Little Bird

The Changeling might be my biggest letdown of the 'Weenies this year . I was hoping for sweet vanilla and pumpkin with clean linen and wood notes, but this is mostly a charred wood and perfumey musk smell on my skin, with a little bit of burnt butter edge to it. It actually smells a bit gross on me...

I was hopeful for the vanilla and marigold (I actually love the smell of real marigolds), but this is mostly clean, perfumey floral and slightly herbal smelling greenery on me. It's not sweet enough for me and I don't get a lot of complexity from it. The rose comes out in the drydown, but it's a soapy rose that I'm not loving. I was hoping for dried flowers and vanilla from this, but it's more of a clean, perfumey floral smell.

Ghosts in Love is mostly tobacco flower on me, which isn't a favorite note of mine (like a soapy, cold, gritty/smoky white floral). I get that, a little bit of sweet rose, and a touch of powdery/creamy softness from the white sandalwood. It'd be very pretty for someone who likes the lab's tobacco flower note.

This is mostly sweet violet, sharp green moss (reminds me of Bayou), and soapy aquatic on me, with smoky sage in the drydown. I have the worst time with aquatic blends, and this one doesn't fit right on me either. None of the notes seem to mesh well on my skin, and it feels very sharp.

I love resins, black currant, benzoin, and vanilla bean, and hate or have trouble with every other note in this blend. Unfortunately, the resins, currants and vanilla aren't strong enough to save the blend for me. There's a dark sweetness from the musk and opoponax, and a bit of tart fruitiness for the first fifteen minutes or so, but mostly this is a perfumey, slightly sour jasmine with hints of rose on me. Jasmine very rarely works out for me, and I'm not loving it here.

I usually like the lab's ivy and enjoy white sandalwood if it's not too powdery, but something about this blend just isn't grabbing me like I thought it would. The sandalwood goes powdery/creamy and isn't unpleasant, but the ivy smells a little brighter and more sharply green than usual. Bright green ivy dusted in baby powder. It's not bad, sort of clean and delicate smelling, and I'll probably even keep my decant, but I don't love it as much as I thought I would.

Askalaphos goes on like black potting soil and bright, perfumey white floral. The earth notes fade as it dries down and more of the tart pomegranate creeps in. I like the black soil note, but it doesn't stick around on my skin, and the other parts are too sharp/tart for me. Simple, and starts off strong, but fades surprisingly quickly (only lasted about 2 hours overall).

Nightmare morphs a lot on my skin, but always seems to have some note that's not quite working for me. It starts off with a slightly sour, yellowy jasmine, cool & slightly soapy lavender, and maybe a bit of extra sweetness from the honey. As it dries down, I catch the sharp poppy every once in a while, and the jasmine starts to fade. It settles into a slightly powdery lavender with a pale, fruity sweetness (not blackened or black currant, as I was expecting, but maybe the powder is overwhelming the fruitiness for me). My husband kept telling me that this smelled like medicine on me :/ which is maybe the lavender not playing so well for me here.

Only commenting on the scent with this one, from a partial decant - this smells like lemongrass, chamomile, and maybe sage on me, which are all notes that I tend to dislike. It's like sour lemons and bitter, sharp herbs with a hint of smoky sage.

I like ambergris, but I can't pick it out of most of the bpal blends, and I don't smell it at all in this one either . Rose amps up on me and the sandalwood goes baby powdery, so this is pretty much a rose powder on my skin. It's like a warmer and more powdery Shadowless Like Silence.

I think you'd have to like lavender to enjoy this one, as I get mainly lavender from it (which I happen to love). It smells sort of like a clean and creamy lavender was mixed with the sticky, dark sweetness of opoponax and black currant. For having so many heavy notes, the scent fades within 3 hours on me and isn't as strong as I was expecting it to be. I think that the 'violet musk' comes through quite a bit in the drydown, rather than the dark musk, ambergris, or resins, because the blend turns more light and perfumey. Creamy lavender, clean & perfumey violet musk, and a touch of fruity, sweet currant. Not as dark or incensey as I was hoping for, but I might keep my decant of this one.

I love mulberry and pomegranate, but apparently not in perfume form. Together, the two notes just smell awful and overwhelming on me. Pomegranate tends to smell like sweet tarts candy + something bitter on my skin, and the mulberry seems to add a darker, bitter, slightly plasticy edge to the whole thing. It winds up making me smell like a cheap fruity candle with a sharp edge that I hate. I did't get any mint or myrrh while I wore this, but I wound up scrubbing this off after about an hour. Regina Erebi gives me a headache...

I was expecting a loud, bright pomegranate and rose mix from this (two notes that tend to amp up on me), but I can't really pick out the pomegranate at all, and the overall scent is lighter & more quiet than I thought it would be. The lilac musk is like a more perfumey, clean, light, not-as-sweet version of lilac on me. The rose and honey mingle together and add more of a sweet floral edge to the lilac musk, and the frankincense is a hint of dry incense. The Nymphae Avernales is like a sophisticated, perfumey floral that smells a bit exotic & sensual on me, thanks to the honey and frankincense. I don't think that I'll go through a full bottle of this, but I'll keep my decant. My husband is a fan of florals (on me, not on himself), and he really liked this one.

The Night Hag starts off heavy on the pine and sharp woodsmoke, and I thought about just scrubbing it off immediately. But as it dries down (after about fifteen minutes), the incense notes start to strengthen and add a warm sweetness to the smoky pine. After about an hour, I'm left with mainly a smooth, creamy sandalwood and frankincense, but the fragrance is really light on me by then and it takes too long to get to this stage. The pine and woodsmoke are just too sharp for me initially.

This goes on as mainly magnolia, skin musk, and a hint of patchouli on me. It's perfumey floral and slightly powdery, clean musk with a hint of dry earthiness. As it dries down, the honey/beeswax and vanilla add a sweetness to the blend, but it also goes more baby powdery on me. It's a soft, light, musky-powdery-clean scent with swirls of dry patchouli and vanilla-honey... More powdery than I would like, but the overall scent is light and inoffensive on me. It only lasts about 2 hours on me and clings close to my skin.

I love black patchouli (love it in Depraved, at least), red sandalwood, and ambergris, and I have mixed results with vetiver, dark musk, and balsams. The Triumph of Death is like smoky, dark vetiver, a harsh and musky blast of men's cologne from the black musk, and something oddly green, herby-woods, and sour (the balsam?). The overall feel for me is a bitter black-green scent. I don't care for this scent at all, and it's really strong on me. It winds up being too sour and dry smelling, not sweet or smooth enough for me to find it wearable.

I've only tried out about half of my Halloween decants, but my favorites so far are The Wiley Grasser, The Ta-Ta, and Halloween: Las Vegas. ETA: Finished trying out all of my decants for this update, and those three are still the only keepers for me.

I had hoped that a mix of lime, cedar, and dragon's blood might be like an exotic, spicy, tropical drink, but this is more of a warm, powdery floral and citrus cleanser type of smell on my skin. It winds up smelling very dry on me, and fades quickly.

I love Blood Moon 05, like 2010, and didn't care for 2008. Unfortunately, this is more like the 08 version than the spicy, incensey versions. I didn't remember the list of notes in this, so I was confused when I first put it on and it smelled like strong baby powder, wet leaves, and cool aquatic. I don't get resins or tobacco at all. It's really strong and long lasting, but I don't really like smelling like baby powder and cool water...

I love gardenia, but the narcissus and white musk here make this too sharp and perfumey for me. It has a good dose of creamy, tropical gardenia, but it just doesn't work for me with the added perfumey floral notes. I was curious about the white cognac, but don't smell anything boozy here.

I love this when I first put it on. It's like freshly sliced, delicately sweet, juicy apples laying over a beautiful, smooth blue musk and cool, creamy vanilla. And then after about ten minutes, the white musk comes out and it turns into a sharp, dry, perfumey mess. The apple disappears and the vanilla drowns under the sharp musk. And the whole thing only lasts about a half hour on me. I don't think that any of the apple scents are keepers for me, but this one starts off great and then breaks my heart

This is a fun scent, though it's a bit too tart and sweet for me, personally. It's like someone threw a handful of fruity sweet tarts candies into a glass of Sprite and then tossed a few flower stems into the mix. I actually find it to be rather lemony-fizzy, with the pomegranate doing its usual thing and turning to sweet tarts candy smell. After about a half hour, it smells just like lemonheads candy on me. Fades away entirely after about an hour and a half.

Halloween: Las Vegas is like a darker, sexier, grittier version of Cake Smash... like Cake Smash with more Snake Oil & smoke and less Dorian. The Snake Oil, tobacco smoke, and incense add a dark, slightly spicy, smoky quality to the foodie/sweet parts. On me, this winds up smelling like spice cake with thick vanilla frosting, left to dry out in a dark room full of tobacco and incense smoke. Which is actually rather awesome It's a sweet, smoky, dark Snake Oil. I really like how this one plays out on my skin <3.

Sonnet D'Automne is strange on me. I love Falling Leaf Moon and Nothing Gold Can Stay, but most of bpal's leaf blends haven't worked for me. Sonnet D'Autonme is reminding me of October, I think, sort of a mix of damp leaves, slightly green leaves, and dead grass. I get the mint that others have mentioned as well, but not really any of the vanilla. It's like damp leaves, mint, and powder on my skin (and bpal's amber and vanilla notes often turn to baby powder on me, so I'm not sure which is the problem here). It smells like it has a perfumey floral note as it dries down on me, but I'm not really getting the vanilla or cocoa. All in all, it smells too cold and perfumey for me, and not sweet enough.

Sentimental Initiation is odd on my skin, and not sweet enough for me. I always prefer 'sweet clove' over the 'bitter clove' note. First on, I get a blast of bamboo and mandarin, which is a pulpy, green, citrussy smell. But that quickly disappears and I'm left with MUSK and bitter clove. The musk really amps up on me, and the black musk smells cold, smoky, and sharp on my skin. The red musk tries to sweeten things up a bit, but after an hour I'm left with red musk, soap, and men's musky cologne smell. Not good for me.