Little Bird

Jacob's Ladder reminds me quite a bit of The Lion at first. Then it sweetens up a bit and I'm enjoying it. Then... In the drydown this smells like dust on me. It's very strange. It's like leaning over the top of a book shelf that hasn't been cleaned in years and inhaling. It is the dryest scent that I've ever tried. It's enough to make me feel sick and make me sneeze. Thankfully, it is a very light scent. Dry dusty amber. BPAL's amber so rarely works on me, and Jacob's Ladder definitely doesn't. I'll probably be swapping/giving away decants of this one.

EDIT: This smells NOTHING like it did in 2005. This is an incredibly sharp, herbal blend now with almost no sweetness on my skin. The mint is sharp, cold, and mentholic, and the rosemary comes in savory and herbal. As it dries down, there's sour lemon and a sharp, nondescript white floral smell. No sweetness, no grape, no orange flower, no rose... Menthol-minty herbs and sour lemons with a hint of powdery, musky white floral. I wish that bpal would just discontinue blends when they have to be reformulated this heavily, because Bess 2016 smells absolutely nothing like Bess 2005, and it's really confusing when you go to repurchase old favorites and get stuff like this happening to you. My 2005 review: I've been having quite a love affair with Bess ever since my imp arrived. It's not something that I expected to like at all (I'm not particularly fond of any of the listed notes), but I am really enjoying it. The grape is the first thing that I notice, but it is a very lovely grape. It's not artificial or sweet to me at all, it's more of an herbal-grape. The rosemary lingers in the background and, after a few minutes, the sweet orange flower comes out. I normally hate orange anything, but this is soo lovely. It's sweet and soft, not at all sharp or really that fruity. I expected Bess to be really sharp because rose, orange, lemon, and mint are generally sharp and bitter on me... but this is all so amazingly soft and sweet. After about an hour the rose and lemon come out and join the grape. I never smell any mint at all. This is like being in a rocky garden on a slightly cool day as the sun sets, leaning up against a fence where bunches of grapes are hanging down around you. It's very refreshing and pleasant to me. I like the mental images that Bess conjures up for me. I can see myself getting a 10 ml of this one in the future

I had to form an impression of this one pretty quickly, because it seriously disappears within about 5 minutes on my skin (I *really* slathered it on too). I carry around a notepad and take notes whenever I'm trying a new scent. Here are my notes: 'Ode on Melancholy is a very light scent, it clings close to my skin and smells very subtle. Subtle enough that it could just be the way that my skin smells out of the bath, if I didn't know better. I can smell light, powdery lavender and some sort of pleasant, soft floral. It smells very clean, but not soapy. It smells like clean skin (perhaps the white musk?). I really like this one a lot, so I'm hoping that it gets stronger in the drydown. It's gone.' I wish that this would stick around a bit longer on me, because I was actually enjoying it. My skin just completely devours this one.

Midnight Mass was the Yule blend that I was most excited about, though I have no idea why. I am nondenominational Christian, so I have no real association with church incense or the midnight mass ceremony. As it is... I don't even really love a lot of incensey blends. Still, I've been having dreams about this one for the last month, so I'm excited to finally give it a try. When I first put this on, I actually said "wow" and swooned a bit. This is possibly the most beautiful scent that I've ever tried from BPAL. It's not my all time favorite or anything, but it's beautiful. Soft, sweet, and gorgeous. Sweet incense, powdery golden warmth, and just a hint of sweet polished woods in the background. My boy sniffed my wrist and said that this smelled like moonlight. This is really and truly amazing. If the idea of an incensey blend appeals to you at all, I'd recommend getting a bottle of this one. Of all of the yule blends, this is the one that I feel the need to buy multiple bottles of. I'm so glad that I went along with my unfounded love for this blend and ordered a bottle. I can actually see myself wearing this one quite frequently. I love it.

Talvikuu, Mistletoe, and Snow Bunny all smell like they'd be in the same family to me. In the whole snowy foresty blend aspect. I like Talvikuu a lot more than Snow Bunny (which was sharp and kinda dirty smelling on me), but nothing can match the wonderful chilly greenery of Mistletoe. Anyhow. Talvikuu is insanely hard for me to describe, but I'll give it a try... First on, I think that I smell eucalyptus here. It has a very chilly/menthol scent. This doesn't go soapy on me at all as it has on a few other people, but it does have a sort of perfumey quality. It makes me think of bare tree trunks and fir trees in the forest. This is very aquatic, but not in the way that BPAL aquatics usually smell to me. It has that pure wet smell of melting snow. So... the best way that I could describe this is aquatic, yet not... and wooden, yet not... it also has a pleasant sweetness to it, but that's not really a sugary sweetness either. It's very hard for me to pin down at all. I'm not getting any mint (thankfully, I'm not fond of mint). It loses the perfumey qualities after an hour or so and this was something that I really enjoyed catching whiffs of throughout the day. Sweet, chilly, and pleasant. I'm probably going to decant a few imps out of my bottle, but keep enough for me to wear every once in a while. I think that this would be heavenly on a man as well.

In the bottle, I am smelling pine and aquatics. It smells sort of soapy to me, so I'm a bit worried that this isn't going to work on me... This is pretty sharp on me. It's like running through a pine forest and getting covered in sap and needles... and then biting into an orange peel. 5 minutes later. Ugh, I think this might have grapefruit in it. I am getting that dirty, bitter citrus smell that I always get from grapefruit. I was really depressed that Skadi wasn't revisited this year, because I ran out of my previous year's supply. This does remind me of Skadi, but it's lacking all of the spiciness and warmth that made Skadi so wonderful to me. An hour later. Still smells sharp and a bit rancid on me, but it is softening up considerably. I'm getting a sweet floral-ish smell coming in past the piney scents. Oddly enough, I am also starting to smell snow in the background. That wet, clean, cold fragrance of melting snow. It it weren't for that lingering grapefruity sharpness, I might start to like this. Final conclusion. Snow Bunny just isn't working on me. It has a dirty sharpness that just doesn't go away... on a more positive note, it does have my favorite label of all of the Yule blends though.

I want to love Beaver Moon, but something about this seems really 'off' and soured to my nose, like cheese gone bad. Beaver Moon is spicier than I thought it would be at first (I was expecting more of a pure, creamy frosting and cake scent). It smells like a cinnamon graham cracker crust and rich cream cheesy frosting. It's pretty strong and has great throw, but the soured undertone is really off putting and takes over in the drydown. On me this is oddly spicy and soured (almost smells like mustard). It's strange and kind of gross. I'll try aging it and hoping the sweet frosting notes and cake come out more. ETA: This is one of those blends that didn't age well for me at all either. The cake and frosting disappeared and this got even sharper, like it continued to go bad the longer that I had it. I ended up selling all of my bottles of Beaver Moon on ebay, hoping they're not as bad on someone else. There are so many better cream cheese frosting, cheesecake and foodie cake scents out there for me. These sort of scents normally work out so well on me, it's surprising how bad Beaver Moon smells to me.

*I'm editing my review now that I have a bottle of this scent and can really slather it on* In the bottle, this smells like a very clean, floral dusting powder. Green flower stems, clean, sweet floral, and powdery amber. On my skin, this is a soft, warm, golden amber with a spicy, resinous lift from the myrrh, but the myrrh is verrry light. It's a touch powdery and very subtle, and the floral is just a pretty, sweet, girly touch to the blend. In the drydown, it just smells like clean, girly skin, like I'm fresh from the shower and dusted on a light layer of sweet floral powder. This doesn't smell like lilac to me at all, but it's still a pretty scent. Bruja is so light that it's barely there. I'm glad to have a bottle of this, though. I'll wear this on days when I want a light, clean sort of girly fragrance.

Again, I must thank PilotKitten for gifting me with an imp of this one However, I am very deeply in love with Cagliostro. So much so that it makes me slightly panicky to think that I won't be able to buy a full sized bottle. My overall impression was that it reminded me a bit of Florence... only a darker, stronger, better version of Florence. First on I am hit with spicy, sensual black musk and what smells like juicy ripe blackberries. It has a mouthwatering fruitiness, and I normally don't like fruity scents. It's not overly sweet at all. It's spicy and amazing. In the drydown, this gets less spicy and dark and actually starts to remind me a bit of pancakes. It's like going to a pancake house and getting a stack of them, smothered with blueberry sauce, syrup, and whipped cream. Still it manages to not be sweet or overly foodie. It retains a spiciness and dark musky scent that keeps the entire blend grounded. Maybe I am also smelling a bit of sweet, smoky incense in the background. It's just glorious. After a few hours on my skin, this does get smokier and more incensey. Still loving it though. I love the way this one changes on my skin. It actually lightens up and gets sweeter in the drydown, so it's not as dark or perfumey as I was expecting. It's just perfect. I would buy a 10 ml of this one if I could. If it is ever released, I am placing an order straightaway...

Snowblind is the butteriest vanilla mint ever. The mint is cool, creamy, and sugary, like candy canes, covered in the creamiest, most buttery, decadent vanilla. I always feel like I want to drink it for some reason. Like some sort of silky, boozy, buttery vanilla drink. Definitely smells like buttermints, but literally more wet and buttery and vanilla-y, not those dry, powdery buttermints. It's amazing. The only reason I wound up swapping my bottles away is that I love Spooky even more for a vanilla-foodie-mint, and I am hoarding Spooky so hard.

Cabaret is an intensely musky floral on me. It's the sort of heavy floral that can induce a vicious migraine in under five minutes My skin seriously amps up jasmine, and that is what I smell mostly after applying Cabaret. It is very smoky, sickeningly sweet jasmine. The red musk underneath the jasmine is turning sharp and smoky on me as well. This would probably work on someone who loves jasmine or traditional perfumey florals... but this is exactly what I don't like in a fragrance.

In the world of aquatic scents, Undine is a dark muddy pond that has been kept cold and sheltered under the shade of a thick forest. The sort of pond that, if you fell in, you would never get out. Something about it is cold and a bit frightening. First on this is a cold aquatic and something that smells of earth and decaying leaves (vetiver?). I agree with those who have said this made them think of mushrooms. Over a few minutes a white floral-ish scent begins to bloom underneath the dank earthy fragrance. An hour later... dryer sheets, a light powdery white floral, and that decaying earth smell. This is an odd one. I have a hard time wearing aquatics, especially ones that feel this cold on me. I kind of like the dark impression that this one gives me at first though. It has a lot of throw for about two hours and then it just seems to vanish. I'll probably try this one out a few more times. Something about it intrigues me.

I've surprisingly loved a lot of BPAL rose blends (Whip & Marie being my favorites), so I was interested in this singlenote. Sadly, the singlenote turns out to be the exact sort of rose that I cannot wear. It's very strong and has a lot of throw, but it's perfumey and headache inducing on me. In the drydown it starts to go powdery. Perfumey rose and baby powder. It's very intense and strong. It's not something that I could ever wear though.

Libra really hates me. First on it is very sharp and astringent. The ylang ylang is coming out in that perfumey metallic scent that it usually turns on my skin and I keep thinking of cheap dollar store hairspray . A bit of a watery/fruity apple comes out after a few minutes and this blend gets more bearable for me. I wish that the apple were stronger, and I normally don't even like fruity scents. Over the next hour this turns into a screaming soapy floral fragrance on me. It's intensely perfumey and giving me a headache. Never did smell any sandalwood. I'll be scrubbing my wrists of this one and adding it to my swap pile.

Wow. This is intense, hyper citrus. I don't normally like citrus scents, and this embodies all of the sharpness that I find so off-putting. It smells very lemony, but it's more like true lemon than lemon verbena or lemongrass on me. It's like slicing open a fresh lemon and cramming it in your mouth to taste all of the sour bitterness. In the drydown, grapefruit comes out a bit, and it turns on me as it always does. Something about grapefruit just smells very bitter and dirty on me. I washed this one off. Bitter, dirty lemons and I don't get along.

Chypre is a rather sharp, purple and green scent on me. First on it screams of herbal lavender, but soft powdery violets pick up in the drydown. Over the course of the next hour, a green soapy scent begins to take over. I'm not smelling anything that I think is white musk or neroli... the lavender has sharpened and the green soap is lingering in the background. I'm not sure why this has turned so odd on me. I was expecting something sweeter and creamier. This lasted about 3 hours on me. It was just strange and herbal on my skin. Maybe it is the violet that goes soapy and the lavender that is so sharp? Hm...

I think I'm as excited about the label art as I am about the scents. Snow Bunny, Snow White, and Rose Red are my favorites so far, just looking at everyone's lovely pictures. *praying that my order comes soon*

In the imp this is very spicy and foodie, in an "I am curry" sort of way. I love foodie scents, but I tend to like them to be more on the dessert side of things. First on, curry and honey. Over five minutes on my skin the anise scent comes out more and this blend is starting to make me feel ill. I've become very scent-sensitive over the last few months and this is making me incredibly nauseous. 15 minutes later this is like an insanely strong anise drizzled in honey (two things that I'm not fond of). Something of a sweet floral is also starting to peek through, but I can't wear this anymore. I had to scrub my wrists for ten minutes to get this off of me. It is a very strong scent... unfortunately, it just doesn't work on me.

It has taken me a while to get around to trying this one because I had no clue what hyssop was and was too lazy to look it up Apparently it is a flowering evergreenish herb that it used in medicines. And that's what it smells like. Green herbal with white florals and a strange medicinal twang. In the drydown the florals start to go soapy on me. It's a sweet, herbal soap. Very strange. Hyssop doesn't work on me at all. I don't really like cool herbal scents or white florals... and the soapy drydown makes me feel ill. Oh well. I'll be swapping this one.

First on, Egyptian Amber is rather smoky. It reminds me of burning incense, definitely warm and resiny. In the drydown it sweetens up and gets a warm spicy quality to it. I was rather enjoying it, but it began to go powdery on me after only a few minutes. Amber often turns to baby powder on my skin in blends, and the singlenote is taking the same route... 15 minutes later, this is a faintly sweet and spicy baby powder scent. It's disappointing and disappears quickly on me. Sad, I so want to love amber. It just never works out that way.

I'm not generally someone who cares for minty scents... I like lighter/sweeter mints like spearmint, but peppermint is generally too sharp for me. First on, this is very crisp peppermint. It's cool and it's making my wrists tingle (pleasantly) where I applied it. I'm not crazy about the actual smell, but I feel a lot better when I'm wearing this. I've been running a fever and getting horrible migraines... and this has really helped to alleviate those pains. I'll probably use up my whole imp this month (I always get sick when winter first rolls in).

This is like a less complex version of Phantom Queen on me. Orchid is one of my favorite florals (perhaps the only floral that I really love), and it is rather hard for me to explain what exactly it smells like. It's sweet and slightly fruity, in the way that a very juicy pear might smell. It stays true and sweet for about 8 hours before I can no longer notice it. Decent throw, but very soft. I might get a 5 ml of this one someday, but Phantom Queen is similar enough that I'll use up my bottle of that one first.

This is one of the few singlenotes that really hasn't worked on me at all. It's light, soapy, and perfumey... reminds me of dryer sheets. It disappears within an hour, and I'm kind of glad for that fact. It's exactly the sort of floral that would give me a migraine if it were stronger. I wish that this had the fruitier edge that other reviewers have mentioned, but on me it was just soapy.

Something about this one makes me violently sad. As in, when I wear this, I start crying and feel suicidal . I have really bad associations with the smell of sage, and I can smell sage lingering in the background with this one... so maybe that is part of the reason that this makes me so depressed. Anyhow. Beyond that, this is a rather pretty blend. It starts out very pleasant. I can smell the lovely sweet pea with a green/aquatic background. The sweet pea fades on me pretty quickly though. The drydown is all perfumey peony and sage. It gets more perfumey and sharp as the hours wear on... and it gives me a headache. I think I'll be imping out my bottle of Annabel Lee. For me this seems to trigger depression and headaches... two things that I don't need extra help on, lol.

When I first put on The City in the Sea, it reminded me strongly of Numb (as I see others have also noticed). It had the same shaving cream sort of soapiness, only lighter. After a few minutes the salt water scent comes out more, and it is so salty that it actually makes my mouth water a bit. I like Numb a lot, but I'm sort of disappointed that this is starting out so similar. An hour later... the violets have sweetened up on me and the salt water has intensified. It has lost that soapy edge, and I'm loving this. I'm also getting a hint of something darkly green in the background. It's a deep, cold aquatic on me, and it's unlike any aquatic that I've ever tried before. 5 hours later and this was still going strong. It has amazing staying power and I love that the soapiness fades away completely after a while. In the end it is almost a dry, salty woods sort of scent. I really love the sort of salty tang that is in a few of the BPAL blends, and this is a very strong salt. I'm going to keep my bottle of this one and buy another one for my love interest, because I think this would be amazing on a man.