Little Bird

I can kinda see the similarities between Hod and Morocco, but they're pretty different on me. They both seem to have an exotic spiciness to them, but Hod is stronger, sweeter, and much more carnation-y on my skin. I get a lot of the warm musk and hints of spice from Morocco, and it goes slightly baby powdery. I can't really pick out the carnation in it either. I'm not sure if anything smells quite like Hod does to me (sadly, because I love Hod <3).

I'd recommend trying out Sea of Glass. It's my favorite of bpal's aquatics (most of the aquatics/ozones smell like soap on me, but Sea of Glass doesn't) and it's a very smooth, cool scent. You also might want to try Squirting Cucumber if you like cucumber notes...

The ancient Greeks sure weren't shy about taking care of business. The port city of Miletus was once famed throughout the Mediterranean as a source of excellent stone, wood, and padded leather dildos. This scent is the celebration of an age-old pastime: polished wood, well-loved leather, and olive oil. In the bottle and on my skin at first, this smells like the leather note in Quincey Morris + tomato leaf. It's this odd, green, slightly spicy smell. It also smells just a little bit citrussy at first (maybe orange-y?). It reminds me of gardening. This smells like a cowboy who worked all day in a leather shop filled with leathers & woods and then came home and tended to a garden for a bit. It smells strong, but comforting. After an hour, this is almost all leather on me. Gorgeous, awesome leather. It seems cool and light (like a summer night), even though it has lots of throw and staying power. It's a beautiful, soft, clean leather. Love. BPAL does awesome leather scents, and this one is another favorite for me.

I am not good with floral notes, but I can see where others have mentioned gardenia and lotus. This is a creamy, sweet, tropical smelling floral on me, with a bit of the watery, bubblegummy sweetness that I often get from lotus. Sweet, watery floral is the best way that I can describe it. After an hour, the drydown goes slightly powdery on me, but it's still pretty. My husband really likes this on me. It smells like a light, girly, springy, tropical floral... it's not the sort of thing that I'd normally wear, but I think I'll keep my decant of this one.

I actually like this prototype more than the released version of Hellion, though neither of them are really favorites for me. The released Hellion was too dark and sharply musky for me. Hellion v2 isn't as dark or sharp on my skin. I get a lot more of the fruitiness from this blend. The plum (or what smells like plum) here goes a little bit sour on my skin at first, almost like a not-quite-ripe plum. The drydown gets a bit spicy (cinnamon and clove?) and makes me think of fruity-spicy potpourri. After a half hour, the plum is a bit smoother and sweeter and there's just a hint of spice, and a lot more of a smoky incense scent. It's like a perfumey plum all wrapped up in a smoky, slightly earthy incense, with a slight dusting of spice. This goes through stages where I think that it would be better as a room scent than as a perfume, and stages where the plum just smells sour and off on me. I don't have good luck with plum notes, though. I think the only plum scent I've ever really liked was Midwinter's Eve (which was a fun, sugared plum scent)... I find this better than released Hellion, but it's still not awesome on me.

The released version of O has a tendency to go cloying on my skin, and O v5 is actually even sweeter on my skin. This smells like insanely sweet, sugared honey on my skin. The drydown adds a hint of baby powder. After a couple hours, this gets pretty close to smelling just like the released version of O, but it fades rather quickly on me at that point. Super-sweet honey and a hint of baby powder. I like O v6 a lot more than O v5 or the released version of O. O v5 is my least favorite so far...

I also don't like Snake Oil, aged or fresh (it smells something like dirty, burnt hair and baby powder on me :/), but I love a lot of the Snake Oil blends. Boomslang is my favorite, and it's a must-have if you like chocolate/cocoa scents. The dark, vanilla-y, incensey qualities of Snake Oil are great with the cocoa. I really love a lot of the Snake Pit blends, actually. Australian Copperhead is another of my favorites, and it's great if you like fruity blends, because the acai berry note is pretty strong. Banded Sea Snake is pretty on me and I get a lot of the vanilla-y scent that's in Snake Oil, paired with a creamy, bright aquatic. Womb Furie was more Snake Oil-y to me than most of the Snake Pit blends are. The honey makes it more wearable, but I'm still not sure if I really like Womb Furie or if I can pull it off. I definitely recommend trying some of the snake pit blends even if you can't wear Snake Oil, though .

I'd recommend Dorian and Alice, for sure. Both of those smell rather unique to bpal, but they're well-loved and not too outrageous. I wear both of those scents quite a bit and have never had anyone tell me that I smell strange or not 'get' my perfume (which has happened with a lot of my other bpals, lol).

I got a bunch of bottles of this when it went on sale on Urban Outfitters for like $5 a bottle, which was a steal at that price point. I'm always adding vanilla-patchoulis to my collection and this is a good one. It has a bit of a mentholic/medicinal undertone and an airy-yet-sweet vanilla with earthy patchouli that has some chocolate-y nuances to it. You can smell all three notes and it's simple, but well done. It almost smells a bit resinous, like non-powdery amber, on me as well. Very satisfyingly sweet and cuddly patchouli.

On me, um, this smells like dying, wilting green grass... that has been peed on. There's something sour and not quite right here. As it dries down, this is dusty, dry wood (almost baby powdery on me at times) and a hint of smoky leather over that sour green smell. I keep catching whiffs of something that reminds me of clean men's cologne when I wear this as well. I don’t know why this is so bad on me, since I'm normally all over anything that mentions balsams, leather, or vanilla :/. This doesn’t ever sweeten up on my skin (no vanilla that I can identify), but it lightens up a lot and fades away entirely after about an hour and a half. All in all, I'm glad that I waited on a decant of this before springing for a full bottle, because this probably isn't something that I'd wear again. I might keep my decant and see how this oil ages, but I'm not too hopeful for it.

I love gardenia (one of the few floral notes that I love), but pikaki and lily both have a tendency to go soapy on me. And that's exactly what happens here. Sweet Life, on me, is creamy, tropical, sweet, perfumey gardenia, in soap-form. The scent gets a little sharper than I would like in the drydown, but it's too soapy for me to pull off anyhow. For some reason, I feel like I could see Paris Hilton wearing this. Anyhoo. I’m happy that I just went with a decant of this one, because I doubt that I'll wear it again. I'll take Tiki Queen and Possets' Silver Gardenias for my gardenia fix, lol.

You might want to check out some of the warrior queens scents (though they were LE at the bptp and might be a bit harder to find). Hua Mulan sounds appropriate (tea and womanly notes and a hint of dark leather): *Hua Mulan - pink musk, white ginger, tea leaf, night blooming jasmine, bergamot, and leather. I also really like Dorian layered with Spirit of the Komachi Cherry Tree. Embalming Fluid is a smooth tea scent that smells great layered with cherry blossom scents too.

My first thought was Penis Admiration, because it reminds me of butterflies, and that dress makes me think of lilacs and butterflies too... Spirit of the Komachi Cherry Tree and Pet Magah Bird come to mind as well.

I am obsessed with Poisoned Apple v2 (which is the only apple scent from bpal that I've really loved), but this version isn't so good on me. I agree with reviewers who said this may have some apple blossom in it, because this goes soapy on me in the way that apple blossom usually does. It's like a refreshing, sweet, fruity-floral shampoo on my skin. Green apple shampoo with a clean, breezy, floral edge... my husband actually likes this on me, but I find it too soapy smelling and clean for my tastes.

This starts off with the watery, sweet floral smell that I associate with dragon's blood (which always makes me think of rotting flowers in a vase of stagnant water). As it dries down, I get the very dry woods smell that other reviewers have mentioned. It's like a vase full of rotting flowers sitting on a dusty, splintery, old wooden table. It smells old, dry, dusty, wooden, and sweet. I don't really like it, but the only Ars Draconis blend that I've ever purchased a full bottle of was Dragon's Milk...

There's not much that I can add about this scent that hasn't already been said. It's more lavender-y than the released TKO, and not quite as sweet or creamy smelling on me. The lavender is a bit sharper and more herbal smelling than the smooth, sugared lavender that I get from released TKO. It's not quite as unique to me as the released version. This smells like the herbal remedy vanilla-lavender sleep blends that I've had from several different companies (usually in some form of lotion or bath product). I can smell this and not think that it's very unique or bpal-like. I really love the rich, creamy, sugared sweetness of the released version of TKO, but I do love lavender, so I still like this version as well. I think that I'll keep my decant, but I won't need a full bottle.

The chicken-Legged Hut smells like someone took a bowl of warm, grainy oatmeal and sprinkled honeyed nuts, brown sugar, and cinnamon spice over it. Then it smells like someone took that bowl of oatmeal and threw it up against an old barn wall and watched it drip down into the dusty, dry hay below. It's an odd mix of warm, foodie, almost cloying sweetness and dry, dusty hay/woods. I don't get much of an herbal feel from this. This isn't awful, but it's not very wearable to me (a little too sweet and a little too dry/dusty on my skin). It's also a very light scent on me, and only lasts a couple hours. I might try out my sample in the oil warmer, but I don't think that I'll be buying more of this one.

I personally don't like Snake Oil at all (aged or fresh, it smells awful on me), and I love several of the Snake Pit blends. Boomslang is one of my favorite scents ever, and it's intensely chocolate-y and exotic smelling. If you like vanilla and sweet/foodie scents, I'd definitely recommend trying Inez if you haven't already. It's sweet vanilla and gorgeous, warm amber and woods on my skin.

Rhinotoros is mostly vetiver on my skin. The vetiver and patchouli combine in this dark, earthy, smoky, ashy sort of way that I'm not enjoying (though I usually love patchouli). It makes me think of hot coals and ash. Every once in a while, I can smell a bitter grapefruit note, but the vetiver seems to be doing a good job at overpowering the other notes on my skin. After an hour, it's mostly earthy, dry patchouli and a sharp, smoky vetiver. I don't really see myself wearing this one again. It goes too dark, smoky, and sharp on my skin...

I can definitely see the comparions to Hellion with this room spray. I spritzed Parlor House all over my throw pillows and it smells like patchouli, plum and dark, smoky musk to me. It's a very dark scent, and not as sweet or delicious smelling as I was hoping for, lol. Something about it smells dark and earthy and reminds me of bpal's El Dorado perfume. The fruitiness smells slightly sour to me. I'm glad that I got a decant of this to sample, but I don't think that I'll need to search out more of this spray. It's a little too dark, musky and sour for me, and not quite sweet enough for my tastes.

My skin amps up rose notes, so all I can really pick out in this blend is the rose. It starts off slightly bitter and perfumey rose and then dries down to a very sweet rose. I suppose that the lychee might be adding some sweetness, but I wouldn't identify this perfume as smelling like lychee, really. Thouros is a soft, light, sweet red rose on my skin. I have enough rose blends (and blends where I amp up the rose to single note status) that this isn't really wowing me.

Deathly Pride has a good dose of awesome coconut (notes of licorice incense, coconut, and bay rum). It was in the latest bptp inquisition yule series. Goblin is probably the most coconutty bpal on me (black coconut, patchouli, and benzoin). It smells like a really creamy, sweet coconut mixed with patchouli. There's also Obatala (which I find verrry coconutty), Brown Jenkin, and Elegba, but those are all older ones that you may have already tried. There's the new Roses, Pearls, and Diamonds scent that just came out (notes of red roses, dazzling crystalline musks, and pearlescent coconut-tinged orris). I have that one on order, but haven't tried it yet. You might want to try these (though I don't know if I'd say they have a dominant coconut note; I think that depends more on skin chemistry): *Dia (white amber, coconut, white musk, oakmoss, and tobacco flower) *Mlle. Lilith, Fortune Teller (coconut and a bit of sugar with pomegranate, pink musk, orange blossom, cypress, honey myrtle, and incense) *Pet Magah Bird (blood orange, black plum, sugar cane, guava, frangipani, coconut, pimento berry, violet, caramel, and pear) *Upa Upa (spiced rum, coconut, pineapple, and vanilla) *Velvet Tiki (gold-washed frangipani, vanilla flower, vanilla bean, coconut, hibiscus, papaya, pineapple, bouganvilla, passion fruit, and three orchids) And there's Milk Chocolate, Coconut, Cardamom, Rum, and Ginger Truffle available as an LE right now...

I find freesia to be a very perfumey, sharp, air-freshener type of floral note, and it gives me a vicious headache if I'm left smelling it for too long. I get a lot of perfumey freesia from this scent, with a background of soapy aquatic. It winds up smelling like perfumey floral scented dryer sheets on my skin, strong and headache-inducing. I had to scrub this one off after a half hour, but I honestly wasn't really expecting it to work on me...

Candles Moon doesn't smell anything like candles to me. In the bottle and on my skin for the first hour, it smells like bright red, sugary hawaiian punch with a hint of sweet spices. After an hour, the scent gets a bit creamier and a lot lighter, like the whole thing was watered down with a creamy vanilla. It's creamy, soft, warm vanilla and a hint of that fruit punch smell. The scent is entirely gone within 2 hours after applying. Weird. I almost wonder if I got the wrong scent, because I'm not getting any of the trees, snow, ozone, or wax that other reviewers have mentioned. It's not even a milky scent on me, though the drydown after an hour is creamy and vanilla-y. I don't mind this scent, but I don't love it either. I'm very happy to have gotten a partial bottle of this, though. I really love the artwork, colors, and lettering chosen for Candles Moon <3.

In the bottle, this is perfumey, clean floral and candy-sweet pear. On my skin, it's hard for me to get an impression of this scent, because it only lasts about 15 minutes on my skin, and it's still a light scent for those few minutes. Red sandalwood and cedar tend to be heavier notes, but I don't smell them at all here. This is mostly clean, dry, incensey floral with a hint of candy pear (smells like the juicy pear jellybelly bean). The floral doesn't even smell the way that jasmine usually does on my skin. Khalkokorustes isn't bad, but it's too light on my skin for me to see myself wearing it again...