Little Bird

The Sea Foams Blood starts off smelling like dish soap on me, but mellows out in the drydown to smell like a fancy floral hand soap and dryer sheets. I don't smell any blood or darkness here - just soapiness and sweet floral. This is just way too soapy for me.

Poppy flowers, acai berry, and honey. ETA: I recently ordered a second bottle of this scent and it is not the same fragrance that I liked and reviewed back in 2009. I don't get any honey or berry from this new blend. The new 'version/variation' of this blend smells like soapy green apple and crushed dandelion stems, very green and sharp, with no berry or honeyed sweetness. Comparing my 2009 bottle with a 2012 bottle they are basically completely different fragrances with the same name, so ignore my original review if you're going to buy a bottle of this 'new'... as it is now a very green fragrance. My original review: I hate poppy and don't normally like honey, but I love the acai berry note in Australian Copperhead, so I thought I should give this a try. Happily, I get the same acai note here as I do in Copperhead. It's a tart, juicy, purple sort of berry with a green edge to it. Exotic, dark, and fruity. Poppy is usually unbearably sharp and perfumey on me, but I'm loving the floral aspect here, much to my surprise. It's like green stems and papery, clean, white petals with a drop of honey in their middle. I normally hate white florals, but this isn't turning sharp & musky on my skin. I think of white tissue paper whenever I wear this. Delicate, clean, papery floral <3. This doesn't have any of that crazy, cutting sharpness that I associate with poppy. It's a soft, sweet, pretty, clean floral. It makes me think of spring, and I'm seriously missing spring at the moment. Much to my surprise, I really like this. I don't wear a lot of floral scents, but I find myself reaching for this one quite a bit. It has tons of throw and a little bit goes a long way, but it's an amazingly unique fruity-floral with a touch of honey.

In the bottle and on my skin at first, this smells clean. It's like fruit scented shampoo with a kick of leather in the background. As it dries down, I get something like a dry, perfumey, slightly spiced wood. The fruity aspects start to smell sharp and lemony on me after about five minutes, and I start really hating this. I don't know where all of the listed notes are at, because this smells like cheap, dry musk and lemon cleaning fluid on me. Smoky leather fades in and out. I'm getting nothing like vanilla or cream, and no fig at all (and I love the fig note, and it's usually pretty strong on me). This is a sharp mess on my skin. ETA: I've held on to my bottle of this one for the past three years, hoping for the fig and cream to come out more as it aged, but it hasn't gotten better at all. Oddly, it has gotten more fruity and soapy with age. I don't get the leather at all anymore, it's just a vague, artificial berry shampoo sort of smell. Fake-y berries and that artificial clean smell. Bleh. Time to put this one up for swaps.

In the bottle, this is a white sugared, fluffy smelling sweetness with hints of something like suntan lotion (must be the coconut giving me that impression). On me, this starts off a bit too aggressive for my tastes. It's a cloying sweetness with a plasticy edge, and an oily, sticky suntan lotion smell to it. In the drydown, the white chocolate starts to smell more like milk chocolate on me again (which I don't mind at all ). The coconut disappears, which I also don't mind, since it wasn't playing very nice on my skin anyhow. I'm left with a strong, sugary vanilla and hints of chocolate. Something about it smells a little sharp & cloying on me, but it's not too bad. My favorites of the chocolate box are Milk Chocolate Buttercream, White Chocolate Strawberry, and White Chocolate & Sugared Violets. I'll probably keep my bottle of this one, but I won't need a second bottle.

In the bottle, this smells like real, fresh, slightly tart strawberries and a hint of cream. I was expecting this to be sickly sweet, candied strawberry on me, but it actually smells fresh and tart, like real strawberries. The white chocolate is like a tiny bit of smooth cream at the strawberry's edges. I'm shocked that this scent never turns on me. The strawberry stays true and doesn't morph into a candied mess, and the white chocolate is like a wonderful, soft cream that never overpowers the berry. The tart aspects keep it from smelling like strawberry cream saver candies on me, thankfully. My only complaint about this one is that it's incredibly light on me. Still, it's wonderful enough that I don't mind reapplying. I really love a good strawberries & cream scent, because they smell so girly, innocent, and playful to me. If anyone has ever tried Skindazzles' Strawberry Milksage scent (which was awesome and is now discontinued, much to my annoyance), this has that fresh strawberry milkshake type of quality, minus the sage, obviously. I'm going to add a couple more bottles of White Chocolate and Strawberry into my next order

This doesn't really smell like white chocolate to me, but more of a milk chocolate or cocoa. It's like violet dipped in milk chocolate and dusted with cocoa powder. The violet is sweet, dark purple, and a touch powdery. Violets always smell bruised and melancholy to me in this pretty sort of way... Anyhow, this is a really beautiful, simple blend. I can smell the chocolate and the violet equally. Milk Chocolate Buttercream is my love of the chocolate box, but I'm really liking this violet one as well. I might need another bottle of this one before it's discontinued.

Sniffing the box of chocolates in their bottles, this one was my least favorite. It smells like markers, all harsh and chemical-like. On my skin at first, this reminds me of Monster Bait: Bloody Mary. It smells like sour cherry candies, no chocolate, and a bit of cream and powdered sugar. The cherry is tart and not sickly sweet. In the drydown, this starts to smell a bit weird and sharp again, like cherry cough syrup. I also smell a hint of the chocolate, but it smells like burnt chocolate . Burnt chocolate and cherry cough syrup. Not good. The smell makes me feel a little nauseous. Dark Chocolate and Cherry is my least favorite of the chocolate box scents.

In the bottle, this is half full of the thick, sludgy, cocoa absolute type of oil that's in Boomslang (it smells nothing like Boomslang). I can smell the chocolate, the pepper, and the caramel. My boy hated it and said it smelled like really strong coffee. I don't think that I'm liking bpal's pepper note. I had the same problem with Ghulheim, where the pepper smelled like spiced breakfast sausage on my skin. Odd, smoked, spiced meat. This isn't as awful as Ghulheim, though. The caramel adds a nice, smooth sweetness, and there's a pleasant bit of smokiness to the caramel. I don't smell any chocolate at all, even though the chocolate oil left my skin stained a light brown, lol. My boy said it smelled like burnt coffee and caramels. This only lasts about an hour on my skin, and I'm not too fond of it. This does have my all time favorite bpal label, though <3. I love the artwork on the box of chocolates scents.

This and the Pepper Smoked Caramel were my favorites of the chocolate box when I sniffed them all in the bottles. In the bottle, this is a creamy, frosty chocolate smell, like a chocolate shake topped off with whipped cream. On my skin, it starts off with that same smell, and dries down to smell a lot like Lump of Coal plus sugar cookies (fresh Lump of Coal, not aged). It's insanely rich chocolate that reminds me of freshly baked fudgey brownies. My boy normally doesn't like foodies, but he liked this, and said it smelled like baking chocolate chip cookies and sugar cookies. It smells a bit like sugar cookies to me after a while too. It's like baked goodies, extra sugar, and a creamy edge. Milk Chocolate Buttercream is just amazing, sweet, and comforting. I love foodie scents, and I need at least a dozen more bottles of this

In the bottle, this is like smelling the dry leaves of a fruity flavored tea. It's a clean, light scent. On my skin, it's much the same, except a really pretty honeyed note takes center stage. I don't normally like honey; I find it sickly sweet and strangely metallic on my skin, but the honey here is smooth and clean smelling. After a half hour or so, the honey fades away and I think that I can smell a soft floral from the lilac. It doesn't smell like lilac normally smells on me, though, it's much softer and a touch powdery. I might have guessed that the floral was lily. Overall, this is a soft, clean smelling fragrance on me. It smells pale and watered down. I don't smell any myrrh or resins. I like The Dormouse a lot more for a clean tea type of scent.

In the bottle, this is all scary vetiver. It smells like someone tried to set damp, rotting wood on fire. A dark, cold, smoky, dank sort of vetiver. On my skin, the vetiver smells sweeter and this goes very powdery. It's so strong in the bottle, but very light and subtle on my skin. It's also very not me. Prurience is a verrry dry smelling scent. It's like dry wood, woodsmoke, sharp, dry musk, and baby powder. I can't pick out any carnation or tonka. This one isn't a keeper for me.

The Lady on the Grey is all soap, powder, and smoky floral on me. It's like freshly scrubbed skin that still smells of soap, dusted with baby powder and then splashed with a drop of smoky floral perfume. It's really subtle but it does last quite a while on my skin. It's just not really my type of scent.

My boy likes this scent and said it smells like "pretty pink petals covered in dew." I think that it smells rosy, but not like the fresh roses and green stems of The Queen's Croquet Ground. It smells like a fancy, classic rose perfume. It's not green or fresh at all, but has an overall perfumey, sharper quality. Something about it reminded me a bit of Peony Moon as well. The Fainting Couch made my livingroom smell as though I had spilled an expensive rose perfume all over the place. Every time I relaxed, I'd catch the scent of it and absentmindedly wonder if I spilled perfume somewhere. All in all, I much prefer the fresh roses of Croquet Ground.

I like this in the bottle where it smells like a clean, dark cologne and gorgeous black pepper. On my skin, Ghulheim just morphs into something odd, though. It smells like flat cola and spicy breakfast sausages . Smoked, spiced meat. In the drydown, the cola-y sweetness starts to smell like maple syrup on me, which just makes me even more unable to get rid of the impression of breakfast sausages. This is not a keeper for me.

Daffodil is one of my favorite smells in the world, and I've never found a perfume that really smells like them. I get no daffodil from Owens' Tomb. This is pretty much all dandelion on me at first. Dandelion and a cold, green bitterness, with a sickly-sweet, powdery floral in the background. Over time, the lily takes over the blend, and it's a nice, true lily on me. Cool and slightly powdery. This is okay, but probably not something that I'll wear a lot. I don't care for the opening stages, and the lily is nice, but it gives me a headache... I have a hard time with floral scents giving me headaches

In the vial, this is like a sweet, clean musk and something dirty, like motor oil. Maybe a hint of anise. On my skin... this is weird. It's sort of like an ultra musky spearmint and dirty rest area bathroom plus cleaning products smell. Something reminds me of cigarette smoke in the drydown. Cigarette smoke in a rest area bathroom :/ The Convocation is not the sexy men's cologne that I was hoping for. This just smells all wrong on me.

I love bpal's Eggnog perfume oil, but this doesn't really smell anything like eggnog to me (the real thing or the perfume version). This blend is like sickly sweet, creamy coffee and a gingerbread smell in the bottle, and a sweet, icky spiced goods smell on my skin. I don't think that the oils in this one are really high quality, because they remind me of candle fragrance and soap making oils. A really sweet spiciness that gives off a 'spiced baked goods' feel. I can pick out a hint of sweet coffee if I'm looking for it, but it's mostly spices on my skin. It almost has a weird, waxy, plastic edge to it that smells very cheap and off-putting. Almost dusty and sour. I much prefer Bah, Pinched, or Miskatonic University for a coffee scent, and bpal's regular eggnog yule LE is good for something that actually smells like eggnog.

I don't usually care for white florals, and this is white flowers in the worst way on my skin. It's all sharp, cheap, and perfumey smelling, plus soap. I might get a bit of mint in here as well, but I have to wash this off after fifteen minutes or it starts to give me a vicious headache.

In the bottle, this smells like softly spiced apple cider and hay, and I'm not sure why :/. Rubbed directly on my skin, this is sour bergamot, spiced amber, and a hint of soft rose. In the drydown, it's dry woods and spiced, sweet amber. In bath water, it's pretty much all dry wood and powdery amber to my nose, and that's the scent it leaves on my skin when I leave the bath. It's pretty enough, but I'm not crazy about it. It's a bit too much on the dry, powdery woods smell for me. I was hoping for more blackberry and white rose...

In the bottle, this is perfumey musk and warm, sweet honey with some vanilla. Overall it's like a sticky-sweet, ultra musky, classic, woman's perfume. Underneath that, I can smell a hint of pine needles that reminds me of Golden Priapus. On my skin, the muskiness thankfully mellows down (though it creeps back in full force in the drydown). The patchouli, resins, and tobacco all meld together to create a sweet, rich, resinous earthiness. I can pick out all of the listed notes separately, but they blend together into a great perfume. It's a bit earthy, a bit sweet, a bit ultra sexy vanilla, a bit honeyed sweetness, and a hint of pine. It has an overall feel of resins with sexy, sweet musk and vanilla on my skin. In the drydown, I get a lot more of the honey note and the earthiness fades to the background. This reminds me of LUSH's Honey I Washed the Kids mixed with Givenchy's Pi cologne. Musky pine, honey, vanilla, and a hint of gritty earthiness. I like The Illustrated Woman, and my boy likes this on me. He said it reminded him a bit of my Black Lace perfume, which he loves on me. I might need to get another bottle of this'n before the carnaval leaves town.

In the bottle, I can smell the comparisons to the musk that's in Ivanushka. It's mostly musk and dark, sweet amber with a hint of spiciness. I can smell almond too, but it smells like hyper-sweet maraschino cherries to me. On my skin, this is mostly a soft, powdery musk with sweet, cherry-esque almond and sharp, perfumey spice. In the drydown, this starts to smell weird and goes to burnt plastic on me. Miss Lupescu goes all wonky on my skin. I won't be keeping this one.

In the vial, this smells like powdery, fake-y banana candies and something dirty/earthy. On my skin, this smells like banana candies, warm, musky perfume, and dry hay. In the drydown, it's dry, dusty hay and something sour and pukey. Not good. I had to wash this one off.

In the vial, this smells amazingly dark, heavy, and spooky. It smells so creepy, like a dying meadow near a forest as the sun goes down, and you really don't want to be there alone when the sun goes down. Heavy, slightly burnt, dry grass, dark soil, and a chill in the air. On my skin, this smells cold and earthy, with a little hint of smoke that goes away in the drydown. The Field smells like sitting on a blanket of dry, sweet grasses in the fall, next to a flowing river, with a cold breeze blowing in from the forest across the field. It truly smells like all of those wonderful things to me. And my boy *loves* this on me (seriously, he said it's his favorite bpal). He said it smells very natural and forest-y, and I agree. The Field doesn't smell like any perfume that I've had before. It smells so natural and comfortable to me. I wasn't expecting to like this at all, but I'm going to need a full bottle of The Potter's Field

I had hoped that this would be mostly chocolate and sex (though I’m not sure what exactly I hoped sex would smell like, lol) and not much champagne, but it’s the opposite of what I had hoped for. I get a whiff of dry cocoa powder when this is first applied, but that quickly disappears and I’m left with the champagne note that fizzles out within an hour on my skin. All of the Champagne blends fade really fast on me. I’m not well educated in boozy smells (I don’t drink alcohol); the champagne smells like an odd mix of bright & clean and sharp & pukey, though. It's oddly sour and unpleasant. I think that I was hoping for more of a sweet, fizzy smell. I'm glad to have gotten the chance to try this, but it's not something that I'd ever wear.

In the bottle, this smells like frozen blackberries and lavender. It isn't a minty, snowy, or menthol type of frozen, but the scent just smells cold to me somehow. On me, this starts off with a cool, smooth lavender that I really enjoy, and a juicy fruitiness that's still reminding me of the lab's blackberry note (but I suppose it's the lychee). The drydown isn't awesome on me, though. This dries down to cold snow, citrussy notes, and something like slightly soapy, white florals. I keep getting images of white laundry soap stuck in my head. It's very clean smelling on me. Moon of the Terrible might be too clean and white for my tastes, once it dries down. I'll keep my bottle and see how it ages, but I'm not loving it at the moment.