Little Bird

I'm loving a lot of this year's Lupercalia blends, but I think that this one is my favorite. I'm sad to see that people don't like it and are calling it masculine, because I totally tried it on and thought, "Yay! A beautiful, feminine resin scent!" lol. In the bottle and on my skin at first, this is all smooth, resinous, golden frankincense. It makes me think of blends like Cathedral and Faustus (which are two blends that I love). I can smell a little bit of sexy black leather as well, reminding me of the leather + sweetness in Liz. This dries down to the most wonderful, golden, warm, resins/incense & vanilla type of scent on me. I guess that the cream note is actually playing nice on my skin. I was toying with the idea of getting a custom blend from another company, and I was going to ask for warm, golden resins, vanilla, and incensey, dry flowers. Now I don't have to, because Prosperity of a Country is exactly what I was looking for. Golden, feminine, resinous vanilla with an exotic, almost dried flowers dusted with gold impression. So gorgeous. I love this (and my husband gave it a 9 out of 10 rating). I only have a decant at the moment, but I'll get a full bottle or two of this before the Lupercalias leave town.

This reminds me a little bit of The Adoration of the Mi-Go and Garden Path with Chickens, but it's not as watery-clean or sweet smelling as the former and not as floral as the latter (it's not floral on me at all, really). It's like a dryer, darker, not-as-sweet Adoration of the Mi-Go. I digress. The Steeple smells like green herbs and moss on rocks, with a hint of a perfumey, clean edge (going a little bit into laundry dryer sheet territory). I get a dark, damp wood smell in the bottle and on my skin at first, but the dry down is all green herbs and mossy stones. If you like pure herbal scents or perfumey-green scents that are a touch soapy-clean, then you'll love this. It's not really working for me, though.

I get lots of anise and sugary vanilla from this at first, which makes me smell like a sugary black licorice candy. I don't love the taste of black licorice, but I do love the smell <3. While the vanilla and anise take the main role in this scent, I can definitely smell the neroli and cherry blossom around the edges. As it dries down, I smell more of the neroli, so it's mostly sweet orange, with hints of black licorice candy and creamy vanilla. Pink Mood is candy-sweet, playful, and orange-y smelling on me. I think that this will join Le Père Fouettard in my collection of favorite licorice scents . I can wear this one more in the summer and save Le Père for fall and winter...

I have to agree with SmileCat's review in that this smells like an expensive dusting powder. I get sweet, dry, powdery violets and an expensive smelling vanilla. It smells luxurious and makes me feel like I should be sitting naked at a vanity and dusting myself with a variety of decadent, expensive potions. It's very romantic and pretty and makes me feel kinda shy and vulnerable. I could see myself wearing this when the hubby takes me out for a surprise romantic night and we're getting all dressed up. I would not, however, tell him the name of what I was wearing (the name does not seem quite as shy and romantic as the oil makes me feel, lol)... It reminds me a bit of LUSH's Bathos scent. ETA: My bottle of this went bad after about 2 years it now smells like melting plastic, honeydew melon and smoke. Drydown is all of that with a whiff of sickly sweet, cloying, tropical-ish vanilla. Weird and gross. I wish I'd worn it more when I first got it.

I was excited to try this, because I love lilac and lavender, and I'll try anything that mentions tea. My favorite bpal lilac scents are the Blue Lilac single note and Spirit of the Komachi Cherry Tree from The Salon. The lilac note in Needlework is very different from those, though. This is more of a perfumy, laundry-fresh lilac scent. The only notes that I can can pick out for sure are lilac and musk, but something in this goes slightly soapy (and oddly a powdery, dry smelling soapy that gets caught in my throat) and the whole thing has a very perfumey, sharp feel. As it dries down, it's even less lilac and more dry, sharp musk and soap. I *love* the artwork that inspired this scent, but this is too sharp, musky, soapy, and dry for me.

I love the chocolate in this. It's a dark, warm, fudgey chocolate that smells like brownies on me. I can also smell the salt and aquatics (and the aquatic goes soapy on me, as usual). Cthulhu in Love smells like brownies sitting on top of a pile of soapy dryer sheets, sprinkled in salt. I kind of like it, but I think that I'm really only liking the chocolate note. I don't think that I care for having soap in my chocolates, lol. I'll keep my decant of this, but I don't need a full bottle. There are better chocolate scents out there, though I can say that this is the only chocolate scent that I own that also goes soapy on me.

I definitely agree with the comparison to dark myrrh single note. This is a beautiful, smooth, slightly sweet resin, and it stays strong with lots of throw. It makes me think of gold and dark amber shades. I was nervous about the tobacco note and whatever wenge is (a wood note?), but I don't smell anything but myrrh and hints of geranium flitting in and out of the scent. The rose geranium is an almost spicy, planty smell on my skin, but sweet and very pretty & wearable. This scent is just so stunning and calming to me. I find it very relaxing, so I love wearing this scent to bed, but it's also a gorgeous, exotic perfume that I love wearing when I'm going out (and I've gotten a couple compliments on it already). It's a very smooth scent with a touch of sweetness that makes it totally wearable. I need multiple bottles of this, for sure . ETA: Brotoloigos is my favorite Lupercalia blend (and it had a lot of competition, because so many of this year's blends are wonderful). It's the one that I keep going back to and I've been wearing it the most since my orders arrived. If you like myrrh/resins at all, this one is a must-have. And the hint of geranium is super comforting and calming. Something about the smell of geranium soothes my nerves, and this has that effect without smelling medicinal or spa-like. It's like an awesome perfume with a hint of calming therapy for me, lol. It's just perfect.

I figured that I wouldn't like this Truffle, because I hated the whiskey in Mad Sweeney. I actually kind of like this, though I don't think that I could stand wearing it for very long. It's like equal parts sweet chocolate and slightly sour, darkly colored booze. The booziness smells smooth and a bit spicy on my skin. It's not the smoky, scary booze of Mad Sweeney. This reminds me *a lot* of Scentsy's Bourbon fragrance (which I believe is whiskey and maple sugar). It's the same, interesting mix of sour booze + sweetness. And as much as I love smelling it every once in a while, I'm not sure that it makes a good perfume for me. It's a little too alcoholic and sour. Dark Chocolate, Whiskey, and Cognac Truffle smells curious and fascinating, but after a while of having it on my skin, it started making me feel kinda nauseous & headachey and I had to wash it off.

Lime notes are often too sharp smelling on my skin, but I LOVE this. It's sweet, cheery, creamy lime. It makes me think of key lime pie and lime slushes. I can't pick out a chocolate note exactly, but I would guess that the chocolate is adding to the sweet, creamy feel of this blend. My husband smelled my wrist where I applied this and instantly said that it smelled like yummy key lime pie. Key Lime Truffle is just so fun, summery, and playful smelling. It makes me feel like I'm on a tropical vacation <3. I'll definitely be upgrading my decant of this to a full bottle

I am in love with Thoos . I originally got this for my husband, but it smells awesome on me, so I'm keeping it, lol. I can smell a hint of woody, earthy cypress in the bottle, but I don't get any of that note at all on my skin. White musk is either awesome on me (smells frosty, creamy, sweet, and almost vanilla-y) or else it's sharp and evil. This is creamy, cool, beautiful white musk. I get a pretty strong blast of happy, bright, juicy, tangerine at first, but it quickly dries down and the musk takes over. The mix of white musk and tangerine is sweet, creamy, and cool on my skin. It really reminds me of an orange creamsicle, but more sensual and wearable. I only have a decant of this at the moment, but I'll need a full bottle or two of this. It's just so pretty, and I'm going to love wearing this during the summer. <3

In the bottle, this smells like a perfumey rose drowning in earthy, ashy, slightly smoky vetiver. It's very dark and cold. On my skin, the rose amps up like crazy and fights its way out of the pit o' vetiver. I always feel a bit silly reviewing blends with rose in them, because my skin chemistry tends to morph them into a rose single note. I can say that this isn't really a fresh rose or a sweet rose on me. It definitely has the feel of a classic rose perfume, sort of sharp and musky. I can smell just the tiniest hint of of earthy, black, gritty vetiver underneath all of the rose perfume. I won't be keeping my decant of this one. I love the smell of fresh, realistic roses or sweet, sugary roses, but I don't care for rose notes when they're sharp and perfumy like this...

In the bottle, I flip between thinking that this smells like pretty, honeyed pears or peach to thinking that it smells like cough syrup to thinking that it smells like potpourri :/. On my skin, this smells like cool, juicy, tropical fruitiness drizzled in sweet honey, next to a bowl of cheap, slightly spicy potpourri. It must be the tobacco giving it that dry, odd, slightly spicy smell. As it dries down, the potpourri impression thankfully disappears and I'm left with something that smells like dry leaves, golden, sweet honey and a hint of fruit. It's sweet, delicate, dry, and golden on my skin. Unfortunately, the honey&vanilla combo goes sickly sweet and gets cloying on me after a while. This has a lot of throw and staying power on me, but it's way too sweet for me to wear without getting a headache.

This was the chocolate blend that I was most excited for this year, but I can't smell any of the apricot that I was hoping for, and it's very light on the actual chocolate. That said, I do still kinda like this. I have to be in a mood for a tart, fruity scent to wear this, as it's mostly a tart, purple-red, candied raspberry. As it dries down, I get the tiniest hint of creamy chocolate that smells just like the white chocolate in the original Thirteen blend. It smells like a bowl of frozen, syrupy raspberries with a drizzle of creamy, warm white chocolate. It's decadent, and definitely tart and fruity, but the sweetness balances out the tartness really nicely, and the creamy chocolate softens its edges. It's like a fruity scent with attitude, and I can see myself wearing it a lot this summer. My husband really likes this on me and said it smells like strawberries to him...

I get the same fresh strawberry note from this that I did from last year's White Chocolate & Strawberry. It's like a tart, juicy, sweet strawberry rather than sickly-sweet, candied strawberry. I wasn't sure how the white pepper note would work for me, but it smells like cinnamon on my skin. When I first put this on, it smells like strawberry, creamy sweetness, and a shaving of red hots cinnamon candies. As it dries down, it's sweet strawberry and the spice smells almost incensey and sensual on my skin. While last year's White Choco & Strawberry is sweet, innocent, and playful, this year's spicy version has a sexy edge to it. I lovelovelove the strawberry note; it's so realistic. I would probably get a couple bottles of this if not for the fact that I already have five bottles of last year's version (one of my very favorite scents). I probably won't wear the spicy version as much as the original (I'll be keeping my decant, though). Still, this is definitely a gorgeous strawberry scent .

My favorite chocolate scents are Intrigue, Tezcatlipoca, and Boomslang, and all of those are available right now. Intrigue is black palm, cocoa, fig, and shadowy wooded notes. Tezcatlipoca is cocoa, patchouli, leather, incense, and flowers. And Boomslang is cocoa, Snake Oil, teakwood, and rice milk. They're rather complex and on the dark, resinous side of things. Centzon Totochtin is also interesting, if you like wine notes (it's a mix of Mexican cocoa, rum, red wine, and blood). And if you want a chocolate amber, you could always get Bliss (pure milk chocolate scent) and layer it with something like The Lion.

I wish that this smelled like wet earth, riverbanks, and water plants on me. It sounds like it has the potential to be so lovely, but Hatmehit does what aquatics usually do on my skin (turns to soap). In the vial, this smells like sweet, tangy, murky water and greenery. On my skin, it quickly morphs into soapy aquatic with hints of sweet, herbal greenery. It goes soapy-clean and fresh, but it's still a light, soft scent that doesn't give me a headache, at least. It doesn't have much throw and only lasts about an hour. Still... too soapy for me

In the bottle, this smells like a soft, sweet honey and fuzzy, clean cotton with a touch of powder. On my skin, I get baby powder and a milky honey note. It reminds me of a milk & honey scented lotion. In fact, it smells exactly like a Burt's Bees lotion that I used to have (the milk and honey one, I think). I was really hoping that the soil and 'flowerbed' would make this unique for me, but I don't smell any earthy notes or flowery notes at all. It's like baby powder, baby products, and burt's bees honey lotions... sort of light, boring, and generic smelling on me.

This is lots of smoky, dark, earthy vetiver on my skin. It smells like charred mesquite bbq planks at first, which I sometimes get from vetiver notes. It reminds me of Lenore's smoky darkness, but lets up a little as it dries down, getting a bit sweeter and more resinous. Still, this is too smoky and dark for me.

This is an odd scent. It's very light and fades fast on me, and it's hard for me to really get a good impression of it. It goes on smelling like fresh, watery, green cucumber and a bit of something bready/grainy smelling. Then it morphs into something like cucumber scented soap, before drying down to a pale green, light, herbal soap smell. All in all, this is too light and too soapy for me. I'll stick with Planting Moon and Squirting Cucumber for my garden scents.

I haven't really cared for any of the Blue Moon scents so far. This version is probably the best on me, but I still don't really like it or see myself wearing it. It smells like dry herbs and sharp, perfumey florals on me at first. I get a bit more cypress in the drydown, smelling like dry wood and a bit of greenery, but this also goes slightly soapy on me in the drydown. It smells like a drop of herbal, foresty, woodsy perfume thrown into a bottle of perfumey floral perfume, and I was hoping that it wouldn't be so sharply floral. I love moonflower, but don't get along with the iris. This is really light on me and only lasts about an hour. It's mostly sharp, perfumey florals and dry, soapy herbs on me. I don't think that this is one that I'll be needing more of.

I thought that this might smell a bit like Crumpet Rebellion, but it doesn't at all. This doesn't really smell like blackberry on me either. It smells very fruity and sugary, and reminds me of really thick, dark purple grape juice. It's like a cool glass of grape juice next to a slice of heavy, sugar crusted pound cake. As it dries down, it's mostly a heavy, artificial, fruit juice-type smell. It doesn't smell like blackberry or scones on me, really. The closest thing that I can compare it to is to say it smells a bit like Jester on me, but more sugary, heavier, and less wearable. Lots of artificial fruitiness here. It smells like something that would be a cute fragrance for a 5-10 year old, but it doesn't really work on me...

I get that warm, comforting feel from a lot of amber & spice scents as well. And I find vanilla & resin notes to be really soft and comforting. Most of my comfort scents have a combination of some of those notes. Dreadful Lies is my major comfort scent lately, and it goes all golden, warm, vanilla-y amber on me. The Lion has a similar feel for me. I also like Inez, Mouse's Long & Sad Tale, MB: Underpants, Dorian, and Tamora for my 'I need a hug' moments...

If I had to guess at the notes in this, I'd say it smells like honeysuckle, jasmine, and a bit of sweet orange on me. It's a very yellow, sunny, warm, perfumey floral with a touch of sweetness. As it dries down, it goes slightly powdery on me, and smells like a perfumey floral dusting powder. I'm not a huge fan of florals or classic, perfumey scents, so this isn't working for me...

In the vial and on my skin at first, this smells like maple syrup, burnt brown sugar, and something bread-y. After a while, I think I'm getting the butterscotch that other people have mentioned, because this starts to remind me of the sharp butterscotch note that I get from Creepy. I think I can smell something like the banana pancakes that other reviewers have mentioned, but this is mostly a mess of buttery sugar smells on me. After an hour, I can smell a hint of coffee grounds mixed with pancakes that have been smothered in butter, sugar, and butterscotch. It's intensely sweet. It has decent throw and sticks around on my skin for 4-5 hours. I think that this is too sweet for me, and my husband doesn't care for buttery scents, so he hates this one on me. I might use up the rest of my decant in an oil warmer, though.

I have no clue what typewriters or inked fabric ribbon should smell like, but I love this scent. It really is a dark scent that reminds me of writing and the smell of pen ink. It almost has the feel of a manly cologne (like black musk, chypre, and hints of earthy vetiver or dark, powdery incense - but not exactly smelling like any of those things). I find it really unique, comforting, and wearable, though. It clings close to my skin and lasts about 4 hours. This and Unexpected Golf Hazard are my favorites of the WKAP scents.