Santa Muerte

[Delirium1009]

... A deep, resonant scent, both comforting and soft: lovers’ roses, solemn chrysanthemum, dark vetiver and dazzling cactus flowers.

In bottle/imp: Deep, lightly floral vetiver.

Immediately on skin: This is mostly a vetiver scent, but it has some floral overtones. Something a little light and wafting over the thick vetiver.

After a little while: The vetiver in this lightens, and that light floral scent gets a bit stronger. It’s an airy, sweet floral scent… probably the cactus flower since I don’t smell the chrysanthemum much here. The vetiver sits at the bottom of this scent, with the perfumey light floral drifting above.

Overall Impressions: This scent didn’t wow me… I guess I was expecting more from the chrysanthemum and I really didn’t get more than vetiver and a light perfumey floral. If you enjoy more feminine vetiver scents, you may like this though. Edited October 20, 2008 by Delirium1009

[sqwook]

Wet: Bitter and rose

 

Dry: A dark rose, and vetiver.

 

Not bad but I'm not likely to wear this. (I generally do not like to wear rose, though there are the rare exceptions- thank goodness for frimps or I'd never have tried any at all!)

[hkhm]

imp: all vetiver. very strong.

 

wet: all smoky, dark vetiver and soapy rose.

 

dry: well, the vetiver overpowers the rose but it's far too strong. i didn't smell any chrysanthemum or cactus flower.

[smokey188]

in bottle: smells like a lovely floral very well blended i can't pick anything out.

wet: the rose and chrysanthemem are combining and making this smell musky on my skin but there's something smokey there too must be vertiver

dry: there's the cactus flowers the rose and chrysanthemem have faded off and this has become a smokey sweet floral that is simpley beautiful.

Definitely a big bottle of this in my future!

[KassiK]

All I get from this scent is a sweet leathery vetiver. For people who enjoy a nice vetiver blend, this is a must have, but for me, not so much. Sending it to the swap pile.

 

 

[suki]

in the imp: vetiver.

 

wet on skin: same, with a slight edge of cactus. the combination smells like a doctor's office, for som reason. antiseptic and coffee, perhaps?

 

dry down: all doctor's office, all the time.

 

in all: except for the cactus, i've had success with all the other notes. maybe this one is a dealbreaker, because this scent sure doesnt like me.

 

 

[zankoku_zen]

I really get the florals in this one ---- roses and cactus flowers. It's nice in a desert flower sort of way. And if you like cactus blooms.

[Coldfire]

 

 

 

 

 

Imp: woah….vetiver first.

Wet on Me: less vetiver and more…chrysanthemum? This is a first

Drying Down: the rose and veitiver overpowered the mum and

morphed into something I can’t quite relate to.

Dry: This one is just there. It’s not getting me excited but I am not

hating it. It’s just there. To re-home

 

[stellans]

Wow. Maybe it’s because I woke up with a pounding headache this morning, but this scent is not a happy experience for me today. Someone above me in this thread described this blend as '...doctor's office.' I cannot possibly improve on that in any way, because to my nose, that is exactly what this imp smells like: a doctor's office, with that thin overlay of floral air freshener trying to alleviate the recently used antiseptic cleaner. I’m going to hang on the the imp for another try when my brain isn’t feeling too small for my skull, but for today? It’s a wash.

Edited April 19, 2011 by stellans

[aquazoo]

This starts kinda dirty. Some spices show up, woody, like a bit of cedar. Oh you know what it is now — the drycleaner shop!

[Allumina]

This is pretty, but not me. Roses and a bit of veviter, then just roses and other flowers, warm, soft and powdery. My coworker thinks it smells old lady. It's warmly floral, and does make me think desert evening. The veviter disappears pretty quickly, which is a shame.

[isisonearth]

Imp: Strongly vetiver with an almost chocolaty note.

 

Wet: I'm still getting chocolate and cactus flower with vetiver that makes is a bit masculine on me.

 

Dry:I like it. Seems like a more masculine version of Mictecahuatl which I adore.Mr. Isis likes it so it is off to him.

Edited April 19, 2009 by isisonearth

[windrose]

Unlike some, I actually enjoy the scent of vetiver and I loved the description of the scent on the site and as I've said elsewhere I'm methodically trying oils with rose and other fragrances I think I may enjoy. In the imp and when first applied I get an enormous shot of vetiver, leavened only lightly with something floral and what I assume may be the cactus flowers. It has a dusty scent to it like the desert, similar in mood if not odor to a purifying sage smoke. The fragrance is quite bracing and immediately sends a "Wake Up!" kind of message to the brain.

 

I've had it on for a few moments now and I'm starting to get a tiny, tiny whiff that I am defining as rose which sweetens and moistens the vetiver and cactus flowers. This scent seems complicated and very well blended.

 

After a little time the vetiver begins to calm and play nice with the other fragrances, allowing a rich mingling to occur. There *is* something that my nose is communicating as CLEAN in this one which may be soapy to others. I quite like it as a novelty, something a wee bit different, but I think I won't be buying a bottle on this one.

[Suu4LC]

Ughh. I do not like vetiver. It is my doom note. This was a frimp and I have to try EVERYTHING in the gc, but I know I won't like it..hopefully some of the other notes will come out on my skin because in the imp all I get is VETIVER.

 

Yep, almost ALL vetiver on my skin-a wee bit of rose, which helps make this blend bearable to me-I can easily say though, that if you don't like vetiver, you won't like this blend. It is SUPER noticeable.

 

Full drydown was subdued vetiver and a teensy hint of rose-probably a nice feminine vetiver scent, if that is your thing :3

[EdenIris]

This is exactly as the lab description says, soft and comforting.

 

First sniff out of the imp and initial wet stage is VERY vetiver, but it backs down quickly. The roses make a brief appearance in the drydown and then vanish, as roses tend to do on me, and the rest is a charming unfolding of chrysanthemum and cactus. I can't really distinguish cactus flowers as a separate note, but there is a succulent feel to this.

 

Not a lot of throw, and not an overpowering floral at all. Very nice.

[BuxomM]

It's a bit sweet, dark and floral ... and cactus.

[Ankica]

I smell death.

[galahad]

In The Bottle

Chocolatey vetiver with faint florals

 

On Application

Wow. Chrysanthemum leaps out and combined with vetiver has a lovely dusty and dry scent

 

Dry Down

Develops a slight burnt plastic note a few minutes into the drydown. And then the rose amps up to spoil this.

 

Rating (0-5)

2

 

[Venneh]

In the imp, I get vetiver and florals. This is probably not going to end well. On my skin, this is pretty much vetiver and what I think might be either the cactus flowers, the rose, or chrysanthemums. Mostly vetiver. And the lesson here is always trust your instincts. Swaps/sales.

[Invidiana]

This is another one of those that really needs to dry down before you can get the full scope of it. Wet, it starts off very woody and smoky, almost too masculine, but the feminine notes emerge relatively soon. For anyone afraid of rose blends, the rose just blends into the other florals seamlessly without being prominent. Santa Muerte reminds me of a woodier, smokier version of Mictecacihuatl. Beautifully done!

 

 

[mari4212]

Frimp in my latest order.

 

On me, for the first ten minutes or so, this is incredibly noxious. I'm guessing that's the vetiver, and it definitely does not like me. The first time I tried this on, I was wondering if I was going to need to go wash the oil off, something I've only done with two other oils before.

 

Luckily for me, the wet stage passes quickly, and the vetiver goes away and doesn't come back. What does stay is a very light rose, with a juicy-green water smell, which is probably the cactus flower.

 

Dry-down is okay, but nothing spectacular for me. I think, as far as a green rose, I'd do better going for Two, Five, and Seven, which skips the vetiver stage and produces a stronger bloom on me.

[Saya]

At first the vetiver is overwhelming, very heavy and dark. Fortunately this only lasts for about 10 minutes. The florals start to become more prevalent but I'm not getting any chrysanthemum, it's mostly rose. A touch old lady'ish for my tastes.

 

This imp is going to swaps.

[HKB]

I usually love vetiver, but in this blend it smells slightly off, a little like burned peanut butter, and that's all I smell.

[voorishsign]

I was frimped this I'm not sure what to expect. I love vetiver but I'm not one for florals, and there's an awful lot of flowers here - we'll see.

 

In the imp - rose and vetiver. Reminds me an awful lot of Bend Over from the Twilight Alchemy Lab, which I like.

 

On wet - oh yeah, that's Bend Over. Maybe a slightly milder version, but essentially the same to my nose.

 

Drydown - a milder, lighter version of Bend Over - dark roses and vetiver, a stunning combination each time. Very pretty. I like it a lot.

Edited April 12, 2010 by voorishsign

[SophieCedar]

This opens up strongly vetivert on me however the weird part is that it subsides ( which vetivert is not wont to do...). The florals and cactus do a nice job of juicing this mix up a bit, making it much fresher and greener than I expected it to be.