Little Bird

The soapy smell of this kinda reminds me of men's shaving cream at first, with undertones of perfumey, dry rose and maybe a bit of powdery violet candy. The drydown after about an hour smells like a bar of perfumey rose scented soap. Not working for me.

I was hoping that the grape meant that this would be kind of a spooky wine scent, as I often like bpal's wine blends. But I'm one of the people who aren't getting much fruit from this at all. It doesn't really remind me of the sour, aquatic quality of Spanish Moss either. Somehow this smells kinda pine-like on my skin, with a dry, sharp, dusty quality that I really don't like. Makes me think of dying plants and trees. It has a bitterness on my skin and isn't sweet enough for me at all. A bit powdery and bitter, dark green on me in the drydown. I'm not sure that this would be a keeper for me even if the raspberry and grape were stronger, but it's definitely not working for me as it is :/

I'm a fan of cereal scents (like Lann-Ael <3), but I don't get anything cereal or milky from this blend. I hate bpal's cherry/almond note, and that seems to be the main note I get from Neil. It's a fakey, overly sweet maraschino cherry type of smell. It goes on strong, but has faded away almost entirely by the half hour mark, just leaving a faint sugar and powder scent on my skin. I expected something cool and unusual from the listed notes, but this is just blah cherry/almond on me.

Does anyone have pictures of Mariposita and/or this year's Pumpkin Patch blends? I'd love to see them

Spanish Moss single note smells a lot like Bayou (which makes sense, of course, as it is a note in Bayou).. bright green, sour, aquatic moss. It smells swamp-y. I find it interesting, but (like Bayou) it's not really wearable for me. It just has a sour/bitter quality that smells off on my skin.

Salma just smells like soapy apple blossom to me. I like the smell of ink, but don't get any from this scent. Lots of soap, slightly perfumey floral and sweet apple. Gives me a headache, but I guess it'd be nice for someone who can wear soap/clean scents.

Hippie Ghost is really strange and unpleasant on me. Reading over the other reviews, this really does have a dirty, pot smoke-ish quality on my skin (and I hate that smell :/) with a dry, cheap smelling patchouli and.. soap? The drydown reminds me a bit of burning sage. It's a weird mess on my skin - strangely bitter, dirty and soapy. There isn't enough sweetness to make it wearable for me and I can't pick out the suede/leather at all. This starts off strange and then fades quickly, almost entirely gone by the time it's been on for a half hour, and I am not sad to see it go, lol.

There are already a lot of great recs here, but I want to add in El Dorado. It's in the Wanderlust category with notes of "Copal resin incense blowing through halls of dazzling gold." One of my favorites and a really unique incensey blend from bpal with dark, spicy, earthy undertones.

I haven't seen this in too many blends (angel's trumpet in a few and devil's trumpet in Dark Delicacies, but the black orchid is the main floral for me in DD).. though I'm not sure I'd be able to pick it out even if I did smell it in a blend. It has a vague, perfumey white floral feel on me. At first it has a green, herbal, slightly bitter edge and then it dries down to more of a creamy, sweet-ish perfumey floral with a touch of soap.

Light, soapy floral with a high-pitched, sharply perfumey/musky edge. It dries down a little softer, sweeter, and slightly powdery, but still has a soapy, generic/chemical floral feel on me. It's the sort of sharp floral that gives me a headache, unfortunately. It doesn't even have a purple or lilac/wisteria scent to my nose, almost more white and soapy.

I just realized that this blend shares a lot of the same notes with my major Yule 2011 disappointment (Pumpkin Masala Rooibos - tea, red ginger, green cardamom, fennel, coconut sugar.. all notes that I can't pick out in either blend, oddly). I can't even pick out the mango in this one, which makes me sad, because I love the White Chocolate Mango Buttercream scent. It also doesn't remind me of chai spices. On me, this is pretty much all spiced pumpkin and allspice. It burns on my wrist and smells like sharp cinnamon, all-spice and a bit of buttery pumpkin. Maybe something like a pumpkin spice cake, but it smells too sharply spicy for me. Overall, just kinda disappointed with this one.

Third Charm reminds me of a lot of blends that I already own, especially when it's first applied. It has a Snake Oil feel and is similar to other blends that bpal have done with red musk & honey (Infernal Lover, Womb Furie). It's almost fruity/wine-like, red, warm, a bit sweet, heavy musk. Sweetened with a bit of honey. As it dries down I get more of the patchouli and cedar incense, making it darker and sort of unpleasantly dirty on my skin. After an hour, it seems like the dark notes fade away again and I'm left with just red musk. I find bpal's red musk to be really overpowering, though. Not a keeper for me.

In the bottle, this smells like pure green grass. On my skin at first, it's green grass and a hint of dark, smoky leather. It quickly dries down to a sweet, powdery wildflower scent on me, though, which I wasn't expecting. There's a bit of green grass and leather underneath the scent, but it's mostly a sweet & powdery floral. And I actually like this a lot. I always want to like green grass scents, but never really find them wearable, but this has a sweetness and depth to it that I really enjoy. I like that the green part doesn't dominate the scent on me.

I don't like the lab's pomegranate note, as it turns dry, powdery, and slightly bitter on my skin (like sweet tarts candy, but worse). I definitely get that note in this one, especially when first applied. It's very red and fruity candy, along with what smells like apple cider on my skin. As it dries down, something starts to smell like dark, dried herbs on my skin (the saffron & leather, maybe) and a bit sharp and perfumey. But mostly this is pomegranate, which just doesn't work for me, sadly.

Zmey Gorynych smells really amazing. It reminds me of blends like CC: Female (only better, more sweet and not as powdery) and Golden Priapus (not as pine-y). It mostly has a sweet, vanilla-y quality on my skin, with undertones of sweet, slightly powdery resins from the amber & incense notes and a dark, sexy, leathery base. I can't really pick out the red musk, and that usually amps up on me and takes over any bpal blend that it's in. Mostly this is sweet resins, amber and leather loveliness on me <3.

Cherokee Rose SN reminds me of some of the rose & lemon scented things from LUSH (Amandopondo bubble bath, mainly). I can see where this is going soapy on some people, but it doesn't really go soapy on my skin. It definitely doesn't remind me of laundry soap or anything harsh like that, though I can see where it has a bit of a clean edge to it. Mostly this is a sweet, classic, slightly dry smelling rose with hints of sweet, sunny, cheery lemon. I don't often like bpal's citrus/lemon scents, but I really like this blend. Sweet, dry rose and sweet lemon.

I was so excited to try this one, mostly because I love the label art (I've had this dragon as my desktop background since bpal released a pic of the artwork <3). I didn't think that I'd like this based on the notes, but it smells nothing like I thought it would. It doesn't smell like a lunacy blend or herbal at all. It doesn't even have much of a green scent to it. This actually reminds me of my mom, like the way she smelled when she was all dolled up to go out with my dad in the late 80s/early 90s. The orchid & musk smells very bold and classic 80s perfumey to me, but thankfully isn't too sharp and has a bit of sweetness to it as well. There's that and a sweet, powdery quality that reminds me of cosmetic powder, and a touch of dark green. Perfumey, heavy, deep orchid and musk with hints of sweet, vanilla-y cosmetic powder and a touch of dark green that does conjure up a hint of jungle at night. The closest I have to a similar bpal is Sapphics from the Lupercalia 2008 bunch.

To me, this smells exactly as described. It's a dark, sweet, cider-y spiciness with a small hint of ginger fizz at its core that gives the scent a bubbly lift. I'm not sure why it smells dark to me, because it's tons of sweet spices, but it's somehow a bit dark and spooky smelling on me. I'm glad that I got this bottle for the fall/Halloween season, as that's what it feels like for me. I'm also pleased that it's a heavily spicy scent that doesn't give me a headache or smell like red hots cinnamon on my skin. Very nice.

The heavy pine & jasmine combo in this turns really sour and unpleasant on my skin I'm not getting any of the ambergris or resins.

You might want to check out some of these: *Bewitched (Bewitching Brews) - "Deep, luscious green and berry scents that evoke images of woodland witchcraft and the raw power of nature: blackberry, sage, green tea, wild berries and dark musk." *Blood Countess (Diabolus) - "Ah, vanity. Corrupted black plum, smoky opium and crumbling dead roses covered by a deceptive veil of Hungarian lilac, white gardenia and wild berry." *Blood Rose (Rappaccini's Garden) - "Sensual, robust, and silken: voluptuous red rose bursting with lascivious red wine and sultry dragon’s blood resin." *Evil (RPG) - "Smouldering opium tar, tobacco absolute, green tea, black plum, kush, ambergris accord, ambrette seed, and costus root." *Mage (RPG) - "All mystique and thrumming power: gurjum balsam, Sumatran dragon's blood resin, olibanum, galangal, oleo gum resin, and frankincense." *The Obsidian Widow (Steamworks) - "Pinot noir, dark myrrh, red sandalwood, black patchouli, night-blooming jasmine, and attar of rose." *Wanda (Ars Amatoria) - "Along with Loviatar, she has become something of a Patron Goddess of all Dominatrixes, Wanda is the breathtakingly beautiful sable-wrapped marble queen of Sacher-Masoch’s fantasies. Her scent is a deep red merlot with a faint hint of leather, sexual musk and body heat over crushed roses, violets and myrtle." *Whip (Ars Amatoria) - "Agony and ecstasy: black leather and damp red rose."

I haven't liked any of the Blue Moons so far. They all smell like sharp, perfumey, soapy floral on me, even the 04 version. This one starts out with herbal, kinda bitter lavender and then dries down to perfumey floral soap. It just smells sharp and cheap to me.

I usually hate bpal's honey and pink pepper, but this scent is gorgeous on me. It's very creamy, sweet, and foodie, but it has a sensual, perfumey quality to it that makes it more grownup and wearable to me. It makes me think of sweet apricots in vanilla cream with a bit of honeyed sugar on top. The apricot and honey notes used in this are beautiful and something makes the scent really creamy and vanilla-ish on my skin. I love this and think I need a backup bottle.

Iole is a huge jasmine scent on me, bold and heavy, with a smoky, dark undertone from the sandalwood, amber and leather. It dries down to a dark, leather-clad sort of jasmine. I don't like the jasmine note here, though, as it has a sour, soapy edge to it. As it dries down, my hubby said it smells sort of like sour alcohol and cigarettes.

This smells *exactly* like Ebisu Making Love As Two Octopuses Look On (which is musk, nectarine and oakmoss). It's like a cool, green, slightly powdery musk with a burst of juicy nectarine (even dries down slightly peach-y like Ebisu) and an overall sweet, cologne-y vibe. It has a clean skin and sweet men's cologne feel, but I think that it's sweet enough to be a clean unisex blend. Trying these side-by-side, Alcie is identical to Ebisu on my skin. It's like the same fragrance in a new bottle.

Eight-Petaled Lotus brings to mind a bar of creamy, clean, white soap. It's a soft, gentle, sort of girly soapiness, but still soap on my skin. Makes me think of bars of hotel soap. I'm used to bpal's lotus notes smelling like bubblegum, so this is unusual.