Little Bird

First on, smells like creamy, honeyed, waxy, white lily and a spicy zing from the ginger. If it stayed that way, I would love it, but it goes through a mid-stage where is reminds me of rest stop bathroom cleaner and then settles into a very soured, hot, sharp scent. I don't recognize lily or ginger in the drydown, but get a soapy, sour, slightly rotten smelling flower, like it's been picked and left out in the heat to turn to mush. Reminds me more of spoiled roses and soured lemon than it does lily or ginger.

I have no idea what lye smells like, but this has a sour, sharp, metallic twang to it that I guess is the lye. Then there's powdery bubblegum that reminds me of some of the pink pepper notes that bpal uses because it's slightly spicy, warm, oddly pink bubblegummy, but very powdery and not as sweet as pink bubblegum. It's like pink bubblegum with most of the flavor already chewed out of it. Doesn't even last a full hour on me. I'm not a fan of this one. Chemical and powdery.

The orchid and rose form a sharp, perfumey, musky floral base that leans refreshing and shampoo-like, with the rose conjuring up romantic, sensual feelings. The black currant gives it an edge of dark, jammy sweetness that I just love. The patchouli and oak aren't distinct, but there is a shadowy, almost incense like undertone here. I enjoy the opening so much, but unfortunately, 20 minutes in, this just smells like dusty powder and sharp floral musk on me. When the rose and black currant disappear into a generic, powdery, perfumey haze, I find myself disliking this one. My bottle is well aged at this point, and I just wish the rose and currant were stronger, but the musky orchid seems to dominate.

No vanilla cream, but I get lots of tropical, tart guava. The pink fig, I believe, is adding a warm, peachy tone to the scent along with fig's usual woody, slightly earthy, pulpy scent. Fades very quickly on me and I was hoping for the vanilla cream to be present, but this is a pleasant, tropical, fruity scent that's tart and lightly sweet. I will probably keep my decant, but don't need more of this one. A light, summery, fruity scent.

I expected this to be juicier and creamier than it is, but it does smell like sugared, dried mango slices, breezy and orange scented white petals, and a musky, nondescript floral tone with wafts of incense smoke. Mango fades fast and leaves me with more of the nondescript, breezy, slightly sweet floral and clean, powdery musk, with a dry, hazy, smoky incense veil. I don't get the spiciness that others have mentioned, but the musk is going towards sharp and powdery on my skin. I expected something more sugary and.. pink from the pink musk (maybe I was thinking of Pink Sugar), but the drydown isn't very sweet on my skin and doesn't exactly read as pink. Floral, musky, clean, slight incense smoke.

The black tea, hot iron, and smoke seem to be turning into a weird, off putting, burnt, smoky, rusty metal type of scent, with hints of the lilac and plum giving it a pale purple edge and some sweetness. After an hour, it has faded to a pale wash of lilac and some lingering smoke.

No sugared cream or orange blossom for me. I don't have great luck with bpal's peach notes because I like a syrupy, sweet, ripe peach and bpal's peaches tend to go plasticy and clean smelling on me, like they're unripe, crunchy, and watery rather than sweet. The lotus adds a little creamy floral and sweetness, but the overall scent is light and clean, venturing into peach scented shampoo territory for me in the drydown. Low throw and disappears within 2 hours.

The mandarin is intensely sour, bitter, and dry, and leans harshly soapy on me. It's like biting into an orange peel and it's somehow nothing but peel. I don't smell any sugar or anything reminiscent of Pink Moon 2024. Just unbearably sharp orange peel.

Dried, red rose petals and sweet vanilla. I don't really get the cotton candy impression. Just sweet rose with some vanilla. Doesn't even last a full hour on me.

I usually love the Lab's leather blends, but the 'pink sugared patent leather' is chemical-y and artificial smelling to me (where bpal's leathers usually smell like I am genuinely wearing a soft leather jacket or worn cowboy leather). The fruity notes are very sweet, like strawberry candy (the pink sugar?) and tropical, sugary goo. The fruity tones turn a bit sour in the drydown. The cream mixed with the tropical fruit keeps making me think of coconut in the opening, though that disappears after about 15 minutes. Then there's tobacco that smells like someone is smoking a cigar and there's a clean skin musk undertone. Chemical leather, sugared fruit that turns more sour in the drydown, cream that smells like coconut in the opening, lots of cigar smoke, and clean skin musk. The tobacco gives it kind of a burnt edge and the tobacco is quite strong on me. Sort of the same vibe as Perversion, but I like my bottles of Perversion more than this (and my bottles of Perversion are variants that smelled very coconutty and creamy).

Another Luper where this year's version smells incredibly different from the previous year's versions. I'm used to Smut being very strong, heavy, and dark. This smells like a lighter red musk sweetened with sugar, brighter than the original, and it turns a little powdery on me in the drydown. I don't find it to be really boozy. Sweet red musk and powder. Fades really fast on me and surprisingly doesn't have much throw.

2024 is very different from my previous year's versions of Womb Furie. It's not as sweet and creamy (though still noticeably has honey), smells more sharply musky, and has a really gross, strong, burnt hair smell to it. I think I'm not liking the new version of Snake Oil mixed with other notes so much as I enjoyed the older Snake Oil.

Last year's The Serpent in the Roses is one of my favorite bpals (I'm not buying a bottle of this year's version of The Serpent in the Roses, so I'm not sure how different In The Roses 2024 is compared to the 2023 that I've hoarded) and carnation is a note that can do no wrong in my book, but I don't love this blend as much as I thought I would. The Serpent in the Carnations smells weirdly like cardboard covered in spices, and the spices and patchouli here are sharp and somewhat difficult for me. I can smell carnation in the opening, but not in the drydown, and the overall scent is bone dry and fades away within 2 hours. I do smell the patchouli (but I'm not in love with how dry, sharp, and dusty the earthiness here is) and dry spice that's in the new version of Snake Oil, but this has that weird cardboard thing going on, and I was really hoping for more fluffy carnation petals and carnation type spiciness. Jovial Tengu is still my standout carnation of this year's Lupers.

Intensely sweet chocolate, powder, and red musk. I already have a few hoards of Nocturne Alchemy's Kashmir (red musk) + chocolate blends, and they don't turn so powdery or cloying on me, so I'm glad that I just went with a decant of Chocolate Musk. I also prefer Bpal's Boomslang over this because it's smoother, creamier, and not powdery, but still has the Snake Oil musk and chocolate. If you want a super sugary chocolate and don't mind warm, powdery tones, this is a really long lasting, strong chocolate scent with slightly animalic, heavy, sweet red musk, though.

I like this chocolate enough to keep my decant, but not enough to full size over my bottle of Millennial Pink. I like that MP reads as white chocolate and raspberry jam to my nose. Somehow this smells more milk chocolate-y, even with the marshmallow cream lending more of a vanilla-y tone, and the dewy, fresh rose note is nice, but I'm not the biggest fan of rose + chocolate scents. I wish I got the raspberries and cake batter that some of the other reviews mention, but the rose is pretty strong on me, especially in the drydown.

Musky, perfumey, red rose that leans a little sour and dry, a waxy chocolate note that's sweeter than I was expecting, and a little bit of sharp black pepper. The rose amps way up on me and I don't get any of the vanilla or any creaminess. I rarely enjoy rose + dark/milk chocolate, though.

Moldavite is lots of earthy patchouli and oakmoss, which are two of my favorite things ?. It reminds me of LUSH's Tramp, but softer and easier to wear. I was worried about the mint, but it thankfully never makes an appearance, unless its just adding to the hint of greenery in the background of the scent. No blackberry either. I do get a hint of sweetness that's like honey-drenched resins, though, and the resins smell wonderful with the dry moss and earthy patchouli. A perfect scent for an earth loving Taurus.

Witch in the Woods is the most gorgeous blackberry and myrrh combo. Both notes are sweet, syrupy, and bold. The smoke keeps things from being too sweet, adding a veil of seductive, dreamy incense smoke over the fragrance. The other notes are barely there for me. I was worried about the cypress being too strong, but I can only find it if I'm trying really hard (and then I might just be imagining it). There is a wild, foresty element to the blend, though, but it's more of a feeling than a smell? The overall perfume makes me think of being in the shadows of a forest, picking blackberries, drawing blood on a thorn, the scent of myrrh like the sticky, sweet sap of ancient trees, and just feeling perfectly at peace. A perfume that resonates with my witchy little soul.

Pink Moon '24 is definitely in my top 5 of favorite lunacy blends. It immediately reminded me of that sugary, creamy, pink bubblegum medicine that they give children, but it quickly turns into a perfect strawberry milkshake scent. The strawberries are fresh & tangy and sugary & tart all at once, and you can smell the milkiness, but the marshmallow cream really does make it creamier and richer, with the milk + marshmallow cream reminding me of vanilla ice cream. A perfect strawberry milkshake made with rich vanilla ice cream, and I will need backup bottles.

Batty Perversion smells like a lighter version of my favorite variation of Perversion where it's very creamy and slightly coconut-y (but not cheap like pina colada or suntan lotion, in my opinion, more like coconut milk), has a soft, snuggly black leather, and a warm, sweet cigar type tobacco. The rum, I think, is the only thing different in Batty Perversion, where it adds a caramelized, dark gold sweetness around the edges. After a half hour, it leaves behind just a light trace of the caramelized scent and faded muskiness. I like it, but I wish that it didn't disappear so fast.

The new formulation of Dorian is nothing like the original Dorian, and I wish that the Lab were more clear about it being so different. In my opinion, the reformulation shares nothing in common with the original Dorian. I don't think that the new perfume should even be sold under the name of Dorian because I've noticed the new version on so many sale pages and I know that, for myself, I bought a bottle of new Dorian because I assumed it would at least be similar to the original, and it isn't at all. The original is cool toned, smooth, creamy, perfectly unisex, and just absolutely full of the smoothest, coolest, creamiest, delicately sweet vanilla. It is one of my signature scents and has been for nearly 20 years now. The new version is warm, perfumey, powdery, dry (all qualities that are directly opposite of the original) and it smells sort of like pink musk and old fashioned women's perfume with tons of baby powder. I wouldn't recognize this new version as Dorian at all if I weren't holding the bottle with the same name/label in my hand. And there's no way that this will age into anything resembling the OG Dorian either. I think that this new Dorian should have had a different name entirely because it's so completely different and now there's confusion in the community over 'what year of Dorian' and people thinking they have the OG when it's the new one. I've had people tell me that they're glad they didn't buy OG Dorian on ebay because they hate the reformulated version that they got and I'm like no, they're not the same; not even close. The new Dorian is priced at $32 and I don't think that it is worth it at all (whereas I don't blink twice paying $100 for the original, which I have now hoarded). The new Dorian is so bone dry and powdery that I cannot even wear it for a full day without scrubbing it off. So it went from being my favorite bpal and my signature scent to a complete scrubber for me. I feel like the new Snake Oil retained at least some of its original character in its reformulation, even though it's quite different, but Dorian hasn't retained anything familiar. I hope that people don't read the older reviews of Dorian and think that that is what they are purchasing if they buy a bottle of what is currently available.

Constellation starts out wonderful with sweet clove that's slightly earthy/tobacco-ish and, of course, spicy, with a woody leaning amber. Sadly, as it dries down, it loses a lot of its nuance and appeal for me. The clove and amber turn into a weak, super powdery, faint clove that reminds me of Fledgling Raptor Moon. Like cloves stuffed into baby powder and barely distinguishable anymore. It loses its sweetness, earthiness, and spicy kick that I love in the opening and just becomes powdery and bland.

I'm surprised that more reviews don't mention lemon, and it makes me wonder if there are huge batch variations with this scent. My bottle of this is like the lemon in Lemon-Scented Sticky Bat, very strong and on the sugary side of things, with a hint of orange and more of a glittering, crystalline sugar smell to it. It stays lemony-orange for hours until it fades away. The patchouli is barely there in the drydown and smells oddly clean, woody, and crisp, slightly green, more than heavily earthy (I like heavily earthy). Not my favorite for patchouli, but I do like the sugary lemon scent.

Neroli smells like creamy orange blossoms and a weedy, dark green scent simultaneously, while the King mandarin adds a fresh spray of orange juice, and the amber & vegetal musk form a warm, slightly powdery, resinous base for the orange tones to play out over. This is one of those fragrances that smells like warm sunshine between the cheerful, creamy, floral orange tones and the golden warmth of the amber and musk. A half hour into the drydown, it's like creamy orange blossom over warm, cuddly, ever so slightly musky amber. | I haven't reached for this much since my bottle arrived because it leans a little too powdery for me, but when I do wear it, I'm always surprised by how warm and enveloping it is. I love neroli and orange blossom and the neroli is very pretty here. I'm surprised this hasn't been reviewed more because it reminds me a lot of Khrysee, which has always been highly sought after (and has notes of vanilla amber and orange blossom).

Beautiful myrrh, fruity rose, and red musk with hints of patchouli in the drydown. I love black currant, especially when it's jammy and sweet like it is in this blend, and it melds into the rose so perfectly into a dessert type of scent. For the first couple hours, it's delicious black currant syrup with hints of red rose and a backdrop of sweet myrrh that's just ever so slightly incense smoky. After that, the rose fades considerably and I can smell hints of earthy patchouli instead of hints of rose. The crimson musk doesn't seem to be the usual, heavy red musk, but adds a little sultry warmth that holds everything together. The black currant and myrrh stay gorgeous the whole way through, disappearing around the 5 hour mark. I really enjoy most of the Haute Macabre scents, and Garnet is currently my favorite ❤️.