Little Bird

Storm is one of the fastest disappearing BPALs that I have ever tried. It went through several stages and then was gone so quickly that it made me feel like I was dreaming (the nyquil I've been taking adds to this illusion, lol). First on this was bracingly cold, like being caught in an early spring rain. It was lemony, slightly watery, and had a cold menthol bite. The coldness and aquatic edge quickly faded and I was left with what smelled like salty lemons. I thought that I could smell dandelion or daffodil in the drydown, but it was so light that it was hard to tell what was really going on. Storm had all disappeared within a half hour. I'll probably be giving my imp to a male friend... it was clean and citrusy enough to work on a male, I think. It was gone before I had time to form much of an impression at all though.

First on this is a green herbal scent with a very powdery floral in the background. Within five minutes this has morphed into pure soap with a dusting of baby powder . And it has completely disappeared before I hit a half hour mark. So I slathered some more on... and got the same exact result. Morella just doesn't work at all with my skin chemistry.

Neptune is an odd, light scent on me... but it's one that I like enough that I'll definitely get a full bottle if the chance ever presents itself . First on this is powdery bubblegum-lotus and something citrusy. It's reminding me of Lolita, if Lolita had lotus in it. This might have orange blossom and lemon verbena in it. In the drydown this starts to get a bit more wooden and a bit more aquatic. It smells like sandalwood and salty ocean water. I love how light and sweet this is, but it has a tangy salty edge that keeps it from being boring. I so hope that I can get a full bottle of this one at some point.

Uranus. The planet that falls victim to so many bad jokes. I wanted to like this, but it's just not working on me. I'm getting the cinnamon and slight wooden undercurrent that others have mentioned... but it's just so fake on me. Craft store potpourri. It smells cheap and sickeningly sweet. In the drydown this is pure cinnamon, and enough to give me a headache.

The Lady of the Snow, Winter Ghost, Snow Queen. A chilling, haunted blend of bergamot, lemon verbena, sandalwood and jasmine. Yup, I have to put in another voice likening Yuki-Onna to lemon pledge. I like lemon pledge... just don't know if I want the smell following me around all day. After about an hour, a sweet, smoky jasmine starts to come out, but it is mostly overpowered by the sharp lemon scent. 3 hours later, this has turned into a light soapy lemon on me. I never noticed any sandalwood. I feel very unimpressed with this one.

I normally enjoy civet, but everything about Bacchanalie goes horribly awry on my skin. First on, this is very grape... but a medicinal one, like grape flavored cough syrup. Thick and sickeningly sweet, with a heavy medicinal edge. After a few minutes the orange blossom and civet come out. The orange blossom turns acrid and sharp on my skin, as it often does. The civet, which I normally love, smells musky and dirty underneath the grape and orange blossom. I'm going to stay far away from this one... it wrecks havoc with my skin chemistry

I would second the recommendation for White Rabbit. I will never forget what my boy said when I had him sniff test that one, "Smells like boring." And it does make me feel prim, proper, and subdued. Which is probably not something that you'd want to wear to work or anything... it's my lounging around, relaxing, and being lazy scent. Doesn't get a great response from menfolk though (in my case, at least).

Juniper Berry is very green and sharp at first, like trimming hedges and getting bitter sap all over your hands. It's that cool and refreshing too. It's not sharp in a bad way at all, I really like it. As I wear it, Juniper Berry gets rather sweet though. I'm actually thinking of hard red berries or cherry Kool-Aid. After an hour the fragrance has settled into a sharp green sap and sweet red berry scent. It doesn't seem right on me, though I'm loving it. I bet it would make an amazing room scent.

I'm glad that I finally managed to snag an imp of this one, in my quest to try out all the civet blends (I actually love civet). The civet isn't really prominent at all, just a sort of warm musk that lingers in the background, but Allegory is still very lovely. First on this is a bit sharp, with the juniper playing a prominent role. Green and woodsy. Then the sharpness fades and the cedarwood is strongest. It has an alluring musky warmth to it, underneath the woods. This is very sexy, I'd love to smell this on a man. Over the three hours that I had this on, it gets sweeter. The citrus comes out more, but it is a very sugary citrus on me. It was pretty light and disappeared quickly, but it was pleasant while it lasted. I'm going to be giving this one to my boy, as I think it would suit him better

I wish that I could try Bulgarian Lavender to compare with this one. Alas, I have not gotten ahold of that singlenote yet. French Lavender is very herbal and medicinal on me, though it gets better in the drydown. After a few minutes it gets sweeter and more powdery. It smells just like LUSH's Schnuggle body butter on me. I don't really love lavender (smells pretty bland to me), but this is the best of lavenders, in my opinion. It smells rich and has a lot of throw. I would recommend this to anyone who likes lavender.

I didn't think that I knew what lilac smelled like... but this singlenote is so true that, the second I applied it, I got a clear image of the lilac bushes that my mother planted around our house when I was little. This fragrance is sweet, soft, and beautiful. I close my eyes and can picture the sunshine, butterflies, and pretty flowers. The floral singlenotes have really amazed me, since I normally hate florals and most of the floral blends don't work on me. BPALs floral singlenotes are glorious and can be happily worn alone. They don't give me headaches as the blends usually do either. I wish that I could get a bottle of this for my mother.

Much thanks to Imbrium for the imp of this one . That said, I really love Naked Singularity. It is a strong masculine blend on me with a lot of throw and great staying power. In the imp I definitely smell frankincense, on me the resin lingers in the background. I'm also getting a sort of burnt wood smell at first that reminds me of cedar and then of powdery sandalwood. After a few minutes a spicy cinnamon warmth comes through, but it stays behind the woods and resins. This is wonderful, warm, and sexy. Naked Singularity is amazing. I would buy a 10 ml for my boy if I could.

I keep thinking of the underpants gnomes in South Park. Anyhow. This is a scent that you'd expect to find deep in the forest, underground. Dirt, pine tree roots, dead leaves, moss... There's a quick cold bite of eucalyptus when I first apply this, but that note disappears within a few minutes and I'm left with a damp soil and moss sort of scent. Walking through the forest on the brink of winter, after all of the leaves have fallen, and it is miserably cold and damp. Over the first away this goes a bit sweeter and more powdery on me, but it stays pretty true to my first impressions. I don't love this... it isn't something that I feel I could get away with wearing (I'm more fond of warm/spicy scents). I'm glad to have tried it though.

I decided to try on Lily of the Valley today, just because I had nothing better to do and was feeling adventurous. I was pretty sure that it would just turn to soap on my skin, as most lily scents do. I am so pleasantly surprised This is the sort of floral that smells so good that it actually makes me hungry. It's sweet, but not overly so. Soft, but still has a lot of throw and is noticeable for hours. It's green and fresh, but not sharp or cold. This is such a perfect floral (and, again, I normally hate florals... BPAL's florals do wonderful things to me). In the drydown, this becomes a touch powdery, but is still sweet, fresh, and gorgeous. It doesn't go soapy or give me a headache at all. I would actually get several bottles of this one if it were available.

When I first received my imp of this, I didn't even know what Pikaki was . I actually thought this was a fruit and not a floral. Anyhow. Enough about my ignorance. First on, this smelled like a lighter, sweeter version of jasmine. I *really* hate jasmine, but this is actually rather pleasant. Light jasmine, dusted with powdered sugar, and mixed with a creamier floral. That's what Pikaki smells like to me. It has a slightly crisp, clean smell in the drydown. Very warm, tropical floral. This disappears completely on me within an hour, but it's rather nice while it lasts.

I get a very clear mental image when I first put this on. I see little white roses, glittering and wet with someone's tears. I see the roses as comforting this person and taking their pain away. A sort of musty/spicy woods scent creeps up in the background after a few minutes. It begins to smell astringent and medicinal on me in a way that I can't really describe. 15 minutes after applying Goona Goona... this is both soapy and powdery, but I am mostly getting a dish soap scent It has faded away entirely after a half hour. Sad. I really liked this when I first tried it on. The drydown just doesn't work on me.

I'm not getting much sweetness at all from this singlenote, it has more of an herbal sharpness to it. Cutting citrus. After about 5 minutes, this does get a bit sweeter and I recognize it as the same lemon scent that I got in Namaste. Like lemon drops, but more bitter than the candies. The staying power of this one is rather impressive. It was still going strong after about 5 hours, but I'm not a citrus/lemon loving person, so I scrubbed it off. Not for me, but I know a friend who will love this.

First on, this smells like some sort of lemon cleanser (that I actually like), but with a hint of something green/herbal. It smells rather fresh and uplifting. Citrussy, but not sharp. In the drydown this singlenote starts to sweeten up a bit, but the green is really coming out more. It's like pulling up a handful of herbs and green grasses and then squeezing a lemon over them. It makes me think of spring... and wish that winter weren't coming on so quickly. Lemon Verbena is a very light scent on me, I couldn't smell it at all after 2-3 hours. It's rather nice though. I'll probably hold onto my imp.

I am not fond of florals, but I've always liked sweet pea for some reason. Perhaps because it doesn't go perfumey on me or give me a headache; it actually smells sweet, aquatic, and very pink/green. It's gorgeous and fills my mind with lovely images whenever I smell it. Sweet Pea singlenote makes me think of beautiful pink flowers floating around in a glassy green pool of still water. This one has a lot of throw, a tiny dab lasts strongly all day for me. It also stays true to the sweet aquatic impression, but manages to be complex and pretty enough to wear on its own. This is one of my favorite 'girlie perfumes'. I would get many bottles of this one if I could

When I had this many years ago, it was like dry, dusty dirt and gingerbread cookies. Nowadays, Penny Dreadful is more sharp and musky (the imps I've gotten over the past year or so). It's almost painful for me to wear now, like a hot chemical smell that gets stuck in my throat. Really warm, chemical-y musk with hints of what smells like dry, red dirt. I guess that I can still smell the spiciness, but it's a hot and unpleasant spice rather than being sweetly foodie and wearable for me. Penny Dreadful really reminds me of accidentally getting perfume oil in my mouth - unpleasantly perfumey, gross, and clinging... it sticks with me like that.

I'm glad that I got to try this one before I bought a bottle, because it really isn't working on me at all. First on it is very astringent and medicinal. It is mostly lavender, but something else is also lurking in the background, and it's not good either. I'd say this is mostly herbal lavender. In the drydown... metallic ylang ylang and something sharp. I'm getting that cheap hairspray smell from this and I'm not sure why, unless the rosewood and such is just going funky on me. I figured that this would smell more wooden, but I'm not getting any sandalwood at all. Very sharp/bitter fragrance, of the sort that gives me migraines. I'll definitely be passing on a full bottle.

I would actually have suggested Dragon's Milk as well . Just because lavender is one of those things that I've never really found soothing, the smell actually puts me off a bit. But every time that I babysit, the children love Dragon's Milk. I've had to give up several imps of it because the children wanted their own vial. I think that candy-ish smells in general are often appealing/comforting to younger ones (and me, lol).

I was very hesitant to try this singlenote because BPAL's orange blossom almost always smells harsh and burnt on my skin. I don't know what actual orange blossoms smell like, but this singlenote isn't as bad as orange blossom usually is on me. There is a slight burnt sharpness underneath this, but it's not overpowering as it usually is. It's a bit powdery for the first few minutes that I wear it. Mostly this is striking me as a sweet aquatic scent though. Odd. Orange blossom does strange things on my skin.

Jupiter is definitely a woods blend on me, I never get any of the fruity sweetness that other people have mentioned. First on, damp woods and pencil shavings. I'm not sure what redwood smells like, but this is an interesting woods scent. One second I think that it smells very dry, and the next I think it smells like a forest that has just experienced a light rain. In the drydown, I'm getting a smoky green scent coming through, it is rather herbal. It stays this way for hours until it fades away into oblivion. Woods and smoky greenery. I don't know how I feel about this one, but I don't think that it's something I'll wear that often.

Mmm. White Sandalwood is truly swoon-worthy I agree with other reviews that have said this is reminiscent of cedar. It doesn't smell as strong or smoky as BPAL's cedar usually does on me though. It has the warm spicy woods smell that you get from smelling an old cedar chest. It's very dry and comforting. I love it. I just wish that it lasted longer on me, after about a half hour I can't really smell anything at all. I'd still buy a bottle if it were ever available though.