Fortunato

[Babylon]

A deep, rich sherry encased in dusty darkness, touched by oak, and damp catacomb stone. The scent begins with a sense of drunken glee, of orange peel, bittersweet berry and rose hip, and moves inexorably towards the dread and terror expressed in black patchouli.

Fortunato is very straightforward on me, and is the perfect scent for the name. It starts off smelling a little like a screwdriver. Oranges with a bit of some kind of liquor. It really is the scent of drunken glee. After awhile, the orange wears off, and the entire scent fades to a dark patchouli.

I love you, Fortunato! I don't get any of your berries, rose hip, oak, or stone, but you're gorgeous nontheless. For the love of God! Edited December 12, 2007 by Shollin

[Nekomata]

Citrus and berries! Reminds me of sweet cherry cigarillos. I'm in love with this! It has a lovely smoky dryness to it!

[Ajila]

In the bottle - Black currant, the orange peel and something slightly mecidinal I can't quite place.

Wet on me - Dark, earthy berries

Dry on me - The berries dominate, when it fades it becomes woody.

[yeahbutnobut]

Fortunato

 

In the imp: my goodness, this really does smell like sherry! I get a fruity booze, but with an earthy scent to it like damp soil. It fits the description.

Wet on skin: I get a bit of bitter orange now (and it's a very bitter orange indeed), but it still smells like sherry.

Dry on skin: now I'm reminded of something from Lush! No, seriously…although it still smells of sherry, I'm now getting a hint of something from Lush about this-and I think it smells like Blackberry Bomb crossed with Angel's Delight/Miranda. I like this a lot! It's a fun scent, fruity and bubbly with sherry, berries, hints of orange and booze, and a little bit of earth and patchouli at the back to darken it all very slightly. It really is a scent of drunken glee.

After a while: this stays the same…still reminiscent of Lush but I think it's getting boozier and darker. The true sherry scent seems to be returning, and the scent becomes less sweet, and more bitter.

And indeed, the scent gets less and less cheerful and bright, it becomes a deeper, darker sherry scent over time.

After a few hours, a slightly greenish woody note turns up…dry and dark, it's almost like a vetiver note and not really patchouli on my skin, which is unusual. The sweet fruit still lingers but is fading away.

The final scent on my skin is a sweeter wood, with a hint of fruity booze. Like a just emptied sherry barrel.

Verdict: let me just say that this scent fits the description and inspiration behind it very well. it does indeed start off as a gleeful, carefree, giddy scent, fruity bubbly berries and orange with a boozy hit of real sherry. It also reminded me of what would happen if Lush Miranda or Angel's Delight had a drunken one-night stand with Blackberry Bomb…but then the scent becomes less cheerful and darkens. The boozy sherry increases and the woody, earthy notes are more apparent, before becoming the dark scent of a gloomy barrel or wooden cask of sherry that has been emptied with hints of the drink still remaining against a woody backdrop. It's not a favourite of mine-if the just dry stage of Lush fruity fun had stayed that way for a bit longer, I would have preferred it. But it's very well made and fits the description to a T, so I'll keep the decant I have.

To sum it up in a smiley:

Edited April 19, 2006 by yeahbutnobut

[nevermore]

A very interesting scent. Originally I swapped for this because the girlfriend wanted a bottle, but I got to try it first. I wasn't really expecting to like it, as I don't really do fruity scents. Slightly alcoholic, but not too much, from the bottle, and fruity on my skin. Not super ripe and juicy fruity though, more like fruit still on the tree, slightly past it's prime. Think orchard, or forest, in mid-October. I don't find it all that dark or terror ridden, but nice nonetheless. I'll have a hard time passing this one on to it's rightful owner.

[Voleuse]

This is quite masculine to my nose, a pleasant aftershave sort of scent, with an added swirl of sweetness. On second sniff, the sweetness becomes rose petals and sugared oranges, which is a rather odd contrast to the masculine notes. I don't get patchouli at all--instead, the entire blend is overlaid with a bitter, faintly boozy note.

 

After a while, the more pungent notes fade, and this ends up being a sweet and dusty blend. I can smell the berries, now, but there's also a mossy note. It's really fascinating, actually--I can't stop sniffing it. It's not something I'd think to wear as "perfume," per se, but it's compelling nonetheless.

[girlmadasbirds]

i'm definitely smelling the liquor, orange, and berry... kind of reminds me of Grand Guignol. if there were less liquor and more patchouli, this would be wonderful..but as it is on me, i don't care for it.

[Mary Mayhem]

Fortunato broke my heart. But Premature Burial made up for it.

 

I guess I can't do apricot or whatever this is. It's really neat smelling, but not what I want to smell like.

 

I smell a sweet currant berry and apricot (or peach?) in the bottle and first on. As it dries, the apricot fades away some. There's a soft patchouli underneath which I really love, but the apricot kills me.

[gingersnapp]

When I first applied this, the orange peel was so strong and sweet like sherbet. As it has dried, the sweetness fades as the black patchouli moves into the forefront and I smell something bitter that hangs in the back of my throat. I don't know what rose hip smells like, so I can't say for sure where this falls in the blend.

 

Overall, this is musky and dark and bitter and only just the tiniest bit sweet. But I like it.

[Eunice]

In the bottle: Orange liquor.

 

Wet: Still that orange liquor but now the berry pops out. Very cloying. Reminds me of this sticky sweet frou-frou drink I got in Vegas.

 

Dry: The orange has become melon. A watermelon Jolly Rancher. This is wayyyy too sweet.

 

Overall: I can't help it. I just don't like this one.

[chapatti]

First whiff: hmm, this is very unusual, it's hard to tell the notes apart. There are orange rinds, obviously, and a background, woody note.

 

Drydown: it's so nicely blended, with still the orange peel on the front, intimately mixed with this dark, woodsy note... but what's this?

There is this note wafting now that smells like a damp basement. The very smell of wet stones surrounded by, erm, rot.

Just... color me flabbergasted. This is incredibly accurate and evocative.

It then keeps on being this well-blended orange peel/wood/damp basement scent for hours, without morphing much at all.

 

Verdict: completely true to its name, I'm really, really impressed by the very artistry on show here, to create a scent so evocative.

Personally, I don't especially like the rot note though, so I won't be getting a bottle as I don't see myself wearing this blend too often, but I will sure keep my decant.

 

7.5/10

[minilux]

My chemistry seems to just devour patchouli, no matter how dark and sinister it is, so Fortunato ends up smelling very much like one of my other favorites Hunter Moon. I think it's going to be an awesome fall scent.

[BrightRedScream]

In the vial: Orange peel and that deep patchouli smell....

This is such a conflicted smell in the vial...happy but not quite happy..the patchouli is trying to smother it.

 

Wet on the skin: Berries and oranges....it's sweet. It's not too bad!

 

Dry down: Woah. The patchouli came out and hit me like a ton of bricks. It's making the orange peel and berry smell turn into this muddy grossness that I really do not like it.

 

Oh well.

[fiddledragon]

In the bottle, this is a wonderful alcoholic berry scent which melds to a not-too-sweet red wine...the oak and patchouli are in the background, and maybe a bit of orange peel if I really sniff.

 

On me it's beautiful woods and patchouli, with just enough orange, berry, and alcohol to make it elegant. This is a really *upscale* unwashed hippy!

[RavenVelith]

Bottle: Orange...and...PATCHOULI. It gives me a bit of a headache... X_x Oh boy. I'm kinda scared of Patchouli. Hey look! The description says terror expressed in Patchouli! For sure! I'm definately terrified!

 

Wet: Still this little battle of guns with Patchouli and that orange...though I think patchouli is kicking some butt and stepping on the oranges making mad orange juice out of them.

 

Dry: ...seems the Patchouli missed the orange and shot me straight in the head. Ow instant headache. And I do not like this. It's...Patchouli-ish on me. Patchouli = no.

[Miss Lynx]

Oh, this is really nice! It's a very unusual scent, with a lot of darkness in it, and at first I wasn't sure if I liked it or not, but it's growing on me now -- to the point where I'm kicking myself for not including a bottle in my last order.

 

There's a strong fruity, boozy element, with that almost literally intoxicating effect that some of the bext BPAL scents have, but it's got an eerie, slightly disturbing darkness to it too -- very appropriate for the story! Also like many of the best BPALs, it's got all kinds of layers of complexity to it, and morphs and changes a lot over time.

 

It's not 100% pleasant, at least not in anything resembling a normal perfumey sort of way, but somehow the slighly unpleasantness of it works really, really well and just makes the whole thing better. It's simultaneously beautiful, and creepy as all hell.

 

*sigh* What the fuck was I thinking, not ordering a bottle of this? Well, maybe there's something in my LE collection I can swap for one...

 

Grade: A

[gwyllgi]

Wet, I can certainly pick up the oak and stone - they are in fact the only notes I can pick up in the bottle or wet on my skin. The orange peel is the next note I can pick out as it dries a bit, and the other sweeter notes fall into line as it dries more. It's a bittersweet scent, neither pleasant nor unpleasant, and timeless. It's another of what I classify as 'old house' scents, tradition and secrets and tragedies soaked into the walls of an empty manor, long-dead flowers forgotten in vases, the furniture covered in dusty sheets.

 

I never pick up overt patchouli, but I can sense it lurking under the bittersweet, giving it a hint of lurking rot.

 

It's not something I'd want to wear everyday, but it's certainly a perfect scent for particular moods or when inspiration is needed.

[tidesong]

In the Bottle: Tart. Tangy. Then I smell moss.. Dusty, dried moss. The patchouli comes at the very last moment.

 

On Application: The citrus is very apparent right away, accompanied by berry, slightly sweet. The citrus is rather tart, more like a lime, almost. It might be the berry offsetting it. After a couple minutes, the patchouli comes more to the front, but it's a darker patchouli than I'm used to. More musky, almost, to my nose. After about 5 minutes, it's almost smelling like detergent on me. Orange-scented detergent.

 

On Drydown: Oof, this one's giving me a headache. All I smell is this spiced orange, almost like a tea. It's not a bad scent on drydown, but it's way too "bright" for me to wear. That, and the headache it's giving me isn't good.

 

Comments: It's too tart, too sour, for me to wear. It's just not appealing to me at all. The headache isn't helping. Swap pile. ETA: The tartness has really calmed down after about 40 minutes or so. It's still too detergenty for me, but it's a little more tolerable than it was.

 

Verdict: Swap pile.

[grrrlennyl]

at first: sweet and earthy. definitely lots of patchouli.

on: some bitter citrus, some sweet berries, and very dark patchouli.

1.5 hours later: sweet and earthy. there's a nice fruity base to this, too. lovely stuff.

5 hours later: soft and vaguely fruity.

7 hours later: lighter and still fruity.

overall: this is very nice, but i don't think i'd wear it often.

[edenssixthday]

Fortunato is a lighter, younger, healthier Montresor. Everything I like about Montresor is in Fortunato and everything I dislike is absent. This is a scent of dark fruits, but not cloyingly sweet. It is smooth and robust without being in-your-face powerful. If these blends were wines, Fortunato would be a fine merlot and Montresor would be Mad Dog 20/20. Fortunato does not have the same throw or staying power that Montresor has on me, but when I tried Montresor, I said I was going to keep it if I could find something to tame the sweetness. I hadn't tried Fortunato yet. Since I have tried Fortunato, I have decided I don't need to hang on to the Montresor. Fortunato is everything I was hoping Montresor would be.

[mirutai]

This is much fruitier than any sherry I've ever smelled/tasted, but there's a definate boozy feeling to it. It's a rich, alcoholic, dry berry scent. Fr some reason, I'm reminded of Black Phoenix, though Fortunato is much smoother and much less in yer face than BP. It's also quite similar to Morella, though to my nose this is more pleasant - dryer, less sweet, and not so reminiscent of scented candles.

 

Very evocative of the name, and a match for the description... but not my thing personally.

[strawberry_star]

I wasn't too pleased with it's brother Montresor, and sadly I'm not pleased with Fortunato either.

 

In the imp: Oh no, it smells dirty. Not in a good way either, but in a dirt way.

 

Stage one: I put it on and suddenly it's wonderful berries! Mmm yummy.

 

Stage two: ... What happened to the berries?! *cries* Now it smells purely like dirty rocks!

 

Stage three: The berries come back slightly and mix with the dirty rocks. Smells as though I've been out berry picking, but not in a good way because of all the dirt. I don't like smelling dirt!

 

Within a half hour it disappears completely. *sigh* So even if it would have been wonderful, I would have ended up disappointed when it disappeared so maybe it's better that I didn't like it.

[simona]

On:I smell rotten apples!No orange peel , no berries , but putrid apples!

After a while:the smell gets darker , it deepens into a wood tone,I like this more and more.

After 1 hour:now , on me , it smells beautifull , like wet stone or a humid cellar.

At first sniff ,I didn`t like it , but it turned out to be a very refined dark parfume.I will keep it.

[this machine]

This is very bright, not sharp exactly. The orange is prominent but changed by the berry and rosehip. After an hour or so the patchouli is lightly in the background. It's still nice at this point.

 

After another hour this has a persistent soapy smell on me. I'm not sure where that would come from, but it's definitely there and driving me away.

[steffanina]

Fortunato-

 

In Bottle: Smells DIRTY. Like dirty tobacco and spilled booze. Sickly sweet, too. Interesting!

 

Wet: Oh, yeah, we are unhappily debauched here. Though this doesn't mean I don't like the scent. This is an evil and moody scent--there's berry in there but it's not so sickly sweet now. I can't wait to see how the dry-down goes.

 

Dry: It's taken half an hour, but this is such a nifty boozy berry scent. I'm not yet sure if I love it; it might be more of a novelty scent for me, but I do love how neat the dry-down process is. I feel like I'm so far past the drunken debauch that I've gone to a whimpery, "Thank God it's over" next-morning wussiness, with this boozy berry remnant here. Totally cool.

 

Overall: So cool. Must try again, too.