Little Bird

Sailing Stones doesn't really smell anything like I thought it would. I expected a dry, hot fragrance, but this smells like aquatics, soapy ozone, and men's cologne on me. It also smells oddly green & herbal for the first few minutes on my skin, before drying down to just a soapy ozone and men's cologne feel. Weird. Smells mainly like soapy (dryer sheets) ozone on me, so whatever is in this isn't playing nice on my skin. This decant is off to my swap pile...

I really wanted to try this room spray, and I'm so excited that I got a sample of it in my latest Post order (thank you so much BPTP! ). I spritzed Boot Hill all over the decorative pillows in our livingroom, and it smells a lot like Quincey Morris to me at first, if Quincey Morris had some black leather added into his blend. Soft leather, vanilla sweetness, and a touch of serious black leather. Every once in a while, I thought I smelled something like black licorice candy when I first sprayed this. As this dries down, it's all black leather, Quincey Morris, and a sweet, dark spiciness. It's dark, leathery, and masculine, but warm and cozy at the same time, like curling up into the warmth of a man wearing a leather jacket on a chilly fall day. It's a great fall scent, and would smell perfect for Halloween. I love this, and I'm sad that I can't buy more of it.

In the bottle, this smells like a smooth, cool incense & soft, light wood note (reminds me of Midnight Mass, actually) with a bit of sharp floral to it. I also keep thinking that it smells like it has some beeswax in it for some reason. In the water, this smells like sweet beeswax and incense. I really don't know where my nose is getting the beeswax from. It leaves a soft, sweet incense smell on my skin after the bath. Applied directly on my skin, this is just gorgeous. It has that cool, dark, velvety night sky feel that I got from Midnight Mass. Cool, dark incense and soft wood notes. The amber comes out in the drydown and goes slightly powdery, but even that is kept in check by the resins and woods. I'd wear this one directly on my skin, because it has that exotic, slightly powdery, sweet, dark resins & woods skin scent that I love. It makes me feel sexy and mysterious. Semiramis is still my all-time favorite bath oil ever, but Zenobia can take second place .

Aww, the pumpkin patch labels are always so cute. I love the artwork for Tattie Bogle too...

In the bottle, Iron Phoenix smells like men's cologne. I'll have to echo other reviewers and say that it reminds me of blends like Bed of Nails & Torture Queen. It has that same bright, polished, slightly sweet, clean metallic smell to it. I also thought of Mechanical Phoenix. On my skin, this instantly becomes spicier & warmer. Spicy-clean men's cologne over a soft, brown wood smell. As this dries down, it starts to get slightly smoky on my skin (like snuffed out candle smoke), and I can pick out something of a sweet lemon-like note. The lemon disappears after a while and I'm left with soft woods, candle smoke, and a lingering hint of spicy, exotic, clean men's cologne. It smells really sexy on me. I'll definitely be keeping my bottle of Iron Phoenix. I like this one a lot. ETA: I wound up selling this bottle recently, as it was starting to get sharper and muskier smelling with age. Really musky, dry, sharp, clean-metallic men's cologne. Very dry and harsh smelling.

In the bottle and on my skin, this is pretty much just a soapy-fresh aquatic with hints of a green, sweet floral (reminds me of lily) and something herbal. It’s a cool scent on my skin for the first 15 minutes or so, which makes me think of mint without smelling outright minty. As this dries down, it smells like a fancy, green, herbal soap & a spritz of sharp floral perfume. It seems sort of mellow, light, and soft, and then every once in a while I smell a bite of sharpness. All in all, this isn't a favorite for me, but I don't tend to like aquatics or herbal smells. At least it's not strong enough on me to give me a headache or anything.

I was hoping that this would be a tropical, green sort of smell with some banana added in. Aswang v1 goes pretty sharp and perfumey on me, though. I get a burst of banana candy type smell for the first five minutes or so on my skin, and then this dissolves into something like a mix of men's aquatic cologne and musky white floral drugstore perfume. Bleh. Every once in a while, I can pick out something sweet & fruity, but it's not enough to save this blend for me...

In the bottle, this smells like spicy cedar and red clay. Very interesting. On my skin, this smells like dry cedar chips, a hint of spearmint, and a hint of red clay. As it dries down, the red clay smell is stronger. It smells slick to me somehow, like slipping on wet red clay. It makes me think of earth, forests, and caves (and dinosaurs - I am strange, lol). After a half hour, this has morphed into a more a dry earth scent, and I don't pick up anything like spearmint anymore either. It still smells like red earth, though, and it's a very unique smell. I find it very comforting. I really love this. It smells like red earth and ancient, wonderful things...

This is an incredibly dark scent. In the bottle, I smell slightly sweet resins, a hint of menthol, and dark tree bark. On my skin, this is dark, resinous, and sultry. The menthol and weirdness that I smelled in the bottle disappears entirely. This almost smells a little bit ashy or smoky, which I'd normally hate, but I'm really enjoying it here. It makes me think of charred embers, polished wooden benches, and air heavy with sweet incense & shadows. Sol Niger is so intensely dark, warm, and incensey. It's really interesting, and I don't think that I own anything else quite like it.

The Amanda Palmer label looks gorgeous <3 I'm so excited for that series.

PX4 starts off pretty cloying and buttery on my skin, like a gingerbread cookie swimming in melted butter and something like maple syrup. My hubby hates buttery scents and threw a fit about this one. It's a sweet, sticky, buttery, spicy, foodie smell. I might smell some sort of nutty note in here as well. I've been amping up sweet notes lately, and this one is definitely cloying on me. After fifteen minutes or so on my skin, this mellows & fades a lot. It smells kind of like some sort of dry wood note with a gingerbread biscuit smell. Dry, warm, and bland, with a bit of spiciness. I don't hate this one, but it's a little too cloying for me at first, and the hubby hates it, so I doubt I'd ever wear it again.

In the bottle, this smells sharp and a bit dusty. I might smell something pine-like along with some golden resins, but it's definitely sharper & more perfumey than I was hoping for. It smells like a cheap floral perfume. On my skin at first, this smells like a sharp floral perfume :/ I think I'm getting a bit of sour rose from it as well. This definitely isn't the sweet resins, incense, spice, and wood that I had been hoping for. Gothic Horror is sour rose, heavy, sharp floral perfume, and just a hint of dusty, sharp, golden resin on me. It's all sharp, sour, and makes me feel like I'm going to cough when I smell it. I hate it, honestly, and am sorry I went for a full bottle of this one. Boo.

In the bottle, this smells like baby powder, sugar, and a sweet musk. I also flip between thinking that it smells sort of pink and sort of clean. On my skin, this is powder, something syrupy and cloying-sweet, and the musk goes sharp and hairspray-esque. When I slather this on, it's intensely powdery with a cloying, perfumey sweetness. Psych Horror just isn't good on me - too powdery and too musky-sweet. It actually reminded me of this carpet powder that my family used a lot when I was younger (you sprinkled it on to scent/deodorize carpet & then vacuumed it up). So, in my mind, I keep thinking that this is way too strong, too powdery, and too much like cleaning supplies. I suppose it also might smell like a really cheap, strong, cloying children's perfume. I had to wash this off after a half hour, because it was starting to give me a headache. Cloying, musky powder. Bleh.

In the bottle, Gore-Shock smells like someone crammed Thanksgiving ham in here, and added in some extra smoke. Salty, glazed ham and smoke. I like the smell of smoky ham, but do I want to smell like smoky ham? Not so much. It does make me want a sandwich, though :/ On my skin, much to my surprise, I really like this. It has a sort of resinous, spiced woods smell on me. Certain types of vetiver smell like smoky mesquite BBQ planks on me, and I get that at first, but the drydown of this is pretty good. Like spicy, resinous smelling wood and a bit of smokiness. It still smells just slightly of ham as well, though. I kind of like this, and then I catch a sudden whiff of ham and just feel weird about the whole thing, lol. Gore-Shock reminds me of Mutant Hot-Rodders a bit (and I love MHR), but minus the leather & clean cologne and with the addition of ham... This is weird, but it's not awful on me. I can't decide whether or not I like it. I might have my hubby wear it, lol.

This smells like the Thierry Mugler Alien dupe oils that you can get from a lot of soap making supply shops. TM Alien is a very distinctive, original smell (like sweet yellow floral, warm amber and green musk with citrus tones). It's one of those scents that doesn't really smell like anything else, unless someone was trying to dupe it. Bpal's Alien Invasion smells like one of those dupe oils + some extra grapefruit. I think the same base was used in the 51 blend as well. Dries down to a bland, plasticy, cheap dupe version of the real deal. The real TM Alien is better...

In the bottle, this smells like caramel cream and a fruity something that is both sweet & sharp at the same time. On my skin, this is a very mellow fruity note. It's not overly sweet, but it is sweet and makes me think of jam with large chunks of fruit and not a lot of sugar in it. I think it smells like strawberry. It also keeps remining me of strawberry fruit roll-ups. As it dries down, there's just the tiniest hint of something like caramel cream underneath the fruit. This is a light scent that doesn't have much throw. It only lasts about 3 hours on me as well. I like it, though. Strawberry fruit roll-ups and caramel cream candy, but not overly sweet or cloying at all. Soft, creamy, strawberry candy... This is a really simple, light smell on me, but I can still see myself wearing it from time to time.

In the bottle, this smells like a puff of clean, soft baby powder. It's also a little bit sweet. On my skin, it's the same. Clean babies, powder, and a touch of sweetness. It smells just like baby wipes and baby powder on me. There's really nothing diabolical here; I don't get any brimstone or darker notes at all. This is a really lovely, clean, soft smell on me. I don't know if I'd ever wear it (clean powder is not exactly 'me'), but it does smell nice & sort of comforting.

When I wore this, my husband said it smelled like: "Flowers. But not very good ones. It smells like plastic flowers that someone sprayed with cheap flower perfume." The rose, of course, amps up on me like there's no tomorrow, and the amber tosses baby powder all over it. Sweet, powdery, perfumey rose... a shame, because the resinous, woodsy, musky qualities in the imp are gorgeous (and totally nonexistent on my skin).

In the imp, this smells like ripe cantaloupe and honeydew melons. On my skin at first, I can't really smell anything but the melon. It's a cool, smooth, sweet melon. It's also very light and doesn't have much throw on me. As this dries down, it gets more citrussy and fresh smelling, and just a bit sharp. Melon and sharp citrus. I was hoping that the mint and grape would come out and make things more interesting, but they never do. Little Bat smells very clean, simple and summery on me, but it's not really my sort of fragrance. I love the melon note, but I don't really like the citrus.

I tried on Alice's Evidence and instantly had a flashback to trying on Frumious Bandersnatch & The Dodo. My skin chemistry amps up spice notes, and this is all spice all the time on me. It reminds me of that terrible, head achey feeling that I get when I wander down the potpourri section of a craft store, or get trapped in an aisle with hundreds of holiday spice candles. Yes, this smells like cinnamon and cider spice on me (just the spice, no fruit) in the worst way - cheap home fragrance. Alice's Evidence is cheap cider spice candle on me... not good.

I usually love the lab's rose notes, but my skin chemistry tends to amp up the rose until it's all that I can smell. I'm pleasantly surprised that the rose in Snooty Rose isn't overwhelming. I can actually smell the fruity plum and sandalwood in addition to a lovely red rose note. The combination of plum and red rose here is sweet and candy-like on my skin. Red sandalwood often smells slightly spicy, incensey, warm, and wooden on my skin (almost like carnation and wood incense, but darker). Snooty Rose is a pretty, smooth, sweet mix of all of those notes. It smells like a mix of sweet pinks and spiced reds on me, with a little hint of wood. The smooth, cool, sweet, fruity plum is probably my favorite thing about this blend. I don't know if I need a full bottle of this, but I'll keep an imp, at least.

In the imp, this smells like pineapple candy with more of a watery sharpness, thanks to the tangerine & seltzer. On my skin, this scent definitely isn't sweet enough for me. It does smell bizarre. The tobacco smells like bitter cigar smoke, not the soft, sweeter variety that I find wearable. Something in here also smells boozy (probably the seltzer), like the lab's champagne note that goes all pukey on me. The pineapple is the only sweet, candied thing about it, and it's sort of hiding in the background with some powdery amber. In the drydown, this calms down a bit, but it's still not good on me. It has an overall very clean, sharp feel on my skin, with hints of candied pineapple, baby powder, and dirty tobacco. Something about the pineapple keeps making me think of oily suntan lotion as well. Golden Afternoon fades pretty quickly on me, but it makes my head ache while it sticks around. This definitely is not a keeper for me.

In the imp, I was immediately hit with a blast of sweetness. I think it might smell kind of like molasses, and I don't know why :/. Molasses, violet candy, and something earthy. It's not good, though. On my skin, that funky sweetness is still here. I'm not getting the sharp greenery that others have mentioned. A weird, almost wooden sweetness (like wet sugar dripped over dry barn floors), violet candy, and a cool feel that must be the mint. As this dries down, it smells sort of dirty on me, like unwashed skin rolled in dust. Something brown and unpleasanty earthy is creeping into the mix. Brusque Violet is like a tour of bad for me. It starts off with an unidentifiable, cloying sweetness and then dries down with an unidentifiable dirty brown something (and taco seasoning? wth). It honestly makes me feel sick to my stomach when I smell it. It just goes all wrong and weird, with a powdery violet dancing around in the middle of the mess.

In the bottle, this smells like a sharp, citrussy men's cologne. It makes me think of bpal's green tea & lemon blends, but this is sharper, more sour, and more masculine. On my skin, this almost smells like fizzy lemon soda at first. It's like lemon soda mixed with a man's cologne. The cologne softens on my skin, thankfully, and the scent isn't so sharp. As it dries down, I think I can smell a bit of soft mint in here somewhere. The lemon or cologney aspects of this get warmer and a bit sweeter on me. After letting this settle for fifteen minutes or so, Phosphorous is like a warm amber & sweet lemon men's cologne. It's cozy and refreshing at the same time. I also still catch a fleeting hint of mint every once in a while. This is a little too masculine for me, but I'm going to love this on my boy.

I really like this fragrance, but it's incredibly short lived on my skin. I can only smell it for about fifteen minutes before I have to reapply. If this had better staying power and throw, I'd probably try to track down more of it. As it is, I’ll enjoy dabbing on the few drops left in my decant vial, but I don't need more. P013 smells something like buttery yellow cake batter, creamy white frosting, and a hint of lemony citrus on me (it also smells a little cream cheesy on me for a bit & then is slightly powdery in the drydown). The lemon gets a bit stronger before the whole thing fades. It’s just *so* light. I can barely smell it at all, unless I press my nose right up against my wrist where it’s applied. And it only lasts for about 15 minutes before I can't smell anything left at all. I already own a lot of foodie-cakey-lemon scents with better staying power, so I don't need to track down more of P013. Still, it's a cheery, delicious fragrance.