Port-Au-Prince

[viciousviolet]

Dark, decadent and incomparably exotic: the rich scent of buttered rum flavored with almond, bay, clove and sassafras.

Very exotic, warm and sensual. The notes in the description are as follows: "the rich scent of buttered rum flavored with almond, bay, clove and sassafras." Though the notes as listed struck me as something that would be a strong, harsh combination, the final scent is soft, very buttery, and truly exotic. The rum isn't boozy, but rather sweet and lickable and the bay, clove and sassafras add a welcome amount of spice. I enjoy this scent on me, but I perfectly adore it on my husband.

[Koumori]

I love the warmth of this scent. It really does speak of old exotic ports.. besides which, it just plain smells yummy. It's a gentle, sensual, warm-breeze kind of scent.

[Tesseljoan]

Starts out as Bay Rum, but more interesting. There's more cinnamon and a hint of cream I believe.... But after a while it gets a bit too masculine for me.

[akwill823]

I really like Old Port-Au-Prince =) When I first put it on, it reminds me of Jergen's Cherry Almond scented lotion but after it dries I get a nice butter rum scent. Very yummy!

[sirensongsouth]

This was way too masculine for me, wet it smells like an amped up Bay Rum. I immediately passed it on to Mr. SirenSong, and wouldn't you know it, it was just delightful on him. He does favor bay-rum so this was not a huge step for him, but it was very nice nonetheless.

[Sierona]

Very rummy and spicy. I can pick out the clove which gives it a very warm feeling to this scent. This is a great exotic sniff, a lil masculine for me personally, but a great scent!

[grrrlennyl]

OLD PORT-AU-PRINCE

at first: fruity, but...salty. weird, but in a good way. a bit sweet, too.

on: hmmm...a bit spicy, in a xmas-y / thanksgiving-y kind of way. like spiced fruits...or something.

4 hours later: it's changed quite a bit. more a a general floral / spicy smell. i'm not sure if i like it. i'll ask my gf what she thinks of it when she gets home.

overall: ok. not reallly "me", if you know what i mean. it's nice. i'm not sure if i'll be keeping this one. i may see if my gf wants it.

[Ina Garten Davita]

First Impression: Oh boozey, spicey goodness. Just a little sip?

 

Second Impression: This smells exactly like the mulled wine recipe Rob and I make every Christmas. Oh it's gorgeous all red wine, brandy, cinnamon, cloves and orange peel.

 

Final Analysis: This is one of those evocative scents. If I'm saving Jack for Halloween, this one's for Crimbo!

[Hallows_Eve]

In the bottle: Spicy- very spicy. Exotic, wear-as-little-clothing-as-possible feel to it.

 

On me- A bit seductive, something intimate about it, basically because you have to be really close to me to be in the smell zone. Its strong, but not you cant smell it acrossed a room. It works very well with my sweat (dancing). Really makes me want to be around summer bonfires.

 

On my husband- obviously its comes off more masculine on him. Also the spices and bay rum seem more matured, still sexy, almost like having a summer heat crush on an older man if that makes any sense.

[hypothermya]

I'm a rum addict. Honest. So of course I had to get my hands on this... Just the thought of being able to make myself or my boyfriend smell like yummy buttered rum... oooo....

 

In the Bottle

 

Oh my god, the clove could knock me out! And I swear that there's cinnamon in there, even though the description doesn't say anything about it. It reminds me of cinnamon altoids more than the hot buttered rum that I make for myself... Of course that could be because I'm pretty liberal with the orange and lemon in my hot buttered rums... My sister got a whiff of this and immediately remarked that it smelled like Christmas. That's probably because buttered rum is a traditional Christmas drink for my family, and we always make pomanders (oranges covered with cloves) during Christmas time. The rum smell isn't too far behind the spices, same with the bay... The sassafras is hiding, though.

 

Wearing It

 

Wet, the rum scent picks up right away. It's sweet, almost like butterscotch candy. The sassafras is there also, and that clove/cinnamon smell. Very spicey. The spice picks up as the scent dries, and by the time it's finished drying I can only pick out a cinnamon/clove/bay combo. No rum, no sassafras. Although it does smell sweeter on me than on my boyfriend. The boyfriend, by the way, suggests that maybe my body is just in withdrawal and the reason why I can't smell the rum is because my skin tried to suck it up to make up for prior lack. Um...not that there's any truth in that statement. On my boyfriend, it gets a more bitter scent, as though there were some sort of dark chocolate lying around. Don't know where the chocolate part comes from, but... Oh well.

 

As a scent, it doesn't seem to last too long. I've been wearing it for about 4 hours, and it's almost entirely faded.

 

So, I guess that I was hoping for more rum, and less spice. On my boyfriend, I think that both of us prefer Old Morroco and O. On me, well... It might be nice for a more Christmas time smell, but I'm not so fond of cinnamon scents. One of my friends ordered this for a birthday present, and I suspect that she'll adore it (she's quite fond of cinnamon)... But for me, I'm thinking probably not. On the otherhand, it is a rather yummy scent, and I think I may keep it around for a room or linen scent for holiday times.

[shadow]

I really like this one. It's spicy, and something in it reminds me faintly of Snake Oil, but without the sex of that one. It's sexy, but not obviously (at least on me). After a few hours some smell begins to dominate on me. I want to say it's the sassafras, but since I don't think I've ever smelled sassafras, I wouldn't really know.

 

On my husband, this is incredible. Whatever that smell is on me is undetectable on him, all I get is the yummy spices. So far this is the one I shove at him when we're going to get romantic. Actually, now he grabs it for himself when he wants to get romantic. He learned quick.

[Eris]

Smelling this in the bottle, I swear I want to drink it. It's rich and buttery with just a hint of spice. Yum! Once it goes on though, most of the buttery notes dry up on me, and it turns to almost pure clove. This isn't a bad thing but not really a scent I want on me. I put some on my husband today, and the results where the same. The clove smell seemed more right on him, though, which seems to go with the general masculine trend of this fragrance. (This scent reminds me of what Gambit--the charming Cajun from the X-Men--would wear, if anyone else here is geeky enough to catch my comic book reference).

[jackstraw2323]

Love the cloves in this one, but I'm a cook so maybe that's the appeal to me. It trails off rather quicker than I'd like so I have to re-apply often, but it's still a nice bright scent. Works well mixed with equal part snake oil. I like that nothing I smell at the mens counter smells like this.

[Northernminx]

Mmm intoxication in a perfume bottle. A rich, boozey, warm scent. It's very strong in the bottle but mellowed nicely into this gorgeous rum-filled, clove hinted concoction. A definite keeper -though whether my boyfriend or I will end up wearing it more remains to be seen. I didn't find it overly masculine on me, just rich and warm and spicey.

 

I'm sorely tempted to go pull out the Anne Bonnie and see what these two will do with one another as this is very much reminding me of an island port filled with heat, rum, and pirates.

[renaissancerouge]

Yum Yum Yummity Yum! That's what Old Port-au-Prince smells like. Since I really wanted to have a certain impression of this oil I imagined the scent of an outdoor market in tropical heat (the heat is pretty easy to imagine this time of year in the dc area). This visualization saved O PaP from hot toddy-dom for me! Maybe I'm falsely detecting some big fat fruits in there but on my skin this is so foody and spicy and sweet that my mouth waters...fruity-cinammony-clovey-dare I say caramelly? goodness that drips sensuality and heat.

[madame royale]

Oh dear. Here's a very prosaic review for you.

 

I hate to say it, but to me OPaP smells like...Old-Port-O-Potty, the cleaner used in every public restroom. You know, the pink stuff. It's hard to wax poetic for bathroom cleaner. Oddly enough, when dry, one wrist smells like this chemical, the other wrist smells nicely spicy and cinnamon-y. Is it possible that each arm has different chemistry? Maybe I'll try this one again some other time--I'm a little too stricken to try it again in the near future.

Edited September 1, 2004 by madame royale

[fairywingmaker]

rich and warm and spicey

 

this is the exact impression I got when I put this on my skin. Very beautiful, exotic, and lovely to wear. Very much a fall scent, in my mind. Cloves, buttery rum, and something else underneath...is that the sassafras? I'm still learning

 

I will need a 10ml of this, cause I think it would smell wonderful on my husband. Although his chemestry makes the oils smell completely different than when I wear them.

[Electra]

Wet: Whoa, almond!

 

Dry: Okay, much better. Mmm. MMMMM. This is delicious. Gorgeous, warm, exotic spices. A fabulous fall/winter scent, but also great for a hot, humid summer night.

 

I agree that this would probably smell fantastic on a man, but it smells pretty damn good on me as well!

[hadaverde]

Slightly rummy and very spicy to start out! The clove and bay are very apparent, and the sassafras is identifiable as a secondary note. I swear I can detect some pepper in there as well.

 

There is most definitely some cinnamon in this blend. It becomes the most prominent and longest-lasting note in this oil. That is likely my skin's doing, it always ends up amplifying cinnamon. I love the way this smells when it's wet, but the drydown is unfortunately all cinnamon when combined with my chemistry.

 

After several hours have passed, the cinnamon dissipates and I am left with a lovely lingering sassafras. It looks like this will be one for my scent locket, since I really don't relish the though of applying my perfume three or four hours before heading out somewhere, nor do I want people to mistakenly assume I've been baking cinnamon rolls all day!

[pekeana]

*drools all over self and tries to eat arm*

 

In the vial, Old Port-Au-Prince is all about the boozy amaretto and cherry-almond scent.

 

On me, it smells predominately of orange and spice for the first hour or so, then settles into this lovely soft mulled wassail booziness that I love.

 

Totally must have a bottle of this. The imp's going to go fast. [And thanks to pkwench for giving it to me.]

[Penance]

I was afraid to try this for fear of almond-induced nausea, but I tried it on a whim (mainly because, apparently, I'm a glutton for punishment) and (holy hell, how did this happen?!) I love it!

 

First sniff:

 

Sweet and spicy and cozy smelling. It reminds me of Christmas for some reason. I can't put my finger on the individual notes, but it's beautiful!

 

Wet on Skin:

 

Cinnamon sticks! It reminds me of hot apple cider with rum and a cinnamon stick stirrer, even though I don't smell anything resembling apples in here. I can almost taste it on my tongue. It's spicy and comforting, but almost potpurri-like somehow. That's not a bad thing, necessarily, but it is unexpected.

 

Dry down:

 

It's settled down into a combination of cinnamon cookies and cinnamon stick potpurri. I can also smell the rum more strongly now that it's dried. This would make a really nice room fragrance, especially since a little goes a very long way with this oil.

 

The bottom line:

 

Unusual, spicy and warm smelling. It puts me in mind of winter and Christmas cookies. This would make a great winter fragrance. I probably won't buy anymore, but I will finish the imp.

[AnnetteL]

Port-au-Prince is pure almond in the vial and wet on the skin, but that note disappears almost as soon as it dries. Then it becomes a thick, strong rum/spice scent - it is quite masculine, but not so much that I don't want to wear it. The clove is the most dominant of the spices on me.

 

This actually reminds me of a less harsh Laudanum, I guess it's the spice/sassafras combination. It's definitely rich, but when applied lightly manages to be comforting in its potency. I will keep my imp around for cold evenings, and may well want a bottle when it's gone...

[Nepthys]

To me this is almost identical to Horn of Plenty, a very rich golden scent that practically glitters. This is perhaps a tad more exotic. On me the sassafras and almond come through the strongest and just a dab is more than enough, lasting for hours. Love it, could roll around in it.

[Shollin]

First sniff: Wow. Liquid almonds. (And, simultaneously, maraschino cherry juice… dagnabit, stupid nose!) Smooth and rich and… yup, “buttered” works. It’s another scent I find myself immediately wanting to put on my guy just to see how it behaves on his skin.

 

Wearing: Port-au-Prince is fantastically almondy, and almonds like me. Once the initial burst of almondosity calms down a bit, I can smell green spice underneath – a bit similar to the greenness of Azazel.

[Scylla]

In the vial: Pure bitter almond

 

Wet, on my skin: It burns, revisited! Burns my skin just like Inferno. Smells just like Inferno--Bitter almond and cinnamon.

 

I didn't think cinnamon was a component of Port-au-Prince, but it's definitely there and my skin is majorly amplifying it. I am not detecting any rum, bay OR cloves!

 

On drydown: After a couple of hours, the cinnamon and almond have disappeared and now I can smell the bay and rum, but I also smell something fruity that reminds me of a banana peel. This is definitely too manly for me.