Little Bird

I kind of expected this to be like Hollywood Babylon, but it is nowhere near that sweet. Is Crimson Musk different from Red Musk? I don't get a strong musk feel from this at all. Just a faint, waxy strawberry hard candy scent. Artificial strawberry candy with a wax/plastic edge to it. I'm not getting the soapiness that others have mentioned, at least.

This is nothing but death notes on me, and unsurprisingly gives me a headache. It's a mess of sharp white florals, cheap and screechy white musk, and sharp, citrusy white tea. I only sprayed this on my arm and had to wash it off after about fifteen minutes.

Red musk always smells like a red, glowing incense (often nag champa-esque) and a dark, fruity, rich, red wine, all wrapped up in a warm and sultry embrace. It's also a note that's super strong and tends to drown out whatever it's paired with on my skin. I don't really smell the patchouli or vetiver in this, but the honey adds some extra sweetness. Kind of reminds me of The Infernal Lover, but not as sweet, and this has a hint of smokiness in the drydown.

Very powdery sandalwood and orris with a bright, slightly citrusy white tea scent to it. Delicately sweet, but too powdery for me.

Sour, dry moss and a sour, dry, dark rose that kind of reminds me of Zombi perfume oil, but less earthy and more of a green moss. I get a little bit of spiciness and a golden warmth from the saffron. I don't like the sourness of this blend, so it's not a keeper for me.

Very artificial, airy, perfumey green apple and soapy white floral scent. Reminds me a lot of the scent of Original Gain laundry detergent. I'm really picky about apple fragrances, and this has that generic, perfumey apple smell to it.

Very dry patchouli, ashy vetiver, and a hint of sour, red currant. I was hoping for incense and plum, but this is too dry and slightly sour to my nose.

Powdery white sandalwood and sharp, perfumey white musk with a hint of lemony bergamot. Fades very quickly.

The tonka, ambrette and golden musk swirl together into a warm, lightly sweet, ton of musky baby powder. Reminds me a little of British Blondes, but this is more powdery and less sweet than Blondes.

Smells like green, damp, sharp leaves rather than dead ones to me, and has that musky, men's cologne quality. Too sharp and musky to me.

Smells like Febreze to me. Very much a fresh, clean laundry scent with a floral detergent edge.

I was excited for this, but the vetiver is the smoky, harsh variety that I rarely enjoy. It overtakes the other notes and just makes me smell like I've been sitting next to a bonfire.

The vanilla musk smells like white musk on me, and a very sour, sharp, chemical white musk, with not much vanilla. It almost wants to go soapy on my skin. It smells similar to the musk I disliked so much in Edith Cushing, but I sold my bottle of that one and can't directly compare. The white tea smells sharp and citrusy. The freesia is cheap, screechy, and slightly soapy. It kind of reminds me of Bath and Body Works. Mrs. Dunbar is very bright and sharp on me, with a soapiness in the drydown. Not enough vanilla for me.

As with most blends with red musk in them, this amps up to epic red musk on my skin, even though it's supposed to just be "a drop of" musk, lol. It's tons of warm, sweet, sultry red musk, which always reminds me of wine and incense. The only other note that I can pick out is the sandalwood, and it's unfortunately very baby powdery on me here. There are definitely red musk blends that I like more than this one, and I was hoping for vanilla and mallow, but they never show up to the party.

Astringent, cold, sharp, medicinal black tea and a dry, splintery, bitter, dusty/powdery sandalwood. It's not sweet at all on my skin, and I find that tea scents are very difficult to wear, because I don't like the bitter, sharp edges that they often have. The drydown is all dusty/powdery sandalwood, and it smells very thin and sharp.

The amber, golden musk and sandalwood do their usual thing on me and turn into a baby powdery, musky, warm scent. The tobacco is lovely, like a sweet chewing tobacco and caramelized leaves, but the musk and powdery qualities make this unpleasant to me. I'm not sure what hay sugar smells like, but there's a sweet, honeyed quality here. Mostly the musk and powder just amp up way too much on my skin.

Cherry blossom and wisteria are two of the few florals that I love, but I never get along with the lab's iris notes, because it's very sharp and perfumey/musky on me. Thankfully, I don't get the iris from this at all. Miss Anna is sweet cherry blossom (made sweeter and with more of an actual cherry fruit scent from the almond) and a pale, light blue, lilac-ish wisteria note. I can pick out the sweet, warm honey note in the drydown, and it's like golden sunshine over the florals. The drydown has a bit of a dry, powdery dusting of sweetness from the violet and cacao, but the cherry blossom and wisteria still have that breezy, creamy, airy quality to them. Honeyed springtime in a bottle. First Cry of the Warbler on the Plum is my favorite cherry blossom scent right now (and it also has notes of wisteria and honey, so it's similar to this), but Anna has that cherry almond note instead of plum and I find Anna to be a bit sweeter and more dry smelling overall, with the touch of powdery violet and cocoa.

Apple VI is a clean, watery, pale, golden delicious apple with sharp white floral iris. Very musky/perfumey smelling on my skin. I was hoping that the violet would sweeten things up, but I don't get any violet.

Perfumey red apple. Like a musky, sweet, red apple scented shampoo. Apple blossom usually has a fresh, green apple scent to me, but I'm not really getting that here. This actually smells almost identical to Apple X from this year, but with less patchouli. A hint of dry, sharp, potpourri-esque patchouli in the drydown. Bestiaire du Moyen Age is the loveliest bpal apple/apple blossom scent. The Halloween apples aren't working for me at all.

Kind of reminds me of B&BW's Marshmallow Fireside at first, with its spicy smoke and sweetness. I think there's some cinnamon in this. It quickly dries down and isn't quite sweet enough for me, though. It's a bitter, dark chocolate and metallic, burnt smokiness that reminds me of burning chocolate on a stovetop when I forget to stir it enough. A little bit sour and unpleasant.

I don't get along well with the lab's apple or champagne notes, so this was a guaranteed disaster on me. The champagne is fizzy, reminds me slightly of citrus scented cleanser, and has a pukey, sickly-sweet undertone to it that always makes me think of someone throwing up alcohol (sorry for the visual). The apple in this is tart and soapy, like a green apple scented shampoo. I wanted more melon and neroli, but I can't smell them in this blend. Like a tart, slightly sour mix of cleansers and shampoo.

I just don't care for the dead leaf scent used in these and last year's dead leaves. It's green, aquatic, sharp and reminiscent of men's cologne. Weirdly white musky. I don't get any black currant from this, but lots of that leaf smell and sweet, dark tobacco that isn't pairing well with the leaf scent for me.

I was really excited for this, because I love tonka, vanilla, benzoin, honey and clove. I wanted this to be a sultry, resinous, sweet clove type of scent. All I can smell is the lavender, though, and it's the variety that I don't like (musky, herbal, clean and cool). On my throw pillows, it even has a bit of a soapy edge to it. Clean, herbal lavender. Sort of a medicinal feel. I don't get honey, vanilla, tonka, resins or clove at all

I like Hand of Hermes (TAL blend) more than this one for a lavender and cinnamon scent. Hand of Hermes is really strong, creamy, milky lavender and true cinnamon. This is more of a powdery, soft, sugared lavender and buttery cinnamon. It might be the violet turning powdery on my skin. The buttery pumpkin spice isn't a favorite for me.

This goes on as really plasticy, waxy, cloying lemon jelly bean and reminded me of Candy Bag Debris, which I am not a fan of at all. Dries down to a super-sweet, creamy, slightly fizzy lemon that's identical to Lemon Scented Sticky Bat, but with cinnamon. I don't really like this one.