Blood onmy hands

Woody nuts roasted in butter and brown sugar. I get a little bit of cinnamon and a very dry biscuit/pastry note in the drydown, but it's overall not as spicy as I was expecting. It's so sweet that it's a bit cloying on me, though, and I find that I like Horse Chestnut Honey a lot more for a roasted nuts fragrance, because Chestnut Honey has some fresh, outdoorsy notes to cut through the sweetness. I like Pecan Treacle more as a room fragrance.

I'm not sure if this one has aged well, as it's very faint and one dimensional on me. I get a light, sugary peppermint and nothing else. No marzipan, almond or cream. It's Lick It Lite on my skin. Has a cooling effect for the first few minutes, but I can barely smell it at all after an hour.

I like this more than most of bpal's cherry blends (which tend to either remind me of cherry flavored cough syrup or cherry flavored kool-aid powder). This smells glossy, dark and juicy, like biting into a real, ripe, sweet, juicy black cherry. Velvety, dark and sensual. Drydown has the tiniest hint of warm patchouli and a soft, vanilla-y feel to me, but mostly that really good cherry note. Actually smells like real black cherries and a patchouli-ish perfume that's like a hint of Fake News.

I snagged a bottle of this on ebay, mainly because I love the bird label. First on, this is like a cherry flavored cough drop and then shifts into a black, sticky, grownup cherry pastry type of smell. It's not sickly-sweet or jam-like. It's more like a gourmet, sugar-free, black cherry goo in a flaky breakfast pastry. Unfortunately, five minutes in, the cherry and flaky pastry disappear and the spice in this amps up like mad on me. My man actually started begging me to wash this off, because he said it smelled like a cheap pumpkin spice candle, and he hates pumpkin spice anything. Very sad, because I like this scent before the spice comes in and stomps all over everything. I've never had a spicy sugar cookie before (unless it's actually supposed to be a snickerdoodle), and I was hoping that this would actually just be cherry and sugar cookies...

Tea & Music seems to fare better on me than it has on most reviewers. I really amp up the darker, masculine notes, it seems. Goes on as a warm, fuzzy, cuddly, but slightly floral-fresh honey musk with hints of sweet chocolate. Quickly dries down into something that loses that fresh and outdoorsy sweetness and turns more masculine, dark, and reminiscent of being in an old tavern full of old, gleaming wood bars and rough wood floors. It's like an old wooden bar full of dusty, leather-clad cowboys, where you can barely see through the smoke (something like cigarette smoke, but sweetened by the honey and hint of chocolate so that it's not sharp or dirty), and there's an undertone of sultry, sexy honey and warm, dark wood. I love the leather and mahogany in this, and the honey sweetens it up just enough to make it sexy as all get out. I'd be all over a man who was wearing this... feels like I'm about to swoon against a man who smells like dusty leather, aged wood, thick honey and a hint of spicy cologne... dry, warm and swoon-worthy to me.

The dragon's blood and black amber are like a dry, hot incense and dried blood scent on me, with the cinnamon coming in dry, sharp and intense. I would normally hate this type of cinnamon, but I kind of like it mixed with the other red notes and the incense feel of this blend. It smells very heated and dry, like incense in a desert. As others have mentioned, it does have a bit of a dry, red musky feel to it in the drydown. I've been liking dragon's blood again lately and this is a spicy, incensey, musky, red dragon's blood. I have a couple decants of this and think that's enough, but I might track down a bottle at some point...

The First Rose leans clean smelling on me, like rosewater with a tiny hint of soapiness and sweetness. I'm not getting the green notes or green stem feel, but it's watery, clean, lightly sweet rose. Reminds me quite a lot of Roses de Chloe in the drydown - sort of a clean, girly rose with fruity and musky/perfumey undertones.

I usually enjoy bpal's hay notes (hay with a soft, lemony undertone, like in Hay Moon), but this doesn't remind me of the usual hay note. I was also expecting church resins, and I don't get that either. Community Church Manger Hay smells like woodsmoke, wood ash, and a weird, sharp cinnamon-ish scent on my skin.

I was afraid to try this, because I hated the patchouli in Nasty Woman, but the bird label drew me in and I'm so glad that it did. This blend reminds me of a lot of things - Reminiscence Paris's Eau de Patchouli (but not quite as clean, fluffy and sweet), Chanel's Coromandel (but not as warm, rich, sweet, spicy or creamy), bpal's Banshee Beat (but not as mentholic and sweet, and with more of a woody patchouli), Occupywallstreet (but more well rounded)... I think it reminds me most of what might happen if Coromandel and Occupywallstreet had a baby. So kind of like a toned down Coromandel with the more woody patchouli of Occupywallstreet, and a cold metal & tobacco of its own added in. I like patchoulis most when they have a chocolatey edge to them, which this has, and it also has a hint of a creamy, vanilla-like roundness to it. It's still not as sweet as some of my favorite patchoulis, though, and I wouldn't call this gourmand. It's one of those patchoulis that has a woody/cedar-ish quality to it. The 'gold' note is also familiar to me from some of bpal's other metallic blends and kind of reminds me of the foil around cigarettes (that would always be found at the bottom of my mom's person when I was younger). That impression is strengthened even more by the tobacco in this. The longer I've had my bottle of Fake News, the more I can really smell that metallic note and the tobacco, and it reminds me so much of that pack-of-cigarettes-in-a-leather-purse scent. Mixed with woody patchouli and a vanilla-like creaminess and a hint of perfumey, sweet spice (which is similar to Pediophobia). So, to summarize this mess of review (sorry for so much name-dropping, lol): Woody patchouli, metallic foil wrapped around cigarette tobacco, and soft, perfumey, vanilla-like creaminess.

All of the New Year's blends smell very similar to me, like a soapy citrus-melon fragrance. Fire Cock doesn't list melon, but I get an undertone that reminds me of honeydew. Mostly this is a tart, sharp orange citrus with soapy dryer sheets. I was hoping that this would have a stronger rice cake smell, but I don't get any rice cake at all, or any dragon's blood or plum blossom. Lots of the orange tones, but they're too sharp and soapy for my tastes. ETA: Tried this again, half a year later, and I don't get the orange notes much anymore. Now it's more of a pulpy, green, wet bamboo, tart and creamy plum blossom, honeydew melon, and soapy, dry, laundry dryer sheets. This always turn out too soapy for me, sadly

Cherophobia smells like lemonheads candies. Sweet lemon, sour lemon, sugar crystals. A good mix of sweet and tart, but more dry than juicy on my skin. I can't pick out any of the other notes, and I was hoping for orris to make an appearance. It's a pleasant, sweet lemon candy, but Gobo is still my absolute favorite for a gourmand lemon fragrance.

This goes straight to soap on me, like a generic white bar soap and sharp dryer sheets scent.

This is a pale, sad shadow of its former self. I wish that bpal would change the name of their blends when they differ so much from their original version. 2008 LPF is one of my favorites - heavy, slightly smoky black leather, rich and sweet black licorice and thick vanilla. It lasts 12+ hours on me and my bottle is almost empty I bought the 2016 expecting it to be at least similar, but it's not. 2016 LPF is a weirdly sour black licorice, what smells like actual dust, no leather and no vanilla. Has almost no throw and lasts 45 minutes tops on my skin. I'm sad that I wasted money on this.

I get nothing like marshmallow or any sweetness from my bottle. It has that dead leaves, musky-aquatic cologne scent at first. Dries down like a sharp white musk with a hint of sharp woodsmoke. But it's barely a scent at all, because I can't smell it after about ten minutes, no matter how much I slather on.

I don't like my bottle of this at all, and it makes me so sad. I love the name, the notes, the label... but it smells like fireplace ashes, fizzy-sweet lime soda, and soap. The drydown has a weird undertone of baby oil and baby powder. Not good at all to my nose. Maybe some sour pine as it dries down, but mostly it just makes me think of a harsh, bleach-laden, corrosive soap...

The almond and rum have a weird, cherry-ish, cough syrup scent to them here (and I usually enjoy the lab's rum blends), and the lemon sours the whole thing even further on my skin. I also usually love black patchouli, but the almond and lemon give it a sour edge here that makes it remind me of BO. It's very dry, sour earthiness.

I'm not getting frankincense or pencil shavings, just a cool toned, quiet violet and rose blend. It goes slightly powdery on me (like cosmetics powder, not baby powder) and reminds me of Marie, but This World's isn't as sweet as Marie, and the violet here has a hint of a colder, sharper, slightly watery edge to it. Pretty and proper.

Sour, bitter orange and a hint of earthiness from the patchouli, mixed with lots of cinnamon-y gingerbread note. I don't like how strong the cinnamon/spice is, and the orange is a bit too sharp for my tastes, but my skin tends to amp up spice notes. Kind of an orange pomander feel.

I think I have fatigue from all of snow/pine blends. They all smell so much alike to me. In the Wild North isn't one of my favorites, because it goes a bit sharp and perfumey on my skin, with a soapy undertone. Slightly minty, slushy snow note. Dries down like those pine shaped air fresheners and dryer sheets on my skin.

I actually enjoy the smell of charcoal, but this smells quite like a dirty ash tray to my nose. Ashy, dry, slightly smoky, and gross to me.

My bottle of The Magpie was very strange and faint smelling. It's like sweet lime soda, even slightly fizzy, and the smell of cardboard. I don't get the comparison to The Comforter or really any currant or vanilla at all. Maybe I got a bad bottle, as I ordered this later into the Yules. Definitely sweet lime candy in the drydown, but so light that it's barely there after five minutes...

I think that Deluge of Blood is my favorite of the Song of Creation series. It's so heavy and over-the-top. I can smell red musk, dragon's blood, black, earthy, damp patchouli, and a sharp bite of spices, somehow all in equal measure. The nagarmotha is dark and earthy-woody, dusted over everything. It's almost resinous smelling to me (kind of like a not-as-sweet opoponax with a hint of opium and a woody, earthy character), and it makes me feel like I'm just falling into the fragrance. Overall, this smells very aggressive, dark and intense. In a way, it really does smell bloody, and it sort of makes me want to get into a fight. It's like the fragrant equivalent of a mosh pit. On a good side, however, it makes me feel very strong when I wear it. Black with streaks of blood red. Resinous, earthy, bloody, and so dark. There's just enough sweetness for this to be wearable for me. I don't know if this review will be helpful, because I'm still processing this one myself, lol. I'd say if you like the idea of a spicy dragon's blood that's intensely dark and slightly sweetened with red musk, complex and brooding, then you should give Deluge of Blood a try.

Like others have mentioned, I get something dark and slightly fecal about this, along with a sour rose note. I do enjoy a handful of oud fragrances from other companies, but I don't think that any of the lab's oud fragrances thus far have really worked on me. This has a damp, sour dirtiness that I just find off putting. In the drydown, the woody, sweet fig creeps in and it's more enjoyable, but still not something I really want to wear.

All of this year's Gingerbread blends had a strong cinnamon scent on me. Gingerbread-Vetiver has the same sharp cinnamon potpourri as the others, but the darker notes manage to claw their way through the cinnamon and give this one some complexity at first. The clove is sharp and almost black peppery smelling, and I get the same thick, dark molasses feel that others have mentioned. It's intense and slightly bitter & medicinal. Vetiver lends a dark, damp woodiness to the whole thing. So it's like cinnamon potpourri with strong, sticky molasses and damp, rotting wood, with a sharp, peppery clove note. After an hour, this is still going strong, but it has lost the darker notes and smells just like red hots cinnamon candies on me... gives me a headache, unfortunately.

I originally got a decant of this that's rather strong on the orange blossom/neroli. I bought a full bottle that was backordered and delayed, and my bottle is very light on the orange blossom/neroli and really strong on the honey musk. I enjoy the decant, but I also enjoy the full bottle, though they're rather different from each other. There's a little hint of juicy orange when this is first applied, but it quickly settles into a warm, heavy, sweet, creamy honey with a slightly sharp musk (that works for me with the intense sweetness) and hint of soft magnolia. I got this because I loved the honey and magnolia of The Bride. Swift as Light is much more of a sweet, sexy, thick honey and not very floral, though (at least in-bottle and not in-earlier-decant). The Bride is much more of a clean, floral, dainty/innocent fragrance. Swift leans more gourmand.