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BPAL Madness!

Little Bird

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Everything posted by Little Bird

  1. Little Bird

    Inferno

    I like cinnamon quite a lot. I love it when it doesn't get overpowering and I can smell the other notes in a blend (as in Eclipse, which I love to pieces). I don't like pure cinnamon when it's the only note that I can smell though (as in most cinnamon blends, my skin amps up the cinnamon). When I first apply Inferno, I smell like almond cookies dusted in cinnamon. It's wonderful. Unfortunately, this is one of those cinnamon blends where the cinnamon eats the other notes. In the drydown I smell like pure red hots candies. It stays that way for hours too. Very very strong cinnamon. It's too strong and makes me kind of ill. I wish that the almond or neroli would have stayed with me.
  2. Little Bird

    Honey Moon

    I always think that I should love honey, since I love foodie scents so much. I think that I'm finally comfortable with and able to admit that I don't like honey though (not in my food, soaps, or fragrances, lol). The smell of honey is just too sickeningly sweet and syrupy to me. I digress. Honey Moon was odd and not really what I expected at all. I fixated mostly on the "five different honeys" part and ignored the other notes. Surprisingly, the thyme and jasmine are what stood out most on me. For about an hour, Honey Moon is an odd herbal floral. I dislike this stage. Then the honeys start to come out and go sickeningly sweet and powdery on me. I dislike this stage too. I'm glad that I listened to myself and didn't order a full bottle of this. I'm also glad that I have a friend who loves honey and jasmine to gift the imp to . Honey just isn't for me.
  3. Little Bird

    Three Witches

    I love clove & pepper, but cinnamon can easily be too much for me. Three Witches is, in my opinion, all about the cinnamon. It's like red hots candies and a weird undertone that smells almost like burnt bacon on me :/ As this has aged, this is all red hots cinnamon all the time...
  4. Little Bird

    Nyx

    I like myrrh and hate jasmine. Unfortunately, my skin seems to adore jasmine and amps it up to the fullest extent whenever I wear it. In Nyx, the jasmine completely devours the myrrh. I never smell it at all. Then the rose goes soapy and I smell like jasmine soap. I agree with those who said this kind of smells like LUSH's Flying Fox showergel. I can see the similarity. This is just... not for me. It's so rare that a jasmine blend really works on me though.
  5. Little Bird

    Ave Maria Gratia Plena

    This is a very classic white floral blend on me. Perfumey and similar to the cheap floral perfumes you can get at places like Walgreens. I don't get any lemon, sage, or sandalwood out of this. No spices. Ave Maria Gratia Plena is all musk and white lilies when it hits my skin, but an artificial, sharp, soapy lily that doesn't really smell at all like real lilies. In the drydown, I think I can detect some sour jasmine laying about. Gives me a headache.
  6. Little Bird

    The Living Flame

    In the bottle I am smelling hairspray. That sort of bitter and throat clogging sharpness. It's probably the musk that gets this reaction out of me. First on my skin, I smell gummi bears. A definite generic fruitiness. This settles down into musky gummi bears. Odd, but not awful. I don't love it either though. This is gummi bears trying to be sensual. I have an image of colorful jelly-like little bears trying to fornicate. It's making me uneasy. Fruitiness is gone and I think I smell musk, jasmine, and maybe a bit of vanilla. It's getting stronger and sharper. In the drydown over the next several hours, this is an okay vanilla musk on me. I just don't really like musk, so I doubt that I'll be wearing this much.
  7. Little Bird

    Tiger Lily

    If I liked florals, I would be in love with Tiger Lily. This is such a wonderful, sweet floral. I can envision the delicate lilies, drizzled with a few tiny drops of honey. It's a floral that even I (a floral hater) could wear without gagging. It's not me and I'll probably never wear it, but it's undeniably gorgeous.
  8. Little Bird

    Loviatar

    I had an odd experience with Loviatar. When I first applied it, I couldn't smell anything . This is the sort of scent that just clings close to my skin and seems to disappear. After it settles a bit I mostly smell myrrh and amber. Warm and clinging to my skin. When I manage to catch a bit of this, it reminds me of a shaving cream that my father used when I was little. Masculine and spicy. I just wish that it weren't so light and fleeting.
  9. Little Bird

    Severin

    First impression of Severin: Sharp lemon. Kind of herbal. Sort of like lemon and black licorice. Reminds me of lemon cough drops. A bit gross. Lemony tea and leather is not a good combination on me. Not a good combination at all. This is incredibly light, but it still smells very off on me. Very medicinal in the drydown, reminds me of band-aids. 15 minutes later. It's gone. I don't smell anything at all. This was probably the fastest disappearing BPAL that I've tried to date. Severin is going onto my swaps list, I hope that someone else will love it.
  10. Little Bird

    Sin

    This smells so dark, smooth, delicious, and decadent. It's definitely a scent that could tempt one to sin. I love black patchouli, but I don't get a ton of black patch from this scent (it just adds an extra hint of darkness to the blend). Bpal's amber notes usually go to baby powder on my skin, but the amber here is rich and resinous, and mixes so well with the sandalwood. Cinnamon usually amps up and kills the other notes in a blend, but the cinnamon here is well behaved, sweet, and sensual. The mix of amber and sandalwood reminds me a bit of Cathedral. It's like polished wood and smooth, sweet, golden resins. There's also something very cool and pleasant about this, like a hint of nighttime air. And then the sweet cinnamon has this warm, inviting quality to it that makes Sin so flirty and sexy to wear. All in all, I love this. It's spicy, resinous/woods, smooth, and sensual beyond belief. Definitely an attention getting, exotic, sexy fragrance. I recommend this if you want someone to try to get closer to you, because it definitely attracts people to me when I wear it.
  11. Little Bird

    Mi-Go Brain Canister

    I didn't get this originally because I usually am not fond of fruity blends... but I recently bought a Mi-Go Brain Canister off of a lovely forum member because I collected all of the SiA bottles and this was the missing link. I was pleasantly surprised when I got the bottle though, it actually smells rather lovely. In the bottle I am definitely picking up kiwi and it's very unique and edible. I hope that the kiwi stays strong on my skin. First on my skin, kiwi and melon . It loses a lot of the sharpness that it has in the bottle, thankfully. I am envisioning juicy kiwi slices and chilled white tea now. This is very fruity, but not that overly sweet sickening sort of fruity that I can't stand. It's very cool and soft. Smooth. I definitely get the 'soothing' part of the description. In the drydown this is very much white tea and musk with a light fruity twinge. I'm getting the sense of an almost dryersheet-like freshness. It's so complex and I'm surprised that I love it. I can't believe that it took me this long to get ahold of the Mi-Go.
  12. Little Bird

    Val Sans Retour

    I love this. I wish that I could order a bottle of it right now. I'll definitely order a bottle as soon as it gets released. This has the same sweet icy lime-lemon citrus in it that I love and adore so much in Wilde. It smells a lot like Wilde on my skin, actually. Only this has more of a green herbal quality to it and doesn't last as long on my skin. I can pick out something like pine in this, but it isn't the strong pine that I smelled in Dublin. It is very muted and in the background. Val Sans Retour only lasts about an hour and a half on my skin, but it is the most glorious fresh green blend while it lasts.
  13. Little Bird

    Florence

    Florence is beautiful and I am completely and utterly in love with it The oil itself is a pearly golden colour, appropriate for the "pearl of the Italian Renaissance". It is the most lovely oil colour that I've come across yet. The fragrance itself is so unique and amazing. The berries are soft, cool and muted, reminding me of the smell of berry sno-cones. There is a strong burst of almost woody spices after wearing for a few minutes, but it somehow blends nicely with the berries. I tend to hate florals and Florence doesn't go floral on me at all. This is an elegant and cool berry and spice scent on me. Cool berries and woody spices wrapped up in a light amber. It will be a definite 10 ml purchase.
  14. Little Bird

    Blood Rose

    Dragon's Blood strikes again. I've never come across a scent that hates me this much before. My friend described this to me as 'juicy roses', so I was interested enough to try the imp. The dragon's blood still overpowers everything. The wine manages to come through a bit, but I don't like the boozy fruity quality mixed in with the smell of rotting wildflowers. I don't get any rose from this, which is odd because rose usually comes through pretty strongly on my skin. I feel like the dragon's blood got drunk and murdered the roses.
  15. Little Bird

    La Belle Dame Sans Merci

    I've wanted to try La Belle Dame Sans Merci based on the descriptions of it being a cold green scent. Unfortunately, that's not what it smells like when mixed with my cursed skin chemistry. On me this is soapy. Soapy in the way that roses sometimes turn on my skin. And it stays strongly rose soap for hours, never changing. ...off to the swap piles we go...
  16. Little Bird

    Fire Eater

    I never would have tried Fire Eater on my own (I know to stay away from perfumey floral blends) but my bottle was a gift. When I first dabbed on some Fire Eater, it was an oddly soapy jasmine scent. Almost a sharp, bitter laundry detergent sort of soapy. After a few minutes, the soapy fades and I think that I'm smelling dragon's blood (which tends to make me ill). I might be smelling jasmine, dragon's blood, and musk. It is very perfumey. It does have a sort of warm and glowing quality to it, but I just can't seem to love it. To me this feels like 'just another floral blend'. My mother, however, loves this one... so it looks like Fire Eater is going to be regifted.
  17. Little Bird

    Pride

    I have no real idea what narcissus is supposed to smell like. Pride to me is just a very interesting (and lovely) rose blend. It's definitely rose, but the rose somehow manages to be soapy, smoky, wet, and sweet... all at the same time. For a few minutes before it dries, it is sharply acidic, almost to the point of making my throat burn. As it dries it takes on a sweet powdered quality that I really enjoy though. I'm not much of a rose or floral person, so I'm not sure that I'd wear this one very much, but it's one of the better floral/rose blends that I've had on my skin.
  18. Little Bird

    Imp

    Much thanks to HoneyHoneyNY for gifting me with an imp of Imp. This is glorious. I desperately want a 10 ml of Imp. There isn't much that I can say about it except that it is the perfect blend of juicy peach and earthy spicy patchouli. I love patchouli, and the peach is pairing up with it wonderfully. I didn't expect to love this as much as I do... but it's definitely on my top 10 favorite fragrances list now.
  19. Little Bird

    Ace of Hearts

    I hate white florals... they are so perfumey and bitter on me. They make me feel dizzy and my throat feel tight. Ace of Hearts is very much a white floral. It feels almost bubbly or fizzy. A bubbly overdose on flowers. I've had it on for about five minutes and I'm already getting a headache. It makes me cough Half hour later. This has gotten very faint on me, thankfully. It's a light rose scent now. Still causes me to go into a fit of coughing if I put my wrist too close to my nose. After my 10th coughing fit, I had to wash this off. Ace of Hearts has done an amazing job of reminding me why I don't own any white floral blends, lol.
  20. Little Bird

    Wrath

    I've been very curious about Wrath because it has three of my favorite scents in it (black pepper, clove, and cinnamon) and one of my most hated scents (dragon's blood). I'm hoping that the dragon's blood will be overpowered by other scents. Wet on my skin... dragon's blood and leather. This is very cool smelling and I'm hating it. I'm praying to God and all that is holy that this morphs into a different scent rather quickly. I hate the smell of dragon's blood, but my skin seems to adore it. Cinnamon is slowly building in intensity and taking over the blend. The dragon's blood is lingering in the background. Still hoping for some clove or pepper to come out. 10 minutes later. The dragon's blood is dominating again. It smells odd and is reminding me of a harsh chemical. The cinnamon seems to have exploded and disappeared within a few minutes. A little over an hour later this is still just dragon's blood on me. Dragon's blood is just so horrible on my skin. Like a sickeningly sweet chemical and rotting wildflowers. It makes my stomach lurch when I smell it. The cinnamon only lasted a minute or so and the pepper/cloves never bothered to show up at all. I'm so disappointed
  21. Little Bird

    Bearded Lady

    So far the Carnaval Noir scents have been pretty hit (Midway) or miss (Bed of Nails) on me. Bearded Lady, sadly, is another miss. My skin really amps up the florals in this and drowns out all of the vanilla and amber. I was hopeful for the first five minutes of wearing this. I smelled vanilla and golden amber, with a few sweet blooms in the background (mostly the honeysuckle, and I actually like honeysuckle). Then the jasmine and rose started to come through and overpower everything else. They are very smoky/almost incensey florals, and they are giving me a headache. I had to wash this off after a little over an hour. I'm not sure if the lovely vanilla and amber would have reappeared. I just can't wait over an hour and battle off a floral induced migraine for the hope that a fragrance will turn good, lol.
  22. Little Bird

    Bed of Nails

    I was so excited to try Bed of Nails based on the description... but this has been a sadly disappointing blend on me. It never really reminds me of anything metallic or woodsy. It does remind me a bit of Kingsport or R'lyeh, as others have said. A sort of salty aquatic and ozone blend with a splash of dark/bitter citrus. In the drydown I also think that it turns a bit minty... but still nothing metallic and definitely no woods. I'm going to try this out on my boyfriend, but it's definitely not going to be one that I wear frequently.
  23. Little Bird

    Shill

    I don't really like to eat popcorn, but sometimes the smell of it is sort of uplifting. Shill is all buttery and salty goodness. Shill and Midway really are two of the most genius foodie scents that I've ever had the pleasure of trying. For me, while Midway is the scent of my dreams, Shill is more of a novelty than a must-have. I can only wear it layered with something else (I like that I can now add butter to my fragrances, lol), but it is a lovely room scent. I'm glad to have a decant. The layering possibilities will keep me more than happy. ETA: Okay... I have no clue what the hell I was on when I wrote that first review, but I LOVE Shill. I didn't appreciate it and just wrote it off as a novelty the first time that I tried it. Never again. This blend is right up there with Midway for me (did I just say that?). It is very light - that just means that I have to apply more and more and more of it. Muahaha. Ahem. This is such a good smell. It's not like a cheap worked all night on the popcorn machine at the movie theatre smell. It's a lovely popcorn, slight butter, and caramel smell (I am actually getting the caramel now, yessss). More dessert-ish. I don't even like popcorn. But I love Shill. And now I have to venture onto evil ebay to get a bottle of it, since I've been bathing in my decant and it's almost gone. I love you, Shill.
  24. Little Bird

    Midway

    I have never been so in love with a fragrance before in my life as I am with Midway . When I got my first bottle, my boyfriend asked me what I thought of it. All I could say is, "It's heavenly." And it is. The best foodie scent EVER. I already have three bottles of it and I seriously think that I should purchase a few more. I've never made it through a full bottle of anything before, but I'm slathering this on like mad. I'm so addicted. I can actually see myself using 15 mls of this and craving more. Midway smells very heavily of powdered sugar and sugar icing on me. I can definitely smell funnel cakes (ah mouthwatering fried dough) and cotton candy. In the middle stage, I can also pick up a definite hint of saltiness. It's so unbelievably amazing. I am in love... and contemplating the order of yet another bottle.
  25. Little Bird

    Santa Muerte

    Santa Muerte, Saint Death, is not a harbinger of doom and symbol of entropy. She is the Queen of Mercy, a source of motherly comfort, and a symbol to all sweethearts that love lasts even beyond death. She is a vision of beauty in her own right: glittering rings adorn every bony finger, she is draped in a cloak of the finest satin, and her grinning skull, beneath her cowl, is crowned by a bejeweled tiara. A deep, resonant scent, both comforting and soft: lovers’ roses, solemn chrysanthemum, dark vetiver and dazzling cactus flowers. Wet this is a very interesting floral. One that I've never come across before (the cactus flowers?). It is a lovely sweet and green floral. As it dries, more of a soapy rose begins to come out. A half hour later, this is faint and very sweet. An almost honeyed sweetness. I'm not getting any vetiver at all. After an hour, this is actually getting stronger and becoming more of a biting floral. The rose is going bitter, I think. Rose. Rose. And more rose. It stays just that for about 5 hours before fading away completely. I liked it much better when I first applied it. ----------- Trying this on again at a later date. I still like the way that this one starts out on my skin. It's a light, sweet, yellowy floral. Then it goes straight into sharp rose, bitter and harsh. A weird 'dirty-feet' smell is also lingering behind the perfumey migraine inducing rose. Santa Muerte and I are not meant to be. I give up on this one now, lol.
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