still smell hints of it over 12 hours later). It's just beautiful all the way through <3. It reminds me of three of my favorite perfumes - bpal's TKO at first (but better), Dior Addict in its middle stages, and Reminiscence Paris's Essence after about 3 hours. I'm not a big fan of tobacco, bpal's amber usually turns to baby powder on my skin, hay is unpleasantly dry, masculine and dusty, honey is often cloying, rose is overpowering, and on and on. I didn't think that this fragrance would work on me at all. But it is amazing. The lavender is like a fantastic, cool, lavender cologne, but the honey and vanilla give it an awesome punch of sweetness that's intense, but not cloying. It's like a slightly more cool, rich, cologney TKO with more of a sexy sweetness instead of a foodie, innocent sweetness. Then, as it dries down, the intense vanilla sweetness and cool, dark, night time feel of the lavender smells so much like Dior's Addict on me that I got confused and thought I was wearing Addict a couple times. Sweet, gorgeous vanilla. Over time, more of the warm, slightly spicy amber comes out, smelling resinous and exotic. The vanilla in this really sings on my skin in a gorgeous way. A smooth, night time vanilla with exotic, resinous touches and a polished lavender cologne startup. I wasn't expecting to like Ninon, but this might be my favorite Courtesan. I really adore Kitty and Lola as well, though, and like Virginia and Celeste. Lovely ladies <3.

Lola has a ton of notes in it that don't usually work out well for me. I don't really enjoy pomegranate, plum, tuberose, or jasmine. But this somehow smells like pure awesome on my skin. Somehow, the notes here combine to smell like delicious apple sauce (like juicy, tart, crisp, sweet fruitiness - yum) with hints of juicy, rich floral that reminds me of orchid and blends like Phantom Queen. It smells very womanly and sexy, but playful, and makes me think of hot summer nights. A very rich perfume with great throw and staying power <3. I'm so surprised that this works on me. It's really amazing, even with all of those notes that are usually doomed on my skin. My husband smelled this on me and said, "Wow. That smells sexy. I love it." I need backup bottles of Lola.

I was really excited to try this, because I love floral + dirt scents, like The Premature Burial. Dirt + floral combos tend to smell dark, exotic, and amazing to me. In the vial, this smells a lot like the dirt in The Premature Burial - black, damp soil. I don't smell anything floral or anything taking away from the earth scent. On my skin, this morphs into black soil with equal parts of something sweet, soft, and powdery/creamy. Almost like a powdery, cool vanilla. It does remind me of clusters of tiny, white, sweet scented flowers. The Lovers reminds me a lot of Perle von Mauren (which I love), so it seems that the baby's breath is reminding me of heliotrope's vanilla-y powderiness. This is just more cool smelling than heliotrope is to me. Very pretty, and I think I'll splurge and get a full bottle of this.

I like this prototype more than the released version. Sugar Plum Fairy sounded so good to me, but went all sharp, soapy, and powdery on my skin for some reason. Sugar Plum Fairy v3 has more of the fun, candied quality that I was expecting from the blend. This is sugary fruit (makes me think of jelly or pie filling) and hints of something that smells a bit like cinnamon on me. As it dries down, this smells dry and spicy, and I think it's reminding me of a sweeter Frumious Bandersnatch, maybe. It's a little potpourri-esque on my skin after a while, but not bad. Midwinter's Eve is still my favorite scent for a frosty sugar plum, but I like that this doesn't have the sharper/perfumey qualities of the released version.

I only got about 2 ounces of these to test, and I used them all up in one bath. The scent was a very mild, warm, comforting vanilla-sandalwood. Woody and not very sweet. It didn't give off much scent in the water and only left a delicate sandalwood incense type of scent on my skin after the bath (and that faded once I applied some lotion). I find some of the other bath salts to be more strongly scented than this one. Anyhow, my skin did feel much happier after using these (not dry and itchy after my bath) and the salts didn't turn my hair into an oily mess like the bath oils do, so that was nice. I can see myself purchasing more bath salts in the future, though probably not in this scent again.

I find Titania (Illyria) to be a sort of cold, unapproachable scent: "A nocturnal bounty of fae dew-kissed petals and pale fruits: white grape, white peach, iced pear, musk rose, sweet pea, moonflower and snapdragon." I like to wear some of the more masculine and leathery scents for that 'don't mess with me' feel. I find that when I wear something that smells more traditionally masculine, it tends to throw off men and unsettle the women around me, lol. *The Bow and Crown of Conquest (Sin and Salvation) - "Nobility and haughtiness befitting the Antichrist: sage, carnation and cedar with lavender, vanilla, white musk and leather." *Dee (Bewitching Brews) - "His scent is soft English leather, rosewood and tonka with a hint of incense, parchment and soft woods." And I wear El Dorado (Wanderlust) and The Red Rider (Marchen) when I want something very intense and dark and leaning towards being masculine. Sin is also pretty intense and intimidating for me, and doesn't smell outright masculine: "Thouroughly corrupted: amber, sandalwood, black patchouli and cinnamon." (Sin & Salvation) Sacred Whore of Babylon also always makes me feel powerful (Excolo), as do Liz (Hellboy) and Voodoo (Bewitching Brews). They're strong and complex on my skin.

This reminds me of The Knave of Hearts, but more buttery (buttered scones) and with a fruit that goes slightly sour on me, and a floral that's slightly soapy. In the drydown, it smells sweet, buttery, and also of clean floral, which doesn't mix well for me. My husband said it smelled like buttery soap. Whatever is in this, it does not like me.

I really like a lot of bpal's leather scents (Dee, The Red Rider, The White Rider, Liz (! love), The Bow & Crown of Conquest, The Black Tower, just to mention a few of my GC leather favs <3), but Paladin v3 is a little too sharp and smoky for me. First on, it reminded me a bit of a smoky, charred vetiver smell with sharp black leather. It dries down to a softer, more well worn, brown leather smell with hints of sharp smokiness. I agree that it's kind of a cowboy leather scent - conjures up images of saddle leather and campfires on a dusty trail as it dries down. But I don't think that I need to track down more of this one, personally. Dead Man's Hand v8 is my leathery prototype love.

I love this scent so much; I really wish that I could get a bottle or five of this. It's in at least my top five of favorite prototype blends so far (in good company with Elf v4, Alley of Games v6, Poisoned Apple v2, and Cake Smash v6 - which are all so different from each other). I digress. Plague Doctor v10 sort of smells like a cold aquatic cologne and sandalwood incense on me. But that description doesn't really appeal to me, and yet I LOVE this stuff. Most of bpal's aquatics turn to soap on me, and a lot of the sandalwoods are powdery, but this doesn't go soapy or powdery at all. It smells like chilled, smooth, manly aquatic mixed with a smooth, warm, woodsy quality that just makes me swoon. The mix of something like cold water + warm wood is so unusual and delightful. I don't know where it gets that chilled feeling from either, because this isn't minty or mentholic on my skin. This smells like a strong, silent type of man who is quietly confident and respectful, and loyal and loving, but not showy or boastful. ETA: Almost all of the prototype scents I purchased went off after about a year. This one turned really plastic-y and sour smelling and the oil started to get cloudy and separate.

In the bottle, this smells like pink bubblegum, sugary cotton candy, and a hint of that rubbery water balloon smell that Invidiana mentioned. Very evocative and interesting, and thankfully the rubbery smell disappears once this is on my skin, lol. On me, this is mostly a cheerful, sugary cotton candy smell, hints of pink bubblegum, and a background of dry grass that fades to just a hint of sweet, dead grass after about a half hour. There's a hint of girly, perfumey goodness here as well that reminds me of pink musk and really amps up the cotton candy-ish scent. I love Midway, but it has poor staying power, where this is really strong and has tons of sugary cotton candy that wafts off of my skin with great throw <3. I was worried about the grass note, but this isn't a heavy or green grass smell. It's a delicate, dry, almost incensey sort of grass - not green or sharp at all. This is mostly an amazing cotton candy muskiness with a hint of pink bubblegum and incensey dead grass. Gorgeous. It has tons of throw and great staying power on me too. A very pink and pretty scent with a sexy musky/incensey edge. ETA: I've had my bottle of this for a year now and it's a lot different with some aging. It smells like strawberry gum (very candied and artificial) mixed with dry, dusty grass and a clean, powdery quality. It doesn't remind me of cotton candy at all anymore; the sweetness is now definitely fruity and sickly/artificial. I've found that a lot of the prototype blends I ordered from etsy have gone slightly off with aging, and this is another one that I don't care for anymore