Little Bird

Nope. I smell none of the listed notes for this. Nerves smells like Big Red chewing gum - a big blast of sharp, candy cinnamon. Nothing else. So strong and gives me a headache.

Smells exactly as advertised - ozone and plum. This doesn't go as soapy and dry as most of bpal's ozone notes do, though. This is tangy and clean, but has a damp quality to it that I actually enjoy, and hints of sweet, purple plum. The ozone takes on an edge that makes me think of lakes and green water plants, and the scent of water on a chilly night as a storm rolls in. Clean and zingy. Dries down like a clean, sexy, men's cologne in a thunderstorm scent that's pretty awesome.

So pretty, and I think this is reminding me of the original Pink Snowballs. Pink roses, chilly and crisp, with lots of creamy, cool vanilla. Definitely a sugared vanilla rose. Such a lovely, creamy vanilla and delicate rosewater type of drydown. It makes me feel gorgeous and makes me think of old fashioned dressing rooms with the big mirrors and cozy benches to put on your makeup, perfumes and powders...

Goes on like generic red fruit punch with an extra pound of sugar dumped in, and a really artificial red apple note rolled in even more sugar. As it dries down, it moves away from fruity candy and smells more like hints of melting milk chocolate and caramel drizzled over piles of white and brown sugar. Just a hint of apple air freshener. I like gourmands, but this is like an overwhelming, cloying, foodie candle fragrance.

When I first put this on, I thought that it smelled like Monster Bait: Underpants and was ready to sign on and buy all the bottles. The rich vanilla cream and smooth woods opening is so familiar. This quickly shifts to more of a pencil shavings wood and rosewood with hint of warm vanilla and pink rose, though. Much more woody and with an obvious rose scent. 15 minutes in, I'm left with a faint, perfume/musky rose and dry wood with a hint of salty vanilla cream. Wish it were stronger and had more vanilla. Becomes very dry and dusty wood with sour rose and disappears before it's even made one hour on me. Starts off promising, dries down not so great, and then quickly disappears.

Like taking an ice cold shower with generic white bar soap (Irish Spring?). Very cold and very soapy. The metal smells like silver shower handles chilled by that water, and gives off a feeling of metallic men's cologne. The honey adds a touch of sweetness at first, but isn't really noticeable in the drydown. I like that this smells so cold and clean without really being minty or mentholic. Ice cold shower with a lot of soap and the room is full of musky, metallic, crisp men's cologne. I like this in the same way I recently enjoyed The Forgettable God, but The God is softer and less cold.

On me, this smells like a dirty ash tray and that cold, metallic, dirty, menthol cigarette wrapper smell that I used to get from the bottom of my mom's purse, where bits of cigarette filling and foil would accumulate. I hated that smell. A bit of sweet incense and the pine that others have mentioned in the drydown, but I can't shake that earlier impression of dirty cigarette scraps...

This hair gloss was surprising. It smells black leathery, cold, and scary in the bottle, but immediately turns into a fluff of sweet vanilla and lavender in my hair. It actually reminds me a lot of TKO. It has a fluffy, vanilla-y sweetness from somewhere. I catch whiffs of black leather every once in a while, but it's mostly all about sugared lavender to my nose.

I death matched this with bpal's Bliss and The Other Hot Chocolate, and NAVA's Devil Cake. Bliss is more woody and not as strong, but pretty close to Chad (except Chad is richer and kinda makes me think of dark chocolate brownies with a thick caramel swirl on top), and The Other Hot Chocolate really has more of a marshmallow scent to it by comparison. I initially like Devil Cake more and think it's more of a true chocolate cake smell, but after 3 hours, Devil Cake is gone and Chad still smells like fudgey, sweet, caramel swirled brownies. Will need to full bottle this.

White musk, black musk and amber work together so beautifully in this blend. Black musk can be too harsh, masculine, and veer towards being ashy, white musk can be sharp and perfumey, and amber is often baby powder on me. This is powdery and creamy and lovely on me, though. The white musk is that slightly sweet, creamy variety, the amber powder doesn't go too dry and has a warm, woody, resinous presence to it, and the black musk smells like dark incense and dark musk with no ashiness or growly, too much-ness about it. Warm and surprisingly creamy fragrance on me.

Patchouli, and it's a kind of woody, sharp, reminiscent of body odor variety, which I usually don't get from black patchouli. I do get a hint of the black, trampled, damp earth that reminds me of black patchouli, so maybe it's actually the oudh that is turning funky on my skin. Dry wood, dirt covered roots, and a sweaty man's sour body odor scent...

I really enjoy this and keep thinking about getting a full bottle, but I don't know if I'll actually wear it all that much over the hundreds of scents that I already own. It's pleasant, but not even in the top 100 for me, I guess. I like the sweet myrrh, love the posh, cool, golden, metallic cologne thing that always smells so sexy and manly to me, and I enjoy the whiff of sweet cigar smoke and ash. I love that it's cool and metallic, warm and spicy, and sweetly resinous, all at once. Has a bit of a sweet lemon balm lilt to it in the drydown. Golden and compelling, but I probably won't need more than my decant...

Another American Gods that I expected to be heavier, but I can't smell the opoponax or resin at all. I get a crisp, lemony, pine-y sort of scent that I think is the elemi, along with some extra, medicinal, menthol chill from the eucalyptus. It's bracing and a bit masculine to my nose, but it doesn't have a lot of throw and fades quickly.

Starts off reminding me of wet grass and bamboo, sort of green and pulpy. I don't get the spiciness of frankincense that others have mentioned, but this does lean sort of white floral and soapy on my skin, like wet grass and wet laundry hung out to dry. It doesn't seem to to work magic on my skin as it has for other reviewers, as the ozone is still sharp and leans soapy on me, with a green background and sharp floral tones.

A sharp, perfumey/musky, floral explosion that gets a little sweeter in the drydown. It smells primarily like a big, waxy, sharp, white floral to me, like gardenia and tuberose, with hints of sweet honeysuckle and sour, red rose. A jumbled mishmash or fake-floral scents, like a cheap department store floral. Very strong and gives me a headache after a short while.

This is the same sort of horrible that God's Own Country is (I guess the descriptions are kind of similar, as that one is 'circuit boards, cathode rays, exhaust, frankincense, myrrh, soil and blood'). Metal filings, garage full of dust, old oil and grime, just a putrid, dirty scent to my nose... where God's Own Country flips towards actual, rotting blood and dirty hospital smell, this one flips to more of a smoky, heavy smog that's probably the tar and exhaust. I actually like the smell of chlorine irl, but this is chemical and harsh and all over just bad... I can't wear this one and had to scrub it off after a half hour.

I liked the idea of dirty patchouli mixed with clean soap, but somehow the patchouli and nag champa just don't show up to the party at all. This is like generic white bar soap, but harsh rather than creamy, and I don't get incense or earthiness at all. I wonder if there are batch variations, because my decant is nothing but soap, and I love patchouli. I like The Forgettable God more for a soap scent from this line, as it has a creamy, fluffy quality and watery tones, where this is more industrial handsoap...

The new version doesn't smell like the original, which I have some bad feelings about. I don't think it's really right to sell something with the same name as a highly sought after blend, at a marked up price, when it's not actually the same fragrance. Original AL and this new version have the same name and both have vanilla in them, but that's where the similarities end as far as I can tell. Original AL lasts all day on me and is really strong, and it is powdery and has an old fashioned, dried florals and vanilla dusting powder with heavy vanilla cream thing going on. Almost buttery vanilla as it dries down, with the vanilla powder and dried flowers... there's also something like a hint of clean, starchy fabric. It makes me think of old wedding dresses, love notes and dried flowers in an attic. New version AL has none of the powder, old fashioned, dried floral or heavy vanilla... this is more like a bright vanilla musk and burnt vanilla sugar. It's quite similar to Bath & Body Works' Warm Vanilla Sugar, actually. It has a clean, plasticy edge to it as well. New version AL also doesn't have very good throw or staying power. I can barely smell it past the one hour mark and it's definitely gone by two hours.

I was hoping for more carnation spiciness and resinous tones to this, but I don't smell them at all. This is a very perfumey (like department store white musk) rose with a soggy, green, plant-like something from the belladonna and yew. Smells like a Rappaccini's Garden blend, and almost none of those actually smell pleasant to me. It's a cold, artificial, musky rose and cold, artificial, soggy herb thing... incredibly sharp and, after an hour, has a strange, dusty sharpness as well.

I love this show and was so excited for the fragrance, and it does not disappoint. The black leather in this is that dark, slightly smoky, black whip leather. The strawberry is loud for the first minute or so and then immediately fades to the background where it becomes more of a creamy vanilla with a hint of sweet strawberry candy. It reminds me of the original Le Pere Fouettard, but with vanilla and a hint of strawberry instead of black licorice. I love the Nobodies, and I love this sweetened black leather scent.

Starts off as powdery, kind of bitter honey on my skin, with the whiskey smelling like alcohol spilled over a dark, polished, wood bar. The booze is a bit too sour for me. As it dries down, the 'gold' seems to come through as that soft, amazing, metallic cologne scent that I've enjoyed in a few other bpal blends. It's sort of sweet and cool and makes me think of gold coins glittering in green grass, and sexy man cologne. Still, the whiskey is too much for me here, and I think the blood note might be adding a rusty lilt to the scent in the far drydown.

Goes on smelling rather like pineapple on my skin, with maybe a warm, fuzzy amber note. Something slightly green, herbal and spiky smelling as it dries down (a little reminiscent of sage). Mostly very sweet with a clean, fruity freshness... and... all I can think is pineapple. It's not boozy or honeyed at all to my nose.

A very creamy, fruity orange blossom with golden, sweet honey. The drydown gets some powderiness from the amber, but I can't pick out oudh, and this is a pretty straightforward fragrance. Orange fruit, creamy and airy blossoms, sweet honey, and a powdery finish. A very soft orange blossom that lasts about an hour and then fades quickly on me.

A perfumey/musky sort of sweet, pink roses dusted with sparkling honey powder. It is just as advertised. I like creamier roses and fresher roses than this one is, as it leans more musky and dry smelling, but this is still a pretty, pleasant blend. Musky, pink roses and dry, sweet, bee pollen sort of scent.

Sour, tart red currant with swampy moss that reminds me of the Spanish moss note, and a little bit of dry, powdery sandalwood. Another American Gods scent with heavy notes where I can't smell the heavier notes at all. No vetiver or opoponax for me.