Obatala

[Shollin]

... Obatala’s ofrenda is soft, white and pure: milk, coconut meat, shea butter and cool, refreshing water.

First sniff: The World’s Most Amazing Coconut. It’s just a little sweet, very firm, pure white coconut meat. No rum, no seawater, no suntan lotion, just the very essence of coconut.

Wearing: If I had a soap that smelled like this, I might be persuaded to forsake all others. (Except for blackrayne’s Meadowsweet, of course, my Holy Grail of soap.) It’s sheer smooth coconut perfection with no exfoliatey flakes.

[forspecial_plate]

Mmmmm, I had a feeling I would like Obatala, and I'm glad I was right!

 

It really is a beautiful, yummy scent, maybe the perfect coconut scent. I didn't like Spooky much so I was a little worried, but Obatala is very compatible with my skin. I'm really only smelling the coconut...I know the other notes are there, but for me they just enhance the coconut. I'm not sure I ever smelled the aquatic note/s.

 

I put this on and then layered pure cocoa butter on top of it, and it lasted for hours. It's subtle but long lasting. I see this as much more of a warm or hot weather perfume, maybe not as appropriate for fall or winter, but that's just me.

[Phaedra]

Wet this is creamy, buttery milk just like Milk Moon. When first on the milkiness is gone and it's sweet with a pale hint of citrus or something sharp. After a few minutes the milkiness comes back. After a couple of hours it develops into a soft floral with creamy notes in the background. This is a light, calming, and comforting scent. Very nice and I'll use up the imp for sure.

[TrailerTrashPrincess]

i don't much like coconut, but i don't hate this.

 

it isn't the black coconut i've decided i kinda like, nor is it the dreaded "pina colada" kind, either.

 

this is more the idea of coconut and shea butter smoothed onto tanned skin on an island somewhere

someplace lost in time that doesn't know about skin cancer and UVA/UVB rays yet.

 

and then a nice cool drink of fresh flowing water to cool down.

 

i'm not much one for scents evoking images, but this one there isn't any other way for me to describe it.

 

all that being said, it seems lovely and all, but so far from my cuppa i can't even begin to describe (sunlight = bad for my eyes, gives me headaches and i don't like drinking cold water)

[lilfaerywingz]

in the imp:

VERY SWEET coconut.

on wet: still a strong coconut and even almost like a sharp blade.

on dry: it melted into a strong strong suntan oil -kind of too sweet. I was sad

[Laurel the Woodfairy]

Coconut can go either way on me, but shea is lovely and I'm always curious about aquatics that have a little something else going on with them--so I'm happy to try Obatala. This is a *fascinating* scent! Unique among BPALers, it does not remind me of anything else I've tried here. To compare to another company with whom I often layer, I recognize the shea as being the lovely soft, sweet note from B&BW's Rice Flower & Shea, but crossed with their Creamy Coconut and a certain ineffable BPAL quality of depth! This is complex--sweet and creamy but *fresh*. It's going to Brian's box, because he likes this coconut better than Perversion. Definitely gender-neutral.

[supremegoddessofall]

A pretty suntan oil. This smells like going to the tanning bed, which I find a comforting scent. Very warm and tropical.

[PilotKitten]

Can definitely smell the coconut meat and the odd sour note that I usually get with shea butter. This blend is overtly coconut-y, a certain note that I just don't like.

[tarotbydiana]

Obatala reminds me of warm milk before sleep. The scent of sweet milk with an underscore of butter and a whiff of coconut is like a soothing blanket. It evokes childhood nostalgia for my mother's best attempts to transport her night owl to dreamland.

 

The milk note here is specifically like hot milk once the molecular structure changes from steaming. I managed a coffee house years ago and Obatala is a coconut steamer condensed in imp form. I can almost hear the sound of the milk frothing as I breathe in the scent.

 

Alas, I am not a foodie and I need a vat of lavender to become remotely sleepy. I do love the milk note in Alice but here it's a bit too drinkable. Although I can appreciate how well balanced the blend is, it's simply not my taste. I'm going to send this off as a surprise frimp and I am certain it will be appreciated.

[Unillusia]

I don't like this one on my skin. It's a nice scent but way too round. Obatala would be heavenly as a lotion or roomscent. I'll use the imp, but not as a perfume on me.

[theseagrows]

starts off smelling just like suntan lotion- the coconut is very strong. it dries and then smells like milky coconut cocoa butter. unfortunately, bpal's milk note turns very weird on my skin. it's hard to describe but it's a bit plasticky, and almost burns my nostrils. i looove coconut, but the milk note in this turns me off of the scent.

[fiddledragon]

This doesn't change much from wet to dry on my skin. It's faintly coconutty without being overly sweet or suntan-lotion-like, with a base of warm milk. I'm not familiar with what shea smells like, but the sent overall is warm and round and milky. It's not particularly strong, but clings to the skin like a nice fluffy blanket. I'm not really getting any of the "water" note, which makes me happy, as BPAL's aquatics tend to loathe my skin. The milk is similar to that of White Rabbit, and the overall feel is that of Sudha Segara, though the two scents arent' particularly similar note-wise. I don't know that this will be a favorite, but it'll definitely find a well-loved place in my imp box.

 

Edit: And wearing it for real after my skin-dab test, I get a completely different reaction. A wave of sickly sweet caramel and weird coconut envelops me. Gah! I suffocate. I'll give it a few more goes to see if I get that original scent back; maybe it's a monthly skin chemistry thing.

Edited December 15, 2006 by fiddledragon

[Pachelbel]

On me it starts out smelling just like Milk Moon, but it fades much more quickly and instead of turning to warm nutmeg-buttery rice pudding, it becomes coconut and shea. I think I like it; it's soft, and smells like clean, healthy skin. And sometimes, like milk and coconut.

[outofrhyme]

In the bottle:

Coconut. This reminds me very distinctly of something... maybe a pina colada? Or coconut in a chocolate or something? It's definitely softened/sweetened by the milk and shea butter. There's also definitely something very cool and wet about the smell.

 

Wet:

Cool, sweet, coconut, shea butter. It reminds me a lot of the boardwalk, but I can't place what is giving me that association. It's also a little bit salty.

Dry down:

It feels very close to the skin. I can definitely smell all of the notes, though in a more balanced, sweetened blend.

 

Final thoughts:

It's yummy. I used to use coconut shampoo/conditioner for a reason - even though I don't like the taste of coconut, I like the smell. It's very buttery and foody, but it definitely reminds me more of the boardwalk than of baked goods. Maybe it reminds me of saltwater taffy? Yes, actually, I think that's it! Coconut saltwater taffy, on the boardwalk. Not sure yet how much I would wear this, but it's a yummy, unique scent.

[brownbear]

At first I really liked this one. It started creamy and soft. I think the shea was really standing out. Now it is coconut and something weird and green. I think the milk changed on my skin, again. It just doesn't suit me.

[Deiicide]

Pure coconut tends to make me sick to my stomach, so imagine my surprise that this didn't do that and still smelled amazing! Obatala is a clean freshing milky coconut, this does smell like sun tan lotion at first but then the coolness of water adds to the depth. Sadly it fades after awhile. I suspect this would be good as a room fragrence as well.

[Meg]

In the bottle: Very sweet, milky and aquatic at the same time.

 

Wet: A very light aquatic scent, sweet and slightly floral, like nectar. I recognise the shea butter, and a hint of ozone.

 

Drydown: The scent becomes thicker, like liquid honey over coconut. The coconut is not at all overpowering, it smells like an ingredient in a cake. The shea butter adds an exotic touch, a scent that reminds me of sun lotion and beaches. There's constantly a scent reminiscent of water, but it's really hard to explain or capture, which adds to the beauty of the blend.

 

Overall: A really lovely blend, wonderful for foodies, but also enjoyable for those who aren't, I think. There's this floral, aquatic element of it that keeps on wafting back, like water running over stone, which is just lovely. I can see this as a perfect soothing and comforting blend, soft and pure.

[dorothy humbird]

Man... I wish what I smelled from Obatala was what I imagined.

 

Instead, directly out of the imp and onto my skin I am strongly reminded of buttered popcorn or, worse yet, Auntie Anne's pretzels, dripping butter sauce and salt. Actually, now that I've made the connection, Obatala smells almost exactly like walking past an Auntie Anne's stand in the mall. I've never liked that smell, and it's really disappointing to get it from Obatala - I was looking forward to a much lighter, sweeter, fresher scent.

[alliekat13]

Mmmmm....this is the best coconut I have ever smelled in a scent. Not horribly sweet like a lot of coconut blends, but a freshly cracked open coconut with some milk poured over it. The milk in this blend is not terribly prominent though. I smell something fresh and kind of green in this, that must be the shea. The aquatic in this is very subtle, you can barely smell it, but it's there adding freshness to the coconut and shea. I love this scent! It reminds me of sitting on the beach eating a coconut popsicle and rubbing shea butter onto my skin. Will definetly buy more of this!

[femmefatale]

In the bottle: Very sweet coconut

 

Wet: I catch a hint of floral and aquatic coming out. Very nice. Reminds me of the beach.

 

Drydown: oddly, it smells wonderful on my one wrist but on the other it smells a bit...plastic? I think I'll have to wash it off the one and try again.

 

Other than my one weird wrist, I really really like this. Assuming the odd scent doesn't reappear, I will be getting a bottle of this. What a perfect summer scent!

 

ETA: Tries it again and it made me a bit sick. It had this weird toasted plastic smell. I really wanted this to work, but sadly, no.

Edited February 18, 2007 by Femme_Fatale

[Miss Lynx]

The description very much fits -- this is a very "white" scent, and very calming, with a strongly spiritual feel. All the orisha scents I have tried so far have been very evocative -- enough that I don't generally feel comfortable using them as perfumes, and this is no exception. I've never really worked with Obatala, but from what I know of him, this scent seems very fitting.

 

At first sniff, the coconut dominates, with its inevitable suntan-oil-like scent, but soon after it's applied, the other notes rise up and balance it. The coconut is still there, enough to give it a tropical feel, but it's also very soft, fresh and un-sweet... Not at all a cliché coconut scent any more. It's not as complex as Oya or Osun, but it doesn't need to be. Obatala is all about purity, and the simplicity of this scent really suits him, I think.

 

I had a good friend who was dedicated to him -- in part because he was a recovering alcoholic and drug addict, and Obatala is the one of the orishas who rejects alcohol and other intoxicants, so my friend found him helpful in his recovery. Sniffing this scent brings back strong memories of that friend, who died over a decade ago. I think he would have really liked it.

 

Myself, I couldn't wear this as a perfume, but I could use it for getting closer to the orisha it's named for, if I had a reason to work with him.

 

Grade: as perfume B-, as evocative of orisha A

[elenore]

In the bottle and first on, this smelled like coconut, sweet and creamy. The shea butter came out once I put it on, making it smell a bit like suntan lotion. Then on the drydown the water started to come through. It's fresh water but I swear I smell something almost salty (just a little!) and sandy (that's my interpretation.) Dry, it's well-rounded, with the coconut, shea, and water all balanced, no one dominating. I put my wrist up to the SO's nose to sniff, and he said "It smells like the beach." Sure enough, it does! Beth is an amazing alchemist; how did she get the smell of a summer beach in a bottle??

[acaciasears]

Wet: soft, sweet coconut and shea butter. Refreshing like it's been poured over ice cubes, but still a warm scent, like someone just opened a container of macaroons.

 

Drydown: this one doesn't morph on me. It's sweet, it's coconut, and ever-so-slightly shea. This is a good everyday scent for me.

 

The thing I love most about this scent is that it's not overwhelming. I can smell it just fine, and I'm not worried about it emanating strongly like a lot of my BPAL - I can apply it at my desk and relax about it. It's sweet, it's soft, and it's light, but it still lasts pretty well.

[QueenFae]

A gorgeous coconut blend! This reminds me very much of Milk Moon, the coconut and milky notes are very similar. This is a little gentler than Milk Moon; there is a cooler, crisper, watery undertone in Obatala. This smells like coconut milk and cucumber water to me, just a lovely combination. This is a very pure, smooth white blend. It is a soft blend with medium to light throw.

 

I love this, but not quite as much as I love Milk Moon. If I ever run out of MM, though, this will be the perfect replacement. Very pretty!

[tinyvulture]

Obatala is simply the best coconut scent ever! It’s the scent accompaniment to a perfect dream vacation in the tropics. I wish I had all kinds of soaps and lotions that smelled like this, to slather on my skin.

 

I don’t know why, but BPAL’s coconut notes often go all plastic-y and gross on me, especially the black coconut. But this here coconut meat, why, it’s a whole different story Pure coconut essence, white and clean. And creamy, comforting shea butter, which I adored in Chaste Moon and am falling in love with all over again here. As for the water, I feared a heavy aquatic note, but I’m not getting that. It just has an overall clean and refreshing feeling.

This one’s going on my 5ml list!