Voodoo

[dicyfer]

A midnight scent, evoking images of flickering golden firelight reflecting off the sheen of glistening skin and the jerking shadows of bodies suffused with spiritual ecstasy. A deep, powerful, resonant blend of myrrh, patchouli, vetiver, lime, vanilla, pine, almond and clove.

I am reviewing this based on how it smelled on a friend because I would NEVER put this on my skin.
Personally, I opened it and immediately was assaulted by lime. I hate lime and citrus. I seriously couldn't smell anything expect lime with rotten undertones.
I offered it to my friend and was amazed to hear her say it smelled sweet and that she liked it. She put some on, and then the oddest thing happened! Less than an hour afterwards, the scent on her skin had completely morphed into musk. Pure musk. No lime or anything else in the ingredients. I actually kind of liked it then, but it was an astoundingly complete transformation.

Overall, definitely not for me.

[Altaira]

Dry and dirty, I like this better than other vetiver blends I've tried. My husband was sitting across the room and asked, "What are you wearing? Smells like cookies." We both also remembered burning incense as teenagers that smelled exactly like this.

 

Allergy reactions: I sneezed a bit after first putting it on and my wrist itched for about a half hour, but I didn't notice any long term issues.

[BelladonnasGarden]

Voodoo;

 

This scent confused me at first, my initial reaction in the bottle was "WHOA! Not a scent I would wear, but if Voodoo could be captured and bottled, THIS is what it would smell like exactly". Then I thought it smelled a little like Coca-cola!

 

After trying out this scent on my skin out of curiosity, it did not stop changing, it morphed into something completely different and beautiful! I got strong scents at first of cinnamon spice, musk. Then it stayed at a sort of sweet patchouli spice, maybe even a hint of vanilla?

 

Either way, I'm in love with this scent now, and I never expected it. The most prominent notes after 2 hours for me are patchouli, vanilla and myrrh

Edited February 25, 2011 by BelladonnasGarden

[Geminirubyshoes]

I got this as a frimp with my Yules this winter and just now tried it out..

 

totally smells like coca cola in the imp.

On however...wow I never would've expected that I would like this!! I have been on a smoky, sweet kick lately though. This smells (on me) like a less piney version of Pickled Imp (which I also loooove) The vetiver makes it smoky and I don't really smell the lime...smoky vanilla vetiver!

[TheFrenchWaffle]

I am over the moon with this scent. If I could order a gallon of this stuff and bathe in it...

In the imp: Cherry Coca-Cola. A bit surprising, but pleasantly nostalgic taking me back to summer days at the beach with a bottle of cherry coke and friends. Love the lime.

Wet: Still cherry coke and lime but now the patchouli and myrrh come in to take center stage.

Dry: The patchouli takes a backseat to the myrrh, god I love myrrh! Beautiful spice and incense, I love this! The staying power is amazing with plenty of throw (in a good wafting up to the nose sort of way, not the I-can-smell-you-reeking-a-block-away sort of way). After a few hours the vanilla amps up and comes into play with the myrrh perfectly.

 

Final verdict: Definitely bottle worthy. A lovely scent with staying power, I put this on in the morning and I woke up the next day smelling a lovely vanilla leftover scent.

[Helas]

Voodoo is an amazingly complex scent, a mixture of wildly divergent and clashing notes that shouldn't work together but somehow do. I get a different impression every time I smell it - sometimes the pine and vetiver are dominant and make for a wild, green wood scent, then the vanilla and almond come to the fore and become almost foody in their intensity, then I breathe again and get a noseful of spicy earth from the patchouli. The lime wafts in and out during the first couple of hours but then vanishes. Voodoo dries down to a spicy, vanilla-infused wood blend. It reminds me a lot of Tombstone at this point, but I found the vanilla in Tombstone to be a bit too sugary and candy-like; the vanilla in Voodoo is a milder, creamier vanilla bean.

 

I'm a bit surprised that this one isn't more popular. I can see it becoming the signature scent of an outdoorsy but very femme woman - the kind who packs her nailpolish kit on a two-week hunting trip to Alaska.

 

Confusing, but in a good way. Four out of five stars.

[ellebelle]

In the imp, this smells like sassafras to me. One one, it's a glorious, sweet resin - just the kind that I crave during winter. I will be picking up a bottle of this for sure.

[frecklestars]

In the bottle: a strong mint-patchouli blend. it's very smoky and slightly musty/musky. vanilla-lime comes through at the very end; that plus the whiff of pine makes it a bit sweeter than patchouli is normally. but it's still _very_ patchouli. I'm digging the strange combination of pine, vanilla, and lime, but I fear the more dominant notes will overwhelm.

 

On my skin: definitely turns to patchouli-myrrh on me, but retains a bit of minty freshness (perhaps this mint some of us are catching is from the pine notes in it?). as it starts to dry, it shifts to more of the vanilla-lime-clove on me. maybe a bit of almond, but it's not bitter like some of the other oils with almond notes I've tried. the patchouli and myrrh keep me from liking it entirely/enough to wear often, but I do enjoy the strange combination of other notes on me.

 

Last thoughts: it's an unusual combination, to be sure, but it grows on you. and I am NOT a patchouli person (ever). quite mysterious and a little dangerous, like cavorting naked in the deep woods dangerous. but fun nonetheless.

Edited June 7, 2011 by frecklestars

[dreamingjune]

In bottle: Hello cherries!

 

Wet: More cherries, but there is some awesome combo of myrrh, patchouli, and almond happening here. Pretty potent, but getting richer and more resinous as it dries down.

 

Dry: Thankfully the cherry effect is pretty much gone. I am loving this blend as it is reminding me of an amped up combo of Pickled Imp and Minotaur. I was terrified of the lime in here but overall it is pretty well behaved.

 

Overall: One of the strongest bpals I own with great length of wear without getting too powdery. If you love sweet spices and woodsy resin blends then this one is for you. I am also pleased to say that Voodoo is my favorite almond blend that bpal has to offer. Definitely bottle worthy.

[Klolly]

In the bottle this smelled very much like lemon-lime soda. Wet on my skin it still smelled like lemon-lime soda. As it dried the lime began to fade and it became more like the smell of sprite or one of those clear citrusy sodas, until finally it was dry and the lime smell was practically hidden behind this powerfully soft cloud of woody sweetness. The longer I wore it the more powdery it became, but not in a bad way. It definitley has some good throw. Without the lime this would just smell like a cozy, woody scent, but the lime makes it more playful and alive. I'm pretty surprised by how good this smells. I didn't expect to like it. My husband hugged me when he came home from work and said, "You smell...decent." Which was a compliment in a way because I think my fragrance oil obsession is getting on his nerves. He then added, "You still smell like a headshop though," because that is what he thought the Snake Oil I'd tried yesterday smelled like. If I was into the richer spicier scents I'd probably be interested in a bottle of this but as of right now I'm more looking for the sweeter scents so I've already made plans to swap this.

 

Edit: This is weird but I'm really bummed I swapped my imp of this. I REALLY liked it and I should have gone with my gut and kept it, but alas, I didn't want to be called a headshop so I gave it away. That's what I get for listening to someone elses opinion instead of sticking with my own, because I seriously haven't stopped thinking about how good this one smelled since then. I didn't expect to like it, I wish I didn't like it, but I do, A LOT. I think this will very likely be a future bottle purchase.

Edited August 2, 2011 by Klolly

[OctoberGwen]

Hoo boy, do I love Voodoo. I've been wearing this aged version since last night, when it immediately shot to the top of my Top Five list - right next to Hell's Belle.

 

I've never smelled anything like this. I don't find it particularly feminine, but it's not a masculine scent, either. (I dislike anything which smacks of men's cologne on me.) It also contains notes that I don't often feel drawn to: patchouli, pine, vanilla; but somehow Voodoo is much more than the sum of its parts. It is complex, deep, unique, and very magical. Definitely big bottle worthy for me.

 

 

ETA: 4/7/12

There are BPALs that I love and hold onto as experiences rather than perfumes, and Voodoo is one of those. While not my personal style to wear, it evokes the concept so well that I keep it almost strictly for that reason (although I like how it smells very much, too.) It also happens to belong in the group of scents that make up my very first BPALs ever tried, along with Black Forest, Samhain, House of Night, Hexennacht, and Hell's Belle - all blends that will forever remain huge sentimental favorites for me.

Edited April 7, 2012 by OctoberGwen

[invisible iris]

In the imp: Weirdly effervescent (lime?) piney vanilla with dark stuff lurking. It smells kind of like 7-up spilled on a forest floor of pine needles.

 

On skin: The vanilla is immediately more prominent and smooths out some of the effervescent quality, but there’s still a strong pine component. Earthy notes emerge more, and I smell almond, but it’s basically merged with the vanilla and pine and adding to a cookie-smell. It’s like an almond cookie smashed into the (now dried up and sticky) 7-up-soaked pine needles. Weird, some combination of notes here is giving my nose a sassafras accord.. or that might just be the vanilla note going a bit plasticky and reminding me of Tombstone.

 

Dry: Almond/vanilla with a hint of clove and pine (reminds me of Pickled Imp), and hardly any influence left from the patchouli/vetiver that could have saved this from being too cookie! for me. And plasticky. It turns my stomach a bit.

 

Verdict: I’ll keep the imp on hand in case it improves with age, but for now I don’t like it. Sad, because all of these notes (except vetiver) are theoretical winners and I had high hopes for the blend.

[callmepenelope]

i love this. it sat in my imp box unused for quite a while, and then i wore it on a whim one day and got hooked. it's very autumnal to me, so i've been wearing it on the days i crave autumn (which is most days at this point of the year).

 

when i first put it on, it's all lime and pine. it smells a little bit like floor cleaner, actually, which is why i think it took me a while to try it again. but once it starts to dry and mellow, it comes out very spicy and warm. there's a lot of clove on my skin and a touch of creamy almond, while everything else just creates this gorgeous backdrop of spiciness behind it. not foody spiciness-- not on me at least. this doesn't particularly smell like cookies on me, like some noted. it just smells warm and wonderfully sexy. this scent is a dream, and i am saving up my pennies to buy a bottle ASAP.

Edited September 1, 2011 by callmepenelope

[Vega]

Sniffed: Powerful, heady spices over a deep incense base. I can make out patchouli, myrrh, pine and vetiver, overlaid with sharper spice and lime.

 

On skin: The resins and pine form a rich, dark base, over which the spices float, including almond and clove. I can pick out most of the notes, but Voodoo is more than the sum of the individual components: a scent that is very dark, heavy, thick, a bit furry in a musky way, yet glowing and resonant at the same time. It eventually settles into a patchouli-dominant blend that is warm and enfolding, without any edges, close and intimate. Voodoo is simultaneously dark and glowing; puts me in mind of flickering firelight mingling with dancing shadows. Colour impression is deep yellow-orange upon a black backdrop, like a single candle in a huge cavern.

 

Verdict: Voodoo is a very compelling scent that fully embodies its namesake. If I liked patchouli-dark blends more, this would be a winner -- nevertheless, it's a fantastic catalogue blend.

[Cdrake]

I purchased this imp thinking it sounded sultry, mysterious & sexy. I definitely got the sweet almond scent in the imp & when I first put it on with the pine added to it, so far it makes a very interesting scent on me that is a bit musky & sultry. I will have to let it dry on my wrist before for a few hours before I can make a verdict on this but so far I am glad I got the imp.

[portalkat]

I have been reading the reviews for Voodoo lately and since I am a patchouli lover, I decided to dig up my imp and test.

 

It seems promising when first applied and I notice that there are no jarring notes and everything seems to be going well. The throw is quite strong and I catch wafts of it every few minutes. I like it quite a bit, however it isn't the dark patchouli scent that I was expecting. I think that it might be the combination of the lime, vanilla and pine that is giving it a brightness that I hadn't expected. I should probably revisit this when I am not in such an Autumn mood. I do like it, but it isn't what I am in the mood for right now. Some of you who like a lighter and brighter patchouli blend might really like this. It is actually very pretty.

[countessmouse]

Oddly enough, I smelled pralines when I first applied it, which amused me to no end because I'm from New Orleans (that and the name of the scent to begin with). That lasted for about 2 minutes before it switched to mostly patchouli and clove with a hint of vanilla. It's a bit strong, but I like it.

[Lanolin]

Starts out being much too almond, ends up being much too patchouli. The vetiver and pine give it an ashy burning-incense feel. V. v. v. headshoppy.

 

There's a brief moment where it has a cola vibe to it, which is nice, but the initial wet stage and drydown aren't my thing.

[bpalscentsual]

1/18/2012: Voodoo (Bewitching Brews)

 

Previous scents: Suave for Men shampoo/conditioner, Dove ‘fresh’ scented women’s deodorant/antiperspirant.

 

In the bottle: Before I opened it, it smelled slightly sweet. Once I actually opened it and let it wash over me, it was nothing but sharp pine and perhaps lime. All the top notes just leap out.

 

Testing method: Two swipes against the inside of my left wrist.

 

Immediately: Oh. Uh. Wow. That’s… pungent. None of the sweetness is coming out, and all I can really smell is an odd blend of pine, lime, and clove.

 

Fifteen minutes: This has calmed down to “a pine sprig in a glass of Coca-Cola”. That’s really the only phrase I have to describe this.

 

One hour: The notes are separating out enough that I can distinctly tell what some of them are. The pine, which was really amped up when it was wet, is now kept in check by the medium-toned clove. Definitely getting the myrrh and patchouli, and the lime is turning the pine somewhat funny. There’s none of the sweetness that I associate with vanilla, and I don’t get any of the almond either. This is very spicy in an herbal way.

 

Several hours: This is now all myrrh and clove and vanilla. Good and warm, if a bit spicy. Somewhat faint, as well – I don’t get much throw out of this.

 

Overall: This was a frimp, I’m not emotionally attached to it, and this isn’t a scent I’d want to wear until the imp runs out. Onto the swap pile it goes.

 

DISCLAIMER: Due to differences in skin chemistry, inherent olfactory powers, and other scents that an individual might use throughout the day (i.e. scented deodorants, shampoos, room sprays, cooking odors), these oils will smell different on every individual. This review is only intended to illustrate my personal experience wearing it throughout the day.

[Missy_killer]

Frimp from the Trading Post

 

In the imp: Lime, more lime and clove far behind, making the lime a little spicy.

 

On me: Lime and clove, immediately followed by candy Cola-bottles. And after half a minute I get some patchouli as well. Voodoo is pretty smokey, but not in a "burned" kind of way that I often associate with vetiver. It's playing nice and gives Voodoo depth to the candy-smell.

 

One hour later: Very weird. I can still pick up the lime in there, bright and shiny still. But now it's mostly clove, patchouli and a touch of vetiver. It actually works and I can't stop sniffing my arm!

Very delicious.

 

This was nothing I would've picked out myself, but I'm very happy that I got to try this! Very good and a keeper!

 

The next day: I tried this again because it was so good, but this time on my neck instead of my wrists. It smells more like cola and lime on my neck than on my wrists, but I looove this scent! It has good staying power and quite good throw. My mother said it smells like some kind of ice cream to her, haha! I have a feeling that I will reach for this scent quite often since it doesn't give me a migraine. Yum!

Edited January 27, 2012 by Missy_killer

[evekrieg]

This came to me as a frimp, and was my second [and possibly truest] BPAL love to date. I have worn this out to industrial night on several occasions and everyone tells me how strange and delicious I smell. I burned through that imp in no time flat.

 

Utterly sexy and spicy and complex. At first it smells a lot like cherry coke, no lime or much pine to speak of, but then the almond and pine creep up into it. It's undulating and perfectly blended. No one note seems to stick out or ruin the balance. I just ordered a large bottle of this, and suspect that I'll need more than one in the days to come.

[BoneBone24]

Wet: Sparkly pine and spice. Reminiscent of cola but not as sweet.

 

Drydown: Sweeter and less sparkly. It's hard to pinpoint just one or two main notes. I'd say it's equal parts patchouli, lime, pine, vetiver, and clove. Slightly smoky.

 

Dry: Same as the drydown plus a bit of vanilla. While some of the individual notes have a bite, the overall effect is softer than I was expecting. Complex and well-blended.

 

 

 

This is a weird one. I think for the first time I feel like a scent is very "me" yet I don't particularly like it. I think the patchouli and vetiver are to blame for that. I might wear this a couple more times before passing it along though, so it's not a total pass.

[becca_s]

This starts out as patchouli and clove with a sharp hint of lime on my skin. After it settles down a bit the clove completely takes over, there is the slightest bit of vanilla and almond in the background. Clove is listed as the last note but my skin chemistry must amp it because this smells almost like pure clove on me - the kind that you use in cooking.

[Poenari]

At first there was a strong almond scent, but the almond burned off quickly and then it was all vetiver, which was unexpected. I hadn't read the notes but for some reason I didn't realize there was vetiver in this scent. Fortunately I'm ok with wearing most vetiver scents. After finally reading the notes, I shouldn't have been surprised to pick it out so fast because I amp vetiver. I don't mind Voodoo and will wear the imp, but this isn't a scent that grabs me enough to buy a bottle.

[stellamaris]

Voodoo is well, voodoo. I don't smell any one thing in particular, but it is lush and spicey. No almond for me, thankfully as that makes me feel ill.

The dry down is very green sort of boy cologne, but still really really good.

Full of awesome and win.

Yes I know, my reviews just keep getting better and better...

One thing I can say is the patchouli is the nice tame kind, not the IN YOUR FACE Sin or Occupy Wall Street one, so patchouli haters may be ok.

Edited May 3, 2012 by stellamaris