Little Bird

I love the idea of a mushroom inspired perfume, but I was a little worried about the soil in this one. The Premature Burial is, so far, the only dirt-perfume that has really worked on me. First on... smells like dry, brown soil. Not like black potting soil, but regular old, brown dirt. After a few minutes, a musty sweetness comes out that makes me think of vanilla. Death Cap is soft, dry brown soil and a slightly powdery vanilla-esque sweetness on me. The boy calls it, "Dirt for girls." I'm not sure if I'll ever need a full bottle of this one, but I'm definitely not running to wash it off either. I actually find Death Cap to be strangely comforting.

At first, Yemaya smells of sweet melon and grape flavored bubblegum on me. It's not an overwhelming artificial grape smell, but it is there in the background. 15 minutes later, this smells like wonderfully sticky, juicy cantaloupe. It's a great summery scent. The strange grape note has vanished. Half hour later, Yemaya stays smelling like nothing but ripe cantaloupe on me. I love melon scents, and this one is wonderful. Very sweet and juicy. I'll need a 10 ml for myself, and will probably have to buy a 5 ml for my sister-in-law, who is already trying to steal my imp.

I've been having a rough time with the Rappaccini's Garden blends because florals and I tend to not get along, but I still faithfully try each one when it comes out. Sundew is actually really good on me. It's sticky sweet and vaguely lemony to my nose, almost like lemon Kool-Aid with a lot of extra sugar added. There is also a hint at something green, like a grassy meadow lit up with sunshine. After about an hour, the zesty lemon scent shifts into more of a creamy scent. I normally hate citrussy scents, but this smells more sugary than sharp. Nothing about Sundew smells really floral on me and it doesn't go soapy at all. It's sweet, bright, and very pleasant. I might get a 5 ml of this one and I'll definitely be keeping my imp

First on, Oya is a sharp cherry-ish almond scent with some soft woods in the background. Thankfully, it quickly dries down into something deliciously dark and fruity. It has a slight sweetness to it that reminds me something of sweet tarts at first. After an hour, this is smooth and, well, plummy. It has an elegant sweetness to it that I really love. It doesn't smell like real plums exactly, because it has a sort of smokey, perfumey quality to it. It's better than real plums. Oya is an elegant, dark plum perfume on me. And this is the first BPAL plum scent that I've had where I can really pick out the note at all. It's gorgeous.

In the imp, smells very perfumey and kind of like cheap hairspray. On me... yes, it does smell an awful lot like Chanel No. 5, which also doesn't work on my skin. Baby powder, a slight hint of vanilla, and something soapy like my father's old shaving cream. On me, Ozymandias stays perfumey and heavy on the baby powder and soap. I had to wash this one off. I wish that I had gotten the incense that some other people do from this one

All of the aquatic/ozone scents tend to blend together for me... my nose has trouble differentiating between them and they tend to go soapy and remind me of fabric softener after a while. That said, Olokun is a lot brighter and happier than I had expected from the "gloom of the ocean floor." First on it smells like green grass and a hint of pleasantly sweet grapefruit. Grapefruit usually smells awful on me, but it stays sweet and energizing in this blend (if grapefruit is, in fact, what I'm smelling). After an hour it reminds me a bit of fabric softener sheets with a charge of ozone... but still with a bit of zingy citrus and sweet green grass. It makes me think of bright summer days than it does of the dark, gloomy ocean floor. Aquatic/Ozone scents are not really me. They always go a bit soapy and remind me of doing laundry. Still, Olokun is a nice scent, just not one that I would personally wear.

So many of the new blends have made it onto my "need a 10 ml bottle" list, and Ogun is another one of those blends It starts out smelling very melony and reminding me a lot of Fée, if Fée were to become an alcoholic and start smoking. I like this naughtier version quite a lot though. First on, it is all honeydew melon with a bit of goldeny sweet tobacco in the background, and a hot dash of chili pepper. The honeydew stays strong for a half hour before fading, and then the gin and juniper come into play. It reminds me a bit of Twenty-One in this stage, only a hotter version thanks to the chili pepper and tobacco. After several hours, this has mellowed down to a smooth blend of warm chili pepper, cool juniper, and softly sweet melon and tobacco. The chili pepper stays pretty strong throughout, keeping it spicy and sexy. And I love the contrast of the warm notes like chili pepper and tobacco against the colder notes like melon and juniper. I can pick out each note individually if I try, but they meld together very nicely. I never would have imagined that all of these notes would go well together, but Ogun is completely amazing. I'd love this on the boy or on myself.

First on, spicy and fruity (but not in a good way)... this has a very generic candle smell on me. Sort of like wandering into the section of spicy candles in a knick-knack shop. I like carnation and I like plum, but this isn't at all what I was expecting. It's not juicy or fruity, but more like dried plums. And the spicy carnation doesn't smell like real carnations so much as generic cinnamon-spice. 15 minutes later. This smells like pure cinnamon candle on me. Very spicy and sharp. Not even a hint of dried plum anymore. I was hoping for a summery pairing of spicy florals and juicy plums... but Frumious Bandersnatch does not deliver. It's not a natural scent on me at all. Just headache-inducing spice candles

I passed on getting a full bottle of this one because florals rarely work on my skin, and peony is one of those notes that tends to give me a headache. Still, I snagged an imp of it to try. In the imp... this smells more like rose than peony to me, and is actually reminding me a lot of The Peacock Queen. On me skin, still very much a lovely rose-like fragrance. Very pink, sweet, and heady. Peony Moon isn't at all the dry peony floral that it usually is on my skin. I find that I really like it, and I feel kinda stupid for not getting a bottle. Half hour later. Smells like a stronger, slightly spicier version of The Peacock Queen. I don't get peony or woods from this - just a lovely rose with a lot of throw. After an hour it takes on what smells like watery sweet pea (perhaps the plum blossom and water reeds?) behind the rose, and the blend gets much softer and less perfumey. I should have gotten a bottle and will be stalking the swap forums now to get my hands on one. Why do I always do the wrong thing, lol.

I'm also a big fan of Voodoo (actually, it was my first BPAL love and still is my number one scent, lol). The only thing that I have found with that same cola scent that is in Voodoo is the voodoo oil, Love Me. But Love Me was also very cinnamony (actually smells like Holiday Spice Coca Cola on me), so it's still a very warm scent. Voodoo is a pretty unique scent, I've never smelled anything quite like it. I do know of a few etailers that sell cola dupes for a rather cheap price though. Www.soapssaltsetc.com has a cola dupe that I really enjoy and actually have layered with Voodoo before.

First on, Pluto smells like a cold aquatic scent with the added bite of chilly menthol. Cold and slightly medicinal. Not me at all. In the drydown, the aquatic notes move to the background and this smells like dark, rotting woods and earthy roots. It smells sort of like black patchouli and cedar on me, but darker and less spicy than either of those notes usually smell on me. And... the combination of this with aquatics and menthol is very strange and unpleasant on me. I'm glad that I was able to try this one from someone else's imp, but I definitely don't find myself needing a full bottle or even an imp of my own. This just does not work well at all with my skin chemistry. The boy made me wash it off and refused to try it on himself. Sad, because I have a fondness for Pluto in concept.

First on my skin, this is frighteningly sharp. Sharp cedar and a blast of hot pepper that makes me want to sneeze. Thankfully, the sharpness calms down after a few minutes and this gets a lot sweeter on my skin. After a half hour... Ginger tends to smell sweet and sort of vanilla-ish on my skin, and it has come out in full force now. There is also a softer, powdery woods note that is reminding me of sandalwood. The frankincense is smooth and also has a sweet twinge to it. I can pick out the individual scents, but they’re swirling together rather nicely. The pepper is nowhere to be seen. Aries actually goes rather sweet on my skin with both the ginger and the frankincense. It is sharper on my boy and smells smokier in the drydown. It smells very masculine (and yummy) and him, but it’s something that I seem to be able to pull off as well. I’ll definitely be keeping my imp and will think about purchasing a bottle if it is ever available again

I really love lime, so I was excited to try this one out. The previous review of turpentine made me pretty nervous though. First on, sweet lime lifesavers and cold menthol-like juniper. The combination has a sparkling quality to it, but I almost wish that this was just a lime single note. Thankfully, the juniper fades quickly after only about five minutes. Then Leo is all sweet lime candies and powdery sandalwood. It's not spicy at all on me and I'm not getting any orange or heliotrope that I can pick out. Just limes and soft sandalwood, which is a surprisingly lovely combination. After an hour, there's just a hint of something faintly powdery left on my wrist where I applied Leo. It does fade quickly, but I like the lime-sandalwood combo while it lasts. I might pick up a full bottle of this was ever released again.

This actually smells much different on me when compared to the other reviews. It doesn't smell green or herbal at all in the imp or on my skin. It's actually rather floral on me. Osun smells of spicy red roses, a hint of super sweet jasmine, and a good helping of golden honey. It's very heady and incredibly sexy. Seductive and womanly. After a couple of hours on my skin, the floral notes have faded a bit and the honey is dominating. It's sweet and a tad powdery now. I normally don't like anything that hints of floral on me, and honey usually smells metallic and sour on me, but this is spicy and intoxicating. I think that I will need a 10 ml of Osun. The boy especially has been going crazy over this one, he was even more amorous then usual when I wore this around him. And that's always a fun thing

I don't normally like fruity blends, but I was intrigued by the banana and chili pepper in this one. I love that this doesn't smell artificial or overly sweet on my skin, it's more like a real banquet of fresh fruits. The apple is the strongest note on me, and it smells rather crisp and clean. I can also pick out the sweet banana and a medley of other tropical fruit scents in the background. The chili pepper adds an exotic spiciness that I really love, but it fades away considerably after an hour or so. After several hours, this is a smooth blend of tropical fruits, with no single note jumping out at me specifically. Shango is definitely not a typical fruity blend. It's very crisp and refreshing, more of a cool scent. It doesn't smell nauseatingly artificial like fruits usually do on me. I definitely need a 5 ml of this one for the summer

First on, this actually reminded me a lot of LUSH's blueberry Catastrophe Cosmetic mask. Looking at the listed notes, I am not at all sure why I got that impression. On me, this fades really fast, to the point that it's completely gone before I've even worn it a full half hour. During the few minutes that it lasted on my skin, The Mock Turtle reminded me a lot of toothpaste, all mints and aquatics. I don't get any fruity notes at all I wanted to love The Mock Turtle's Lessons, but I don't think that I could ever really wear this one. I was glad that it was so light, though.

Obatala does smell rather like Milk Moon did on me, but with the addition of sweet coconut milk and a slightly aquatic edge. It's a really refreshing scent, not overly sweet, and I think that it will be amazing for summer. Sweet milk, coconut milk, sugar, and the scent of the ocean in the background. It's like having an imp of tropical paradise. Beautiful, I will need a few 10 mls of this one.

Ochosi was one of the new releases that I was most excited about, hoping for a foresty scent with a creamy shea edge. First on, this smells a lot like Mantis - sweet herbal notes and a light hint of soapiness. 5 minutes later, the soapiness has faded and there's a honeyed sweetness to this. I'm liking it a lot more now. Ochosi is much warmer than I had expected. It smells like wandering through a dew-covered meadow on a balmy summer night. Wet air, grasses, and a honey-shea softness in the background. It's just as lovely as I had hoped that it would be. It reminds me of Buck Moon with the soft, sweetened, dewy greenery.

This was the first Rappaccini's Garden blend that I really got excited about, and it did not disappoint me . Strangler Fig actually reminds me quite a bit of Eden, minus Eden's foodie drydown. It's the scent of climbing trees in a bottle. When you're little and clumsy, you climb up into the bough of a tree, getting sap from the leaves on your hands in the process. Then when you finally settle yourself, you can smell the green leaves, the sap, and the woody bark of the tree. And that's when Strangler Fig smells like. A bit green, a bit woody, and a little bit sweet. I also agree with a previous reviewer that said this has a smoothness to it. I dabbed this one on the boy and he said that it smells better on him than it does on me, so we will be fighting over our one imp until we get a full bottle. ETA: The latest imps I've gotten of Strangler Fig smell very different from the original bottle I have. The newer stuff smells verrry creamy-coconut and a bit reminiscent of suntan lotion, with a hint of woody, sweet fig and a whiff of green leaf. More like a creamy coconut dessert + suntan lotion than greenery and figs...

Hurricane smells exactly like decaying wood, raspberry branches, and damp forest floor on me (and I love it). I agree that King of Clubs is a great forest floor scent and Bayou smells just like a hot day in a swamp (and somehow I like that). Snip from my review of Eden: "It reminds me of climbing trees in the summer. How you can crush a handful of plump healthy leaves and they will leave a wet sappy mark on your hands. Eden smells of that vibrant green sap." It gets a bit more foodie after a while, but the start out is all leafy greens. A lot of the Rappaccini's Garden blends capture the scent of their plant namesake very well too. Strangler Fig is my current obsession, it smells like the initial scent that I got from Eden, plus a woodier background. It reminds me very much of climbing trees when I was little. So many BPAL scents are unlike anything else that I've smelled in a perfume before, and there are a lot of natural scents. I just can't think of any more right now, lol.

I was worried about the cassia in this one, because my skin really amps up cassia and cinnamon (though I like cassia and despise cinnamon - cassia is dryer and less piercing on me). In the bottle, the spicy cassia and creamy coconut are warring with each other. It smells delicious. On my skin, this is a lot darker and not as sweet as I thought that it would be. It smells like I dusted my wrists with bittersweet dark cocoa powder and a bit of cassia. Not overpowering cassia at all. After an hour, Underbed has sweetened up a bit, but still doesn't have the full-on sweetness of Closet. The coconut might be offering a hint of creaminess in the background, but I never actually can pick out any coconut, so it seems to be the weakest note on me. The lovely, fluffy vanilla cake scent does get stronger though. Smells like angel food cake coated in dark cocoa powder and then lightly sprinkled with cassia. I think that I actually like Underbed even more than Closet. While Closet smells like a mating of some of my favorite scents (Glasgow and Beaver Moon), Underbed is a lot more unique. I don't have any perfumes that smell quite like this at all. Underbed is a darker, naughtier foodie blend This will be one that I purchase many multiple bottles of.

Well, Monster Bait: Closet is completely amazing. Beaver Moon is sort of like Closet's dreadfully plain sister. I can see the similarities (sugary frosting and cake), but Closet is a lot cooler and I'd rather hang out with it. Thankfully, this never really seemed boozy on me, but the blackberry does play a prominent role (yay, I love a good blackberry scent). It's like a slice of cake and blackberry pie have been put together and smothered in oodles of rich vanilla cream cheese frosting. Exactly. And it stays strong for hours, making me crave chocolate and all sorts of awful things. I love monsters.

For smoke-spice-leather you might want to try Tezcatlipoca (which also has a vibe similar to Red Lantern), The Black Tower, and Hellfire. For a full on smoky scent, you might want to try Djinn, which smells just like a campfire to me. And I agree that Hollywood Babylon is probably the closest general catalogue scent to Pink Phoenix.

Yes, that was the first thing that I thought of when I read your post (cool rain on warm concrete). There was a fragrance that smelled exactly like that for me, and it's been bothering me for hours now that I cannot remember what it was, lol. You might want to try Brimstone, my review for that one, "I fully agree with those who have said that Brimstone smells like a forest fire that has just been rained on. It smells exactly like ash that has been cooled down, beaten, and subdued by a fresh rain. It's surprisingly cool and gloomy." So it's sort of cool ash and rain. That's the closest that I can think of right now to that rained on concrete impression. Hurricane is another one that I really like that smells like damp woods (but a lot of people really hate that one, lol). If I remember the scent that smelled exactly like cold rain on hot sidewalks to me, I will come back and edit this. It's driving me crazy now.

There are not too many scents that remind me of Black Opal, honestly, but you might want to try Dorian. It has the same clean white musk, sweet vanilla, and sexy something that reminds me a bit of Black Opal You might also want to try Sea of Glass, it's a clean and (obviously) glassy fragrance.