Little Bird

I actually love cassia, but sometimes I wish it would stay out of blends. I like it in small doses in foodie blends like Monster Bait: Underbed, but it seems to eat more delicate notes. Delicate notes such as, for example, fruits and woods, lol. I would have loved a blend of tropical mango, sugar, and white sandalwood. The Dodo is just really loud cassia on me though. Actually, the cassia here is strangely bitter and sharp on me, and it's usually sweeter, slightly woodsy, and more pleasant. It's so strong that it gave me a headache when I was testing it, and my wrists got a bit red and itchy. After an hour, I can just pick out hints of a juicy, refreshing mango underneath the crazy cassia. It teases me. It's depressing that the mango never really has a chance to come out in full force. The cassia just smothers it.

I was intrigued by the list of notes for Roux-Ga-Roux, so I added a bottle in my last order. I always want to like swampy scents, but they rarely work on me. In the bottle and first on my skin, this starts out smelling somewhat dirty and sour, bringing to mind a picture of stagnant water. Murky water. In the drydown, it starts to turn powdery and sweet. The aquatic edge disappears and I'm left with a sweet, powdery floral. It turns more and more to baby powder the longer I wear it. White and powdery and smelling like clean skin after a while. I'm not sure what I expected from Roux-Ga-Roux, but this isn't a 'me' scent.

My skin really amps up the rose in this one. It's that wet, juicy, almost pickled smelling rose that reminds me of Rose Red (not a rose blend I was fond of). I don't smell any of the currant, but there's a very buttery note paired with the rose at first. In the drydown, something in this actually starts to smell like caramel and coffee on me. The caramel-coffee mixed with the juicy rose just isn't working for me. Staying power is about an hour and a half on my skin. This doesn't remind me of Eat Me much... the rose is dominant and paired with that buttery caramel-esque note. I don't much care for this, it's a bit too strange for me.

To date, I've gotten two different 'versions' of this scent. My original review is for the pale yellow colored version that I love, but lately I've been getting dark red colored imps that are more sour and almost citrussy and floral smelling with sharper spices. Original review (for pale yellow colored oil): Queen Alice is a strange little scent to pin down. I really like this though. It smells like a complex hard apple cider on me at first. The heavy sugar of the treacle paired with the boozy apple cider actually makes me think of apple fritters. Deep fried, slightly spicy apple cake. Very yum. This isn't a terribly sweet scent on my skin though, and it's (thankfully) not overpoweringly spicy either. The carnation comes out in the drydown, and I am generally a fan of BPAL's carnation blends. These are slightly spicy, dry carnations... paired with a boozy apple cider & sweetness. Good stuff. I was afraid that this would be too floral. It's not... it doesn't even strike me as a primarily floral blend. I was afraid the wine would go rancid like it usually does and be too boozy. It's not, it just adds a touch of complexity. I was afraid that the apple cider would be too spicy, and it's also not. The amber does go powdery on me, but it stays firmly in the background and the powdery touch is even pretty here. Queen Alice is just very well put together for me. Hard cider, apple fritters, and dry carnations... and it somehow manages to not be too much of anything or too overpowering.

I slathered this on expecting not to like it... I am pleasantly surprised though. This smells a lot like Midnight Mass at first (one of my favorite BPALs), with a bit of the thick sweetness similar to blends like Haloa, Lycaon, and All Souls. This has Midnight Mass's golden, slightly powdery softness in the wet stage. It doesn't smell like baby powder, but it has a fine softness like incense ground into soft dust. What differentiates this from Midnight Mass is the slightly soured sweetness and sharp floral that creeps in. Almost perfumey-sour, like a perfumey floral mixed with cheesecake. Brown Jenkins is more perfumey florals, sour cake, and dry woods over a couple hours of wear, and I don't like it so much. It falls into a familiar spot with the foodie-resins that have come out lately. I like the opening stage of this, but mostly because it reminds me so strongly of Midnight Mass. After an hour+ it's very floral and perfumey on my skin. I probably won't keep my imp.

Herbert West smells just like Embalming Fluid in the imp and on my skin. It has the same smooth coolness from the green tea and the same sweet, crisp lemon. The only difference that I can tell is that this one goes soapy in the drydown from the aftershave and this fades a lot faster than Embalming Fluid. After 15 minutes, I'm left with a bland, light, soap smell on my hands, like I just washed them. I'm pretty meh about this soapy version of Embalming Fluid. The original lasted longer and didn't go soapy on my skin, so I think I'll stick with that one.

Voodoo Lily doesn't smell right to me, sort of mismatched and screeching. There's a very perfumey, sharp, chemical floral dappled with a not-so-sweet spice, and a honeyed something. I keep thinking of honeyed raisins. Over time the loud floral gets louder. It's like department store floral mixed with cheap hairspray on me. The strange and unidentifiable spiciness just makes it more unbearable to my nose. This doesn't smell like lily on me so much as it smells like a mishmash of bad things that I can't really make sense of. It's floral in the way cheap floral perfumes are to me. Sharp and chemical. ETA: Got a more recent bottle of this as a swap freebie and it doesn't smell much like it did originally. Now it's sort of like a sweet, slightly smoky, tropical floral (pikaki?) with a bright fruitiness (smelled like orange on me at first) and swirls of sweet, honeyed spices. Still doesn't remind me of lily, but doesn't have the sharp white floral that it did before. I'm not sure if this is a new formulation of Voodoo Lily or if I just got another mislabeled lab bottle. Both seem to be happening a lot lately...

Aquatics always intrigue me, but we generally don't get along well. The Deep Ones has an eye stinging, bitter sharpness to it that I can't stand. It reminds me of the sharpness that I get from grapefruit and opium notes. Sharp like opium and insanely bitter grapefruit. Sharp. Bitter. Cutting. There's a sweetness here (my mind latches on to an impression of sweet tarts and gummi bears, oddly enough), but it's so overpowered by that sharpness that I can't enjoy it. After a half hour, the sharpness has calmed down slightly, but it's still too much for me to handle. This has also gone slightly soapy and dryer sheet-esque. The Deep Ones literally makes my eyes water. My imp will have to find a new home.

Squirting Cucumber was the scent that I grabbed first out of my latest box of BPAL goodness. I've been making a lot of salads with cucumber in them lately, and every time I cut one open, I wish that I could find a perfume that smells that simple and good. In perfume, cucumber notes tend to smell strangely rotten on my skin, but BPAL's cucumber here is awesome. Squirting Cucumber is the closest I've gotten to finding a perfect cucumber perfume. It doesn't turn to that rotten, rancid note that I'm more familiar with in fragrances. It's crisp, cool, watery, and pale green. Dead-on the smell of a chilled cucumber that has just been sliced open. In the drydown, the scent of green grass and something warm and perfumey come to join the cucumber. My parents had a garden when I was little and this is like laying on the garden grass in the sunshine, snacking on a fresh cucumber. I wish that it would stay more on the chilly/cool side of things, but the drydown is still nice. A simple, happy fragrance. I'll definitely be keeping my decant of this one, and I'll think about ordering a bottle.

I am an opium-hater, but I'd recommend the obvious... Opium Poppy (general catalogue in Rappaccini's Garden). And if you can find any, Dr. John Seward is a favorite of my opium loving friend, lol. It was mostly opium and creamy, sweet tonka on me.

Going on, Enraged Groundhog Musk is a dry and spicy scent that makes me think of biscuits and graham crackers. Then for a while it's just intensely spicy and overwhelming, and the spice smells like a heavy cinnamon to me. I was afraid of this scent because I hate chocolate covered cherry combinations, but I don't smell any chocolate at all. The cherry here pops up every once in a while and smells like pie cherries to me... muted and slightly bitter, the sort of cherries that come in a can and are that sickly pink color. Anyhow. Graham crackers... intense cinnamon... drying down to light graham crackers and slightly bitter pie cherries. Staying power is only about an hour for me. I probably wouldn't ever wear this one again.

Mr. Ibis reminds me strongly of Destroying Angel, especially in the drydown. I get the same dry, papery-mushroom smell from both. For me, Mr. Ibis is that dry paper with the addition of a lot of perfumey, sharp, chemical musk that I'm not enjoying. 2 hours later, it has mostly faded and leaves my wrists smelling lightly of generic soap. I'm not crazy about The Carousel thus far.

Honey, myrrh, lily of the valley, rose otto, fig leaf, almond, ambrette, red apple, and warm musk. I can't handle Bilquis at all. None of the notes sounded so bad to me, but this is stomach turning on my skin. The almond is super strong on me and doesn't smell like cherry as it often does, but it's a strong and sweet nutty aroma. Sweet, wooden, nutty. I don't do well with nutty perfumes. On me, this is that strong nutty smell paired with some note that goes very fresh and dryer sheet-esque. Nutty almond and soapy, fresh, breezy dryer sheets. I toughed it out for a bit over fifteen minutes before I washed it off, and it didn't change at all during that time. This stuff is crazy strong and has a lot of throw and staying power. Normally I figure I have to wait at least an hour for a scent to go its course, but I honestly can't handle Bilquis. I couldn't make it through 15 minutes of the nutty-soapy smell again. Bilquis makes me queasy

This scent is deep, dark, dry, and slightly dusty at first. There’s a dark earthiness from the patchouli that is reminiscent of black soil, while the amber smells like dusty, dry woods on me. The whole scent is wrapped up in something slightly warm, herbal, and spicy (embalming spices, I suppose). It is a light touch of spice. I liked this well enough for the first fifteen minutes or so on my skin, then the amber went to baby powder and I had that lingering baby powder on my skin for several hours. Like baby powder, dirt, and something almost mushroom-like. Mr. Jacquel reminds me most closely of some of the soil/mushroom blends in the Garden, only more powdery and dry. Jacquel clings close to my skin and doesn’t have a lot of throw. The staying power is about 3 hours on me. I don’t dislike this. I’m not fond of how powdery it goes, but it’s light enough to not bother me. It’s not full bottle worthy for me and I probably won’t keep my decant, but I don't feel the need to scrub this one off either.

Mama-Ji is an interesting scent. It reminds me very much of potpourri at first (and I actually kinda like this stage), and then is a headache-inducing floral in the drydown. The spice is strong for the first 10 minutes or so. Spicy in a dry, room fragrance sort of way... but also somehow breezy and clean in the way that potpourri arrangements make a room smell. The florals here are like a mix of dried flowers in a scented arrangement at first. The overall feel for me is of a dry potpourri arrangement where dried flower buds have been scented with sweet spices. The spices fade away entirely over time and the drydown takes on the quality of a classic rose perfume that goes ever-so-slightly soapy on my skin. I dislike what Mama-Ji dries down to as the floral aspects give me a headache. I might actually use this as a room fragrance in an oil burner though, since I do like the opening potpourri-esque stage. I couldn't wear this as a personal fragrance though.

Spider on my skin is a rather bright, clean, men's cologne sort of fragrance at first. If I had to smell this without knowing the notes, I honestly would have guessed for white grapefruit, white musk, and bergamot. In the drydown it has more of a clean ozone/aquatic vibe that reminds me of Sea of Glass. There's also a funky, earthy something that lingers in the background that I'm guessing is the vetiver. This is reminiscent of the many fresh/citrus/aquatic men's colognes that are out in the market now. I'd like this if it had a sweeter edge to it rather than this dirt/earth edge. I can see the comparisons to Wilde as well, but Wilde is much sweeter and more complex on my skin.

Confession time: I've never drank alcohol and have no clue what whiskey actually smells like. In any case, Mad Sweeney (the bottle says Mad Sweeny?) smells incredibly strange to me and on my skin. In the bottle it smells exactly like rubbing alcohol. Sharp, pungent, chemical, horrible. On my skin, the rubbing alcohol impression is crazy-strong for a few minutes, and then it settles down into something smoky that reminds me of beef jerky (no joke). Smoked jerky with a slightly spicy glaze. That sharp rubbing alcohol scent flitters in and out and sticks in my throat. There are also hints of something like dirty leather or dusty wood in the far drydown. Beef jerky and rubbing alcohol . Mad Sweeney/Sweeny will go down as one of the strangest scents I've ever tried. I'm definitely not keeping my decant though, lol.

In the vial, Mr. Nancy really reminds me of being in Key West with all of the key lime pie and the exotic splash of bay rum. In the vial it's like key lime cheesecake & lemon squares. Sweet citrus and foodie. This is the one that I was most hopeful for - I love lime, bay rum, and foodies. I wish that it were as good on me as it is in the bottle. At first on my skin the citrus goes slightly bitter, but it was still a pleasantly lime-cheesecake fragrance. The bay rum added an exotic spice to the blend. However, after about five minutes or so, there is a smoky something here that reminds me of burning leaves in the drydown. Mr. Nancy is an incredibly subtle fragrance that fades disappointingly fast on my skin. The sugar cookies and lime don't seem to hang around either. I guess it's the tobacco playing badly on my skin, but this is incredibly smoky and smells just like burning a pile of fall leaves on my skin after a few minutes. Burning leaves and smoke. So disappointed

The Wild Men actually reminds me a bit of the LE Count Dracula at first, but without the Count's heavy leather note. The spice here is more of that bitter spice, not as sweet as I would like. Bitter cloves and hot, spicy pepper. In the drydown I'm getting some astringent moss and some bad patchouli. I normally love patchouli, but I think the patchouli here might be the funky, red variety that tends to smell like dirty hair on me. Blah. I was hoping this would be vanilla sweetness and spice, but this is more on the bitter, dirty-earthy side of things. I could see this being awesome on the right man or the right skin, but it's definitely not for me.

Crow Moon has been a hard scent for me to pin-down or review. Partially because it only lasts about 15 minutes on my skin and partially because it's so strange (and I'm still not sure if it's strange in a good way or strange in a bad way). I was surprised that this has such good staying power on some people and that, with all of the florals & woods, it isn't stronger on my skin. This is a paper thin fragrance on me. It's elusive and, in a literal sense, smells papery. Woodsy and dry like pencil shavings, but not quite as bold as that. I also get a burst of wet, perfumey florals after about a minute. It's woody, green, herbal, slightly earthy, and perfumey-floral all at the same time in a quick burst. I can't pick out any one note. Around minute ten this suddenly shifts into a woody powder that reminds me of sandalwood (which I see isn't even a listed note) and then it completely disappears. I've tested Crow Moon out several times now and it generally goes through that same cycle, although the chilly florals amp up more on my skin at points. It isn't a scent that gives me a strong impression of anything, but it's definitely not a sweet, warm, or summery sort of scent to me. ETA: After some aging, this is A LOT stronger and has better staying power on me. Unfortunately, it smells like pepper, paper, loads of baby powder, and herbal-floral-perfuminess. Mostly it is peppered baby powder though. I love the label and I want to love Crow Moon, but the oil doesn't agree with me at all.

This reminds me quite a bit of the new October 2006 reformulation of Thirteen at first. I suppose that makes sense, with the strong cocoa, vanilla, and lavender that they both have in common. Wulric isn't as smooth or sweet as Thirteen is on me though. The lavender in Wulric is more sharp, perfumey, and herbal rather than the sweet, smooth lavender that I favor. An earthy vetiver and metallic clary sage are also apparent in the drydown for the first half hour. The cocoa stays pretty strong and sweet on my skin, but it's paired with some sharper, aggressive notes here that I'm not crazy about. After an hour or so Wulric is an herbal perfumey fragrance with touches of cocoa. Not my thing, even though I love the cocoa note. My boy, of course, doesn't really care for chocolate scents, so I don't think we'll be holding on to this one. I like masculine scents and I love cocoa, but Wulric is just too much on the herbal and perfumey/sharp side of things for me.

I was pretty sure that I wouldn't like the Fire Pig... I haven't gotten along with the bamboo/asian-themed blends, and all of the citrus, dragon's blood, and floral in this scared me. Fire Pig does start off kinda blah on my skin. The bamboo and floral mixed with the citrus smells like sharp, citrus dryer sheets on my skin. Thankfully, it quickly calms down into a sweet fruity blend. It actually smells kinda like ripe peaches and a squeeze of sweet citrus on my skin, all sprinkled with sugar. There is just a hint of pine resin in the background. It stays a touch soapy on my skin, but not enough to bother me too much. No dragon's blood or in my face florals at all. I wish it weren't so light and that it didn't fade on my skin so quickly (staying power was about 45 minutes both times I tried it). I'll keep my decant of this one for days when I want a sweet, clean, fruity blend for a quick pick-me-up.

I don't know if I managed to get all of the dud Fizzy BOOMs or if I'm just overly picky about my bath products, but I've been seriously underwhelmed with the experiences. I used two Moxies together in my 1/3 filled up tub in an attempt to get some noticeable fragrance... nada. Mine had no discernible color to them, seemed to be fragrance free once they hit the water, and didn't seem particularly water softening. They smelled lightly of something like the powdery Orange Tang drink, but nothing once they had dissolved. I just... don't get it.

Civet isn't so bad on me in a few blends (and I even love it in a few), but this does start off smelling sort of soured on me. Very animal (in a bad way), strong and sour. Then, after a couple minutes, this suddenly softens on my skin and becomes the sweet, dark musky sort of scent that I am more familiar with. It also has a crisp coolness to it on my skin (like cool air on heated skin is the impression I always get). I think that civet is just one of those notes that's very dependent on a person's skin chemistry

On me this is a flurry of black dirt, astringent moss notes, and dryer sheets. It was the black pine that intrigued me with this one but I can't pick out any pine or really any foresty/tree/evergreen aspects at all. Oborot starts out soapy... dryer sheets and sour moss. In the drydown, it starts to smell more like black soil underneath the soap, which I'm also not really enjoying. Over an hour, something about this gets a bit sweeter and the blend starts to smell dry and dusty on my skin. Still, soapy and earthy. I ended up washing this off after about 2 hours. Oborot and I do not get along so well. I wouldn't ever think of this as a perfume scent. It's strange, soapy, and dry on my skin.