Not dead yet! - Reviews, even!
The April12 Precious finally came, only 5 days late. :P BUT. It's here, and safe, and I have a few reviews of the mad imp haul so far.
Obatala - soft, white and pure: milk, coconut meat, shea butter and cool, refreshing water - In the imp, it's coconut and shea... I don't get any aquatic notes at all. Actually, I don't know about 'shea butter' as such, but it reminds me of that 'basmati rice' hand lotion B&BW sells with a dash of coconut. Once it's on skin, though, the kind of chokingly sweetish milk notes largely go away, thankfully, leaving a warm, almost spicy coconut that is sweet -ish- without being sticky. I think overall I like it better than Black Pearl; the other primarily-coconut blend I've tried. It's less syrupy. It may deserve a bottle.
Oblivion - Dark musk, wood spice, labdanum, patchouli, dark African woods, and saffron. - Ah yes...patchouli. Enough of this sounded good that I dared the frightful patchouli to try it. In the bottle, it's mostly patchouli all right, with a woody quality to it. On skin, a fair bit of the patchouli dies away...though if you HATE patchouli, this still won't be for you. Instead, it mingles with the wood notes... I don't get much musk or spice, though I suppose it is warmer than it would be otherwise due to their presence. I'd call it a fairly manly smell, though if a guy were to wear it, I recommend being somewhat sparing with it, because it's pretty strong. The throw is, overall, nice, though if you try wristsniffing, the patchouli will crawl up your nose and die there. Definitely not for the weak of constitution. I'll probably keep the imp, but I certainly don't need more.
Strangler Fig - Rooty, woody, with deep green tones. - In the imp, this is dark, green vegetation with an undercarriage of fruit. It doesn't seem to bring that 'slightly rotten' sweetness out much... it's a fairly deep scent, but not thick or cloying. Not quite what I'd call 'fresh' though, either. On skin, it remains somewhat green, but loses a quantity of its fruitiness, replaced by the warm woodiness in Ouija, I think. There's something VAGUELY figlike to it, I suppose, but mostly I'd call it a 'warm woody spicy scent' more reminiscent of polished rosewood and a whisper of cinnamon than the wild jungle. I do rather like its spiciness, however. It -is- the non-rosy brother to Ouija, though, I'm quite convinced.
Shango - The Master of Lightning’s ofrenda contains red apples, banana, chili pepper, coconut, pineapple, pomegranate and sugar cane - Okay, I don't know why, but I totally worried this had red musk in it. It seemed like it -would-... it's that kind of loa, but no, thankfully, it doesn't. It is -vaguely- reminiscent of Manila, in that I can pick out the same banana note, but instead of the squashy and slightly swampy greens of Manila, replace those with fruit salad. On skin, or at least on me, the banana subsides quickly, overwhelmed by the apple and possibly pineapple notes.The chili is actually there, and detectable subtly, and overall this reminds me VERY strongly of this ice cream I got last summer that had a fruit ribbon through it that was laced with chili pepper (it was actually really yummy). I don't hate it at all...in fact, I really rather like it. What I'm -not- sure about is if it's something I'll wear much. I may however use it in my car. Or who knows, there may be 'spiced fruit' days, I could be surprised. I do wish there was more coconut in it, but all the same, it's hardly a failure.
Obatala - soft, white and pure: milk, coconut meat, shea butter and cool, refreshing water - In the imp, it's coconut and shea... I don't get any aquatic notes at all. Actually, I don't know about 'shea butter' as such, but it reminds me of that 'basmati rice' hand lotion B&BW sells with a dash of coconut. Once it's on skin, though, the kind of chokingly sweetish milk notes largely go away, thankfully, leaving a warm, almost spicy coconut that is sweet -ish- without being sticky. I think overall I like it better than Black Pearl; the other primarily-coconut blend I've tried. It's less syrupy. It may deserve a bottle.
Oblivion - Dark musk, wood spice, labdanum, patchouli, dark African woods, and saffron. - Ah yes...patchouli. Enough of this sounded good that I dared the frightful patchouli to try it. In the bottle, it's mostly patchouli all right, with a woody quality to it. On skin, a fair bit of the patchouli dies away...though if you HATE patchouli, this still won't be for you. Instead, it mingles with the wood notes... I don't get much musk or spice, though I suppose it is warmer than it would be otherwise due to their presence. I'd call it a fairly manly smell, though if a guy were to wear it, I recommend being somewhat sparing with it, because it's pretty strong. The throw is, overall, nice, though if you try wristsniffing, the patchouli will crawl up your nose and die there. Definitely not for the weak of constitution. I'll probably keep the imp, but I certainly don't need more.
Strangler Fig - Rooty, woody, with deep green tones. - In the imp, this is dark, green vegetation with an undercarriage of fruit. It doesn't seem to bring that 'slightly rotten' sweetness out much... it's a fairly deep scent, but not thick or cloying. Not quite what I'd call 'fresh' though, either. On skin, it remains somewhat green, but loses a quantity of its fruitiness, replaced by the warm woodiness in Ouija, I think. There's something VAGUELY figlike to it, I suppose, but mostly I'd call it a 'warm woody spicy scent' more reminiscent of polished rosewood and a whisper of cinnamon than the wild jungle. I do rather like its spiciness, however. It -is- the non-rosy brother to Ouija, though, I'm quite convinced.
Shango - The Master of Lightning’s ofrenda contains red apples, banana, chili pepper, coconut, pineapple, pomegranate and sugar cane - Okay, I don't know why, but I totally worried this had red musk in it. It seemed like it -would-... it's that kind of loa, but no, thankfully, it doesn't. It is -vaguely- reminiscent of Manila, in that I can pick out the same banana note, but instead of the squashy and slightly swampy greens of Manila, replace those with fruit salad. On skin, or at least on me, the banana subsides quickly, overwhelmed by the apple and possibly pineapple notes.The chili is actually there, and detectable subtly, and overall this reminds me VERY strongly of this ice cream I got last summer that had a fruit ribbon through it that was laced with chili pepper (it was actually really yummy). I don't hate it at all...in fact, I really rather like it. What I'm -not- sure about is if it's something I'll wear much. I may however use it in my car. Or who knows, there may be 'spiced fruit' days, I could be surprised. I do wish there was more coconut in it, but all the same, it's hardly a failure.