Blood onmy hands

Moon of Small Spirits is such an odd scent. It's great in the bottle and on fabrics, but awful on my skin. In the bottle, this smells like bpal's snow note, but darker, like snow deep within a pine forest. There's also something sweet and edible smelling to my nose, like a mix of cola and lime fizz gummis. On my skin, this instantly brightens up and takes a bad turn towards soapy and sharply perfumey. It's like perfumey white florals, dryer sheets, and the sweet snow note. It's so gorgeous in the bottle, and such a disappointment once it touches my skin. I'm not sure what's in this that's going sharply, fakely floral on me. Over time, the snow note actually fades and I'm left with nothing but sharp, floral dryer sheets and something like sweet tarts . It doesn't smell much like what other reviewers have described, so I'm not sure what my nose is doing with this scent, lol. Moon of Small Spirits is just a major disappointment on my skin. I'm keeping it, though, because I accidentally got a drop of this on my sweater and it smells awesome on fabrics (just turns to awful when it meets my skin chemistry). On my sweater, it makes me think of Christmas ribbon candies, cola, and a soft greenery like pine trees mixed with meadow grass, but it's not overly sweet or green smelling. It smells candied, dark, and gorgeous, though it does start taking on a bit of a 'clean' edge after a half hour or so.

I ordered two bottles of this'n, and one of them leaked in transit, so the whole box smelled like delicious strawberry shortcake. Smelling this scent in the bottle, I immediately thought, “Wow. This is beautiful.” I smell a soft, warm vanilla cake note with baked sugar edges, tart strawberry, and vanilla ice cream. I was worried that the strawberry would smell cloying or fake, but it doesn’t. It really smells like true to life strawberries. Of all the strawberry scents I own, this smells the most like real strawberries, and not just strawberry candy. On my skin, it’s much the same, but the grapefruit adds a little citrus zing to the blend. It’s all warm vanilla cake smothered in freshly sliced strawberries, and covered in a mix of vanilla ice cream and a hint of citrus zest . I can’t pick out the carnation most of the time. After two hours, the cake note is fading away along with the citrus, but the tart strawberries and smooth cream linger on my skin for about three more hours. All in all, it smells very girly and innocent on me (which is the impression that I always get from strawberry scents), and I like it a lot. I'm really happy with how well the strawberry plays out on me here, never going hyper-sweet and cloying. The blend is definitely foodie and sweet, but it's not so sweet that it makes me feel ill. My boy usually doesn't care for the foodie scents, but he gave Floating Brain a 7 out of 10 score. I like Mutant Hot-Rodders more than Floating Brain, but the Brain is my second favorite of the B movies .

In the bottle, the smell of this makes me gag. It makes me feel like I have bitter cough syrup caught in my throat, and smells of a harsh, sharp cleanser that tried to be scented with some mint. On my skin, I don't smell any of the fruitiness or smoke that other reviewers have mentioned. It really smells like some sort of harsh bathroom cleanser on me... harsh bathroom cleanser that wants to be a mint. The mint note isn't like peppermint on me; it reminds me of the watery, non-sweet, medicinal sort of mint that I get from Snow, Glass, Apples. When I tested this a few days ago, the smell started bothering me so much that I had to go and take a bath to get it off. Crimson Christmas is probably in my top three (bottom three?) of least favorite bpal scents. Not good at all on me

I like this scent a lot, which really surprised me. I normally hate leather, smoke, and metal scents, but the overall mix of this blend is really working for me. In the bottle, I smell clean, black leather, a gorgeous metallic smell that reminds me of Mechanical Phoenix, and smoke from a mesquite BBQ (smoky vetiver?). I normally hate that sweet smokiness, but somehow it’s working for me with the leather and metal. On me, this is oddly comforting. It reminds me of my fiance, actually. The combination of lime mixed with the smooth metal is like a great, non-musky, non-offensive men's cologne. Then there's the hellfire and pepper, reminding me slightly of BBQ, and giving off that smoked, spiced wood smell. The leather is just a hint of softness that I want to nuzzle into. I'm so glad that this isn't heavily smoky on me. I think that this might be my favorite of the B movie blends.

In the bottle, all I can smell is a soft gingerbread spice. It's a delicious, comforting smell. On my skin at first, it’s like lemon cookies, gingerbread cookies, and a warm, fuzzy musk. It reminds me of Cerberus, and I was pretty happy about this opening stage. Unfortunately, the drydown of the Flesh Eating Reindeer really sucks on me. It turns bland and dry, like the perfume equivalent of those brown, bone shaped dog biscuits, with just a hint of sharp ginger and perfuminess. I’m not a fan, and my boy hated this scent (of course, he only smelled it after it had been on my skin for about 10 minutes). I might try to put this in a scent locket or burn it in an oil warmer, though, because I like the way it smells in the bottle...

I like the idea of green smells, but they rarely transfer into perfume that I'll actually wear. Sniffing That! in the bottle, I was sure that this was going to be another failure for me. It has a high, sharp, soapy smell that makes me think of dryer sheets and green/fruity shampoo. It smells the way that the lab's bamboo note often smells to me. On my skin, though, this actually smells wonderful. If I smell it up close, it smells soapy, but if I give the scent some breathing room, it sort of envelopes me a cloud of clean, green, fruity sweetness. It smells slightly grassy to me, but very wearable. This makes me smell like I just came from a soapy shower, rolled around in a green meadow in a clean sundress, and smushed green fruits on myself. It's very nice and refreshing, and it makes me think of spring. I really like The Terror From Over There!, and I wasn't expecting to care for it at all.

In the bottle, this smells like it could be one of the snake pit blends. It smells like Snake Oil (which is probably just the red musk) mixed with a clean, girly perfume. I can pick out the tea, musk, and a bit of fruitiness. On my skin, this isn't a sweet scent at all. I was hoping for more mango, but the tea and musk drown out the fruit. This actually reminds me quite a bit of the clean linens and tea smell that I get from White Rabbit, but with a *lot* of musk thrown in the mix, and no sweetness to be found. I like red musk, but I seem to amp up the black musk over it, and I'm not crazy about black musk. The overall result on me is that this smells very clean and perfumey. Clean linens, black tea, and a chilly, slightly sharp cologne smell. After about an hour, I can smell a hint of warm, perfumey red musk. I wish that it had more of a sweet mango to it. All in all, this blend is a bit too sharp for my tastes. I'll keep my bottle and see how this ages, but it's not a favorite right now.

This is a nice, fresh, green, crisp, watery scent on me. It's like juicy cucumbers, fresh grass clippings, and perhaps some lettuce and bits of soft moss thrown into the mix. An odd salad, but it smells good. It's not a sharp, grassy smell on me, but a soft, dewy sort of smell. It's not very me, but my boy likes it, so I think I'll pass the imp along to him.

I've been wishing that I could try this single note for years now, and finally won an imp of it on ebay. I love patchouli, and the description for this made it sound like something that I needed to have. In the vial, this has an earthy, musty sort of smell, and also something cold and almost medicinal/menthol-like in the background. It's much the same on my skin, but gives me the overall impression of an old, damp basement. I like patchouli best when it's warm and earthy with golden, sweet, sap-like tones to it. This is more of a damp, cold, moldy wood sort of smell. I can't shake the menthol impression that I get from this either. It's like an open jar of Vicks Vaporub in a damp, moldy basement. And this is definitely a strong oil. A tiny dab of this lasts all day on my skin and has lots of throw. All in all, this isn't really that good on me, and I think that it's had sufficient time to age by now, lol. I own a lot of patchouli single notes and blends, so I don't see myself holding on to this scent. Still, I'm very grateful to have tried it.

I think that this is my favorite of the political imps, but I’m not sure what exactly is in it. It smells like a wonderful, warm, men’s cologne type of smell on me. Perhaps there are some dry woods, spice and vanilla in this one? In the drydown, it gets a bit muskier than I would have loved, but I still like it. I like it a lot on my boy, so I'll probably pass along the imp to him.

On me, this is tons of cloying honey with hints of soft, resinous spiciness and something like sweet tarts in the background. It dries down to pretty much just honey. I’m not a fan of honey (it's cloying and oddly metallic/sharp smelling on my skin), and that’s the main player here, so this isn’t really working for me.

This starts off as a bright, sharp, perfumey green smell that must be the lettuce (I've discovered that I hate bpal's lettuce note). Then, as it dries down, it starts to get more perfumey (almost sharply musky) and floral on my skin. It smells like sharp, white, fakey floral on me. After fifteen minutes or so, it’s going soapy and heading to my swap pile.

I’m always intrigued by rain scents, but the only fragrance I’ve ever had that really smelled like rain to me was CB I Hate Perfume’s “Wet Pavement London” (which I love and adore - it really smells like rain on pavement). I digress. Visiting the Temple of Auspicious Fortune Alone on the Winter Solstice reminds me of an ocean scented candle that I had once upon a time. Very sweet aquatic. I get a hint of something like a sharp, refreshing citrus at first, that's also a bit ozone-y (which translates into something like grapefruit scented dryer sheets on me). In the drydown, I can smell the dust. Some of bpal’s amber notes go to dry, powdery dustiness on me, and that’s what it smells like here. The Temple is an interesting concept, but I can’t see myself wearing this much, if ever. It seems more like a scent that was meant to be in a candle, not on my skin. It makes me think of rain/ocean scented candles collecting dust on a shelf, and fades pretty fast. It's interesting, and I appreciate that it doesn't go insanely soapy on me. I wish that I could smell the incense, though. This is probably heading to my swap pile.

I’ll just have to echo what everyone else has said about this blend. It’s a fizzy, bright, slightly sharp lemon scent. It only lasts about fifteen minutes on my skin, but it’s an uplifting and clean smelling little pick-me-up while it lasts. I prefer Snow Angel for a fizzy lemon type of scent, as it's not as sharp and lasts a lot longer on me.

The Magi is an odd scent on me. It seems like there are just too many notes in here that aren't matching up on my skin. I was hoping for sweet resins and vanilla, but this isn't terribly resinous on me, and I don't smell the vanilla at all. I get cloying grape fruitiness mixed with a dill pickle smelling frankincense (which I normally like, but not paired with the grape). The drydown is musky, sharp ambergris and an odd, bitter spiciness with the lingering sweetness of grape. After fifteen minutes or so, the whole thing just starts going soapy, most likely thanks to the ambergris. I like scents that smell of cola (I have a cola oil from another company that I love), but I don't get that smell from The Magi either. It's just a big mess on my skin

I don’t generally like floral blends, especially when they're a mess of many floral notes, so E Pluribus Unum was a scary thought for me. And I don’t really like it on myself, but at least it’s not so strong that I find it offensive. There’s a bit of herbal greenery to this at first, and it smells rather clean on me (slightly soapy). It morphs briefly into a cloying, tart sweetness that smells a bit tropical, but it dries back down to a light, clean floral scent that’s a little perfumey and a touch powdery. It makes me think of very old floral perfumes collecting dust on someone’s vanity. On me, this morphs through a couple stages of soft, floral perfuminess and disappears rather quickly. I might keep my decant of this for when I'm in the rare mood to try on a feminine floral scent. This isn't really a strong fragrance, so I could wear it without getting a headache. Then again, I have Tiki Queen for my go-to girly floral (that I love and adore <3), so Unum may not be a keeper.

This is pretty awful on me. I get a really ashy, smoky vetiver that starts off strong and lingers in the drydown (reminds me of dirty ash trays). Then there's something like a chemical-y nail polish remover and perfumey rose that's similar to the weird Peacock Queen variation. Nail polish remover, dirty ash tray, perfumey rose and a hint of something sweet and oddly like bananas. It's just a mess on my skin.

In the vial, this is sharp and harsh, and kind of like sniffing harsh cleaning chemicals. It sort of burns my nose and throat, and it's a bit menthol-y. It smells like dry, dark green herbs and chemical sharpness, and maybe some sort of floral. On my skin, this is a creamy floral with that harsh chemical feel and a soapiness backing it up. It's not at all green or vegetal smelling on my skin. It's floral soap and sharpness. The Witch's Garden reminds me of some of the funeral/Ars Moriendi blends, with an overall feel of pale, gloomy florals. It reminds me of Eternal's creamy gardenia + other gloomy florals. After a half hour, this actually isn't soapy anymore. It's a mish-mash of creamy, sweet floral and gloomy, pale blooms on my skin. It has an overall cool, pretty, melancholy feel. This smells better on my skin than it does in the vial. I actually don't mind it after giving it a half hour to dry down, but I'm not sure that I'd suffer through it's harsh, soapy phase again.

Luperci is my favorite bpal scent, so I was eager to try Tabella based on the reviews comparing the two. The two aren’t similar at all on my skin, though. Tabella starts off very herbal and sage-y, with a hint of clean, green sweetness that I suppose is from the olive blossom. It smells rather medicinal on me. In the drydown, it starts to smell sort of dry and dusty, and a perfumey floral note pops up. Perhaps also a hint of sharp citrus from the bergamot... Tabella is more perfumey, herbal, and dry on me than it is the resins or woods that I was hoping for. I'm not really picking up any resins, fig, spice, or sweetness that other reviewers have mentioned. I might keep my bottle and see how this is with some aging, but I’m not liking it at the moment.

The Miller's Daughter, overall, is a very thin, dry, sour fragrance. The rose is sour and sharply perfumey (I like a fresh rose or sweet rose note, personally), the amber is dusty, thin, and sharp, and the hay/straw note just adds to that dusty feel. As it dries down, there's something salty and almost sweaty smelling that just makes it smell gross on top of being unpleasant. Total failure on me. Blech. Just unbearably dry, simple, and soured...

Somehow I managed to miss the “firewood and ash” part of this description and only saw the notes that I wanted to see, lol. I was hoping for tonka and myrrh with a dash of pepper and cardamom… what I get is insane woodsmoke with a hint of sweet spice. It almost smells like fireworks + fragrant logs roasting away in a roaring fireplace. I have a very hard time wearing smoky scents, and this one is far too over the top for me.

I really wanted to love this. I’m always intrigued by milk notes, and I love the story that inspired this blend. I was hoping for a majestic, chilly, ocean and cream scent. Unfortunately, this is more like soapy dryer sheets floating around in canned milk (not so majestic). After an hour, there’s just a light hint of soap on my wrists, with a creamy edge. Creamy soap. I enjoy Obatala a lot more than this for a milk & aquatic scent, and I don’t even find myself wearing Obatala very often. It doesn't look like The Sea Foams Milk will be a blend that I wind up keeping or searching for more of.

In the imp, this smells like smoky jacket leather and clean plum. It also smells oddly of spearmint to me. On my skin, it still smells like spearmint (slightly powdery, sickly mint). Spearmint with a hint of black, smoky leather. I was excited about the plum and lilac in this, but sadly, it seems like this is mostly leather and herbs on my skin. In the drydown, the lilac comes out and dances around, but it doesn't smell quite right with the smoky, suffocating leather and weird herbal spearmint. I amp the leather up a lot in this one, and I don't like it. The plum is nonexistent on me I like bpal's plum notes and lilac, but this blend isn't a winner for me.

The Little Sparrow didn't sound at all like it would smell good to me, but my fiance always calls me his "Little Bird," so I had to buy this little bird perfume, lol. In the bottle... this smells surprisingly like a soapy shaving cream or aftershave that my father had when I was younger. I was expecting Little Sparrow to smell brown and dusty, but this smells clean, soapy, light green and white. On my skin, I have no idea what this smells like. It's sharp and sort of a tangy smell. It still smells soapy, but there's a strange something underneath the soapiness. A dry, slightly powdery something. Perhaps it smells like a small brown bird trapped in a box of laundry soap? I expected this to be powdery with the amber, with a dry woods from the sandalwood and seeds... but it's not. In the drydown, it smells like bright, cheery soap. The hint of powdery something didn't even stick around. It reminds me of soap that tries to smell like green meadows with a clear, chilly spring running through them, but it doesn't smell like meadows or water at all (it smells like soap), if that makes any sense, lol. It's 'refreshing' soap. So, The Little Sparrow is a very clean, bright soap scent on me. It doesn't smell anything like I thought it would. I really wanted to love this, but I'm not sure if I'll ever wear it again. I so rarely wear these clean, soapy-type scents.

Badger was the first Willows scent that I ordered. I love galangal and myrrh. In the bottle, this smells like a cross between King of Clubs and Destroying Angel. It smells like damp earth, oakmoss, and touches of almost spicy resins lifting it all up. On my skin, the earthy notes instantly begin to smell dry rather than of damp soil. I can definitely smell the galangal (a warm, almost chai spiced wood smell on my skin). In the drydown, this smells like paper, tree bark, and earth. It smells like sitting underneath the cool shade of a big tree in the summer, writing in a journal with black dirt scattered across the pages. The myrrh adds a bit of sweetness. It makes me think of trees and earth, still and comforting. In specific, it makes me think of sitting underneath a huge oak tree at recess when I was small, writing in my notebooks and playing with acorns in the dirt. This is a very faint scent on me, clinging close to my skin and not giving off much throw, but I really love it. I'm definitely keeping my bottle.