Little Bird

I have recently started experimenting with the fruity single notes and I'm surprised by how much I actually love them. Grapefruit pretty much never works for me in BPAL blends, it always smells sour and dirty. This singlenote is so good that it literally makes my mouth water. It smells like the ripe pink grapefruit sprinkled with sugar that I enjoy so often for breakfast. It’s so sweet and delicious. It gets more sugary in the drydown, which I love. I wish that I could get a full bottle of this.

This is one of my favorite singlenotes. First on, I can smell the comparison that others have made in saying that this smells a bit like nailpolish remover. The drydown is so sweet and lovely though. It is reminiscent of black cherry Kool-Aid powder. After about 15 minutes it loses that tart powdery stage and becomes a wonderful sweet cherry. It smells like a dark rich purple. I usually don't care for fruity scents, but I love this. It's one that I would actually wear alone.

I don't think that I've ever been able to pick out this singlenote in any of the blends that I've tried. I was surprised that this one was so strong and had so much throw, I was expecting a more whispy/delicate floral. That said, I actually sort of like this. It smells almost waxy and crisp. Slightly green, slightly wet, and slightly sunny. I don't know if I'd ever wear this one that much, with my dislike for florals, but I'll keep my imp around. I enjoy the singlenote florals a lot more than I've enjoyed most of the floral blends.

Queen of Diamonds is the perfect example of why I do not like florals With all of the mention of grapefruit, mandarin, and lemon I thought that this would be a very citrussy blend. Yet I don't really smell much citrus at all. Every once in a while, I think I can smell a bit of grapefruit, but this is primarily floral. Highly perfumey florals. This one gives me a vicious headache when I try to wear it. I'm happily giving away my decant.

Honey and florals are not really my thing, but Al-Araaf is actually very nice. It doesn't go soapy and it's not overpoweringly floral at all. This starts out smelling slightly wet and almost pear-like, if the pear were to be very watery. Watery pears and white flowers. It has a clean, delicate smell in this stage. In the drydown this takes on a more powdery edge. It's very floral, but it's such a light scent that it's not bothering me at all. There's a yummy sweetness underneath the flowers too. The description of 'honeyed lilies' is proving very accurate for me. It's a soft honey that's lingering in the background. Maybe also a creamy vanilla coming through. As for staying power... I kept thinking that this one had disappeared on me, but then I would catch surprising whiffs of it over the 5 hours that I wore it. I'll actually keep my bottle and be wearing this one when I want a subtle floral perfume. It's so rare that florals don't give me a headache, so I have to appreciate this one

I loved the dandelion note in Roadhouse. The singlenote is that same smell, but minus Roadhouse's awful boozy quality. This is fresh dandelions. Very green, slightly bitter, and crisp. It starts out a bit perfumey and off putting, but the drydown is just perfect. It smells like playing in a field of yellow dandelions and has a childlike, innocent sort of quality to it. I wish that I could get a bottle of this one.

This is quite possibly my least favorite of all of the limited edition blends that I've tried. It doesn't start off so bad. It smells of dry woods and juniper berry. Sort of cold, dry, and forested. However, after only about five minutes on my skin, this one starts to get intensely soapy. There is a mingling of bitter rose and metallic dragon's blood that is really making me sick here. Soap. Bitter, metallic soap. Wildfire just doesn't work with my skin chemistry at.all.

This and Cerberus are my favorites of the Oblation blends. The mango in this is so lovely. Mango and pepper. It does remind me a bit of Mi-Go, only Mi-Go had more fruits swirling around and less spice. I'm glad that the sage never really comes out much on me, because sage usually smells dirty and awful on me. The drydown of this is lovely. I normally don't like musk, but this is a very creamy musk. The juiciness of the mango lingers in the background and the golden amber comes out. Juicy, ambery, and a bit spicy.

First on, this smells like lemon and something green & herbal. It isn't a tart or overly sharp lemon though, almost a creamy sort of citrus. I can smell a sort of floral smell underneath the lemon after a few minutes. They smell like little white flowers. In the drydown this is sweet honeysuckle with creamy lemon. I was really enjoying this one, which is odd considering the fact that I don't like florals or lemon. It just had such a bright/creamy edge to it. Unfortunately, after about a half hour, this one goes to pure soap on me

Yay. I was excited to try this one so I can see how it compares to the new formulation of Hearth. First on, does this have almond in it? I’m getting that weird boozy cherries smell that I usually get from almond. This smells almost like nighttime cherry cough syrup. These are not good cherries on me. After about 10 minutes I start smelling maple syrup. No leather or tobacco or anything in the description. Just buttery maple syrup. 3 hours later... still buttery maple syrup. I find it odd that I’m not smelling any leather or tobacco. I might smell a bit of woodsmoke, or I might just be imagining it. Hm. I definitely don’t love this one. It’s sickeningly sweet and syrupy. I hope that the 2005 version is better than this one was on my skin.

The Sun was very hard for me to place. First on it smelled very citrussy, but a citrus with a dirty edge... reminded me of the way that grapefruit usually turns on my skin. But there was something warm, golden, and slightly powdery underneath that. Perhaps amber? It gets more resinous and powdery as I wear it. And every once in a while I think I'm catching a whiff of jasmine, but it's a highly sugared sort of floral smell. Very odd. The Sun only lasted about an hour on my skin... it disappears pretty fast. I probably won't get a full bottle of this one. It's a rather unremarkable citrus on me.

I always want to describe the way that BPAL's honey smells on me as 'fuzzy'. I don't really know how to explain that impression, but it's always the first word that comes to mind for me. This singlenote smells golden and sticky. I actually don't like the way that most honey scents smell on me though. It has an odd perfumey/smoky quality that makes me a bit sick to my stomach. This is definitely more of a perfumey scent than a sweet one. Reminds me of the sharp honey in Hetairae. It's just awful on my skin.

This one was not at all what I was expecting. So many people described this as a sweet rose, but it's insanely bitter and sharp on me. I can also pick out the ylang ylang, as it often goes metallic and funky on my skin. This is very strong bitter rose with an undercurrent of metallic ylang ylang. It's actually making me feel ill In the drydown the rose starts to go powdery. So it's baby powder, rose, and that metallic twang. I had to wash this off after about 20 minutes. Silentium Amoris just disagreed so violently with my skin chemistry.

Hm, I love patchouli... so I was hopeful for this one. Sadly, I'm not smelling any patchouli First on this was medicinal herbs and something dry and woodsy. After a few minutes I can detect warm, powdery amber and woods. After a half hour, I was really enjoying this as it was piney and resinous. After about an hour of wear, this one completely turned on me. It ended up smelling like green herbal soap. I'm not sure what made this turn soapy on me... but I've tried to wear it 3 times now with the same end result. I'm going to try this one out on the boy and see what happens.

Oh my... this is heavenly. I'm so in love with this that I could cry. It's heartbreaking to know that once my decant is gone, I'll probably never get anymore of this. I love it though In the imp this smells very rich and purple. It's purple fruits, slight woods, and a definite creaminess. First on my skin, I was slightly disappointed that this is mostly woods and moss. However, the juicy plum and tart blackberry quickly come forth and layer wonderfully over the foresty scent. In the drydown... I could die, this is so amazing. Sweet, tart blackberry and juicy plum drizzled in vanilla cream and coconut milk. I can still pick out the soft woods underneath the sweetness, but mostly this is a deliciously edible scent. This is the blackberry scent of my dreams. And I love BPAL's coconut. Rich, ripe fruits and sweetness. I would love to have a bottle of this one.

I actually really like Alecto. It's unlike any fragrance that I've ever tried before. It starts off smelling strongly cedary, but with a spicy olive smell. I love olives... so maybe that's part of the charm for me, lol. After about 5 minutes, the dirty vetiver comes out strongly, but it calms down after 15 minutes and I'm left with a strange (but good) spicy scent. I want to describe this as a 'spicy herbal leaf' scent. It's edible, but not in a sweet way. Kind of reminds me of cooking spices. I honestly can't ever see myself wearing this... but I like it so much that I'm going to keep my imp around anyhow. Maybe I can use it as a room scent... or I wonder if this would be better suited on a guy

In the bottle, this smells like spicy, musky men's cologne and maybe a bit of powdery amber. On my skin, this instantly starts to turn to baby powder and smells a bit funky (almost like sour body odor). After a half hour, it's intensely baby powdery and dirty smelling, and I had to scrub it off. I like ambergris in a lot of bpal's blends, but the single note does not work for me at all. I'm going to pass on ordering more of this one, now that it's re-released.

First on, this is a crisp bite of juniper with some rose and a green, slightly spicy scent dancing around it. I'm not sure that I like this. Then... the lily does what it often does on my skin... and this smells like generic soap. After about an hour, that's all that I can smell. Glad that I got a chance to try this one, but it doesn't work on me.

Villain is actually a very light cologne on me. I liked it a lot when I first applied it. It was sweet, musky citrus... reminded me a bit of the way lemon Italian ice smells. In the drydown, the lavender really comes out and ruins this for me though. It's like a blend of very powdery lavender, powdery musk, and baby powder. Only lasted about 3 hours on my skin. I usually like BPAL's masculine blends... but this one just goes way too powdery on me.

I love how BPAL scents always so perfectly capture the mood and feeling of what they are representing. This is the perfect scent representation of a nimble footed, sparkling white, magical unicorn. Gentle, beautiful and illusive. You can close your eyes and imagine a brilliant white unicorn standing next to a glittering stream as flower petals rain down around him. This one is actually pretty strong on me. It lasted about 8 hours and had a lot of throw... I applied it pretty heavily though. The Unicorn smells like delicate green herbs and pretty, perfumey white flower petals. But underneath those smells are a honeyed sweetness and a light dash of something aquatic. It's amazing. Everything in it feels like a light touch, with no one note overtaking the blend. Sadly, as much as I appreciate this scent, it's not really me. I'll never be able to pull off the perfumey floral bit. Still... this is so lovely.

I was completely ecstatic to finally get a decant of this one. I'm always excited to try anything with the mention of blackberry in it, because it's one of the few fruits that I actually love the smell of. Sadly, this doesn't work on me. First on, I'm smelling a sour sort of fruit and a sharp woods note. Soured wine. After a few minutes I'm definitely getting the cherry cough drop scent that so many other people described, but it still has that gross/sour edge to it. In the drydown this gets considerably better, but still not something that I would like to wear. It's like apple cider and a soft floral... but it's more the spice of the cider that I'm smelling, and none of the apple. If that makes sense. Flower cider. I think that this one would make a better room scent than a personal scent. I so wanted to smell like blackberries and apple cider though

I wasn't sure what to expect from this one, since everyone's reviews seemed so different from each other. This is an odd scent, and not very 'me'. First on it has an almost minty/menthol coolness to it. Herbal and medicinal. There is also a sort of spicy woods scent lingering in the background. Over the next hour this took on a strange sweet smell. Like some sort of juicy fruit and a light, sweet floral. Still the herbal smell lingered. It's a green sort of herbal. After about 5 hours, this is lightly fruity, incensey, and I think I smell sandalwood. This one gives me that feeling of "wearing someone else's perfume". It's just not me and it didn't really grow on me. I'll be giving away my decant of this'n.

Mmm. This reminds me of being in a pine forest, next to a thawing stream. The spruce is a sort of minty pine scent, and there's a cold aquatic here underneath it all. It's a very refreshing forest scent. I close my eyes and can see thawing ice and a stream roaring to life as the snow melts. In the drydown a bit of a citrus and blackberry smell comes out, but it's underneath that pine and aquatic scent, so it's not overwhelmingly fruity. I'm not getting any strong musk or floral from it. 8 hours later I can smell a creamy slightly fruity aquatic scent. It's delicious. I love this. I'm so depressed that I don't have a bottle...

I didn't really like pomegranate in most of the BPAL blends that I've tried. It usually smells tart and powdery on me, and it's very strong and overpowering. So the singlenote surprised me by actually being rather light and sweet. This is what I imagine pomegranate hard candies would smell like. It doesn't smell much like the real fruit to me, but is a sweet pink sort of fruitiness. I actually like this one a lot though. I'd buy a full bottle if I could.

I'm not usually fond of orange scents, but I liked the blood orange in Kunstkammer, so I decided to give the single note a try. This is definitely a candied orange. Very sweet and juicy. It's not really tart or sharp like orange usually is on my skin, just sugary and kind of creamy. I like this one a lot, and it is wonderful paired with chocolately scents like Bliss