Little Bird

My first thought was that this reminds me of Voodoo. It's dark, sexy, and smells almost edible, like something I'd want to drink (I do think that it smells a little like cola with lime). The clove note is really strong on me (a dry, masculine, sweet clove smell), but I can pick out the patchouli, amber, sandalwood, and a hint of lime as well. My skin amps up spice notes, so the drydown turns more clove-heavy than I would like, but it's still wonderful. Black Death is dark, spicy, earthy, resinous (the mix of amber and sandalwood here is gorgeous), and smooth. I was worried that this would be too citrussy, but I can only smell the "touch of lime" in the mix. I don't care for this layered with Black Lace or Black Heart, but I love it on its own, and it smells especially wonderful on my husband.

In the bottle and on my skin at first, this smells like a faint cherry cough syrup . Pomegranate turns slightly bitter on me, and I can smell that mixed with the plum. After five minutes, the sweet pea takes over and this turns into a sweet, perfumey floral with hints of tart plum. It's more of an artificial, sweet tarts candies smell than a true fruit smell on me. I wanted this for the vanillas, sandalwood, and carnation, but all I can smell is perfumey sweet pea and sweet tarts candy. It's very artificial and cloying-sweet on me. I like it more layered with Black Lace, but I also like Black Lace more on its own than layered with this. I hate Black Heart layered with Black Death, because that combo smells like cheap potpourri spice and cheap conversation hearts candies with a hint of stale clove cigarettes on me. I hope that this gets better with age, because it's not doing much for me at the moment.

I get tons of carnation from this scent. It's a sweet, dry, spicy carnation rather than a fresh carnation smell, but still definitely smells like carnations on me. I get tons of dry carnation and little hints of the dry, golden amber & honey that I associate with O. The amber and honeyed vanilla do get stronger in the drydown, but they don't overpower the carnation at all. The released version of O has a tendency to go powdery and cloying on my skin, but O v6 isn't powdery or overly sweet on me. It's not quite as strong as O, but it does last all day on me and it has decent throw.

When I first apply this oil, it smells like the clean vanilla-musk of Dorian paired with berry lemonade. It's a bit more tart/fruity than I normally enjoy, but it is a fun and playful scent. It's summery and my husband likes this on me. The released version of Dorian is one of my favorite scents, and I find Dorian v2 to be very addictive, but v3 is just okay on me...

I haven't really cared for any of the Blue Moon scents. This one starts out okay, with the cool, watery blue musk and hints of creamy florals. The drydown, however, goes really soapy on me. It smells like a bar of sharp, generic white soap. After a while, I can smell the cypress, adding a hint of evergreen and dry wood to the sharp soapiness, which makes it smell like manly soap on me. I'm not sure what in this is going soapy on me, but I tend to get a lot of sharpness from bpal's ylang ylang and iris notes...

Lily notes are usually fantastic on me (creamy, sweet, soft floral) or else they turn to soap. I don't really smell anything like lily in this scent, though, soapy or otherwise. Daylilies at the Bottom of the Stairs is a harsh, chemical-y smell on me. I get a hint of greenery in the bottle, but not on my skin. It reminds me of a cheap, metallic hairspray smell, or a harsh, musky, chemical/alcohol-heavy perfume from the 80s. I can smell a bit of the oak in the drydown, just adding a dark, dry wood smell underneath the harsh chemicals. This smells to me like some sort of harsh chemical that I shouldn't be breathing in. It's way too sharp for me. I think that this is my least favorite of the WKAP scents.

In the bottle and on my skin at first, this reminds me of a lot of bpal's green grass type blends. It smells like a green lawn dotted with wildflowers. As it dries down, Leaf-Strewn Couch smells like I'm sitting on a green lawn underneath a bunch of wet laundry hung out to dry. It's like the sweet scent of floral laundry soap clinging to wet linens. I usually don't like soapy smells, but this doesn't go badly soapy on me. It's more sweetly soapy and delicate, like bubble bath. I can also smell a hint of the spiciness of dry, dead leaves. I thought that I would hate this, but it's surprisingly green, sweet, and pleasant on me. It's a perfect green lawn and laundry hung out to dry scent on me - breezy, clean, peaceful, and soothing. I don't get a feel of dust and mold at all. I think I need a full bottle of this.

Bpal's vanilla blends sometimes go all weird on me. I didn't care for the chalky vanilla in Love's Philosophy or the sharp, not sweet at all vanilla in Sachs, for example. I love this blend, though. The vanilla here is sweet, sexy, and feminine on me. In the bottle, this smells like a sweet, perfumey, warm, feminine, vanilla dusting powder. Very girly. On my skin, a bit of smoky black leather pops up, but it doesn't overpower the sweet vanilla and dry floral perfume smell at all. The smoky leather just adds a hint of dark, dangerous sexiness to the feminine notes. Dry floral perfume, a dusting of sweet vanilla, and a whisper of black leather. The floral part makes me think of dried gold and orange colored flowers. My husband loves this on me, and I think Liz is going into my top ten of favorite bpals. I defnitely need a couple bottles of this. :love!:

At first, this reminds me of the Templum Victoriae room spray. I can smell what I think is resinous frankincense and something sweet, dry, and herbal, but this doesn't have Templum's honeyed, beeswax sweetness. It makes me think of dusty marble, resins, incense, and old wooden benches. After about an hour, I kept thinking that Thousand Pillar smelled a lot like Midnight Mass with a hint of Cathedral. It smells like a sweet, smooth, midnight incense scent, with a little bit of brighter resins and wood added in. The husband and I both love resin/incense blends, so this is a big hit in my house. I'd get another bottle if it were ever released.

In the vial, this didn't smell like much to me. Sort of a pale, clean smell. On my skin, it instantly turns into sharp, soapy, chemical florals. It smells like a spritz of sharp, cheap, floral perfume over a soapy dryer sheet. After about fifteen minutes, the scent calms down a bit, but I'm still not loving it. It's a little bit sweeter and creamier, perhaps thanks to the gardenia, and the sandalwood/amber comes in making things smell powdery and dry. Whirling Wind Moon is mainly perfumey, sharp floral, dry soapiness, and powder on me. The drydown is lighter and not as sharp, but it starts to smell like baby powder. All in all, this is very not-me. My decant is headed to the swap pile...

This smells like tons of cypress and a bit of warm, powdery, golden amber on me (which I guess is the styrax). I don't smell anything fruity or plum-like or anything like lettuce. The cypress note smells dark green and sort of murky and bitter on me, though it softens in the drydown. It's a little bit like pine, but I get more of a dark, dry wood note from it and the greenery smells darker to me too. I thought that this would be too dark and too much on the bitter side of things, but the powdery, warm, resinous drydown is nice. It still smells dark, woodsy, and green, but the golden, powdery quality makes it warmer and more wearable. I don't think that I can wear this well, but my husband loves evergreen type notes, and I think that this would smell wonderful on a guy. It's like a darker, murkier version of Golden Priapus.

Iron Phoenix is my least favorite of this year's Phoenix blends. It smells all mismatched and wrong on me. In the bottle, this smells like menthol and bitter spice. On my skin, it smells like menthol-y juniper (no clue where that smell is coming from), red cough syrup, and a dark, herbal spiciness. I also get a hint of what smells like dry cedar in the drydown. This blend smells like it should be in a medicine cabinet. Iron Phoenix is too dark, medicinal, and bitter for me.

In the bottle and on my skin at first, this is sour lemongrass and cool mint. Lemongrass smells kinda off on me when I first put it on (sort of like dead fish and herbs :/). I was expecting this to be soapy, thanks to the ozone, but the blend doesn't go soapy on me at all. I think that I can smell the "pale metals," as there's this cool, metallic edge to the blend that's actually very soft and pleasant. I don't generally care for lemongrass, but the note does get sweeter, creamier, and more pleasant on me in the drydown, as its sour/gross edge disappears. As this dries down, it's a very gentle, cool sort of scent that's unlike any of the other metal scents that I've tried. The cool, air-y, metal smell here is really beautiful and interesting... it really smells like cold air somehow. I don't like the initial blast of lemongrass, but the drydown of this is beautiful. I think that I'll keep my decant, and maybe set Tin Phoenix aside as a scent for my husband to wear.

I usually hate lemon verbena scents, but I find myself enjoying Gold Phoenix, even with its strong verbena note. Lemon is strong and center stage on me, but the other notes really soften its edges and keep it from going sour. This is a very golden, sunny smelling blend. The amber and heliotrope go powdery on me, and something in this smells slightly herbal and keeps making me think of wildflowers. Verbena is usually sharp, sour lemon on me, but something in this turns the lemon into a sweet, lemon dessert type smell. In the drydown, Gold Phoenix smells like sweet lemon, sun-warmed wildflowers, and a touch of powder & sweet resins on me. It makes me think of laying in the sunshine in a field on a hot summer's day with a glass of lemonade. I expected to hate this, but I'll definitely be keeping my decant

I really love the mix of apricot and sweet orange here <3. It smells juicy, sweet, feminine, and summery to me. I think that it's actually reminding me of the peach wine note in Aglaea. The fruity notes are strongest on my skin, but the other notes sort of linger in the background and smolder in a warm, sensual way. My skin usually ampa up rose, but I don't smell any rose here. As this dries down, it's less of a juicy fruit scent, but I can still smell sweet fruitiness mixed with dry, warmer notes. The amber amps up and goes very dry and dusty on me, but this is still a nice scent. It's like dust, sweet fruits, and a dry, woodsy spiciness. I love this a lot more in the beginning when the fruits are all juicy and dominating the blend. The fruits make it a very cheery, uplifting scent for me. The drydown isn't as good, but it's still a nice enough scent. I don't need a full bottle of this, but I'll keep my decant.

Cinnabar and silvery liquid droplets of mastic, white sandalwood, elemi, and lavender. In the bottle, this is tons of creamy, herbal lavender. It reminds me of LUSH's Dreamtime bath melt, which I love. I wish that the lavender were stronger on my skin. On my skin, the sandalwood instantly comes out to play. Lavender over dry woods. It's a very soothing, calm scent. Then, as this dries down, a spicy, masculine cologne smell takes over. It's like a man wearing too much cologne just stumbled into my relaxing spa day and ruined everything. This has a musky/perfumey/cologney sharpness to it that I don't like at all. It starts to remind me of cheap hairspray after a while. That spicy cologne smell really takes over and kills the other notes on my skin too. After a half hour, this is really strong & obnoxious, and I can't smell the sandalwood or lavender anymore. Quicksilver Phoenix is on the masculine side of things, but it's too sharp for me to want my husband to wear it. It starts to give me a headache after a while...

In the bottle, this smells like violet, but a very cool, pale, soft, juicy, sweet sort of violet. It makes me think of a single violet bathed in silvery moonlight next to a pond. On my skin, this doesn't change much. It's a pretty, pale violet. Violet can sometimes go soapy on me, but it's sweet here (perhaps the sweetness of the pear). As this dries down, I can smell the moonflower and it starts to remind me of Evening Star. The moonflower goes slightly powdery on me, but it's not a baby powder smell, more like a cool vanilla powder. Silver Phoenix smells like cool vanilla powder, creamy moonflower, and sweet violets on me. It's very pretty. I don't normally like florals, but I like this. It's a cool, ethereal, night-time scent...

When I first tried this, I kept thinking that it smelled like rose and cough syrup. After reading the reviews, maybe that off, slightly fruity smell is the dragon's blood, and I'm getting something like mint or eucalyptus that makes this seem medicinal. At first it's like sweet red rose mixed with a handful of dying flowers and a drip of red cough syrup. It dries down to a sweet, powdery rose on me. My skin amps up rose-y notes like crazy, so that's to be expected. I definitely don't need more of this blend.

I thought that I'd love this prototype, but it goes all wrong on me. It starts off cloying, almost like vanilla cake batter and buttercream frosting scented candle. As it dries down, it smells like vanilla buttercream candle and melting plastic. It's way too sweet on me, and has this warm, odd, chemical smell that's not too pleasant. This fades really fast on me too. After about 20 minutes there's just a faint, sugary vanilla smell left on my skin.

In the bottle, this smells like a sexy, smooth men's cologne and a bit of masculine spiciness from the bay rum. On my skin, this is swoon-worthy. It's definitely masculine, but it's comforting and sexy smelling at the same time. As it dries down, this is mostly dark, smooth incense that's reminding me of blends like Cathedral and Midnight Mass, and a dry spiciness from the bay rum, all wrapped up in a manly cologne feel. The 'dry spice' gets stronger for me over time.

I'd recommend trying The Rose from the Marchen category if you want a fresh, red rose smell. London is also good (from the Wanderlust category), but strikes me as more of a dry red rose.

I don't have much to add about this scent. It's buttery orange cake on me and dries down with a little bit of spice. It smells delicious and, as has already been said, reminds me of Huesos de Santos. After an hour on my skin, the scent has faded a lot and sort of smells like vanilla frosting and a bit of spice. I like it well enough, but I have other citrus-cake blends, so I don't need to try to find a bottle o' this one.

I love apple scents (even though bpal's apple blends rarely work on me), so I was super-excited to get a partial decant of this. When I first opened up the vial, my hand shook, and I promptly dumped most of the oil down my laptop keyboard :/. It smelled wonderful, like tart & juicy green apples. I was horrified, and then my husband came in to rub salt in the wounds and started telling me that my perfume smelled amazing and apple-y. Then he realized what had happened and gave me a lecture about being more careful around the laptop. *sigh* It does smell amazing and apple-y, and I just wish that I had more of it. It reminds me a bit of Possets' Pomona fragrance. It's like crisp, honeyed apples, slightly sweet & clean/perfumey smelling at the same time. I think that this is the only prototype that I've really loved, and my husband really likes it as well. I hope that I can get a full bottle of this at some point...

In the bottle, this smells like Lump of Coal plus Gluhwein... which is to say it smells like fudgey brownie batter and spiced wine. On my skin, it smells like rich chocolate brownies with a dusting of sweet spice, and a hint of something like the wine in Gluhwein. It smells very warm, rich, heavy, and decadent on me. I would probably get a bottle of this if it were available, though it seems a little too sweet for me at times.

In the bottle and on my skin, this is a sour, red rose and powdery white sandalwood. I wanted to love this, because I love the idea and sentiment behind this fragrance, but this is probably my least favorite rose scent from bpal. Sour, sharp, slightly soapy rose and equal parts powdery, dry wood. I smell it and think "bad, cheap, chemical-y perfume." The Little Wooden Doll gives me a vicious headache. I had to scrub this one off after an hour, because it was making me sick...