Shango

[ouch!]

... The Master of Lightning's ofrenda contains red apples, banana, chili pepper, coconut, pineapple, pomegranate and sugar cane.

Wow this is the first time I've REALLY smelled pinepapple in a perfume.

So, for me..in the wet stage this perfume is all about the apples and the pineapple. There's also a tinge of coconut, this smells like a cocktail. An extra special Pina Colada if you like.

Very quickly this changes and goes a bit more nose tingling, like...a bit tooo much. All of the notes blend together and it smells much smoother. It's harder to pick anything out of it now..I think the notes are just hiding.

After this it just fades, not changing anymore. This blend is all about the top notes, that's where the magic happens. I never smelled chilli pepper or pomegranate.

[Myotis]

In the bottle this is musky banana with a hint of chili pepper to my nose.

On me however, this morphs into a musky apple pineapple scent with a hint of chili and lots of sugar cane.

I don't know why I took so long to get a bottle of this!

[kerikeri]

At first this smells like pineapple candy and cough syrup. The syrupy fake sweetness mostly fades on the drydown, but I still can't really decide how I feel about this one. There's still something candy-like about it, maybe the combination of fruits and sugar cane. I can't really pick out any of the individual notes, just a sort of artificial fruit punch scent.

 

I feel like I'm being unfair, but something just bugs me about this one... it reminds me of cheap fruit soda. I don't really get any chili pepper, which is the note I found most interesting in the description. It's just a bright sugary fruit blend, which I guess isn't for me.

[claudia6913]

This just screamed spiced banana at me from in the imp, as well as wet on the skin.

 

The dry down is a bit more tempered, less banana, but I'm really not liking the tropical fruits. After a bit longer this chills the hell out and stops yelling at me and becomes something wearable, but not something I'd wear.

 

[Ankica]

a bit of dust

a bit of tropic

a bit of evil grin

 

[Aldercy]

Shango is all about the warm banana at first, which is so unique and interesting, but it fades pretty quickly into something dominated by dry, blistered red chili with a little coconut and pineapple. Coconut and pineapple are not my favorite notes, but they're not amping or turning into tropical wax fruit, so this is wearable. I like the chili pepper quite a lot actually, and wouldn't mind trying it in some other blends.

[theandorran]

In the bottle: Fruitsplosion! Whoever said it was like a tropical smoothie was right. I get pretty much all of the fruit mixed together. I am happy. I can smell apples, bananas, pineapple... yum.

 

Wet: Something is... funny. The apple comes out, but it's got a bit of funk to it. It's very, very apple-y. Not a Lambs-Wool or Fearful Pleasure spiced apple, oh no. This is a shiny, red, super marker apple. The kind that look better than they taste. There's also banana there. It kind of smells like banana candies, a little bit fake. Well done fake banana, though.

 

Dry: Still very apply. A little bit spicy (yay chilli pepper!), and I keep getting wafts of other fruit as well. It's yummy.

 

I will note, though, that I have never had a reaction to cinnamon or chilli pepper before. And on my wrists, it's a non-issue. But I brought my arm to my nose to sniff myself more closely, and accidentally brushed my perfumed skin to my upper lip. And it BURNED.

[loubric]

Sweet fruity watermelon bubblegum. Seriously this is what it smells like on me when I first put it on!!

A few minutes later the apple is coming through very nicely. Still reminds me of a tropical flavored bubblegum!!

 

This scent is "...sitting on a sandy beach, the hot summer sun beating down, the cool waves crashing in the distance and a tropical drink in your hand.."

 

Lovely!!

[angelicruin]

This is one of my favorite GC blends. Apple, coconut, and banana notes are the strongest on my skin. Very tropical and sweet.

[MCS4096]

Mmm... if this had the type of alcohol you're supposed to drink in it, I fancy I would YUM! I'm getting a lot of pineapple in the imp, but on my skin it's mostly banana and coconut.. as it dries it's all apples. I'm NOT a fruit blend wearer.. I have a couple blends which I layer with others but almost never wear alone.. however, this is really nice and I think I'll enjoy having the imp

[laslibres]

In the bottle, this is a fruit smoothie, but with a little bit of pepper kick...it's an EVIL fruit smoothie!

 

As it dries, the "evil" bit kind of fades away, giving way to sugary apple and coconut. Bit of pineapple, too...pina colada with apple slices as garnish (mmm, now I know what drink I'm serving at my next party!). Little bit of banana. No pomegranate.

 

And not much pepper, either...I kind of wish the wee bit of spicy that I'd smelled in the imp had stuck around. Because some days you just need to smell like an evil smoothie, you know? But don't get me wrong, Shango is a winner. It's very fruity and fun, even if it is lacking in evil.

[reynardine]

In bottle: bright and fruity

 

Wet: getting the apple, very fresh, and the banana, with a bit of pomegranate.

 

Drydown: Really getting a lot of banana in this one! The coconut and sugar cane is starting to come out, too, while the apple is fading a bit into the background.

 

Later: Medium throw, lasts a couple of hours. If you like fruity scents, then this one is perfect. Also, I know what I’m wearing this year for Mardi Gras!

 

[doublehelix]

In the bottle: Tropical! I get the banana, coconut, and pineapple being the strongest. there are some underlying spicey yet sweet notes as well.

 

Wet on skin: Smells like fruit snacks!

 

Dry on skin: Dries down to a soft fruity scent. Not as strong as initially.

[MamaMoth]

In the vial, I smell red musk and bananas. o.O' How odd.

 

Wet on, I smell some various fruits, (pineapple, banana, apple are the only ones I can single out) that dusty-sourish smell I associate with sugar cane, all atop a base of Scherezade. Seriously. Lots and lots of red musk with spice (the spice is probably the chili pepper.) It has that weird kind of fakey-incense thing going on which is what too much red musk smells like to me, and with the addition of the fruit, it kinda smells like gas station incense. :\

 

Dried, I smell nondescript dusty incense fruitiness.

[girasol]

In the bottle: A melange of tangy fruit, I can't really pick out particular notes.

Wet: On the skin, it smells like a fruit salad, with the coconut sailing merrily along head-and-shoulders above the other notes.

Dry: For a fruity scent, this has some throw and staying power, which is great - fruity blends often lose their fruitiness pretty quickly on me. Dry it has a slight musky spiciness which balances out the fruit notes nicely.

Verdict: I really like this, glad I bought a bottle. I've seen a lot of comparisons of Xiuhtecuhtli to Thierry Mugler's Angel, but to me Shango is also similar. Angel is very fruity on me but with a musky richness, and though the notes are different, Shango has a similar feel.

[Lethran]

In bottle: fascinating. Pineapple is on top, but it’s rich and wet with all the other fruit, the pepper lending it edge. Wet: I smell like a smoothie, a tasty tasty smoothy. The sugar cane really smoothes this out. I’m not entirely sure about the coconut, but I never am. Dry: Pepper and coconut cookie. Not bad.

[kunoichi]

In the vial, a strong sugary sweetness of banana, like banana lollies hits my nose - it's just utterly delicious! On my skin this turns into a soft fruity mix of tropical scents; the banana fades into the background behind cool pomegranate that is warmed with coconut and a background of other soft delicious, sugared fruit juices. After a few hours a soft sugar is left, ever so slightly sweetened by the faded mixed fruit and coconut fragrance, sitting softly on my skin. Lovely.

 

[ModderRhu]

Shango

Eh. I don't love it. All I smell is bananas, apples and vague creamy/spiciness. Good lasting power, though. Wish I smelled the coconut more. I'm gonna let it age and see if I like it better that way.

2.5 out of 5

*This was frimped to me from the Lab!

[Dharklady]

In bottle: Wooph smells like lifesavers!

Wet: Sugary pineapples, cut with coconut and banana. I get a touch of apple as well.

Dry: Not nearly as frightening as the strong candy smell form the bottle. The individual scents can be found in the medley (except for the pomegranate) which is nice but the sugary overlay is a bit much for me when combined with the hint of pepper.

Notes: Unfortunately it appears I amp the sugar like crazy rather then the tastey fruit parts.

 

[damonkitty]

I am so confused because I only got apples and other fruits for about an hour wearing this then some kind of floral note popped out of nowhere at me . I loved the smell in the imp and went crazy over the initial fruity blast then I swear I got a lily of the valley or gardenia note coming at me. Not a strong floral, but just enough for me to say to myself "WTF". I had such high hopes for this scent staying all fruity and delicious. I think my skin chemistry changes it to a floral note like someone above said they got a baby powder note from it. I made a cute roller bottle out of my imps and I may have to send it as a frimp to someone that can appreciate this scent more .

[cyanidenoir]

I love this!

It reminds me of a fruit dessert that my sister fixes containing mandarin oranges, bananas, and shredded coconut. It is delectable and so is this scent.

 

The sugar and banana are the strongest notes, which is why I'm surprised that I like this scent so much. Banana notes usually make me gag but in this blend, they add a subtle sweetness.

 

So yummy. Big bottle? Yes, please

[Acushla]

Out of the bottle: very fruity. I'm getting a sort of sticky medicinal smell, like children's chewable grape Tylenol. Not so pleasant. It even feels a bit sticky going on.

 

Upon application: Blast of pineapple to the face! I can tell there are other things behind it but they're indistinct; it's not totally pineapple but that's mostly what I'm getting. There's also a lot of that pomegranate I recognize from Swank. Lots of throw. Not smelling any chili pepper at all.

 

Drydown: about 2 hours later it's softened up a lot and the pineapple isn't so overwhelming anymore.

 

I'm still not quite sure how I feel about these sweet scents, but I'll keep Shango around for another test run at least. If nothing else, he seems to be quite the mood booster!

[darab]

I received this as a frimp!

This smells like fermenting apples to me at first. Then I can smell a little bit of the pineapple and the banana as well. Very tropical, I like this for summer.

[INFJ4w3]

45% red apple, 45% banana, 5% sugar, 5% spice (chili!) No staying power, no sillage. Poof! Put it on, then it's gone! One good thing: the fruit smells amazingly fresh and real. Nice for summer, beach-y, daytime scent. 2 out of 5 stars. Your basic "meh".

[Duck Mountain]

Testing from a very aged imp:

 

Wet - Mainly pineapple and banana. Refreshingly sweet with a dark, viscous undertone.

 

Drydown - The freshness of the fruit is fading. Somewhat disappointed.

 

Dry - Coconut with a hint of the pomegranate and...patchouli? It's probably just the chili note.

 

Overall it gives me the image of a deserted beach being stirred up by a hot, dry breeze. Feels kinda devious.

 

It's very interesting, I think of this as a darker blend, sticky-fruity yet dry and musky. I think my imp will be enough for now, though - I wish the wet stage hung around as it dried.