Little Bird

Starts off like warm, melty milk chocolate and a sugary mishmash of a fruit smell (sort of reminded me of dried pineapple and canned fruit cocktail scent). I like white chocolate with fruit, but milk or dark chocolate mixed with fruit just never works for me. I don't like the taste or smell. Very quickly, though, this morphs into more of a dry curry spice with swirls of cigar smoke and hints of toasty coffee and sweet chocolate. It actually reminds me of several of the Cuban/Havana inspired fragrances that I've tried, which all seem to be a cigar, spice, and tropical fruit thing with hints of coffee. By the half hour mark, this is all curry and whiffs of cinnamon on my skin. Dry and spicy with a little sweetness. I tend to like gourmand scents, but this is like a mishmash of foodie things that I don't really enjoy (the chocolate + fruit and the savory curry drydown). Still, it's interesting.

The apple blossom in this is the lovely kind that was in Bestiaire du Moyen Age, and not the kind that turns to soap on me. It's like chilled green apple slices, dusted lightly with powdered sugar. Sweet, but airy and crisp. The lemon and pine aren't as bad as I expected them to be, but the lemon still turns a little too tart and sour on my skin, with the fir smelling cool, crisp and mentholic. I think I'm actually going to try this out in an oil diffuser, because I feel like it would be an awesome, clean smelling room fragrance. Forest apples with clean lemon.

Bpal's gunpowder note doesn't really work for me. It reminds me of rust and dirty pennies. I get that and smoky, chemical, black leather. Reminds me of the Leather series Luper blends from this year, which all read rather sharp and chemical rather than a natural, soft leather scent. I expected this to be soapy and cologne-like, but the pomade and aftershave aren't showing up to the party. The overwhelming leather and smokiness in this is not my friend...

I love parts of this, mainly the parts that smell like soft, vanilla-ish, warm dirt (like Death Cap) and roots. But there's a harsh, vetiver smokiness that I don't love, and something that smells like hot asphalt. I enjoy the natural, earthy tones, but not the industrial, harsh, sooty tones.

I really enjoy St. Louis #1. It reminds me of a more masculine Storyville, and feels like it should be in the family as Storyville, Voodoo Queen, and Doc Buzzard. It's complex, mystical and reminds me of early bpal blends. The bay rum and Florida water give this a rich, spicy cologne feel that lays over the sticky, dark tobacco base just beautifully. Sweet clove and sweet tobacco with a hint of smokiness. There's a splash of citrusy men's cologne and a touch of the sour, green moss. The patchouli is barely there, just adding a hint of grounding earthiness. It smells sexy, old fashioned (but not outdated) and Southern. I love the sweet, toasty clove scent in this.

Orange, but powdery and tart, somewhere between orange flavoured sweet tarts and chewable vitamins. The gin adds a weird, dry fizziness. If you've ever smelled those "fizzy pop" scented incense sticks, it's like that. As it dries down, it's much the same, except the black pepper adds an edge of sharp, dark, dry cologne. The whole thing is strangely dusty, powdery and old smelling. Not really gourmand to me at all. I don't smell anything creamy and nothing like vanilla or marshmallow. Orange chewable vitamins, old and dust covered fizzy pop incense sticks, and a dark, off, powdery men's cologne...

First on, this reminds me of strawberry soda. Sugary, tart, syrupy. Dries down like strawberry candy with a hint of powdery, sweet floral. It doesn't smell green or like dandelion on me. It's more of a soft, sugar-dusted wildflower. Only lasts about a half hour on me, but is a pleasant strawberry candy and sugared wildflower.

Mugwort makes this very herbal and medicinal, like bitter, dry, green herbs, menthol and a hint of soap. As it dries down, it smells similar, but also like I crushed fresh mint leaves in my hands. It makes me think of batches of soap made with peppermint and fresh herbs. Glass Eye smells like the kind of soaps that are made in small batches and sold at county fairs from little artisanal soap makers, that smell very natural, simple and fresh. I don't get any ash, but I can pick out a bit of a honeyed, sweet, mellow frankincense note after a while. Doesn't have much throw on me and only lasts about 40 minutes, but is pleasant while it lasts.

Low Key really makes me want a black clove single note. The first fifteen minutes or so on my skin, I really don't like this one. It's earthy and spicy, but in a strange, unpleasant, plasticy way that reminds me of cheap craft store wreaths and potpourri. The cinders also smell like a dirty ash tray. Fifteen minutes in, I'm pleasantly surprised that the dirtiness disappears and the cassia chills out enough to let the clove take over. I love clove fragrances. The 'cinders' add some warm smokiness around the edges of the clove, and the cassia adds a hint of woody cinnamon, but this is mostly a spicy, sweet, heavy clove. Similar to a bay rum type of scent. A bit black peppery smelling too. I was considering full bottling this one, but I probably won't, because I don't tend to wear fragrances where I don't enjoy the initial stage... I just never want to have to wait for the pleasant drydown, and the start of this one is pretty bad on my skin. I think I'll stick with Shadow for my spicy win from this collection.

I get lots of black soil, damp and slightly perfumey, like it has an aquatic and white floral note swirled into it. The fruitiness is purple and tart, like hints of blackberry and tart red currant. Reminds me of The Premature Burial perfume oil. After a while, it's a clean, tart fruit scent, with the soil fading away.

I love this for the first half hour, because it starts off very well balanced. The red musk doesn't overpower or turn as sweet as it usually does, and I smell lots of sweet, dark plum with hints of orange blossom and jasmine, with a soft smokiness from the vetiver and incense (and not the weird bbq smoke that vetiver sometimes has). It's mostly plum and vetiver on me, held together with red musk, with the other notes dancing over that base. Dark and not exactly as sexy as most red musk scents feel to me, but smells confident and a little dangerous. Very bold, with swirls of lighter notes giving it some lift. By about the one hour mark, though, the vetiver in this has amped way up and starts to smell like woodsmoke and ashes on my skin. Very strong, smoky, blackened, ashy vetiver.

I'm going to have to get a full bottle of Shadow. I love the sweet, spicy, rich, clove scent of bay rum, and the amber in this is warm, toasty and not as powdery as bpal's ambers usually are to my nose. Sweet and spicy, but mellow and easy to wear. I was afraid of the oud, because bpal's oud notes tend to be odd and fecal smelling to me, but I'm not getting any dirtiness or oud from this. Smells like thick vanilla, sweet clove, and sandy, dry amber.

The first time that I wore this, it was like roasted, dry, slightly burnt and bitter coffee beans. It read very sour and strangely spicy on my skin. I've liked it a lot more every other time that I've worn it, though. Now it reminds me of the smell of just barely roasted marshmallows (burnt sugary and a bit smoky) and black coffee. Like roasted marshmallows dipped in black coffee. Warm, dark, slightly smoky, sugary fun...

This is in the same family as scents like Pediophobia, Antique Lace, Lyonesse, and The Girl. Sweet, vanilla, powder fluff of a fragrance. It's a little too dry, powdery and warm for me, with lots of powdery amber and sweet (slightly Play-Doh-y) vanilla, and that same hint of pink candy fluffiness that I get from Pediophobia (what is that? the white tobacco for some reason? I have no idea). If you get along well with bpal's amber notes, this is a pretty straightforward vanilla-amber on me. I don't get any moonflower or ambergris. Bpal's ambers just turn too powdery for my tastes. This one is also really strong and long lasting on me; it lasted 8+ hours on me before it started to fade.

Coin Trick is another that just falls flat on me. It actually smells similar to Mister Wednesday's clean, generic, slightly soapy cologne thing. Musky, clean, light, metallic cologne... almost a little lemony and turns soapy on me in the drydown. It reminds me of Axe body spray.

Media is close to smelling like nothing on me, with not much throw or lasting power at all. It's powdery, like violet scented cosmetics dusting powder, sort of sweet and floral, with something like a clean white musk and slightly soapy, sharp white floral. Perfumey, powdery and light. The white floral muskiness turns a little sour on me in the drydown. Powdery, clean, slightly soapy, sharp white floral wafts...

I was hoping for more milk and honeysuckle, but Eostre of the Dawn is a slightly soapy jasmine with green, herbal undertones. Not really milky or gourmand at all on me. Like a pretty bar of soap scented with jasmine and green herbs.

The thought of this scent grosses me out, but if I wear it and don't think about being buried alive, throwing up embalming fluid, and trying to use soap to cover up decay... Laura's fragrance is actually pretty tame and cheerful. I smell a hint of wet dirt at first, but the drydown is all candy-sweet strawberry with fizziness. Like a strawberry version of Blue Fire. It's all sugary, fizzy, strawberry flavored drinks.

A silvery, musky, kind of generic, watery men's cologne with a slight, crisp, cold, green bitterness that reminds me of celery. I get a whiff of dry wood in the bottle, but on my skin, this is all generic and underwhelming drugstore cologne. It's a clean scent, and it turns outright soapy after a while, with something that smells like a chemical, sharp burst of cheap hairspray. I don't get whiskey at all. I like a lot of bpal's men's cologne fragrances (adore Wilde), but this smells rather cheap, flat and screechy on me.

The soft, vanilla-d, polished, smooth patchouli in this reminds me of the Fake News perfume oil. The amber and sandalwood in this actually don't smell powdery, which is what I usually get from bpal's ambers and sandalwoods. This is a cool, smooth amber and soft woods, and I do smell a bit of the caramelized sweetness. Fake News is a chic, non-dirty patchouli with delicate sweetness, and that's just what I get from this atmo.

I am in love with this bath oil. Smells like gooey, dark chocolate brownies, melting chocolate, and hints of sweet, gooey caramel. It smells darker and sexier than milk chocolate, but not bitter at all. So warm, sweet, and decadent. I wish I had more of this one. I've been wearing it as an after-shower moisturizer and layering it with other gourmand scents.

Latex SN is strange. It doesn't smell like latex or rubber or leather or anything like that to me. It smells like baby powder and a sickly-sweet, fizzy lime sort of thing. Reminds me of scented carpet powder. It's pretty gross.

The first time that I tried this, I thought that it smelled like Mouse Circus, so I wore it again side-by-side with Mouse Circus, and the similarities aren't really there at all. Mouse Circus is like a fluffy, creamy peanut butter and marshmallow cream sandwich. Snake Can is weirdly green (like green grass and pulpy, wet bamboo) and soapy, like the new version of Banded Sea Snake, with more of a salty aquatic edge. I get a hint of vanilla in the drydown, but it's perfumey/musky and slightly powdery. Soapy, salty aquatic, sharp green, and powdery vanilla musk. This is one of the few Snake Oil 'flankers' that I don't care for at all.

Pumpkin brittle with cinnamon, toffee, and pepitas. This atmo is way too spicy for me. It smells like a hint of creamy pumpkin pie and a ton of red hots cinnamon candies. Very much a generic 'pumpkin spice' thing. I can't even tell these pumpkin spice blends apart. Was hoping for more toffee and nuttiness, but it's overwhelming cinnamon. My man hated it.

I was excited for this, because I love all of these notes and thought they'd be great together. I can even pick out each listed note - a good dose of earthy, chewy, slightly dry patchouli, sweet raspberry, creamy orange blossom, and warm red musk. I just don't really like them together. I rarely like fruitchoulis, and there's something off putting about this one to me as well. The candy-sweet fruit notes and the dry patchouli just don't do it for me, and they're strangely warm smelling from the red musk, in a way that just churns my stomach. My man sniffed this one and said it reminded him of cough syrup. Not a favorite for me.