Machu Picchu

[theseagrows]

Sweet tropical fruits burst through deep, wet rainforest boughs, enormous steamy blossoms, over thin mountaintop breezes, mingled with the soft, rich golden scent of Peruvian amber.

this is very tropical and rainforesty and wet. it's sweeter than i normally like, but it's sort of grown on me, maybe due to the amber, because i LOVE amber and it really adds a nice base to this. i think maybe i'll keep my imp of this and wear it in the summer.

[Bagfish]

A lovely fruity wet scent, Macu Piccu is very fresh and invigorating. I think people who like Mag Mell/Shanghai/Cheshie Cat will probably like this one as it has a similar feel to it, although the amber gives it a very pleasant grounding. Very nice

[Trish]

I got this as a frimp from the lab and it's definitely not something I would have ordered. Steamy blossoms, wet rainforest and breezes are not things that attract me in the least. Not to mention that problem I usually have with amber... However the day after I got it I saw a thing on Machu Picchu on TV so I rather want to like it. And I do like fruits.

 

In the imp: Sweet, fruity, juicy with florals underneath.

 

Wet: It softens a bit immediately, and then there's something green and wet. Not sharp green but very juicy. Like aloe or something.

 

Drydown: Florals are exploding, big fat wet florals. But the fruitiness is keeping them in check thankfully. It's quite warm, and steamy is definitely an apt description.

 

Dry: Is that passionfruit? There's a sweet fruity note in this that I am really enjoying a lot, and is combining with the florals nicely. It's got a bit of throw too, not strong but enough for me to catch wafts of it. It's not as wet now either, like the sun is burning off the morning dew. So far there's no powder, although I can sense the amber's golden resin.

 

40 minutes: Powder, albeit powder with a fruity and floral edge to it.

 

 

I liked this far more than I thought I would, but alas the amber got me again. Off to the swap box.

[modernsaints]

Couldn't pinpoint one specific note in this - there's a soft, almost metallic undertone that I think is the fruit, but other than that, I have no idea. Everything just blurs together into a lovely soft, floral-y... thing. It stays close to the skin, and the amber gives it that skin-scent undertone, but the strongest scent is really just a blend. Really like it.

[grimms_creed]

I received this imp as a freebie in an order from the lab. It wasn't something I would have selected for myself, but when I opened the imp, I realized that it should have been! My first impressions upon putting it one were of something green and wet and tropical. Something sipped in a hamock on the hottest night of the year, possibly with a small paper umbrella in it. Something wet and juicy and oh so delicious. I was in heaven!

 

Once dry, however, it turned rather soapy. I will have to try it again, because I will be heartbroken if it doesn't work on me at all! Otherwise, this may be the push I needed to invest in a scent locket.

[luna65]

Thanks to djuna for the imp.

 

Imp: Very wet and perfume-y. Rich and intense.

 

Skin: Mostly fruit and amber, I get that "golden" impression.

 

Drydown: Turns floral, with that same sense of perfume, which I imagine is the amber at work. It's a little heavy for me, but I think the elements work very well together.

[euterpe414]

This is a really golden, sunny scent At first when it's wet it has a very damp jungle quality to it, but over time the amber comes out more and more and dominates the blend. Dry it's mainly fruit, amber and a touch of floral. I would love this one a lot more than I do if something in it weren't going a bit sharp to my nose. I don't know what element of the scent it is, but it's weighing it down a bit. I wish I could smell more of the damp jungle quality all the time...perhaps in the locket or an oil burner? Anyhow, it's quite sunny and warm, and those that loved Sol Invitus and Et Lux Fuit might really enjoy this.

[storme]

In the imp: ripe, slightly sharp, fruits and light green woods and damp lush florals.

 

On me, wet: wet, lush fruits and florals with an airy greenness behind it. It's a bit faint, though.

 

On me, dry: uh-oh, something in this went rotten on my skin. Dead fruit in misty forests, now.

 

Verdict: Pass, pass, pass.

[neuilly]

I can't figure out how to describe this at all!! There's a nice fresh green note that I really like but it's not the front note and the rest just leaves me baffled. There's something sweet in there and soemthing that's starting to give it a chemical pledge edge. I'm not sure what I was expecting but this was not it.

[Miseraya]

In the imp: Clean floral, greenish note. Not as thick as I was expecting! This is a sweet scent, but not as heady or lush as I was expecting. I think it must be those mountain top breezes thinning out the scent somewhat. I'm not getting the amber right now, mostly just a clean wet floral scent.

 

On the wrist: Instantly upon application the amber starts to come out, thickening the blend, but not so much that my initial impression is lost. Hmm, this smells like a long steamy bath. Some expensive bubble bath or bath salts wafting up scented steam....

 

Dry: This definitely goes all bath product on me. It still smells great, but it smells like expensive bath stuff. After awhile the amber takes over completely as amber is wont to do on my skin and I am left with an amber bubble bath smell. *shrug* Alas.

 

Overall: This starts out as a great wet and clean smell and slowly thickens into something else (the stuff used to get wet and clean). I never got any fruit notes, but that is quite possibly because the amber reacted with my skin and turned very heavy. I would classify this one as a floral and good for lovers of amber. Anyone who has problems with their skin amping amber might want to proceed with caution.

[LadyBug]

wet/rain/breezy smell with a little floral. Very pretty! I can see myself wearing this on a romantic date. All of the scents blend together and I can't pick out anything in specific but it's very nice! Don't think I would buy a whole bottle of this but maybe another imp. I think the website gives a perfect discription of the scent!

[aquazoo]

Floral, with a bit of woodsy/piney wafting through. Then sometimes I get a whiff of hairspray, but it morphs back into floral. It’s changing a lot, which is fun.

[sheridankm]

Macchu Picchu starts off as unripe bananas and juniper on me, which isn't anything I'd expect from the note description.... on the other hand, it's /wonderful/, faintly bitter and entirely fresh. To be honest, I wish it stayed that way, because the florals that come through once dry just aren't as original or interesting. It's a good scent, and the amber (thankfully) stays in the background, but it does get very sweet before fading away. I'm keeping it anyway, because the green notes definitely summon that "high, desolate mountain ruins" feeling.

[Browneyes]

Short review: Tropical femme fatale

 

In depth: This is one of the select few tropical BPALs that I like. First impression is : OMG mangos! and steamy waxy dark green leaves! It slowly becomes more heady and "thick" smelling as the oil dries and the heavy florals come out. The end result is a luscious, tropical scent - more sweet and floral heavy for a while, but after drying, that amazing initial blast of steamy green comes back. all in all, a great tropical oil to be used occasionally on balmy, sleepless nights

Edited September 2, 2007 by Browneyes

[Rouge]

This imp was a lovely freebie from the very generous Lab. :-)

 

In the vial - Sweet, fresh and very green. It smells just like a forest full of tropical flowers after a violent rainstorm, with water dripping off the leaves and the pulpy, rich fruits.

 

Wet on the skin - On my skin this is predominantly a green scent, and it's an incredibly lively one - it smells like leaves which haave just broken under the weight of water and are oozing sap.

 

Next stages - As the blend begins to warm on the skin, it opens like a flower, allowing a sweet richness to join the green top notes. Zingy, bright citrus notes follow, along with lush, sweet florals.

 

Dry down - From time to time I smell a whiff of coconut but that's not on the note list, so that's slightly confusing! Over time the scent settles into a sweet and comforting blend that retains some of the fruit notes mentioned earlier. I shall be wearing this when I need to wake up at work!

 

Similar scents - It shres a certain juicy green quality with Tenochtitlan, and the bright citrus notes of Night Gaunt.

[MaidenGenevive]

Machu Picchu

 

Fresh, wet, fruity and clean. Very citrus, like orange and grapefruit mixed with a bouquet of flowers. Tangy and energizing, yet feminine. As it wears, it becomes soap like and almost powdery, and very perfumey.

 

[ 3 - Like ] This reminds me of something I could get from Bath and Body Works.

[mspixieears]

Definitely smells like a rainforest! With other things – the florals I detect are probably the steamy blossoms promised in the scent description. Throw is pretty short-lived. There is a touch of something fruity – that must be the sweet tropical fruits. As it dries one is left with the blossoms and fruits – no more of the rainforest note. This will be perfect for summertime, may have to retest it then. Half an hour later it has that candlewax sort of scent that I associate with peony. I wonder if this has peony in it? It smells exactly like Tristran when that has dried down too.

[fireflower]

Ohhh, this is so pretty. I can't even give it a proper review like I normally would because I'm too into the scent more than writing about it. I keep sniffing it. It's floral without being too strong or headache-inducing, and it's being grounded by the amber. I can actually smell the breezes the description speaks of bringing the scent of all the flowers to my nose. And I'm picturing waterfalls. I really do like this. And what's awesome is that it was a frimp from the lab with my order I just got today, and I don't even have it on my ginormous wishlist! If it wasn't for the lab, I might not have discovered this. I'm thinkin' this is big bottle worthy.

[stasha]

In the imp this is like taking a big bite out of a juicy mango! Even though mangoes are my favorite fruit I never thought to seek out that note and man, I know what will be on my upcoming wish lists!

 

Unfortunately my enthusiasm is short lived because on my skin all I smell is smoke and ozone. It's a woodsy smoke which I hate and ozone is in my top five notes. Oh well, not all was lost because now I have a new search for the holy grail of mango and tropical fruit scents!!

[ravenfeathers]

in the bottle sweet and sticky, but with an "off" smell like rotten fruit.

wet on skin machu picchu can't decide weather to be juicy and sweet or dry and... dry. there's a bitterness that speaks of green aloe alongside way, way, way too sweet fruits and a floral element that just about blows my hair back with its strength.

dry on skin gah, i hate to say this about any BPAL, but this smells, alas, like old lady. it stays firmly in the zone of middle notes and is far too sweet and generic for my taste. i guess i should just give up on amber.

[gchris]

In Vial: very sweet and fruity

 

Wet: Still sweet, a little green and I smell bananas. There is a balance of fruity-ness mixed with the floral. Not just fruity and floral but the green scent incorporates nicely balancing the other sweeter notes.

 

Drydown: Very sweet and citrusy. I don't smell much green any longer or banana, but I do smell the hint of lemon.

 

Evoking Color: light green

[tehriaz]

...

 

this is fanTASTIC.

 

in the imp: it smells like rain.. marvelous.

 

wet: it goes on slightly citrusy. then it goes through a phase that ALMOST borders on cleaning product, but doesn't quite make it there. and then...

 

it turns into spring. no, seriously. a foggy spring morning, with new grass and new leaves and some exotic flowers in the distance wafting. it's not even a PERFUME smell in any way. it's just FRESH AIR coming off my skin.

 

dry: I put some on my neck and collarbone, and whenever I move... ... there's just ambient spring breezes.

 

this is incredible. I'm IMPRESSED. this is the first bpal in about 30 or 40 that I'm this taken with. I honestly thought my chemistry and personal tastes were too different from everyone else's to find one I genuinely liked.

 

this will be my first bottle purchase. WOW.

 

on a scale of 1-5... this ranks.. 15. I'm so excited to have found something this fresh and uplifting the only thing keeping it from being INFINITY is that it doesn't last terribly long on me...

 

I still can't believe there's a warm damp spring day wafting from my skin, under my robe...

[seashell]

Lovely scent but I could barely smell it, even as I was applying!

 

And in 5 minutes time, I had to put my nose ON my wrist to get anything. Hmmmm

 

Light and unobtrusive scents can be great...but undetectable? Nah.

I'm sure it's just me

[Kimbernunk]

Interesting. Started out like a bunch of fruits but it’s mellowed quickly. This seems to be calming down to some sort of pale amber with something else added to make it a bit more perfume-y. It’s very close to the skin and hard to smell without getting right up to it. It mellows out a bit to be a soft, dusty, fruity amber, with a light throw but very pleasant scent. 7/10 or so. Nice.

[donnatron]

Imp: Unripe bananas and lilies.

 

Wet: I can't really detect the notes because I put this on and the scent practically bowls me over it's so strong. WHAT THE HELL, SKIN? Normally you eat scents like this for breakfast! So... I don't know why I'm scolding you.

 

Dry: This settles down pretty quickly. It goes to a soft floral/fruity scent on me with a dash of ozone (?? is that what the mountain breezes are?) and a soft, pretty amber. It's really complex without being overpowering or headshoppy.

 

Throw: After it calms down, it has really amazing throw. Normally even my hair would eat this scent, but I can put it on and still smell it hours later.

 

Overall: I have this weird reoccuring dream where I spend the entire dream attempting to make my way to Machu Picchu. So I have a weird sort of fondness for the place, because that dream is so weird and so funny to me. I received this as a frimp and was excited because although I am fond of Machu Picchu, it sounded like a scent that would never last on me. I'm so glad it does and really like the way it works with my skin. It's so lovely and unique and is really the sort of scent that makes a girl feel like summer.