Little Bird

I actually don't like Snake Oil (turns to baby powder and a weird, dirty hair smell on me), but I often enjoy it in blends, and I looooove Snake Skin. I like this a lot more than Western Diamondback, as the vanilla of Snake Oil seems to come out more, the leather is much smoother, and it doesn't have any other notes to muck it up. This is the slinky musk of Snake Oil, the deep vanilla, and a smooth, sexy black leather. No powder or dirtiness or sharpness on my skin. Maybe a little black leather smokiness, but not a lot. I'm thinking I should have purchased more than one bottle of this beauty.

I agree with others who have said that this doesn't smell like the white chocolate note. It smells like a sweet milk chocolate powder (like the mix for making hot cocoa) with a syrupy, green pear laying in the middle of it. The pear does stick around for me, but it's about 80% chocolate and 20% pear. I like this, but I don't know if it's a keeper, because I have ten other Chocolate Box scents that I like more and that have better throw on my skin... I wish that I could get this pear as a single note, though, because it's not the sickly-sweet pear gummi scent that I usually get from bpal's pear notes. It has a green, true edge to it that I really like.

I tested this fresh from the mailbox and liked it ('red musk and smoky incense' were my original notes), but I tried to wear it a couple times afterwards as a full wear with no other competing fragrances, and it didn't smell so good to me anymore. I wore Ill Omen to a party and asked for opinions and was told that I smelled like "pine needles and soap." I was getting that sour pine impression too, along with baby powdery amber. Oddly, it didn't even give off a strong red musk note when I slathered it on. Powdery amber/labdanum, dusty frankincense, and pine?

When I first apply this, it smells like honey flavored dusting powder, hot cocoa powder, and marshmallow cream. The drydown reminds me a lot of Boo's cool sweet cream, but like Boo eating a rice krispy treat. It's more buttery marshmallows than milky to me, and I only get the honey for a few minutes on first application. Still, I like this. An over-the-top, sweet, buttery marshmallow works for me.

This smells like Bath & Body Works, but in a good way. It smells like B&BW from 18 years ago and not their newer stuff that's all crammed full of bad, cheap synthetic musk notes. First on, Diligent Instruction reminded me of the original B&BW Sun Ripened Raspberry lotion, and the drydown smells more like their original Sugar Plum Fairy, which is a fragrance that I've missed for, well, 18 years. I remember going into their store and my sister picking out the Raspberry and then buying several bottles of the Plum for me to take home with me. I hoarded the last drops of that lotion. Anyhow. This smells like the sweetest, sugar dusted fruit (I still think sugarplum and raspberry more than strawberry) and so much wonderful creaminess. It's like a hint of bubblegum, pink cotton candy, fluffs of vanilla cream and marshmallow underneath those sugar dusted fruits. It definitely leans gourmand and creamy on my skin. Warm and dry more than milky, though it does have a definite creaminess. It makes me think of Christmas and creamy lotion, because of the association that I have with that lotion, lol. I love this and it makes me feel nostalgic and miss my sister...

Hoiru is very light and soft. It doesn't have much throw and only lasts about two hours on my skin. The amber and cashmere, I think, meld together in a soft, powdery, warm skin scent, with the vanilla and coconut giving it a creamy, sweet edge. It reminds me of white sandalwood. I can't pick out the leather, patchouli or tea, which I expected to be stronger, but the whole thing is very light and difficult to discern notes from.

This is my favorite of the Pleasures series, but I don't like it enough to upgrade from a decant to a full bottle either. I think that The Black Rider (which is black leather, opoponax, tobacco and black amber) is better for a similar blend. And that one is a GC blend and only $17.50 a bottle. The leather here is black, shiny, new, and slightly chemical smelling (like a 'new car' scented air freshener), the black amber goes powdery on me, and the myrrh is thick, sweet, and resinous, and similar to the opoponax in Black Rider. The Black Rider is richer, less 'new' smelling and slightly smoky on me instead of powdery. I like this, but there are leather bpals that I like a lot more.

V is mainly red sandalwood on me. It's warm, powdery woods and sandalwood incense, made a bit sweeter and more powdery from the orris. I get a little bit of black tobacco and earthy, dry patchouli in the background, but the woods and sweet powder definitely dominate. This reminds me of Mythological Scene, which was also red sandalwood, orris, leather and patchouli. This is a bit more earthy and doesn't have the citrus edge of Mythological Scene, though.

I wish that this were like French Tobacco or Bulgarian Tobacco on me, but this is mainly a powdery, amber-like benzoin and sweet honey with hints of cinnamon on me. The leather doesn't even make it through the powdery, sweet veil. I get a hint of smokiness, like woodsmoke, which I guess is the smoked part of the honey. Goes very powdery on me in the drydown and fades quickly, even with the cinnamon, which usually amps way up on my skin.

I don't get any leather from this. It's a very fresh, bright, sharp jasmine on my skin. The white tea has a citrusy, lemony edge, the jasmine is bright, perfumey, and slightly soapy, and the white musk is perfumey and gives me a headache. I like a sweeter, more gourmand, honeyed type of jasmine.

I'm confused by this scent, because I usually love the lab's leather blends and I loved the white tobacco in Pediophobia, but this doesn't smell like anything else that I own. The Pleasures series is going strange and chemical-y on my skin, which isn't an issue I've really had with any of bpal's other leather scents. II sounded similar to The White Rider (which is one of my favorite GC blends), but where White Rider is all soft, suede-like white leather and lovely vanilla-sandalwood, II seems to be overtaken by a really gritty, dirty, ashy tobacco, and the leather comes off as sour and a bit smoky on my skin (or the tobacco is going smoky). It's not like the black leather of The Manuscript or Brom Bones, which I enjoyed. It's chemical, sharp, cold, and perfumey. In the drydown, a powdery sandalwood tries to soften it, but I'm just not enjoying this one. If you want a lovely leather and sandalwood, I'd recommend The White Rider over this, and The White Rider is only $17.50 for 5mls to II's $24 a bottle.

This smells similar to the previous Hunger Moons to me. It's got the sharp, clean, lemony verbena, ozone that keeps threatening to turn soapy, and super powdery white sandalwood. Clean, sharp, powdery lemons. The only difference is that I get a whiff of the pine from this one, but it smells like sharp, green pine rather than smoky pitch.

Sour, dark berries mixed with a very cold, mentholic pine note. It's sort of medicinal, and very much reminds me of berry-pine scented air fresheners. The mulberry has a sour edge, but mostly smells very artificial. I might try this as a room scent, but it's a no as a perfume for me. I don't get any resins or myrrh.

Lemon scented dish soap with a hint of herbal rose geranium. Bpal's ozone always turns to soap on my skin.

On me, this smells like cinnamon-spiked cider and orange cinnamon tea with dusty flour and sparkling sugars. It's like someone set out hot cider and tea to sip on while everyone gets together to make and decorate Christmas cookies. There's a hint of warm, sugary smokiness in the drydown, like someone left a batch of the cookies in the oven for too long. I like how fun and festive this is. Cinnamon easily overwhelms me, but the cinnamon here is held in check by the sweet notes, and the sweet notes are held in check by a little bitterness from the tea. Very pretty.

It took me three years to track down a bottle of this and Yule Cookies (why didn't I buy them when they were originally available? no one knows). I love them both, but I especially love Braving the Ice. I usually find bpal's pomegranate to be way too tart and dry smelling, but the "pomegranate cream" here is just gorgeous on me. Sweet, red fruitiness and so much lovely vanilla cream. The mint in this adds a pleasant chill without really smelling of mint. The cookies and the pomegranate show up, though, smelling like fresh-from-the-oven fruit tarts, warm and bubbling over with red berry filling. Then the cream, sugar and mint chill smell like someone set out chilled whipped cream and vanilla ice cream to top off those fruit tarts. Red berry fruit tarts, warm and fresh from the oven, and a side of whipped cream and vanilla ice cream. I love love love the creaminess of this blend. One of my favorite bpal gourmands

Woody nuts roasted in butter and brown sugar. I get a little bit of cinnamon and a very dry biscuit/pastry note in the drydown, but it's overall not as spicy as I was expecting. It's so sweet that it's a bit cloying on me, though, and I find that I like Horse Chestnut Honey a lot more for a roasted nuts fragrance, because Chestnut Honey has some fresh, outdoorsy notes to cut through the sweetness. I like Pecan Treacle more as a room fragrance.

I'm not sure if this one has aged well, as it's very faint and one dimensional on me. I get a light, sugary peppermint and nothing else. No marzipan, almond or cream. It's Lick It Lite on my skin. Has a cooling effect for the first few minutes, but I can barely smell it at all after an hour.

I like this more than most of bpal's cherry blends (which tend to either remind me of cherry flavored cough syrup or cherry flavored kool-aid powder). This smells glossy, dark and juicy, like biting into a real, ripe, sweet, juicy black cherry. Velvety, dark and sensual. Drydown has the tiniest hint of warm patchouli and a soft, vanilla-y feel to me, but mostly that really good cherry note. Actually smells like real black cherries and a patchouli-ish perfume that's like a hint of Fake News.

I snagged a bottle of this on ebay, mainly because I love the bird label. First on, this is like a cherry flavored cough drop and then shifts into a black, sticky, grownup cherry pastry type of smell. It's not sickly-sweet or jam-like. It's more like a gourmet, sugar-free, black cherry goo in a flaky breakfast pastry. Unfortunately, five minutes in, the cherry and flaky pastry disappear and the spice in this amps up like mad on me. My man actually started begging me to wash this off, because he said it smelled like a cheap pumpkin spice candle, and he hates pumpkin spice anything. Very sad, because I like this scent before the spice comes in and stomps all over everything. I've never had a spicy sugar cookie before (unless it's actually supposed to be a snickerdoodle), and I was hoping that this would actually just be cherry and sugar cookies...

Tea & Music seems to fare better on me than it has on most reviewers. I really amp up the darker, masculine notes, it seems. Goes on as a warm, fuzzy, cuddly, but slightly floral-fresh honey musk with hints of sweet chocolate. Quickly dries down into something that loses that fresh and outdoorsy sweetness and turns more masculine, dark, and reminiscent of being in an old tavern full of old, gleaming wood bars and rough wood floors. It's like an old wooden bar full of dusty, leather-clad cowboys, where you can barely see through the smoke (something like cigarette smoke, but sweetened by the honey and hint of chocolate so that it's not sharp or dirty), and there's an undertone of sultry, sexy honey and warm, dark wood. I love the leather and mahogany in this, and the honey sweetens it up just enough to make it sexy as all get out. I'd be all over a man who was wearing this... feels like I'm about to swoon against a man who smells like dusty leather, aged wood, thick honey and a hint of spicy cologne... dry, warm and swoon-worthy to me.

The dragon's blood and black amber are like a dry, hot incense and dried blood scent on me, with the cinnamon coming in dry, sharp and intense. I would normally hate this type of cinnamon, but I kind of like it mixed with the other red notes and the incense feel of this blend. It smells very heated and dry, like incense in a desert. As others have mentioned, it does have a bit of a dry, red musky feel to it in the drydown. I've been liking dragon's blood again lately and this is a spicy, incensey, musky, red dragon's blood. I have a couple decants of this and think that's enough, but I might track down a bottle at some point...

The First Rose leans clean smelling on me, like rosewater with a tiny hint of soapiness and sweetness. I'm not getting the green notes or green stem feel, but it's watery, clean, lightly sweet rose. Reminds me quite a lot of Roses de Chloe in the drydown - sort of a clean, girly rose with fruity and musky/perfumey undertones.

I usually enjoy bpal's hay notes (hay with a soft, lemony undertone, like in Hay Moon), but this doesn't remind me of the usual hay note. I was also expecting church resins, and I don't get that either. Community Church Manger Hay smells like woodsmoke, wood ash, and a weird, sharp cinnamon-ish scent on my skin.

I was afraid to try this, because I hated the patchouli in Nasty Woman, but the bird label drew me in and I'm so glad that it did. This blend reminds me of a lot of things - Reminiscence Paris's Eau de Patchouli (but not quite as clean, fluffy and sweet), Chanel's Coromandel (but not as warm, rich, sweet, spicy or creamy), bpal's Banshee Beat (but not as mentholic and sweet, and with more of a woody patchouli), Occupywallstreet (but more well rounded)... I think it reminds me most of what might happen if Coromandel and Occupywallstreet had a baby. So kind of like a toned down Coromandel with the more woody patchouli of Occupywallstreet, and a cold metal & tobacco of its own added in. I like patchoulis most when they have a chocolatey edge to them, which this has, and it also has a hint of a creamy, vanilla-like roundness to it. It's still not as sweet as some of my favorite patchoulis, though, and I wouldn't call this gourmand. It's one of those patchoulis that has a woody/cedar-ish quality to it. The 'gold' note is also familiar to me from some of bpal's other metallic blends and kind of reminds me of the foil around cigarettes (that would always be found at the bottom of my mom's person when I was younger). That impression is strengthened even more by the tobacco in this. The longer I've had my bottle of Fake News, the more I can really smell that metallic note and the tobacco, and it reminds me so much of that pack-of-cigarettes-in-a-leather-purse scent. Mixed with woody patchouli and a vanilla-like creaminess and a hint of perfumey, sweet spice (which is similar to Pediophobia). So, to summarize this mess of review (sorry for so much name-dropping, lol): Woody patchouli, metallic foil wrapped around cigarette tobacco, and soft, perfumey, vanilla-like creaminess.