Little Bird

Mmm... patchouli... I love patchouli. I would love to have a few dozen 10 ml bottles of nothing but patchouli oil. Anyhow. When I first put on masquerade, it is all wonderful patchouli. So perfectly spicy and earthy and glorious. Then, after about five minutes, the orange blossom creeps in and starts to ruin things. Orange blossom always smells something like burnt orange rinds on me. I can smell a definite burnt orange underneath my lovely patchouli now. The orange blossom has faded considerably after an hour and I can smell the spicy floral of the carnation. It's blending quite well with the patchouli and I love that the patchouli is still the dominant note. This will never be a full bottle purchase for me (thanks to the orange blossom) but I think I can go through my imp on days when I don't mind waiting an hour for the fragrance to settle down.

I love the smell of citrus and lavender. Unfortunately, it never makes an appearance. The minty pennyroyal is all I can smell from this for about an hour. It's very bright and sharp, a cutting mint. After an hour the musk begins to come out and soften the mint. Mad Hatter turns into a perfumey mint. It seems more cold and masculine on me than anything that I would wear. I don't really like mint, so I don't think that I'll try this out on my boy either, lol. It will make a perfect gift for a male friend who needs to get away from axe sprays...

Jasmine is always insanely strong on my skin. Orange blossom always has an odd burnt sort of smell to it. This smells like strong burnt jasmine with an herbal undertone. Very odd and not good at all. It's sickening on me. On my mother, however, this smells heavenly. Sparkling citrus held down by soft pretty florals and comforting lavendar. I envy her skin chemistry.

I wish that I had read the reviews here before even trying on Wicked. My skin pretty much always amps up jasmine notes. At first I do get a bit of powdery rose here, but it quickly turns into nothing but jasmine. Pure, strong jasmine. Headache in a bottle.

I *hate* white musk but I love patchouli, so I was still tempted into trying Vechernyaya. Unfortunately, this is pure white musk on me and not even a hint of patchouli. I'm not sure what poppy smells like (I never noticed it having a smell) but I don't think that I smell any here. It's very perfumey and astringent. The white musk of my nightmares. I had to wash this off after about a half hour, even though it had dried down and was much lighter at that point.

Athens is not one of my favorite scents. I don't hate it, but it's not one that I ever find myself reaching for either. I get the same sort of golden and fuzzy honey note that I get in Hetairae. I don't really like red wine, but it thankfully isn't that strong on me in Athens. It just adds a sort of rotten boozy quality in the background. The overall feel is of a boozy honey. The florals are pleasant, but I can't pick out any floral note in particular. Just a sort of sweet flowery note that comes out more after I've been wearing Athens for a few hours. Boozy honey with a light layer of florals. Not a favorite, but it's okay...

I fell in love with a frimp of Nosferatu that smelled like damp black dirt and a hint of sweet berry. It was oddly clean smelling for a dirt scent, but still dark and haunting. And then I ordered a full bottle and it smells nothing like the frimp. The bottle smelled like sharp, sour, perfumey floral and moss with a whiff of berry markers. So unbelievably different. I swapped for another bottle on the forum and it also smells different (kinda cough syrupy). And this is why I'm getting fed up with bpal. It's such a waste of money when you love a sample and then order a bottle only to find out that it's nothing like the sample. That much variation is ridiculous, and it's happened with so many of their scents at this point that it's just starting to feel like a huge ripoff to me...

I was worried that Love Me would be floral and disappointing on me. I prayed to God and all that is holy for this to not have any jasmine in it, lol. First on this smells like Holiday Spice Cola. Lovely, sweet, fizzy Cola with a touch of cinnamon. Truly a touch of cinnamon, not overpowering at all. I love it. After about a half hour, more of a vanilla smell is coming out to join the above mentioned smells. More and more cinnamon comes out over the next few hours, but it never gets overpowering or sickening as it often does on my skin. It's a gorgeous vanilla and cinnamon blend in the drydown.

Madrid is disgusting on me. Completely sickening. Never before has a scent prompted this much dislike from me. I smell this and my brain screams, "Hospital, hospital, hospital, hospital." And, the thing is, I usually like hospitals. My father was in the hospital for much of my childhood and I practically grew up there happily. Until I was old enough to realize that the hospital was the place he would die in, and sooner than I accepted. This is plasticy bandaids, breathing tubes, and decay on me. I think that I'm getting that sense of decay from the wine (I often do). It's so medicinal on me. Madrid takes me straight back to the day that my father died, and brings back all of those feelings of fear, confusion, and anxiety. I was sobbing as I ran to wash it off. I've never had that strong of a reaction to a perfume before.

I don't like florals either... thankfully, there are many BPALs that aren't floral. I agree that all of the above recommendations might work for you. Especially Dormouse, White Rabbit, and Shanghai if you like tea scents. All three of those are amazing. Rosalind and Eden are also lovely sweet/sort of girlie but not floral blends. Rosalind was also pretty light on me. Forbidden Fruit wasn't overwhelmingly floral either. If you like foodie scents, you might want to try Jack, I'd put it in the same category as Shub.

The cheap, sharp white musk and candy-sweet, artificial pear note in this remind me of those body splashes you can get at Wal-Mart (or you could a decade or so ago). It reminds me of one that I had when I was around 8 years old. I think it was called Pear Fantasy. A cheap musk, reminiscent of hairspray, and a pear note that smells like scented dolls more than perfume. Not good on me at all. ETA: Recent imps of this have also had a noticeable soapy lily note, which just makes this worse for me, lol.

Delight is another blend that went all jasmine on my skin. It was all that I could smell for about an hour, smoky and heady jasmine. I hate how strong it is. The rose appeared after about an hour. Too bad that the rose went soapy on me Conclusion: Delight smells like jasmine soap on me and will be given to a friend of mine who is interested in trying it.

I find that I don't do well with a lot of the Love Potion blends, because the fruity-floral blends here tend to go sharp, soapy, and cheap smelling on my skin. La Belle is another that doesn't work out. At first all I can smell is slightly musky pear. Then the florals come out and do what white florals do on my skin... turn into evil, bitter, sharp notes that make me nauseated. Luckily, La Belle is a light scent, which keeps it from giving me a headache. Within an hour it has pretty much faded away. Sharp, bitter, light, artificial smelling floral.

I think that Eden would be lovely with Jungle. They don't necessarily smell alike, but they both have that exotic green/spicy-and-something-else scent to them. (As for Spun Sugar... Midway is the only thing that I've come across... and I, too, would kill for a Spun Sugar perfume, lol)

On me, Wings of Azrael is perfumey white florals and soapy violets. It doesn't necessarily have a lot of throw, but it's heavy enough to give me a headache. In the drydown I smell a woodsy note that is almost like cedar. This type of floral is just not for me, sadly.

For about the first hour that I'm wearing Flower Moon, it reminds me a lot of Mi-Go (as others have said). Luckily, I love Mi-Go. I get the same unique floral and honeydew melon scent. It's lovely and reminds me of spring. In the drydown it gets a bit more perfumey from florals that I can't identify. These aren't the usual florals that give me headaches though. I'm glad that there's no jasmine here. It smells like a light blend of sweet wildflowers, honeydew melon, and dryer sheets. Very refreshing. It's one of the few floral blends that I can actually wear.

Sadly, I did not like Delirium as much as I thought that I would. I hoped that it would smell like Lush's rose and lemon bubblebar. On me, this is all lemon. And it's not even a good sort of lemon, it smells very harsh. This is a chemical lemon, reminding me of kitchen cleansers. I get hints of sharp/bitter rose at times but never any apple. It's shocking how harsh it smells. I'm glad to have finally tried this one... it just doesn't work on my skin

In the imp I smell the same cold blooms that I get from Eternal. Odd, I don't get any florals once I apply this. On my skin, this is pure screaming mint and eucalyptus. The mint reminds me a bit of the mint in Tulzcha, but it's a much stronger mint here. Violet generally goes soapy or powdery on me, but sometimes it surprises me and smells like delightful, sweet, dark violets. On me, the violet in this actually smells rotten and a bit like, um, feces. In the drydown, I'm getting that feces smell underneath the mint Final thought: I smell like mint soap in a bathroom that hasn't been cleaned in a while. Needless to say, Ultraviolet is not for me.

The Native American Creator / Trickster God of Chaos and Change. The warmth of doeskin, dry plains grasses and soft, dusty woods warmed by amber and a downy, gentle coat of deep musk. Coyote and I didn't really get along with each other. It was a very mediocre scent on me. At first it smells a bit herbal and I get the impression of green grasses. In the drydown it is a very perfumey musk. It smells sort of dusty. It's light and fades pretty fast. ETA: Testing a 2016 frimp. This smells weirdly of cola syrup and cherry almond in the imp and on my skin. On my skin, it also has a warm, powdery, white musky amber thing going on. Not really any grass or wood. Strangely sweet. I still don't get this scent, 11 years later, lol.

Bastet made me gag when I first put it on. It is powdery almond. Something about it is reminding me of the smell of rest stop bathrooms After a few minutes the amber and myrrh start getting stronger and making this much better on me. They're making the blend smell warmer. It has a slight incense quality to it now. Ugh. This is turning into a baby powder scent on my skin. After an hour it's a sickeningly sweet powder with a synthetic cherry smell in the background. Bastet is definitely going to my swap pile after it gave me a headache. Bad Bastet

Much thanks to Finny for supplying me with an imp of Freak Show . First applied, this is completely mouthwatering . I'm getting mostly cocoa with definite hints of vanilla and honey. It's remind me of a lighter and more edible version of O. The fig is coming out as well, and I love fig. It's not an overly sweet or candied fig, but it's blending well with the other sweet notes. 5 minutes later. This has faded quite a bit and is a very light scent. It reminds me of something that I can't quite remember... a bit of the lemon has come out now to join the other notes. Maybe this reminds me a bit of Intrigue (which also went rather cocoa/fig on me). 10 minutes later. This has gone from smelling like a light version of O on me to a lighter version of Intrigue. It's all gone within a half hour... but it was lovely while it lasted. I'd get a full bottle of this if it lasted longer on my skin. Alas, it does not.

I've worn Beltane a few times now, and it seems different every time that I try it. In the imp I get an herbal sort of green smell that I like. On me, sometimes I smell mostly jasmine and I hate it. Sometimes it smells sweeter and softer like honeysuckle and sweet pea. Sometimes I get more of a sharp/green dandelion smell. It's always very floral for a few hours before going soapy on me. My nose is pretty untrained with florals, so maybe that's why this blend is so hard for me to pin down. Sometimes I like Beltane, it smells very feminine and pretty... other times it gives me a floral induced headache and I have to wash it off. I'll keep experimenting with my decant of this one, but I don't think that I'll be lusting for a full bottle.

I'm surprised that I actually like Gypsy Queen, as it was the scent in the Carnaval Noir lineup that I was least enamored with. The rose and carnation scared me away from trying it for quite a while. On me, smoky incense is the dominant note that I get out of Gypsy Queen. It's very heady and sexy. The rose is soft and blooming delicately in the background. There is a sweet orange citrus that I catch every now and then. The overall impression is very shadowy and seductive. Something about this screams of a slow session of lovemaking. Maybe the combination of smoky candles, rose petals, and that general dimmed lighting feel is getting to me... I'm glad that I have a bottle of this. It's so darkly romantic.

Ozone and aquatics don't seem to work on me usually. Lightning is all ozone on me. I smell like very crisp dryer sheets. It's very clean and sharp, and for some reason it keeps making me sneeze. Decent staying power and throw, but I hate that generic dryer sheet smell.

La Bella Donna Della Mia Mente settles on my skin in much the same way that Persephone (another rose and pomegranate blend) did. The peach did come out a bit at first, but it was quickly overwhelmed by the rose. In the drydown this is a very sharp rose with an aquatic scent lingering in the background. It turns bitter and perfumey on me. I waited 3 hours before washing this off and the lovely fruits never did make an appearance