Little Bird

Tristran goes all strange and wonky on my skin. I normally love woods and patchouli (and oh how I love tonka), so I was super excited about this one. At first I get a soured smelling rosewood and something sharp and herbal-like. Over time the woods notes get dryer and more dusty. I can see the book/library comparisons. Unfortunately, on me this mellows down into a baby powdery sandalwood with soapy lemons. I thought I'd slather this on my boy since it doesn't work on me, but he sniffed it in the vial and didn't like it and thus is refusing to wear it. When pressed he just said this smells like cheap cologne to him. Ah well.

I rather like Mad Meg on myself and the boy (it's super sexy and aggressively spicy on him in this deliciously sweet, peppered sort of way), but my boy just gave it a 6 out of 10 and said it was 'okay.' On me, this smells a bit like LUSH's Silky Underwear perfume at first, with more heat and earthiness added to it. Over time this sweetens up and softens on my skin a lot. It has a powdery feel to it, like a dusting powder scented with hints of orange and earthy sweetness (almost vanilla-esque on me). I normally hate smoky scents, but the hint of smokiness underneath the other notes is really attractive in this blend. I expected this to be awful and darkly earthy with the scorched earth and vetiver, but it's not overwhelming to me at all. Mad Meg is much sweet and softer than I was expecting, dappled with orange and spice. This isn't full bottle worthy (especially since my boy isn't crazy about it), but I'll probably keep a decant of this one .

Agnes Nutter has that BBQ smell that I hate (which I get from certain types of vetiver and cedar). Mesquite and charred cedar planks. This actually smells a lot like Azathoth on me. It's insanely strong and overpowering just in the decant vial, and it's even worse on me. This makes me smell like amped up beef jerky. I can't smell any of the listed notes except the 'charred wood.' Arcana's "Mutiny" scent will remain my ultimate gunpowder fragrance.

I actually like Shadwell for the first five minutes or so on my skin. It smells sort of like milk and brown sugar layered over a light, salty aquatic note. Unfortunately, the drydown of this is just salty aquatic with hints of a smoky, dirty smelling tobacco. It gets sharper and headache inducing over time. If the sweeter notes in this were stronger, I might be able to pull this off. As it is, this is a strong aquatic-tobacco scent. Too simple and too sharp for me.

I've gone through a couple decants of this now and I really should just take the plunge and buy myself a bottle. At first this reminds me of Riding the Goat, but a better and less sour version. It's musty, pale green, salty, and slightly sweet (reminding me of green olives again). The boy sniffed my wrist and said it smelled "sort of lemony fresh." I don't get lemon from this but I can see why he might interpret it as a fresh/clean sort of scent. He said that he can understand why it makes me think of green olives. So we compromised, lol. After fifteen minutes or so, the drydown of this is just gorgeous. My parents used to let me grow sunflowers every year; the flowers would grow much taller than myself and were always such fascinating, hauntingly beautiful plants. I love the artwork for this one too. Anyhow. My point is that this scent really is evocative of the artwork and the sunflower for me. Sunflower is slightly musty (in a good way somehow), dry but still green, and truly smells like sunflowers to me. It has a sultry, dried wildflower sort of scent to it without striking me as being floral. It's not at all perfumey. I love this scent, so I have a hard time describing it. It's warm without being hot or bright, dry without being dusty or powdery, and green in a pale, fading sort of way. So pretty. I'm going to wind up getting a bottle of this just because it reminds me so much of a happy memory from my childhood

I would have bet my life that there is fig in this. It smells strongly of a woody sort of fig on me, and it starts off unpleasantly warm and perfumey as well. Perhaps the massoia bark and fruit is what is giving me that fig impression. Fig and a perfumey, warm floral. My boy gave it a thumbs down and said that it smelled wooden, musky, & masculine to him. I asked if he wanted to wear it and he said no though, lol. After a half hour, I like this more as the department store perfume aspect fades off, but it still smells strongly of fig on me. I can't pick out any chocolate at all, but this takes on a creamier, sweeter edge the longer that I wear it. It begins to smell like fig swimming around in buttery, salty vanilla cream with drizzles of honey and a light, sweet spice. I'm on the fence about this. By the time it reaches a stage that I really like, it is incredibly light and clings close to the skin. It has faded away entirely before I've even worn it for two hours. I don't know if I'd be willing to wait out the unpleasant first half hour or so for the incredibly light, yummy drydown. I'd go through a bottle pretty quickly with the amount that I'd have to slather on for each wear. I wish this lasted longer and had better throw as it is, I probably won't keep my bottle. It starts off too perfumey and fades far too quickly. *ETA: I *did* swap away my bottle of this and it turned out to be a case where I should have given this blend some time to age. I recently got another full bottle in a swap and I love this now. It instantly reaches the drydown stage that I initially loved. Lots of vanilla bean, warmth from the clove and ginger, and an extra zap of sweetness from the honey. In the drydown now, it stays pretty much the same, but with an added hint of white chocolate and cocoa . The staying power and throw is even better on me now. This Thirteen just needed some time to age (or maybe my skin chemistry needed time?), because it's fantastic on me now.

I wanted this primarily for the beeswax note, but I love all of the notes in it with the exception of the tuberose and ylang ylang, which both go horribly perfumey on my skin. Of course, I get a strong tuberose and ylang ylang from this and no beeswax at all. A lot of the florals that I've tried lately smell disappointingly like mainstream, department store floral perfume on me. The Witch Queen reminds me a lot of the Dark Delicacies blend. It has lots of lovely notes that just get eaten up by a musky, sharp, metallic, bitter, fakey-floral essence. It does have a dark vibe to it, but it's very musky and overwhelming to me.

Victoria is such a beautiful little rose scent on my skin. I love BPAL's tea rose note so much. Calla lily goes awful and soapy on me, but the stargazer lily is sweeter and powdery soft. I've tried vanilla musk single notes from other companies and they tend to be like a vanilla scented baby powder to my nose, which is what I also get from this blend. I'm not usually fond of powdery scents and Victoria definitely is powdery on me... but I still really like this. It's powdery without being unbearably dry or simple. I get a vanilla powder, powdery-sweet lily and the candied rose fragrance from the tea rose. The lily starts off strong and a bit sharp and green, but it quickly softens and fades to the background. I especially love the drydown of this when the tea rose amps up a bit more. Victoria almost has a dry, elegant quality to it. It's like dried red roses dusted in vanilla powder on my skin after a while. Light and pretty. I've had a lot of floral duds on my skin lately, so I'm really thrilled that I finally stumbled across one that works on me, lol. My boy really likes floral scents on me, so it's always nice when I find one that we both like. I'll definitely keep my decant of Victoria and might even need a full bottle

I really thought that I would adore this. I love grassy scents, I love candy scents, I love lavender... but this is definitely a perfumey floral on me with a drydown of baby powder. I've worn this several times since getting my decant in the hopes that it would turn out differently, but Fairy Market isn't pretty or complex on me at all. Every once in a while I catch a whiff of sweetness, as though a candy note is trying to pop through, but it's immediately squashed by floral powder. I'll be swapping away my decant of this one. I envy anyone who has skin that this scent works on, and I'm still sad and surprised that it doesn't work on me

I really thought that this would be a dream scent on me. I envisioned a warm, sexy, soft red musk with sultry, sweet spices, dappled with earthy patchouli and sunny honeysuckle. Unfortunately, on me this is sharp, bitter, and dry. I can't pick out anything even slightly resembling red musk. It's like a bitter ginger paired with earthy patchouli, with hints of a mismatched, perfumey honeysuckle in the drydown. I love patchouli, but I own so many better patchouli single notes & blends. This isn't warm and sensual to me so much as it is hot, dry, acrid, and earthy. A major disappointment

All of the florals and ambers that have popped up in the last few updates are killin' me. As far as florals go, Allison Gross has quite a few in it that I actually like – sweet moonflower, sensual sunflower and chrysanthemum, and spicy white rose. But this is just bitter and overwhelmingly perfumey in a way that makes it impossible for me to even pick out any good floral notes. It's that mishmash of perfumey, chemical florals that I've been getting a lot lately, only this is strangely dry as well. This isn't sweet at all on me, though there's an unpleasantly herbal greenery underneath the perfume in the drydown. I'm glad that I opted for a decant of this one. It smells like department store white floral perfume on me

My skin chemistry has really been murdering scents lately, with all of the florals and ambers that have been popping up. I was actually hoping that Red Moon might be something like the sultry, dry warmth of Chrysanthemum Moon. I'm even pretty fond of BPAL's red musk notes. This Red Moon isn't at all sultry on me though, it's more of a dry, powdery orange candy with some dry herbs popping out in the drydown. Over time the orange is less sweet and more sharp on my skin, backed up by dusty amber and powdery heliotrope. Every once in a while I catch a whiff of something that I like, but it disappears quickly, as though it's just toying with me. *glares at wrist* Red Moon is too much sharp orange on me and too much powdery, dusty, dry herbs (and I really like chamomile and generally like marigold, so I don't know what's not appealing to me). I'm slightly devastated that the red musk isn't very strong on my skin. This is more dry than warm on my skin.

I'd recommend trying to get ahold of RM Renfield (Order of the Dragon LE) if you can. It's probably the closest I've come to finding a scent where moss was the main player and it wasn't really watery or floral. My review for that one: "In the bottle, this is mossy with an almost salty sharpness, and very woodsy. I love scents that smell kind of swampy (yay Bayou & Whippoorwill), and this falls into that category for me. It's colder and not as floral as Bayou, and not as crisp or watery smelling as Whippoorwill. On me... moss and dry, spicy woods. Renfield very much makes me think of playing in the woods in the fall, when everything is dryer, climbing on moss-laden rocks and weaving through barren trees. I get hints of a very light citrus in the drydown. The patchouli isn't strong for me, but is a grounding element in the background. Renfield hasn't been getting much love, but this is a new favorite for me. I love blends that remind me of the forest settings that I grew up in... and the moss notes here are wonderful. I'd love this on a guy, and will be wearing it myself when I want to be transported back to the forest in fall." It really does smell like pale moss on rocks to me. Whippoorwill is another mossy favorite for me (also LE though :/) though it smells slightly wet. Most of my favorite, strong moss scents have been LE. Bayou & Jazz Funeral are my GC moss-favorites, but those have pretty strong floral aspects and Jazz Funeral is pretty complex.

I snagged a decant of Leo 07 even though Egyptian Amber is one of my least favorite BPAL notes ever. I was hoping that my skin wouldn't amp it up like there's no tomorrow (yeah right, lol). BPAL's ambers are some of the only ones that I've come across that go so insanely powdery and dry on my skin. The Egyptian version also has a weird, dirty undertone to it that makes me think of soiled babies. It's almost a light undertone of sweat and rotten lemons and I have no idea why it does this on my skin. I'm probably the only person with this problem, but I'll tack on my review anyhow. I can't pick out any of the chamomile, frankincense, or saffron that I love, so they don't save this blend at all for me. I *do* get a weird, sickly sweet, nutty smell in the drydown, underneath the weird baby powder. I really wish that I were someone who could wear BPAL's amber scents

At first I thought Dian's Bud was something of a cucumber-melon fragrance; it had a watery green scent to it that reminded me of cucumber and a sweeter, fruitier sort of melon note. Watery, green, clean, and slightly sweet. There's also something herbal and cool and slightly menthol about this. In the drydown, though, this just turns into a perfumey floral on me. It's almost like Dian's Bud should be light and watery, but my skin is amping up the florals into something evil, or perhaps there is some sort of perfumey musk in this that I'm getting? I was hoping that this would be a green stem sort of fragrance on me, but it's another musky-perfumey-floral on my skin

Fox Fires is another Asian-themed blend that just doesn't work on my skin . The notes in this sounded lovely and I wish I got the cherry that others have mtnioned. On me, this is just musky-floral dryer sheets. Soapy and perfumey. I can't pick out any of the listed notes.

Nondescript, sharp floral that's reminiscent of soap and hairspray. Sharp, dry, musky, white tuberose and orchid type of feel. White, sour, sharp, perfumey/musky floral...

I've worn this a few times now, trying to figure out exactly how I feel about this blend and what it's doing on my skin. This is primarily a spiced honey on my skin, thick and sticky sweet, but with that strangely funky, metallic twist that BPAL's honey takes on me. There are a few resins lingering in the background as well, but they're slightly sharp rather than smooth. Every once in a while, some other note pops out at me and then melts back into the honey. I don't really like the flashes of bitterness and dry, sharp herbals that I get from this one. This is an interesting scent more than a wearable one for me. I'm not even sure if I find it interesting in much of a good way. It's sort of like poisoned honey on my skin, with the sharp, poisonous bits accidentally falling out at random points. I don't smell any of the chocolate or peachy-ness that others have mentioned.

I'm pretty fond of white rose (*love* Parlement of Foules), but this blend goes all wonky on my skin. I'm not sure what exactly rose amber is supposed to be, but the rose in this goes sour and chemical-like on me. That on its own wouldn't be so bad, but all of the lily in this blend goes to soap. I wind up smelling like perfumey rose soap. Helena is far too sharp a scent for me.

I expected this scent to be aggressive and hateful on my skin, but it's surprisingly light and floral. I don't like dark musk, and moss is pretty sharp and powerful on my skin. I usually amp up both of those things, but I can't even pick them out of this blend. First on, this is all light, herbal, softly smoky sage. I really don't like sage (bad scent associated memories there). After ten minutes or so, this dries down to a floral soap on me . Sweet and clean. It disappears entirely on me within a half hour. The only other scent I can remember trying with heather in it was Glasgow, and this is nothing like Glasgow's floral aspects on me. On my boy this starts off as a more sharp and acrid herbal note, and then dries down to a much sweeter, perfumey floral scent. He was very upset and thought I put "girl perfume" on him. Weird. Robin Goodfellow is... an odd one.

Surprisingly, the amber in this doesn't go insanely powdery on my skin. I *do* get a hint of powder, but it isn't painfully dry or overwhelmingly powdery. The florals are a touch perfumey on my skin, but mostly sweet, warm, and golden. The whole blend has a dash of sharp pepper laying over it. This blend is really not me, but it's not as awful as I was expecting. It's almost a sugared floral perfume with a sprinkling of pepper - a very warm scent on my skin. It gets more powdery & perfumey in the drydown, but the sweetness makes it bearable for me. Hermia gets points for the fact that I didn't have to run and wash it off, but I still don't see myself choosing to wear this in the future.

Pruno starts off smelling something like orange sweet tarts and sprite on my skin, and then promptly dries down to a sickly powdery fragrance. It's powdery, but with something 'off' underneath the powder. Rotten fruit and powder? It gives me a headache.

I wasn't sure if the double mentioning of tuberose on the notes list of this one was a typo or if there really was a double shot of tuberose in it. Either way, I hate tuberose and one mention is enough to frighten me, lol. Still, I tried this on while visiting a floral-loving friend, because I like to try on *everything.* I cannot help myself. Privilege is like my ultimate nosebleed & migraines perfume. It's so sharp that it goes straight to my head, like I just snorted some razor blades. Pain. So much pain. Perfumey hell. Sharp. Bright. Like blinding white florals drenched in department store chemical-perfoom. It reminds me of Stardust quite a bit (so much pain). It smells a lot like too much cheap hairspray and body splash spritzed liberally in the girl's lockerroom. Suffocating, sharp, chemical, cheap. I didn't get the green note that other people have mentioned. This morphs straight into an aggressive, chemical, department store, cheapie white floral the second it hits my skin. Gah. Just remembering it makes me nervous.

Strangely, Sunrise with Sea-Monsters smells a lot like the soapy/powdery Numb on me. It's like Numb with more of a breezy floral note, and then turns to a chilly baby powder on me in the drydown. Amber really hates me, and I have trouble wearing aquatics - they are not good news when they're combined on my skin.

I might love this if the 'dusty amber' weren't present. My skin amps up amber notes, and BPAL's amber is always unpleasantly dry and powdery on my skin. Thankfully, the amber doesn't completely take over this blend, though it is strong enough to make me not want a full bottle of Bat. I get a lot of moonflower from this, and it smells chilly and sugared on my skin. There are some other floral and musk notes playing about as well, but they're more creamy and not so perfumey or sharp on my skin. It's a clean, creamy, sweet, chilled floral on my skin. After a half hour or so, the amber gains some strength and mucks everything up. Night flowers covered in road dust. Still, I think I'll keep my decant of this one.