Upa Upa

[hologhost]

Spiced rum, coconut, pineapple, and vanilla.

I was hoping for the pineapple scent of my dreams. Looks like I'm still searching.

In the bottle this had a kind of caramel spice smell.

On me it reminded me of Chimera - very cinnamon bun. I get a hint of fruit, but not quite what I wanted. I was walking back to the the bedroom thinking I would let this age a month and try again before before swapping when I noticed my wrist was itching. Then my husband said, "What happened to your neck?" Suddenly, I had huge, red, stinging welts where I had applied Upa Upa. Even after trying to wash it off with alcohol and a shower they are still there.

This stuff will have to go.

[bheansidhe]

Wet: Pineapple upside-down cake, soaked in spiced rum.

 

Drydown: It goes through a pina colada stage, but overall this scent is much more cake-y than alcohol-y. In fact it smells like a kissin' cousin of Drink Me, with the same cinnamon-heavy, yeasty, sugary bread-pudding smell. Right down to the rum sauce. Did I mention the rum sauce? The... SPICED rum sauce?

 

There isn't any fresh pineapple in this smell; it's caramelized, gooey baked pineapple in a strong cake base, with lots of cinnamon and allspice.

 

Very strong. In fact, on far drydown I smelled like a Yankee Candle shop. Not quite my cup of spiced rum.

[akuaa]

love love love this one. i opened the bottle and my eyes got big and wide with YUM. coconut, cinnamon, tropical deliciousness. i accidentally rubbed the oil from my wrist to my nose and now my nose is burning. def. cinnamon of some sort! much later, i smell the rum. still good!

[Lyrical]

In vial: sweet rum, coconut and vanilla.

 

Wet on skin: rum, coconut, vanilla and a hint of pineapple. The spiciness develops as it dries.

 

Dry on skin: mostly rum. Quite good throw. After a fairly short space of time it ends up as pure rum and dry spices. I'm glad I tried it, but I'm also glad I didn't get a whole bottle!

[zomathesadist]

i love anything pina colada. (except, ironically, actual pina coladas. I know. bizarro.) if there's ever an option for pineapple coconut ANYTHING it is immediately ushered into my belly. so when I saw the description for Upa Upa, i knew I had to try it.

 

in bottle: caramelly butterscotch. I am slowly realizing that BPAL's rum/booze notes all smell butterscotchy/caramel on me. odd, but not a bad thing. I don't get a ton of fruit in the bottle.

 

wet on skin: why, hello, you juicy thang! Pineapple is sticking his head out, and he is juicy and sassy. the coconut's not showing up yet, though.

 

after 5 minutes: my hand is tingling! that must be the spice in the rum.

 

 

 

i really don't know yet. i can't tell. it definitely smells GOOD--I just need to wear it all day and see how it dries down before I decide if I'm going to keep my bottle.

 

in a nutshell: a very sweet scent that becomes more spicy on the drydown. Lots of pineapple initially that goes by the wayside. Very creamy. Unsure of throw or wearlength.

[Esmeria]

In bottle: it's very sweet with a hint of... something? I can't put my finger on what it is but there's a very deffinate spike to the sweetness.

 

Wet: Umm. Like above but stronger...

 

Dry: Yikes, something has gone incredibly wrong on my skin. I suspect it's the gingery/spiceyness as, well, this happens every time (I can only wear Gingerbread Poppet in my scent locket. Cockaigne went to curry...). I didn't notice that the rum was 'spiced'. Ach, this must go to the swaps pile.

 

[slave1]

UPA UPA

 

In Bottle: Creamy coconut happiness

 

On Skin: Ok, here we go. This is my favorite bar scent by far. Holy crap it’s good. I want to drink my wrist... very Pina Colada!! This is tropical heaven in a coconut shell glass. The coconut is super dominant, like in your face “Hi, I’m coconut!” dominant. The pineapple is very sweet, ripe and yummy with just the right amount of tartness to break through the think creamy tone of the drink. The vanilla adds gorgeous depth to the creamy aspect, and the spiced rum is the perfect base that brings this beautiful blend together. It’s not too boozy and it really makes me feel like I’m on a vacation. The only down side is it does have that powdery feel that coconut blends tend to have on me if I inhale them too deeply. Still, my favorite in this series for sure. Light to moderate throw, short to average wearlength.

[MaidMirawyn]

After the third wearing, I've figured out this scent. THIS is what pirates would smell like...if they bathed regularly, brushed their teeth, and washed their clothes.

 

In the bottle, it has the same smell milk-based perfumes often have: sour. But I don't let that worry me, because Love's Philosophy is the same way, and it smells absolutely divine dry!

 

On the skin, it develops quickly.

 

Wet, it has a touch of the sourness, but that disappears almost instantly...

 

To be replaced by a warm, smoky, tropical scent. Not super-smoky, but the smokiness blends with the rum, coconut, and pineapple. I love it, and I think it could work on a guy, too.

 

I keep sniffing my wrist...

[Pika]

Pina coladas are possibly my favorite tropical drink, but I knew going in that the scent would never really be a standard perfume for me. But how could I resist trying a li'l decant?

 

In the imp and on my skin I get a lot of butter from Upa Upa. Like a hot buttered rum with pineapple, kind of caramelized. I also get the cinnamon mentioned before. It's kind of a spicy pineapple upside-down-cake scent, with some booze. What it's lacking (at least on me) is the coconut, and that's a very important part!

 

Drying, it fades to kind of a tropically pineapple, without a whole lot of other character. It's nice, and I'm still contemplating making a body spray from my imp and chilling it for cool, tropical, yummy misting this summer. And maybe the alcohol will bring out other notes more, but overall Upa Upa barely meets my low expectations for it. Oh well.

[LunaLovegood]

Holy Smokes Batman! To me this smells like coconuts on crack... with a hint of pineapple. Its too agressive, too sweet and too... well just too much for me.

[Ajila]

In the bottle – Very sweet rich cream, reminiscent of the first Beaver Moon

 

Wet on me – The pineapple is more prevalent and there’s something oddly powdery in the background

 

Dry on me – A pleasantly sweet vanilla, with just a hint of the spices from the rum

 

Overall – I suspect that thus is suffering from my expectations; I expected to be wowed by this blend, but whilst it’s nice and I would quite happily wear it, I’m just not wowed

[MaeKitty]

Love this just as much as I thought I would. I just want to drink it! The rum isn't as boozy as I thought it would be, which makes this more wearable. Everything blends really well. The pineapple smells juicy, the coconut, vanilla and spices just make this gorgeous and yummy. I think it must be the vanilla and coconut, but there is a creamy warmth to this that reminds me of butterscotch or caramel. YUM

[galleywest]

(sung to the tune of the Oompa Loompa song from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) (The original one)

 

Upa Upa doopity-doo

I've got a tiki perfume for you

Upa Upa doopity-dink

If you like creamy tropical drinks.

 

What do you get when your oil smells sweet?

Like buttered popcorn and tropical heat?

What are you at wearing coconut rum?

Spicy on drydown; pineapple's succumb.

 

Upa Upa doopity-dah

If you like spiced drinks then this will go far

You'll wear it in happiness too,

Throw for Upa Upa lasts a while too!

[yeahbutnobut]

Upa Upa

 

In the imp: spicy rum, a scent more reminiscent of winter festivities than summer.

Wet on skin: cinnamon rum swirled into a pina colada!

Dry on skin: mmm, this is delicious! This reminds me of Egg Nog, but with a more summery feel. The pina colada scent is definitely there, but the rum is the strongest note. It’s a heavy, warm, spicy rum, but not a butter rum. There is a caramelised scent to it though, and the vanilla sweetens it even more. I smell coconut (drier than the Tiki King and Queen coconut) and a tiny hint of pineapple.

After a while: this is really good. The rum here is so good-cinnamon spiced and warm and almost reminiscent of Christmas. Actually, this smells like a tropical Christmas to me, warm rum, festive spices with a splash of pineapple and coconut. The coconut is very nutty and husky, like coconut shreds, like the coconut in Goblin.

Eventually this becomes all sweet coconut…no more pineapple and rum. Lots of sweet, sweet foody vanilla all over grated coconut. It smells like those toasted coconut sweets, and suntan lotion. Not bad, but I preferred the spicy rum and pineapple scent I got at the start.

Verdict: this is such a fun scent! It’s pina colada, but it’s also much more than that. The rum is spiced, which makes it more interesting. I smell cinnamon in here, and mixed with rum it gives an almost festive feel to the whole scent, sort of like a ‘Christmas in the southern hemisphere’ scent. then there’s the pineapple, which is perfect, doesn’t go sour/fake like the one in Rangoon Riptide. The coconut smells of coconut milk (which then turns to coconut shavings), and the vanilla sweetens it all. I do prefer the first hour of wear when it’s all spicy, the drydown is a nice vanilla coconut but lacks the cinnamon warmth before. But I love it enough to have got myself a partial bottle-this will smell equally lovely in both summer and winter.

Emoticon rating:

Is it a keeper? I have a half-bottle.

If you like this, try: Egg Nog, The Star, Goblin, Elegba, Te Po, Red Lantern, Grog

Edited June 5, 2008 by yeahbutnobut

[DARKBEAUTY28]

Dark and spicy is definitely what I get from this scent. I smell a black coconut note, or at least something "woody". I don't get much pineapple, at least I don't get a sharp, juicy pineapple note. I get the Christmas feel to it as well. Maybe this is like a visit to the islands during Christmas time!

[filigree_shadow]

I knew I was going to like this as soon as I opened the imp. It smells wonderful to me. I can't really tell there's any rum in it, but I can smell the spices. The pineapple is pretty understated, the coconut smells like a dry husky coconut rather than suntan lotion, and the vanilla is smooth and beautiful. I think the spices from the spiced rum are really what makes the scent work for me.

 

My only complaint is that it really isn't very strong on me at all. I had to put on oil twice because the first time I couldn't really smell it very well. But it seems to be lasting pretty long, so that's good.

 

It smells tropical but not overly tropical, just pretty and sweet and fun. I like it a lot.

[sprocket21]

In the imp: Creamy rummy pineapple

 

This smells quite similar to Rangoon Riptide to me, if only because I swear that the rum in Rangoon Riptide is coconut rum. Upa Upa is a bit creamier, and it borrowed a few of the spices from Te Po. The pineapple is also very subdued here - it definitely takes a backseat to the spicy coconut. This is the PERFECT scent to wear to the beach, but I don't see myself wearing it too much outside of that.

[QueenFae]

Wow!! Fantastic smelling, what a wonderful surprise!

 

This is very spicy and gourmand. A gorgeous, syrupy spiced rum slathered with vanilla and coconut with the barest hint of the fruity pineapple. I absolutely love this!! I didn't expect it to smell quite so "ginger bread- y," but I'm really glad it does. This is very strong upon application and I have a feeling it will last all day with very little fading. Nice and strong, just like I like 'em!

 

Gorgeous, wonderful, my favorite of the Atomic Luau.

[myth]

My current favorite drink is called "Pineapple Upside-down Cake." It is vanilla vodka, coconut rum, and pineapple juice. This is the scent version of that drink. I love it!

 

I bought a bottle untested, knowing that it was either going to be made of very much fail, or made of incredible win. WIN! The combination of all these things is astoundingly delicious.

 

I was afraid this might come on too fruity, but it doesn't; this is indeed a syrupy, sugar-carmelised pineapple, rather than a bright fruit.

 

There was a chance the vanilla would go plastic, but it doesn't; this is a dark vanilla, like sniffing real vanilla extract from the bottle.

 

There was also a chance the coconut would go plastic, but it didn't; it's got that kind of woody, almost sandalwood-like edge that makes me wonder if it isn't perhaps black coconut.

 

I worried that the rum would be too strong and alcoholic, but it isn't; this isn't the smell of spiced rum, it's the suggestion of it. Oftentimes booze blends are so boozy I'd be afraid to drive while wearing them, but I do not sniff this and smell alcohol. I just smell all the yummy things that could be in a really good tropical drink. The stealth kind of drink, where you don't taste or smell alcohol at all, you just get blitzed. Like my Pineapple Upside-down Cake.

 

Elegba came out super boozy and turned into a fakey plastic vanilla-coconut. This instead acts like Death Adder does, in that is a darker, sexy kind of scent. It is a tropical drink for the midnight liaison, not the noonday lounge on the beach.

 

It faded pretty quickly the first few times I wore it, right after I got it. [so much so that I panicked and got a backup bottle. ] I wore it this past weekend, however, and it seemed to last longer. I *did* put it in my hair this time, and I think that really made the difference. I caught a whiff of it the next morning as I got up and began moving around!

 

This is pretty much a perfect summer scent for me; I adore it.

[gchris]

In Vial: wow! buttery rum

 

Wet: light and buttery, getting a hint of pineapple now. Spice is coming on strong.

 

Dry: This fades quickly to a ginger spiced scent.

[Schmoozy]

First Sniff: Heavy, buttery vanilla and coconut rum.

 

On skin: It feels dark and spicy. Buttery vanilla rum with coconut and a smidge of pineapple. On me it feels more wintery than a tropical tiki bar drink.

 

Drydown: The rum fades fast and I am left with a vanilla coconut. I can barely detect the pineapple.

 

Final thoughts: I was hoping the pineapple would be more prevalent. It really feels heavy and spicy. Great throw, and lasts quite awhile on my skin.

[theal8r]

earthy, green coconut. *yum*

 

In the imp it was... weird. green, like celery, with rum. But on -- oh, it is heavenly.

 

This is walking on a windswept tropical beach with a tiki drink in your hand. oh yes.

[anguissette]

It kind of smelled like coconut oil (read: the suntan kind) on me. Maybe I should've given it longer to develop but I decided to give it to someone who wants to give it a try. Hopefully they'll get all the potential complexity out of this blend.

 

Note: My decision may have been biased by the funny face my boyfriend made when he sniffed this one on me.

[Electric Maenad]

Mmm... pina colada. This is in the same family of scents as Elegba and Red Lantern, but much sweeter. Elegba smells like Ernest Hemingway in a Havana bar, smoking a pipe and drinking dark rum on the rocks. Red Lantern is a Chinese courtesan eating coconut bonbons on a satin chaise lounge while her client slowly smokes himself into a narcotic stupor.

 

Upa Upa is Gidget, drinking the biggest, girliest pina colada ever, while her big, lovable lunk of a surfer boyfriend rubs suntan oil on her back.

 

A keeper, but I suspect I'll only be wearing this during the summer. Or at beach-themed parties. It's definitely a party scent.

[Emma2403]

Rum (mmm, nice!), coconut (even better) and a touch of... burnt plastic. I don't know where it comes from, it's usually the sugar or caramel notes ending this way...

 

It makes me sad because the coconut is lovely.

 

When it dries down, the burnt plastic disappears, the rum as well, and I'm left with a lovely wave of coconut.