Voodoo

[Bean Rua]

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.

Voodoo...received as a frimp with my latest order. Thank you so much, Beth!!

In the bottle: coke with lime, with a cedar-like undernote

Wet: Attack of the spiciness! Swirls of sassafras and cola...sharp and effervescent. Morphs into cola...slightly rootbeerish...

Dry: So many layers...so much morphing! Sometimes strongly myrrh...sometimes very woody, like pencils. Sweet vanilla wafting in and out. It has "head shop smell" moments (probably the patchouli and clove).

It lasts for quite a long time. Over hours, it holds a spiciness that wafts up again and again.

It's fulfilling for me. Strong and deep. Reminds me of the lucky black cat oil I have. I was surprised to find out that it had no High John in it.

I would have named it Hoodoo myself...that's where it takes me. Delicious!

[Brianne]

In the bottle:

sweet and musky

 

On me:

My skin must be eating up some of these notes, because there are some notes that are very much missing in this on me. The lime and myrrh never show up at any point in this scent. I'm okay with that though, since what I got was very lovely anyways. I would call this a more masculine scent - it's got a very cologney vibe going on. The pine takes a backseat to the patchouli and vanilla - which is great, because you can smell it, but it's not so in your face like pine usually is. The patchouli and vanilla combine well together to make a musky, earthy, and slightly sweet blend. The clove is faint, but it definitely adds a little spice to this as well.

 

Final note:

Not quite what I was expecting, but still a lovely blend I think I will use my imp, but probably not go for a bottle. Though I'm thinking about gifting a guy in my life a bottle of Voodoo

[Dustbunnyxox]

From the bottle:

WOAH! I smell that lime. It's a good thing. a sweet lime. that's all i can smell! And cherry coke. MmMm

 

On me: aw. the lime went away so quickly, within seconds. now i smell more pine and almond, and a slight clove. I don't like the almonds too much.

 

Two hours later: erh. the pine and almond went away. very spicy. gave me a headache. sigh. i really liked how it smelled in the imp.

[olympia301]

Wow! I love this one. A real basic scent, and I think it's the things that makes the voodoo oils into voodoo oils without the notes which make them particular voodoo oils. I hope that makes sense. This to me is the blend which is the base for the voodoo oils and doesn't have the magic in it yet. It is in itself a form of magic, it smells so very good.

 

The real characteristic of voodoo oils seems to be vetiver and clove in such highly balanced measure that they end up being a rendition of basil. It reminds me of the gorgeous scent of Amman's Powder. Then there is the myrrh which is rendered heavenly.

 

Voodoo last all day and it's just fabulous. I hope I have conveyed my appreciation for Voodoo here, it's a classic "must have" in any BPAL wardrobe.

[QueenFae]

Ughh, cursed clove ruins another lovely blend for me! When I first put it on, I was thinking it might actually work in spite of my nemesis, clove. It smelled really sweet and foody. But, only about a minute later, the entire smell turns nothing but clove. Why? Why does my skin want me to only smell this cursed note in every blend containing it? Ahhh well, I think of one's I don't like as money savers .

[13bodies]

This smelled like a burned-out fire with the black ashes sending thin streams of acrid smoke in the air. I tried it twice and it always smelled like fresh ashes. Must be the patchouli. Patchouli hates me.

 

Amazingly evocotive, but I don't want to smell like this. Off to swaps, I'm afraid.

[WidgetAlley]

I had to lay out of a martial arts class tonight for stupid girly reasons, and I have an almost pathological hatred of missing classes... so this was my consolation prize. I ordered this based solely on a couple notes that I really love: lime, vanilla, almond and clove in particular... since then I've learned I really like myrrh (or at least I do in Blood), and patchouli and pine are good stuff too. Unfortunately I've also learned that vetiver eats me alive, or so Highwayman would seem to say. Nonetheless I have high hopes for this one.

 

In the vial: The first thing I love about it is the color: it's orange! How cool is that? Sort of a rosey-brown burnt-orange, not bright orange, but still. That's neat. Or maybe I'm just easily entertained. Yes, that seems more likely. But... Uh-oh. I opened the Imp and: mostly vetiver, with some serious patchouli backing. I think I can pick out the pine, and there's an incensey undertone that must be the myrrh. There's some sweet foodstuffs lurking under there, but I can only find them if I really concentrate.

 

Wet: Vetiver and pine at first, then quickly morphing into something like sugary incense. The backing spice-resin notes remind me a lot of Snake Oil.... oooh, it's turning into smoky, vanilla-cream with just a hint of lime and clove. This is great. Very autumnal. *revels* It's so elaborate, I can't stop sniffing. Judging throw is hard since I seem to have gotten the scent "stuck" in my nose, but I think it's pretty good. It smells a lot like the only Voodoo shop in town. Very esoteric.

 

Dry: The notes have balanced out, and are taking turns making graceful little pirouettes at the front of the stage before bowing and going back to the chorus line. If anything, it's even more fall-ish now, like bonfires and trees and baking and... my goodness. I think I'm mildly besotted. This is Snake Oil's older, more complex, sister... where SO is a priestess, Voodoo is a witch.

 

Respectable lasting time; this one will go all day but be just-barely there by the end. This is such a complicated blend; I'm going to have to spend some more quality time with it before I decide whether it goes on the 5mL list or not. The Imp will doubtless become a favourite, however, especially for fall.

Edited November 28, 2005 by WidgetAlley

[Firewaver]

Oh geez.. is there cedar in this one?

 

Why does it smell like Intrigue and Urd to me?

I get the same cedary smell as i did with those two.

 

This time it's a little bit sweeter, but STILL with the cedar. My boyfriend said this about it "It smells like a box, like a cedar box that's held insence in it since the beginning of time, but is now empty"...and then he said "no wait, it smells like the combination of all smells in the universe, like if all the smells were boiled down to one, that's what it would smell like".

 

Uhh.. so I don't know about that last one, but the cedar box full of incense is definitely spot-on to me. It's like vanilla cedar.

 

Pretty but a bit too cedary, even more so when dry.

It's definitely my skin chemistry, though.

[Miss Lynx]

I nearly didn't try this one at all. In the imp, it smelled overpoweringly of almonds, and I really, really hate that smell. I like actual almonds, but I can't stand almond extract, Amaretto, and that sort of thing. I think too many Agatha Christie novels at an impressionable age (I went through a big murder mystery phase when I was around 12-13 or so) made me associate it permanently with cyanide poisoning. But still, as I've mentioned before, I'll try anything once, and I like Bastet despite the almond, so I figured it was worth a shot.

 

On first contact though, I almost regretted the decision. ALMOND ALMOND ALMOND! With an undertone of nasty lime like that neon-green bar mix people who don’t actually know how to make margaritas make them with. Oh dear.

 

However, that faded fast. Within a few minutes, almond and lime were barely noticeable, and earthy spicy goodness was taking over. The clove was really strong, and it reminded me a lot of Blood, which is the scent my partner likes best on me. It had a lot of the same spicy-scented-candle feeling to it. So I extended my wrist for her to sniff and she immediately smiled with much the same wicked gleam in her eye that Blood usually causes. And I thought OK, this is definitely a keeper.

 

Now that it's drying down a bit, it's not so spicy, but it's still a beautifully complex, multilayered, earthy/spicy/incensey scent, and I could see myself getting to be very fond of it.

 

Grade: B+

 

ETA: Worn it several more times since then, and I'm definitely fond of it. The notes that linger the longest on me seem to be vanilla and vetiver, with a touch of spice (clove probably), and wow do they last! Most scents fade on me within a few hours, but Voodoo stays noticeable all day and sometimes until the next morning. It's probably the longest-lasting scent I've tried yet.

Edited November 10, 2005 by Miss Lynx

[Dark Angel]

I'm a little reluctant to review this because my experience is so different from everyone else's that I wonder if I have the same oil. My imp came via swap and had a hand-written label, which makes me think at some point it was a decant, and it may be quite old, so it could be that it really isn't representative of what Voodoo is like. I may try to obtain another imp at some point.

 

On to the review:

Alas, this is not successful on me. In the bottle it smells intrigueing, clove-y and spicy. On me, however, it instantly turns into the smell of a hair salon, and not in a good way. It really reminds of that odd, chemically smell of perms. It stays that way for a long time, too. Luckily, it seems to fade within a few hours. Now that most of it is gone, four hours later, I can catch a faint whiff of something spicy and nice on my wrists if I press my nose right up against them. But that 'permanent' smell still wafts up from my cleavage now and then. Really not enjoyable.

 

Too bad. All the reviews made it sound like this would be right up my alley, but apparently, something in it hates me, in a unique way that it doesn't hate anyone else.

[erikasilverstein]

Voodoo is complex -- alot of conflicting scents competing for attention.

Overall I get a warm, spicy Cherry Coke syrup smell.

After a little while, it gets more earthy, and a little tangy -- not much vanilla, but I guess the 'cherry' smell is the almonds?

 

It sorta-kinda reminds me of Freak Show. With...a little Queen of Sheba(the almonds?)

 

But I can't shake the Cherry Coke/syrupy element (now it's almost medicinal) that keeps wafting to the forground.

 

Interesting, but not a keeper. Though perhaps I will try it again; the notes all seem so promising.

[darkitysnark]

Voodoo

 

Yowza. This is a very complex blend. Looking back over the notes, I can see why I'm having mixed feelings. It's got notes I love love love ( clove , vanilla, myrrh), notes I don't love so much (patchouli, pine), and notes about which I am deeply ambivalent (lime, almond, vetiver).

 

So...

 

In the bottle:

sharp, green, bitter, spicy, aggressive, just a little scary

 

Wet/drydown:

This blend morphs quite a bit at this phase. At first it's just a more intense POW of my "in the bottle" impressions, then it gets sweeter. Way, WAY sweeter. Then spicy. I should note that I also have Lush's Pied de Pepper foot creme on my hands, which is probably amping up the clove.

 

There's also a very animalistic bottom to this, the vetiver? I'm almost afraid to kiss The Mr. good bye as my sudden aggressive pungentness might set off his sore throat. He seems to be OK/oblivious to it.

 

Later:

This is a STRONG one. It's been about three hours since I applied and shows no signs of waning at ALL. It has calmed down to a sweetness that makes me want to change the androgynous pronoun to a "she".

 

She's still sharp and spicy, but the sweetness rounds off the pointy bits.

 

I would probably use this (very sparingly!) on days I need some more courage/chutzpah to face whatever challenges may come. In other words, this is my sweeter, darker backup for French Creole.

Edited October 10, 2005 by darkitysnark

[cupide430]

Voodoo

 

This scent is pretty far from the kinds of scents I usually love, but there's just something delicious about this. Warm, spicy, lightly sweet. I got a light warm cherry-ish note at first, which is definitely the almond coming out and the cherry fades off to a nice sweet warm spicy vanilla. This is definitely a warm, snuggly fall/winter scent.

[herdivineshadow]

All I get is patchouli and a slight hint of dry wood, I don't really detect any of the other notes at all. I had been hoping for more vanilla, almonds and clove but they don't seem to come out on my skin. One for the swap pile I think.

[BlackWingedRoses]

Out of the bottle it smelled like spiked fruit punch.

On the skin I could get the almond and vanilla to come out and WOW

TOTALLY ROOT BEER! must be the spicey notes in there, but Root Beer for sure. I'm not a fan of patchouli, but it works in this well with the vetiver giving it an earthy smell. I think the patchouli also allows it to have such a good throw.

I came home and went into my room and my mom asked what I was wearing Even though I had only walked through the house, the scent had lingered.

Dry it is a really nice spicey sensual scent. might be a bit too powerful for people who don't like strong scents, though

[Loligo]

Even though i had this on my wishlist, I was scared of it. Pine? Patchouli? Vetiver? So it sat in my imp box for quite a while before I tried it.

 

And indeed, it started out with a pine-patchouli death match, but just 15 minutes later I started having the famous "OMG what is that gorgeous smell -- oh, it's MEEE!" experience. This smells like clove & vanilla incense drifting through a clearing in a pine forest, with occasional hints of lime. Unique and beautiful. Now, six hours after applying, I'm starting to get the sassafras/cola smell that underlies so many of the Voodoo blends; I happen to like that smell, so this isn't a problem.

 

Seems *very* long-lasting so far. Also, until it went cola, it smelled like a less-musky version of Blood Moon, which I just tried yesterday.

[brownbear]

This one smells sooooo good in the imp. It's all lime and vanilla and mmmmmm. However on my skin it smells kind of medicinal, pine sol, and bleh. oh well. Not a keeper.

[Rinadoll]

I was looking for something cool and kinda sexy to wear to a special preview of RENT and a reception with Anthony Rapp. I sniffed all my sniffies, and this one felt just right.

 

I put it on, and WHOA with the lime. I kept sniffing my wrists the whole way to the movie! I smelled like lime coke. Wasn't my aim, but I loved it. Then the clove came out, and a wee bit of almond, and still a lot with the lime. I really, really enjoyed the smell of it.

 

I've tried a handful of BPALs and they all fade within a few hours. Not this one! I wore it Saturday, it's now Tuesday, and I still get whiffs of lime and incense. Very warm and comforting. I guess it's a good thing I liked it so much.

 

I also got my first BPAL compliment wearing this one! So, definitely a keeper. I'd say I can't wait to wear it again, except I guess I'm still wearing it.

[valentina]

In the imp, I thought this smelled very sweet and vanilla-almondy. I wasn't sure, but I thought I'd give it a try.

 

Upon initial application, it went very sweet on me, and I was afraid it was going to morph the way Snake Oil smells on me -- very sweet, almost Play-Dough. But there's an edge underneath that keeps that from happening.

 

After 15 minutes, it gets spicy-sweet on me. Almost like cotton candy mixed with Red Hots.

 

After an hour, it's a very Christmas/Holiday scent on me. The myrrh, cloves, vanilla and almonds prevail, with a bit of pine beneath. Someone told me I smelled good, but like the shopping mall stores at Christmas.

 

This might be nice to have an imp around to wear during the holidays. On me, a little dab'll do ya, for it has great staying power.

 

valentina

[k00kaburra]

In bottle: Lime and almond is such a strange combination, but they are the strongest notes in this blend. They mingle together in a pool of patchouli and myrrh, with vetiver spiking up now and again.

On me: Vanilla and patchouli, really. There are spikes of other notes now and again - sweetness from almond, sharpness from pine, peppery shots of vetiver,swirling smokiness of myrrh wafting through the air - by by and large it is vanilla and patchouli.

The complexitiy of this blends lends itself to a certain power. It's quite strong and makes my throat burn a bit, even though I'm just sniffing. I wonder if I'm allergic to a component? I've never had this reaction to any oil before.

[desu]

In the bottle: Pine and lime.

 

On my skin: It smells strongly of cherry soda now. If I concentrate, I can pick out the lime, vanilla, and almond. This is a kinda weird scent. I like it!

 

Later on: The lime has mostly burnt itself out, leaving behind a very woodsy-smelling vanilla. Yummy.

[AliBabble]

Yowza! this one is intense. - in the imp, it's very cola (which i love). cola and lime, with a touch of almonds - meow! and just a touch of patchouli peeking out.

on my skin, the opposite starts to happen...lime disappears, and it is mostly vetiver - very sweet vetiver, and patchouli. yes this is a is potent oil! very "present". it seems to get sweeter and sweeter on me. almost too sweet. - i wish it was more spicy/less sweet, but i'm not getting any clove or pine to counteract. still, it's a powerful scent...really nice actually, though the cola/lime/almond phase is quite fleeting. i'm glad i got to try this one - powerful and assertive, with a kind of "earth-mama" feeling.(!?)

[Fefferbella]

Sweet and spicey lime!

 

Very unique and oddly comforting combination. It reminds me of walking through a farmer's market, in the citrus section while someone was buring incense!

 

 

Fades quickly on my skin to a sweet, citrus note.

[jasper17]

In the container, this reminded me of cherry cola, very smooth but a tiny little bit of sharpness in there. On my skin, it turned to cinnamon and vanilla and by the end of the day, it seemed to smell like milk and honey. Very warm, earthy, and at least to me, not too sweet. Lasted a long time amd I got a lot of compliments on this one.

[melrose]

I really want to be helpful when I write a review. I suspect I might not be so this time.

 

In the imp, and wet, I get sweet cherry coke syrup. After about 10 minutes, I smell every note in the description at various times, as well as things that aren't in there, but I guess are being evoked by the combinations. At times it smells sweet, sometimes oily, aquatic, peppery, spicy, powdery - it's incredible. Every 5 minutes it morphs.

 

I love this roller-coaster ride! I think it's in my top 5.