Little Bird

Uhh... I take excedrin migraine, lol. Only thing that works for most of my headaches. More helpful, whenever I have a headache, I always want to be wearing something light and calming. Titania has been pretty effective at clearing my head lately. Sea of Glass is another one that makes me feel clear-headed... but I have to be careful with that one because it's so strong. Too much Sea of Glass will actually give me a headache, lol. A tiny dab is very nice though. Aquatics and fresh/cool scents always make my head feel better.

I usually hate the way that almond smells on my skin. I'm pretty sure that Horn of Plenty has almonds on me, and it's not good. First on this smells like boozy cherries. Strong and cough-syrupy. After about 15 minutes it loses that medicinal boozy sharpness and begins to smell a bit better. A lovely buttery vanilla smell comes out, but the cherry scent is still putting me off a bit. After an hour: cherries, smoky incense, and buttery vanilla. I find myself wishing that this were just buttery vanilla... the smoky cherry just isn't working on me. Oh well, off to the swap pile.

First on this smells like spicy apples and something strange. It reminds me of some sort of cleanser that my mother used to use to clean windows... sort of herbal, but chemical. The chemical smell fades after a few minutes and this is a pleasant enough spicy apple scent. 15 minutes later... this is all red hots candies on my skin . It's way too much cinnamon for me, overpowering enough to make my eyes water.

Titania is a soapy-clean, watery sort of fruity-floral. The fruits all smell very watery, not very sweet, and pale, like fruits with most of the flavor sucked out of them. The florals are musky-perfumey, sweet, and soapy. It's hard to pick out any one note here, though I do notice the white grape and plastic-y, clean peach. All in all, this is too perfumey and soapy for me. It reminds me of a bad department store fruity-floral with white flowers. Gives me a headache

The Haunted Palace is hands down my favorite of the Demon scents that I've tried so far. Ruby red and amazing. The blood orange is dominant at first, super sweet and juicy. Then the rose gets stronger and it is the best rose that I have ever smelled before in my life. A full, spicy rose. I don't even normally like florals or citrus, but this is moving up to my top ten of favorite BPAL blends. The drydown just keeps getting better. The vanilla and amber come out and make this just completely swoonworthy. I can't even begin to describe how wonderful this blend is, I would never be able to do it justice. I am so glad that I got a bottle, and I think that I will buy a few more bottles before it disappears. Best rose fragrance ever, with the perfect amount of sweetness.

Alone smells like a powdery mix of red sandalwood and cinnamon. This reminds me of my grandmother's house for some reason, perhaps a cinnamon potpourri association. I was actually rather bored with the way this smelled until the mandarin started to come out a bit more. The sweet/juicy mandarin against the dry sandalwood and cinnamon is very interesting and pleasant. I'm glad that the cinnamon is staying light and in the background. I'm not really getting any patchouli from this, but the drydown is a soft sandalwood and almost-aquatic floral-ish scent. It's very hard to pin down, but it's very pretty. It's sweet, but not overly so... I'll be keeping my bottle of this one.

I didn't appreciate this scent when I first had a bottle oh so many years ago that I swapped away. It was something that haunted me in a scent memory, though, so I recently bought a new bottle from Dark Delicacies again. The vetiver is intensely dark and smoky and smells a lot like burnt rubber and the sweet, rubbery smell of new fishing lures. The plum adds a thick, dark sweetness underneath the vetiver and the lemon a squish of sour citrus that tries to brighten things up. It's odd and not as smoky as I remembered (my original bottle definitely smelled like charred mesquite bbq planks). After an hour, I'm left with mostly sweet plum with hints of rubber, woodsmoke and lemon. So odd.

Odd impression that I cannot shake is that this smells a bit like cigarette smoke on me. And, as much as I hate cigarettes and the smoke makes me horribly ill, this doesn't actually smell bad. The smokiness isn't overpowering either, it stays in the background. Mostly I am smelling the fir needle and a damp leaves scent. It's like walking through the forest after a light rain in the fall, with someone who is smoking a cigarette. A bit of apple and spice comes out in the drydown, offering an apple cider-ish dimension to the blend. Samhain is an okay blend to me. It's not really grabbing me though, and it doesn't seem like something that I'd actually be comfortable wearing. I'll probably end up decanting away most of my bottle.

First off, I am completely swooning over the label. I think that Blood Moon has the best label ever In the bottle this smells like clove and cinnamon, but with a softer, creamier edge. On my skin, creamy cinnamon. It smells like fresh cinnamon though, not overly sharp or candied. After a few minutes, the blend starts to smell a bit like cola. Holiday spiced cola. In the drydown this smells like swirling incense, vanilla, cinnamon, and cola. I am also catching whiffs of clove every once in a while. It's amazing. It has a very dark vibe to it, definitely makes me think of the night. On me it's the most intriguing mix of incense and foodie scents. I'm really loving this. I'm so glad that this isn't musky and that it doesn't have any dragon's blood in it. This might very well be my favorite lunar blend to date.

I was rather afraid to try this one after so many people said that it had jasmine in it, my skin usually amps up jasmine to frightening proportions. First on, patchouli (yay) and some sort of citrus. It smells like orange, but it's sweeter than orange usually is on me. Sweet orange, covered in patchouli... I rather like this so far. And I'm glad that I'm not getting any florals. After about 15 minutes, the orange smell has transformed into something spicier. Clove, perhaps? The spiciness is so light that it's almost unnoticeable though. Mostly I am getting evergreen and patchouli. It's very dark and earthy. I really love this after wearing it for an hour, as a resinous pine sap scent begins to take over. I like this a lot. It's very dark green and earthy... I'd get a bottle if it was ever released

I really like this, coconut singlenote is wonderfully foodie. I actually think of coconut cookies whenever I'm wearing it. It has this warm, golden scent to it that reminds me of cookies fresh from the oven. Perhaps with some shredded bits of fresh coconut on the top. Very warm and the drydown has a creamy/buttery quality to it that I love.

I really like civet, but I only smell the civet for the first few seconds after I apply Pulse Points... then it morphs into a heady floral blend that reminds me of hotel soaps. In the drydown, this smells like a dirty ash tray and bandaids on me This blend really makes me nauseous.

I was once attacked by a praying mantis. They scare the hell out of me. That said, lol... First on, Mantis smells rather soapy. Like green, fresh herbs and soap. Overall it's a very clean scent. After a few minutes it begins to smell a bit citrusy. Mantis lasts about three hours on my skin and never smells anything like what I expected it to. No amber or resin or any hint of patchouli. Just citrus dryer sheets. I was really disappointed with this one.

First on, this smells like spicy woods, dark fruit, and a perfumey floral base. I think that the florals in this one might be a bit too much for me. 5 minutes later. This is pretty sharp and perfumey on me. The florals are so intense that they're almost making my eyes water. There is a lingering fruity smell underneath the sharp floral, but it's not really sweet. More like crisp, unripe fruit. It stays perfumey and overwhelming on me for about an hour before I actually start to like it. It smells like very sophisticated, powdery plums in the drydown. Not real plums... more like an expensive plum and musk dusting powder. I hate the stages leading up to this though, so I'll probably never wear this one.

First on, Verdandi is a very perfumey apple. Most of BPAL's apple blends are more craft store than true apple to me. The amber in this surprisingly doesn't go to baby powder, but it lends a warm vibe to the fragrance. That sweet, fake, perfumey apple dominates Verdandi. This doesn't strike me as an herbal fragrance... just a warm, perfumey 'apple.'

I'm actually not getting any lavender from this one. It starts out smelling strongly of powdery violets and then dries down into a soapy lily blend . At least, I am assuming that it is lily that is making the blend go soapy. Dove's Heart just ends up smelling like dish soap on me.

I love patchouli... I really love patchouli when it is tempered by something sweet (as in Imp or Depraved, two of my favorite blends). This would be amazing if the patchouli and cinnamon were well balanced, but I don't smell any cinnamon at all This is very dark, woodsy patchouli and vetiver. I get a sense of moss and decomposing leaves... like being lost in the darkest, thickest part of a forest. I like this, but it's not sweet enough for me. I can't wear something this cold... it just doesn't feel right on me.

First on, weak cherry limeade. I like the smell of cherry limeade, but this quickly turns into a floral blend on me. Light, sweet floral, but with a weird smell mixed in... kind of reminding me of burnt rubber. The burnt rubber smell gets stronger and stronger too. This is what dragon's blood sometimes smells like on my skin, so I wouldn't be surprised if it was one of the notes. I had to wash this one off. It was making me sick.

The mix of notes here is like the richest, darkest blue lavender scent. It's intoxicating. It's mostly lavender with sweet nag champa incense and a dark, soft woods note. It's very soothing, smooth, dark, and sweet. After a half hour, I can smell a sweet tobacco smoke coming through. The overall feel is like a sensual, deep, lavender incense. It's as sweet as TKO is on me, but darker and not so foodie-sweet, more rich and sensual.

Heliotrope singlenote has much the same feel that I got from Al Araaf. Waxy white blossoms drizzled in honey. It is sweet and subtle. The drydown is powdery, but not in a bad way. It's not a baby powder sort of scent, just very soft. I like this one a lot, but it's not something that I'll probably ever wear.

Lolita is, without a doubt, my favorite novel of all time. So... I am going to be heartbroken if I don't like this one. And I'm worried, because I'm not a fan of florals and orange blossom often turns on my skin... so it's looking bad already. I'm also worried that I'm going to be picky and feel that this doesn't represent the character well. Enough of my anxiety. First on, this fragrance is amazingly bubbly. It has that carbonated scent like cola, but with something sweet and vanilla-ish mingling with it. It smells like a coca cola and vanilla ice cream float. I'm pleased that this isn't really floral on me at all. It's a soft, glittering perfume. The lemon verbena is definitely here, but it's blending so well with that vanilla scent. This is a definite 10 ml purchase. I don't think that there's really anything grown up about this one. For me, this is Lolita right after Humbert picked her up from camp... when she was toying with grownup fantasies, but hadn't yet been jaded by them.

I've really wanted to try Marie just because it is my middle name. I didn't think that I'd actually like it based on the notes though, since I'm not really a fan of florals. Marie is surprisingly wonderful and not really floral on my skin though. It is actually mostly violet, with a slight hint of very sweet rose in the drydown... but the overall impression is that this is very candy-like. I don't think this smells like flowers on me, really, more like the sugared violets and roses on the top of a wedding cake. This is more of a light foodie scent on me than a floral . I'm definitely going to be getting a full bottle of this one.

First on, smells sort of like peppery grapefruit juice that quickly dries down to dry woods and pepper. I had weird scratch and sniff stickers that smelled like this when I was younger. This is one of the first/only perfumes that I've tried where I can actually smell the pepper. I love this smell After a half hour... still pepper and dry woods, but with something soft and sweet lingering in the background. Perhaps it is the poeny, it is a sweet floral scent. The staying power of this one was amazing for me. It lasted for 8 hours until I took a bath, with the pepper going strong the whole 8 hours. It actually starts to smell like a sexy men's cologne after an hour or so, and loses the floral edge. I definitely like Grandmother of Ghosts and am pleased with the way it turned on my skin

This smells like I took a fresh orange and squeezed it over a bowl of warm water filled with lemony dish soap. I get an odd feeling of warmth from it. Water of Notre Dame isn't unpleasant, but it's not something that I really want to smell like either. Clean soapy oranges. Definitely odd.

The Hermit is a hard one for me to describe. It starts out smelling like a woodsy herbal something and musty florals. The florals get more hyper in the drydown, and the entire blend turns into a perfumey headache for me. There might be a light aquatic note underneath the white florals... but it's overall very overpowering on me. This Tarot Oil really disagrees with my skin chemistry.