Little Bird

Mops didn't sound good to me when I read the note list (sounded too sweet and I don't have great luck with bpal's spicy blends), but I actually like this scent. It does have a thick sweetness to it from the brown sugar and vanilla, but it's mostly a dark & sexy spice fragrance to my nose. It reminds me a little bit of Priala (the original, non-vetiver-heavy version, anyhow) and the drydown reminds me of Nocturne Alchemy's Ozymandius X. I don't know why, but it's like a warm, smoldering, dark myrrh with sun warmed, dusty, woody amber and lots of exotic, sweet spiciness. It smells complex, like it has lots of warm layers to it. I was worried that it would be a sickly sugar & spice scent, but it's definitely more interesting than that. I don't think that I'll wear this much over the summer, as it's so heavy and warm, but I'm going to love my bottle once fall rolls around

I'm not picking up on the rosewood, tea, labdanum or dark musk that's supposed to be in this blend. Greater Horseshoe Bat smells like tons of sweet, creamy, warm beeswax and cool, sweet, creamy lavender to my nose. I'm not sure what's giving me the lavender impression. Overall, Greater Horseshoe Bat smells like melty beeswax candles and creamy, sweet lavender. It makes me think of LUSH lavender bath products. Almost milky and edible smelling in its sweetness. I like this one and find it really comforting.

I think that Noctule Bat is my favorite of this year's Bats Day scents. I'm surprised by how much I like this, because it's full of notes that usually don't work for me when they're in bpal blends. Noctule reminds me of Lenore (both heavy on the vetiver and plum), but this is smoother and not quite as smoky and harsh as Lenore is on me. I get lots of dark, heavy, slightly smoky vetiver with sweet, dark, glossy plum and a hint of slightly medicinal smelling black licorice. And none of that really sounds good to me, but this blend works for me somehow. It smells pitch black, sexy and dangerous to me <3. It's exactly how I was hoping it would smell, and is a dark, glossy plum scent that I can actually wear. Very happy to have a bottle of this one.

I'm surprised at how much I like Miss Forcible. It's like the smell of cosmetics powders (lightly scented with sweet violet and creamy vanilla) and a faded hint of womanly perfume mixed with hints of anise and sweet spice cookies. I really like the vanilla-y tones. I was afraid that this would be cookies + sharp musk, like someone poured perfume over baked goods, but this is a pleasant, soft, warm, well blended, complex scent on my skin. I think it's reminding me slightly of L de Lolita Lempicka (which I prefer to this scent, but I still really like Miss Forcible). I love the mix of sweet & comforting elements paired with the sophisticated, womanly perfume notes. Sometimes it's a bit too much on the sweet cinnamon on my skin (making me feel more like it's a room fragrance/potpourri), but I still like it. This scent reminds me of my grandmother, in the best possible way. Wearing this is like getting a hug from her <3. I'll keep my partial bottle if only for that connection.

On me, this is a metallic, herbal honey mixed with a sour, slightly spicy smelling cedar and hints of powdery black musk. Unfortunately, all of that together somehow reminds me of body odor and curry powder...

Testing my bottle of Miss Spink has had its ups and downs. I expected to hate this, because tuberose is usually sharp and harsh white floral that gives me a headache, but the floral part of this isn't bad (at least not at first). It's a creamy, tropical smelling gardenia that reminds me of monoi oil. I also love the 'tea splash and biscuit crumbs,' which are quite strong and remind me of anise cookies and caramels. But something about the mixture in the drydown starts to smell rancid on me. It's like the floral takes on a rubbery, sour, rotten quality that mixes with the sweetness (which dries down to smell sort of like pancake syrup on me) in a bad way. I totally get what another reviewer meant by the pile of rotting garbage. It really has an undertone that smells like plastic bags full of rotting food on a hot day. Sad, because I really love this when first applied, but the drydown seems to just turn rancid and off on me... I definitely recommend tracking down a sample of this before going for a full bottle.

Serotine Bat smells a lot like the Trading Post's Celeste bath salts did to me (the salts had notes of 'vanilla-infused honey and saffron'). It's like a sweet honey flavored dusting powder with a hint of fruity peach blossom. It smells a bit like creamy vanilla cake batter in the bottle, but turns dry/powdery/dusty smelling and honeyed on my skin.

I was disappointed when I first put this on, as it starts off very green, sour and strange smelling (like rotting green stems and pen ink with harsh musk and sweet tarts - very heavy and unpleasant). Thankfully, it quickly dries down into a better scent. The rose settles into a sweet, cool rose with tart black currant making it juicier and heavier. I still get that sappy, green quality, but it loses its sour edge and helps to make the rose smell like a real, freshly picked rose. The musk and tonka round out the background of the scent as a dark, sensual perfuminess. Dysopes Tenuis settles down on my skin into a dark and gothic smelling scent with a fresh, dewy smelling rose rather than a dry, crumbling one. I'm glad that the inky/black musk isn't turning powdery or to men's cologne the way that bpal's black musk usually does on me. Dark and sexy with a realistic rose at its center. I'm glad to have a bottle of this one.

First on, Coraline is similar to the clean, cool skin & honey notes that I get from Sara Pezzini. It's also similar to the watery musk and honey in Solstice Scents' Pharaoh blend. I'm not getting anything green or grass-like from this blend, though there is a hint of sweet, dried herbs and tart berry smell in the drydown. This is sensual, pretty, clean (slightly soapy), and delicately sweet. I like this, but I find the sexy clean skin & honey smell to be a bit odd in a scent representing Coraline, and I like the combo more in Sara Pezzini. I prefer the hint of leather in Sara Pezzini to the hint of dried herbs and tart berry in this one. Over time, the berry in this seems to turn more and more sour & strong smelling on my skin, and I start to find it unpleasant. My husband said that this reminds him of bug spray after a while.

This starts off smelling like a light, summery aquatic men's cologne - cool, musky, a little citrusy, and with an overall metallic/aquatic feel. The drydown is more cheap laundry soap than cologne. Like huffing a box of laundry soap powder. Not so good.

I get a little bit of sweetness from the vanilla and violet, but this mostly smells like a bar of creamy white soap to me. A little white musky as it dries down, but mostly a feminine soapy smell. The bathrooms in my grandma's house smell like this, so it's a slightly comforting scent to me, but not something I'll ever really wear.

The Court of Honor reminds me of bpal's tobacco flower note - an intensely soapy, dry, crumbling floral smell. It's a sharp, white, cool, soapy smell. The drydown has something of a sharp citrus note and the blend starts to remind me of lemon dish soap. Way too sharp and soapy for me. I had to scrub this one off after a half hour, because the perfumey, sharp musk + soap was giving me a headache

Dry, spiced coffee with a little bit of powdery, sweet rose. Fades quickly to mostly a sour rose with light coffee and an almost powdered sugar smell on me. I'm disappointed with the coffee note in this one. It's a lot weaker than I thought it would be, almost like a watered down cup of coffee that has cooled long ago (and has a bitter, metallic tone to it). This lasts about two hours on me and doesn't have great throw. I'm glad I only went with samples of the C2E2 scents this year, because none of them really smell good to me.

Little Egypt goes on smelling like a bright, resinous, light myrrh with a hint of something like citrus. A fresh smelling myrrh. Within a minute, though, it has a sour, perfumey, plasticy quality on my skin. It smells like melting plastic with a hint of real honey. And then it's gone. Doesn't even last a full 10 minutes on my skin. Very disappointing :/

I didn't even see the vetiver when I read over this note list, so I was surprised when I tried this on and it's a very dark, dank and earthy/ashen scent. Definitely lots of vetiver. I was hoping for more carnation and clove, but it's strong vetiver and a sour jasmine note on my skin with an undertone of pink pepper (which always smells weirdly of pink bubblegum and cheap craftstore potpourri aisle to me). The notes in this just don't seem to play well on my skin; it smells very strange and disjointed.

The champaca and sandalwood turn to baby powder with a headshoppy incense edge on my skin. The magnolia is perfumey, sharp white floral with a bit of soapiness. And the lemon/bergamot come off almost like a sharp lemon cologne. All together, it's like perfumey white floral with lemon dish soap and powdery, incensey sandalwood. Smells both clean and dry on me, and is too sharp for my tastes.

Cykranosh reminds me of cherry cough syrup at first, but dries down to sugary maraschino cherry with an almost musky/powdery undertone. It's too sweet for me, and it fades quickly. Only lasts about an hour total on my skin.

On me, this is buttery cinnamon (reminiscent of red hots candies, but with butter) and honeyed sweetness. There's an undertone of something sour in the drydown (maybe what is supposed to be the fermented note) and it seems to get more earthy/mushroomy over time. All in all, though, this isn't working for me. It starts off too spicy and reminiscent of bad potpourri and then smells off on me when the sour/fermented something creeps in. It was still going strong on me after an hour, but I had to scrub it off at that point.

Humpback Whale is heavy on the peppermint and ambergris for me. It smells like the Ambergris 2013 single note where it starts off like soapy aquatic and men's cologne and dries down with a bit of a smokier edge. Mixed with a strong, bracing peppermint. The mint, soap and cologne combo just makes me think of a man getting ready for work in the morning. It's a little too toothpaste-like for me.

On me, this is a soft, light, powdery scent with a delicate sweetness from the orris and honey musk. The rice milk, I think, smells cool and creamy, and maybe the gardenia is going a bit soapy on my skin. The drydown doesn't have much throw on me and fades into a clean, baby powdery sort of smell.

I love black currant, sugarplum, carnation and honeysuckle, so I had high hopes for this one. Unfortunately, I don't really get any of the sweet, fruity notes from this. I think it's mostly jasmine/a mish-mash of perfumey, sharp floral notes. The florals have that sharp, almost musky, hairspray smelling quality that is in a lot of classic floral perfumes. It gives me a headache after a while. This is one of the few scents in this series that is really strong and long lasting on me, and I wish that it weren't...

On me at first, this is a sweet, slightly powdery strawberry candy smell with hints of grass and a perfumey rose. The rose gets stronger and turns a little soapy on me in the drydown. Within an hour, it has faded a lot and leaves behind a smudge of perfumey rose soap with a powdery sweetness. White Chocolate & Strawberry is the only strawberry scent that I've really loved from the lab, and this one isn't a keeper for me either.

This does smell similar to the sweet lemon in Lemon-Scented Sticky Bat, but this has an addition of very soapy lavender added in. Lavender floral soap and sweet lemon. I don't really like soapy scents & probably won't wear this again, but this is okay. Like most of the scents in this series, though, it only lasts about an hour on my skin and doesn't have great throw.

I have a bottle of the original Ambergris single note, and I don't think that this one smells very similar. This single note has more of a bright, soapy aquatic feel to it, where the original doesn't smell aquatic/clean to me at all. Smells like soapy, salty aquatic with a hint of green and a hint of something like powdery, resinous amber that turns slightly smoky in the drydown. Has a bit of a men's cologne feel to it. After a while, it reminds me of Histoires de Parfums' Ambrarem fragrance. I actually like this more than the original Ambergris SN, but it's still not a favorite for me.

All of the scents I've tried so far from the Tremulous Song series are really light and don't have much throw or staying power on me. Rapunzel in Ballpoint is a light, soapy green apple. It smells like the lab's apple blossom single note to me. Doesn't even last a full hour on my skin.