Little Bird

In the bottle, I can barely smell anything... perhaps a whiff of light sandalwood and soft, musky cologne. On my skin, this initially reminds me of Luperci, but Mole is very light and doesn't have much throw at all on me. It's like sandalwood with a bit of honeyed sweetness. In the drydown, it's dry, slightly powdery sandalwood. Every once in a while, I get a hint of earthy, soft moss, but it's mostly just sandalwood. I slather this on and it still only lasts about a half hour on my skin. It's a nice enough sandalwood scent, but I don't see myself wearing this much. Perhaps it will get better/stronger with age.

In the bottle, this smells sharp, sour, and smoky. The only note that I can definitely pick out is pine, but it smells dirty and sharp. On my skin... This is the smoky, charred BBQ sort of vetiver that I hate, mixed with the sharp, cat pee type of pine that I hate. It's a really sickening, soured fragrance on me. When it dries down, it smells like bathroom cleanser. I have Scrubbing Bubbles that smell just like this, actually. This has those dirty, cat pee undertones, though, so it smells like I'm trying to clean up something nasty... I've deeply loved a lot of blends in the Wind in the Willows series (Sea Rat, Badger, Toad <3), but Rat is awful on me.

In the bottle, this reminds me of Troll and Dunwich. I get something like smoky pine pitch and swampy, cold greenery. It seems too dark and not sweet enough for me. On me, this is very not good. It smells like feces hiding under a dry, bitter wood note and soapy greenery. Over time, the laundry soap smell takes over and it's actually an improvement, though I still don't enjoy it. Nowhere In Particular morphs into strong, headache-inducing laundry soap on me

In the bottle, this smells like sweet, creamy, cool florals. I keep going back to it, because it's such a pretty scent. I can pick out a fresh, soft rose as well. On my skin, this reminds me a bit of a clean rose perfume that came along with one of my Barbies when I was little, but this takes on a sharper, more perfumey edge. It seems like it wants to go soapy in its sharpness, but it never does go to soap on me. Over time, this takes on a strong, heavy, sharp, musky feel on me. It's like one of those musky-floral perfumes that you can find by the dozens at department stores. It's a sharp, serious, woman scent - classic, fakey, powdery rose and sharp, cutting musk (which may be aquatic or ozone going wonky on me). Unfortunately, I can't pull this type of scent off and it starts to give me a headache after a while. I wish that All They Had Seen was as pretty on me as it is in the bottle...

I just got a couple wee drops of this in a swap that I slathered on my boy, since it sounded like a masculine scent. My boy's skin chemistry sometimes amps up the sweetness in scents, and Libertarian mostly smelled like a smoky, sweet clove scent on him. It seemed a bit resinous and cologney in the drydown (maybe a bit of clean citrus and amber that others have mentioned). The boy thought it smelled nice and spicy, but said it wasn't a favorite. I didn't care for the smoky tone that Libertarian took on him, but it faded away within an hour. I guess that's good; I don't have to try to track down more of this for him now, lol.

In the bottle, this smells so pretty. It's a soft, salty aquatic, fruitiness that reminds me of bpal's blackberry note, and a smooth, cool lavender. On me, this goes instantly soapy. It's like I stuffed my head into a box of laundry soap. I kept waiting and hoping that the other notes would drift back into focus, but laundry soap is all she wrote

I wasn't expecting much from Metal Phoenix. I tend to not enjoy musk or verbena, and while I love honeysuckle in real life, it's usually too perfumey and sharp for me in perfume form. In the bottle, this smells scary. It's like perfumey, sharp hairspray and a cloying sweetness that makes me think of home-made popsicles, but too sweet. It starts off the same on my skin. I think that the musk and metal meld together and are just too sharp for me. I smell like I drenched myself in cheap hairspray. In the drydown, I don't know what the sweet note is, but it's making me kind of sick. Metal Phoenix makes me feel like I'm trapped in the girl's lockerroom in high school, a room drenched in hairspray, Bath and Body Works, and cheap, sweet perfume. I think that this is my least favorite Phoenix blend...

Ho Ho Ho is a really dark oil, like it has a thick red musk in it, but I can't really smell any red musk. This is very much a candle and red hots cinnamon type of scent on my skin, so I don't really care for it. It seems more like a cheap room scent than a personal scent. I get lots of sharp cinnamon spice and maybe some woodsmoke. I wish that I got the fruit or pine that others have mentioned, but it's pretty much all spices. In the drydown, Ho is like a dusty, sharp, holiday spice candle. It makes my head ache. My boy just made a face when I made him smell this one and said it smelled like holiday potpourri. I've been liking a lot of spice blends lately, but this isn't a winner for me. Has gotten even spicier with age, but it's the exact type of cinnamon that I can't handle (sharp red hots candy type cinnamon). Headache inducing to the max.

In the vial and on my skin, this smells exactly like orange flavored gummis. I expected freshly peeled orange rather than squishy, gummi candy orange, but here it is. Smell an orange flavored gummi and you have Orange single note. The artificial sweet smell isn't very good on me. Over time, it starts to smell more like orange drink powder or orange flavored vitamins, and I hate it. This one lasts about an hour on my skin, but doesn't have much throw. All in all, this is something that I'd never wear again.

I expected Egle to be a soapy floral mess on me, but it actually doesn't go soapy. The floral in this is way too much for me, though. On me, this smells like off, rotten flowers (hello jasmine) covered up with a spritz of sharp, white floral perfume. It's very sharp and perfumey. I can't pick out the fir and aquatic exactly, but there's a chill to this in the drydown that I'm assuming is coming from the fir, and a smooth sweetness that might be the aquatic. Mostly this is a generic, sharp floral perfume smell on my skin, though. After an hour, I'm glad this has faded so fast, and it leaves just a hint of clean skin and bad women's perfume in its wake. Egle is not for me, but jasmine scents rarely are.

I'm surprised at how much I actually like this scent. I'm usually not happy with coffee scents and I hate whiskey, but I don't smell any whiskey in this. In the bottle, this smells like coffee the way my father always liked it - coffee overloaded with milk and sugar. It brings me right back to being younger and making him cups of coffee. At first on my skin, this isn't so great. It starts off with a bitter, burnt, black coffee sort of smell, with hints of foodie sweetness. In the drydown, this starts to smell really creamy and wonderful on me, though. It reminds me of mocha truffles that I had once. The staying power is really great, and I love that this is mostly creamy chocolate on me My boy hates this, but he dislikes coffee and sweet scents. He didn't pick up the coffee too much in this but thought that it smelled like sickly sweet caramel in the bottle and burnt white chocolate on me. My nose thankfully likes this a lot more than my boy's nose does, lol. I'll definitely keep my bottle, and just wear this when my boy isn't home. I like that it reminds me of my dad, and then morphs into a comforting chocolate fragrance...

In the bottle, I smell a sharp orange, musky floral, amber, and sweetness. On my skin, the citrus in this is so sharp and bitter, like orange rind, and that's all that I can smell. This doesn't smell like blood orange usually smells on me either; this is a much sharper orange. In the drydown, it's still mostly orange, but there's also some musk and an odd, ashy sort of note. After about an hour, this is still mostly bitter orange on me, but the other notes are going to soft baby powder. All in all, this is too sharp for me, and I don't care for the powder. I expected a lot more from The Piper

I love and hoard the original Lick It, but all of the later versions have been a disappointment on me. Lick It Again was sharp peppermint and menthol on me and Lick It One More Time was peppermint listerine and dirty ash tray. Lick It Like You Mean It still isn't as good as the original Lick It, but it's thankfully not as bad as the other two versions. This starts off kind of sharp on me, like candy canes and peppermint mouth wash. The drydown is lovely, though. It's mostly vanilla on me, but a frosty, hard candy sort of vanilla. This only lasts about two hours on my skin, but it's a nice scent. I'd say it's the closest to the original Lick It when first applied, and then the very vanilla drydown is unique and quite pretty. I have a partial bottle of this one, and that's probably enough for me.

Gluhwein is my surprise favorite of this inquisition round. I don't usually care for wine notes or spice, so I was expecting to hate this. This has none of the rotten fruit smell that I associate with wine, though, and while it is very spicy, it's not sharp and doesn't give me a headache. In the bottle, this smells like fruity wine coolers, bubblegum sweetness, and cider spice lingering in the background. On my skin, this scent reminds me a lot of LUSH's Temptation soap (one of my favorite smells in the world), but more spicy than the soap is to my nose. It's spice and smooth fruitiness. I can't really pick out any of the listed notes on their own, but they all blend together to make a smooth, gorgeous fragrance. Gluhwein just smells so nice, warm, and cozy on me. It's like an unusual fruit cider. My boy said it smells like spicy potpourri and the soap that I like, lol. I wish I'd gotten two or more bottles of this, but I'll cherish the one that I do have.

The woods in this remind me of the woods that I hated in Monster Bait: Ventriloquist Dummy – unbearably dry, bland woods. It’s sort of like pencil shavings that want to turn to dust. The fir seems to try to add a green lift to the blend, but it has a grassy sharpness and a dryness to it as well, like dead fir needles that are slowly turning brown. I don't smell any clove or black patchouli in this at all. This isn’t the fresh, crisp fir and spicy clove blend that I was hoping for. It’s mostly just very dry, unpleasant woods to my nose.

This reminds me of fresh baked snickerdoodles as well, especially the first few minutes after it's sprayed. It's warm sugar cookies rolled in cinnamon sugar . I also can pick out bpal's lovely snow note, but it's sweeter and actually smells like Snow Angel to me (lemon sugary snow). It reminds me very much of Snow Angel in the drydown. Snow Angel, a bit of extra snow, and hints of cinnamon sugar cookies. It's pretty awesome. I wish I'd ordered at least two bottles of this, but I'll cherish my one bottle.

I spritzed Bah Humbug on our guest bathroom shower curtain yesterday (two spritzes), left the bathroom door open, and it scented the entire first floor of our house (and we have a pretty big house, I think). There's crazy throw and staying power with this one. I love the first couple hours of this. I can't pick out most of the listed notes, except for the vanilla, but they all meld together to make a really fantastic winter fragrance. I'm not sure why, but this smells like Christmas trees to me at first. It's woody and slightly pine-y, and that woodsy smell is covered in the most wonderful vanilla. It's like a serious vanilla hard candy or vanilla frosting with grainy sugar. The vanilla and benzoin really blend together to make an awesome vanilla with a golden, amber-like edges. After a half hour or so, an amazing spiciness joins the mix. It's a bit like cinnamon, but not as obnoxious as cinnamon usually smells to me. A woody, dry, sweet, mellow cinnamon-esque spice. Occasionally I catch a hint of something like leather or anise. Oddly, I wouldn't say this smells foodie or edible to me, even with the vanilla. It smells like Christmas trees, spice to warm away winter, sweetly resinous vanilla, wood, and warm, inviting homes. For about six hours I was loving this. Then it died down so that I couldn't really smell it in the rest of the house, but only in the guest bathroom where I'd initially sprayed it. It was overpowering and dry smelling in that room. The next morning, it's still crazy-strong in that room, and it smells like dust, like I drenched the bathroom in a dusty, dry amber. It makes me feel like I need to dust and clean that room, lol. I loved this while it was wafting throughout the house. I don't think that I'll spray this on linens or pillows or anything like that in the future, though, because the staying power is intense and I don't like the dusty drydown after 6 hours. Plus, this a very strong room spray, so I think that one spritz into the air will be wonderful on its own. All in all, I love this. It's one of my favorite room sprays, definitely. I'll just be using this one as one quick spritz into the air rather than several spritzes or as a linen spray.

In the imp, Sassafras single note is like dry root beer bottle cap candies and perhaps a slightly wooden note. On my skin, it's much the same, though it takes on a fizzy, effervescent sort of quality. Sweet root beer candies with a bit of a sharp woody or peppery undertone. This is an interesting SN, and it makes me appreciate the Stimulating Sassafras Strengthener blend even more. SSS really makes the most of the sassafras and smooths it out, sort of completing it. The single note might be a bit too sharp and simple for me on its own.

Sniffing this in the bottle, I immediately wanted to slather it on my boy (and so I did). It's a sexy, masculine fragrance. Warm musk, clean aquatic, and what smells like a warm, spicy bay rum to me. On my boy, the scent instantly goes sharper and smoky. I also smell something like a tart red berry. It actually reminds me a lot of Australian Copperhead. In the drydown, it's not as sharp. This is a really sexy fragrance. The Sea Rat is like a smoky, masculine musk-vanilla-spice combination with hints of a tart berry. It's very manly, but also warm and comforting. There's no aquatic to be found at all. I liked this so much on my boy that I've just given him the bottle.

I was worried that this would be too spicy for me, but I actually get a lot of orange from this and not much spice at all. It's a powdery, orange sweet tarts sort of smell, though, not the true orange that I was hoping for. When I spray this on linens or pillows, I just get the powdery, fake orange and no spice at all. If I spray this into the air, I get mostly orange and hints of light clove swirling about. Yuletide Present is okay, but not a favorite for me. ETA: This has gotten a lot better for me with age. I'm still not a fan of the spice + orange blends, but I do get the spices from this now and it pretty much smells just like a clove studded orange with a hint of cinnamon sugar.

I had my boy smell this without telling him what was in it, and he said, "Oh God. That's disgusting. It smells like alcohol. It smells like a drunk. I wish you hadn't tested this out on our throw pillows." That kind of sums up my feelings about it too, lol. Saloon #10 smells so weird to me. It's like cloying sweet, rotten bananas. And I don't know what I'm getting that impression from. I don't smell any tobacco or leather, just that really off putting sweetness. I can't imagine scenting my house in this. After several hours, I think I can pick out a dry wood or tobacco underneath the rotten banana, but it's still not very good. This room spray won't be a keeper for me.

I sprayed Okiya on some throw pillows and my boy isn't too crazy about it. He says that it smells like pink, sweet flowers to him. I agree with him; I get lots of girly cherry blossom. It's a sweet, pink, clean smelling floral. I also think that it has an undertone of something effervescent, like a citrus champagne (like LUSH's Champagne Snow Showers). After an hour or two, the blend dries down to a creamy, sweeter floral that's also a touch perfumey. I think that Okiya is a pretty scent. It might be a little too perfumey for me, but I think I'll keep my sample around for when I want a room scent that's very feminine.

I can't smell any licorice/black licorice/anise in this blend at all, in the bottle or on my skin. I also don't adore the vanilla note that I get, though it is interesting. At first, it's as though the vanilla in this wants to go plastic-y on me, and it does go slightly powdery on me in the drydown. After a while, it's like a hint of the buttery vanilla-cola smell from Snowblind pops up. It also has a creamy, slightly green coconut smell that reminds me of Snow White. Humbug is like a mixture of the vanilla bits from Love's Philosophy, Snowblind, and Snow White on me. It's a clean, creamy, slightly powdery vanilla with the slightest hints of cool greenery, butter, and cola. It's kind of strange on me. Le Père Fouettard is my ultimate vanilla licorice scent. Le Père is a strong black licorice, foodie vanilla sugar, and a touch of sexiness from the leather. Humbug is soft, clean, creamy, slightly powdery vanilla on me, and an almost green coconut sort of smell that keeps wanting to go plasticy on me. I seem to be the only one who doesn't really get licorice from this, though, just lots of strange vanilla.

I love the atmosphere sprays, and this one is a new favorite for me I really love the clove in this. It adds a spiciness that seems to lift up the whole blend. The resins are smooth, a touch sweet, and exotic smelling, and the oakmoss adds a dry, papery sort of woodiness that's gorgeous. On my linens, this reminds me of LUSH's Tramp & Blue Skies fragrances. My boy said it smells like, "Potpourri, cedar, wood, and maybe patchouli. Definitely wood." The clove's touch of sweetness and spiciness really keeps this from being too dark for me. I think that I'm going to be using this scent quite often.

In the bottle, this smells like smooth, dark, resinous, incensey goodness. Also, I can smell a hint of something like peppery woods. It reminds me a bit of On Darkness and A'Arab Zaraq in the bottle. On me, this is one of those scents that doesn't have much throw. It's really clings close to my skin, so that I can only smell it on my wrist if my nose is about an inch away from it. It's a smooth, sweet, non-smoky, incense scent on me. In the drydown, it smells slightly purple and fruity. I can't really pick out any of the listed notes. This just goes to a very light, very sweet incense smell on me. It ventures close to being cloying. I'm not so sure about Scattered Gloom. It's sweet rather than gloomy on me. I think that I like On Darkness a lot more, for a similar type of scent.