Ile de la Tortue

[Monster]

Damp air trapped in limestone caverns, heady greenery, hothouse orchids, nicotiana blossoms, bois de chandel, elemi, palm wine, garambullo, pega-pega, flame of the forest, and a swirl of Haitian vetiver.

In the imp: Tropical blossoms...lots of orchids.

Oh my skin, wet: BIG florals, really pretty in fact. This is an example of a floral I like This smells purple, warm and sweet. I'm not getting any vetiver at all....which is slightly disappointing since I love vetiver oh so much. This smells like it could be part of the Tiki collection. It has a wild, tropical feel to it.

Dry: An almost berry-scented orchid. This is absolutley gorgeous. I wasn't expecting to like this as much as I do. I think it's even bottle worthy. I will be using ALL of my imp

[Sultaana]

I am REALLY glad I decided to pick this one up. The floral notes blended into this one almost dance off of your skin. It's so tropical and summery; it makes me long for the sand between my toes! All of my experience with vetiver has been resoundingly negative, since it likes to bring ugly headaches with it, but this doesn't give me the same reaction.

[countessmouse]

I am sooooo wishing I had more than an imp of this! It is full of heady tropical blossoms with just a hint of green. Swore I smelled honeysuckle at one point, but it has developed into a lush orchid scent. Wow!

[vige]

forethought and blah blahs:

this wanderlust was discontinued on 11- 17- 10

ile de la tortue is a small island off the coast of Haiti

 

in the bottle/imp:

wet rich florals

 

wet:

ohhh i love this big white creamy blossoms. ....ugh it is getting a bit sharp...

 

dry:

feels very "perfumy" where did the creaminess run off to? i am still getting white florals but they feel more perfumy than creamy now

 

overall opinion:

feels very much like a "plain store bought" perfume.

 

verdict:

feminine. i am very bummed that my skin hated this so much. swap!

[WidgetAlley]

I've had an Imp of this hanging around for so long I didn't even realize it was discontinued!

 

In the vial: Sharp ozone, salt and strongly soapy florals. Smells like baby wipes to me, even though the usual culprit (lavender) isn't listed. Nice baby wipes, though. Definitely expensive ones. I really like elemi so I'm hoping that will come through more on my skin.

 

Wet: Oh yes, much better. It's the ozone and sea spray from Jolly Roger mitigated somewhat by those lovely, translucent orchids that Beth is so good at. Still no elemi, but there is just a hint of a dry, brown, sweet sort of something, almost like fig (maybe the palm wine?) at the back.

 

Dry: Wow! This is surprisingly nice. I really expected it to be a screeching nightmare of aquatics, but in reality it's a lovely, orchid-dominant floral with just a breath of sea air and a wonderful bass note of rich brown palm. I don't think I'd pick it over the more attention-grabbing Shadow Witch Orchid, which I prefer due to its juiciness, but this one surprised me. I'll pass the Imp on to a better home but I have to say, if you love florals but were hesitating to try this one, don't fear the ozone!

[taramarie]

In the imp and on my skin: Tropical, green florals. The orchid is front and center. No vetiver at all to ground this. It's nice, but it smells like half a dozen other imps I have. I'll pass.

[orata]

Really nice--I passed up Ile de la Tortue when a previous large batch was up on Etsy because it sounded like a crazy jumble of notes, but the reviews + Great Vampire Bat-fueled orchid obsession led me to order a bottle, and I really like it. It's quite ozoney and green when wet, with the ozone subsiding into an incredibly refreshing tropical greenery scent. The white florals are definitely there and smell slightly grapey to me (?) but the smell of wet green leaves balances them out. I don't usually like aquatic scents, but this has just a hint of aquatic without smelling salty or like cucumbers or dryer sheets. It's a fresh but complex perfume great for hot weather.

[mymymai]

In the Imp (ITI): Sadly, this is only a sniffie, so I will do what I can with the review. It's lightly floral, but in a soft way, and there is a mildly astringent quality to the scent. There is an underlying greenness to the scent while the elemi lifts it up and gives it an ephemeral quality.

 

Wet: Wow, the elemi and the vetiver twist and blend with the orchids, palm wine, and fragrant florals that surround the other notes. It's beautifully complex, feminine, an d slightly foreboding.

 

Dry: It's distinctly floral and sweet from the palm wine and vetiver on final dry down.

[aquazoo]

It is a nice floral with some good depth. I’m not catching any of the other elements specifically, but they’re working well together.