Mictecacihuatl

[Invidiana]

Copal, precious woods, South American spices, agave nectar, cigar tobacco, and roses.

An eerily regal concoction fit for a queen of the dead. For anyone afraid of roses, they're barely a whisper in the background. It's really the woods and spices that take the reins here and provide for an intoxicating, mysterious blend. The agave nectar adds just the right amount of sweetness without making this too foody--because while I love foody scents, I just don't think too much foodiness would work here--and the cigar tobacco adds the final beguilidng touch by shrouding everything in smoke. I could swear there is something reminscent of the tang of blood in the background... Edited December 7, 2009 by Shollin

[SophieCedar]

Strange.. in imp and wet I can detect roses more than anything. The wood and spices don't dominate as much and I thought they would? I guess my skin amps rose.

 

Stays pretty true from imp to drydown. there's a green to yellow spice backing the rose and a red lacquered wood similar to Red Queen (no lollipop sweetness however..) Not bad!

[impolight]

:::MICHTECACIHUATL:::

 

Oh, wow... From the bottle, Michtecacihuatl is like getting thumped upside the brain with a Poison-Arrow Frog Blowdart; gurgling, smiling, and laughing at all the silly faces that the Bromelaids are making...

The first impression is that of roasted Cacao beans, Vanilla Orchid, something that is either a clay or a dense wood, and Copal... The South American vibe is certainly there!

The craziness with which some of these emotives are achieved will never cease to amaze and impress...

On the skin, Michtecacihuatl (surprise!) morphs... And does a really splendid job with it, mind! From the moment that it makes contact there is this mysterious, fleeting shockwave... Is that Tobacco Flower? Long time, no Tobacco Flower! Is there Rum in this too? There is also something in Michtecacihuatl that has a very, "Steely" quality to it; there isn't quite the tang that there is in the Lab's Copper note. The Iron that can be found in other fragrances is also distinctively different. This is much more of an association with Steel or, possibly, Chrome. Good times!

But wait... The Morph is on the move yet again! A decent way to allegorically represent this would be like watching a peacock, waiting to see its display of tail-feathers... Only to have it turn into an archeopteryx and carry off your sandwich. Gotta catch up!

My, how the Copal in Michtecacihuatl AMPS!!! Trying to explain the level in which this happens would be like trying to slow a runaway lorry with a butterfly net... Indeed, brave, yet entirely ineffectual.

There is also something infuriatingly familiar about Michtecacihuatl. The word infuriatingly is used here because it is a definitive note... Perhaps from a men's fragrance that was popular in the 1980's or 1990's? It is RIGHT THERE, a hair's breadth from recognition...

Michtecacihuatl is a Top-of-the-line, high-caliber fragrance! A quick peek at the notes revealed that there was Tobacco in this (but no flower), no Chocolate OR Vanilla ( those were "spices"), and that the drinkable sweetness came, in all probability, from the Roses and the Agave Nectar listed.

Mihtecacihuatl is inredible! This bottle was found in a swap. Had 10 ml's of this been currently available, then 2 of them would be included in the next order.

Michtecacihuatl is a superior fragrance for Him.

Drop Dead Gorgeous, with a rocket-fueled throw and bionic staying power...

Smokin' hot!

Prepare to be riveted!

5.5 out of 5, no sweat.

[Shollin]

First sniff: This is really, really nice. A light fruity sweetness over a deeper core of something I can’t quite pin down.

 

Wearing: It’s a gorgeous pale sticky honey-sweet that lasts all day long without ever being cloying. Very much love.

[Vega]

In imp: Uh-oh, I smell something cloyingly sweet and decaying. Similar to what I found in Anubis, except Mictecacihuatl has a bit of a cold, herbal edge.

 

On skin: Yike, this is decay-in-an-imp. Something in common between Anubis and Mictecacihuatl (possibly storax, balsam, copal, or a combo of those) is creating this smell of wet putrefaction. Mictecacihuatl is somewhat different -- the "decay" is a bit lighter, and underneath it I can detect something medicinal and herbal. But I didn't stick around to find out what: this had to be washed off.

 

Verdict: Like Anubis, Mictecacihuatl is the goddess of death and the underworld; like him, she smells of decay and is unwearable. Whatever the common note is, I have to avoid it at all costs. (UPDATE: The culprit turned out to be honey, which is now one of my death notes.)

Edited March 12, 2012 by Vega

[Dharklady]

In bottle: agave nectar, sweet resin and woods.

Wet: This is a well blended mix. The agave note is definitely adding a warm sweetness and the resin, spice, and woods blend seamlessly. The rose is noticeable but appears to be behaving itself for a change, and it’s not so distinctive I can’t stand it.

Dry: I’m in love. This is just a super sexy blend. The resin/spice/wood is just gorgeously blended. There is a light, lasting sweetness that I have been looking for from the honeys and been failing to find, with an earthy spiciness that is super appealing. The rose adds a feminine flair without demanding too much attention and plays well with the nectar.

Notes: I’ll admit I was super worried about the rose in this. All of the rest of the notes sound amazing, but rose has been a death note for me in too many blends to not see it in a list and feel a touch of trepidation. Nice to know my worry was unfounded this once!

 

[DifferentDances]

Bottle: I'm guessing the sweet, almost resiny-y note I'm getting is the copal and/or the spices.

Wet: Sweet and mildly spicy throw, but nothing up close.

Drydown: Something reminds me of dragon's blood and milk in here.

Dry: That same dragon's blood scent, only fainter. Not a fan of dragon's blood, sadly.

 

Would I ever wear this? No.

 

My rating: 1/5

[voodoobaby]

I really can't break this down note-by-note. All I really can say is that it's very beautiful, very deep and kind of earthy. This is a gorgeous resin/wood/floral scent with a heavy emphasis on copal and rose, but I get a lot of spice as well.

 

Basically, if you like deep resin or wood scent but are looking for something fairly sweet, then this is definitely one to try. So gorgeous.

[Teaotter]

I was really hoping that the copal and tobacco -- both of which usually love me -- would carry this. Unfortunately, rose loves me more.

 

Wet: Floral. Uh-oh. But I can't really smell roses, per se --

 

Drydown: Whoops, here come the roses.

 

Dry: Rose rose and more rose. This ends up as a pleasantly spicy rose for the twenty minutes before the rose turns into old lady soap. Oh, rose, why do you have to hate me so?!?

[donnatron]

Bottle: wut? It smells like the exposition in a crappy young adult novel. As in: it is familiar and I both know and don't know this scent and the resulting review will be a journey of discovery. However, unlike a crappy young adult novel, this is not a heavy handed metaphor for puberty, merely a perfume review. I cannot distinguish a single note in this blend. It smells sweet and borderline alcoholic and herbal and a little smoky. I smell it and I think about going to a specific library in my city. It doesn't smell like that library and I don't think about being in the library. I think about the walk from the parking lot to the library. The hell?

 

Wet: Okay. Copal. Tobacco. Rose. I smell these. I know these. I nuzzle these things with my brain because I recognize and understand them. This perfume is messing with my mind, yo. It has an uncanny ability to just pull up random occurrences from my life and be like, "Remember this happened?" and I'm like, "Yeah. How random. Why am I thinking about playing hide and seek in my parents' basement while listening to "The Sunscreen Song" on Power 107? WTF? WTF, MAN?"

 

Dry: This is an absolutely drop dead gorgeous perfume. The copal is the dominant note with a rosy/wood backdrop and then a spicy honey which I would assume is the agave combined with the spices. The tobacco is a sort of haze over the whole thing. It's beautiful and sexy and just a wonderful scent overall. It also... well, I'll cover this in the overall.

 

Throw: Strong.

 

Overall: I love this scent. It makes me feel beautiful and sexy and glamourous and fantastic. But whenever I wear it I have these really weird flashbacks to my childhood. I have no freaking clue why because it does not remind me of anything I have ever smelled before. But whenever I wear it just little things will come into my brain that I haven't thought about in years. It's not unpleasant, it's just kind of weird. I don't think anyone is aching to relive their junior high years but somehow every time I put this on I'll find myself dredging up a memory that will make me smile or cringe depending on the memory. It's absolutely fascinating because my brain does not discriminate and wearing this has drudged up some really hilarious memories as well as some absolutely humiliating ones. It's something of a shame because I feel so confident and wonderful when I wear this but I also cannot share it with anyone else because the memories and the experiences dredged up there are so personal it's something I reserve only for myself. I tried this on this evening because I forgot why I never wear it. This is why. It's a bedtime blend for when I'm feeling introspective.

[grrrlennyl]

Mictecacihuatl

 

On: Wow. This is really interesting. Spicy woods and definitely some roses. Nice.

Half an hour later: Woods, tobacco, and spice.

2 hours in: Dusty woods.

5 hours later: Tobacco and woods.

Overall: This isn't really my cup of tea.

[MiasmaResonance]

In the bottle I smell earthy rose.

On I smell a lot of woods..

After a little bit, it's spicy woods with a bare hint of rose and maybe some tobacco.

Very interesting.

[Poenari]

I just retested my original 2008 decant. My notes from the initial skin-test say "mild, dry floral, slight rose." But today, well this has aged very well! It completely evokes the South American vibe. I get the copal, agave, and the South American spices with barely a hint of non-soapy rose. This is a pleasant surprise!

[biocarolyn]

This is the 2008 version. I was gifted this bottle by an incredible forumite, and it is every bit as delicious as I hoped it would be. I get the copal on first sniff, recognizable from Giant Vulva. This is a note I'm really enjoying in all the blends I've sniffed. Anyway, after copal I get a watery, honey-like smell that I imagine is the agave nectar. (I'm glad it doesn't smell like tequila) then the roses and tobacco are fighting with each other, which has the benefit of keeping them in check and smoothly blended. I don't really notice other spices or woods specifically, but I do get something a little smoky in there. This is a really unique blend and I love it a lot. I see this getting plenty of wear during the fall.

[rivercitylizzy]

Based on the reviews and several of the notes (rose, woods, spices) I thought this would be a fine "unsniffed" purchase, particularly with all the glowing reviews. So I blithely added this lady to my Weenie cart and waited anxiously for her arrival. When she and her companions arrived, I eagerly opened the door for her, gave her pride of place, and offered up my adoration.

 

Which she at first disdained. And then...well, you'll see.

 

First Sniff in Bottle: Straight up tobacco--wet tobacco. Chewed tobacco. With that nauseating sweet edge that calls to mind the early days of my dog's adoption, when he peed on absolutely EVERYTHING (in particular, the back of our couch). This does not bode well, Mictecacihuatl is frowning at me I decided to let her rest--maybe she is overtaxed by her journey and will be more beneficent after a day or two?

 

In the Bottle (2 days later): Same as the first. With some trepidation, I offer her my wrist anyway.

 

Wet: What the--? She PEED on me!! (is it blasphemous to whack a goddess with a newspaper?) To avoid being smited, I consent (grudgingly) to not scrub her off immediately and manage a faint but very abashed smile.

 

Dry: I smell like I've been drowned in Sue Bee (uber-processed & cooked to death) Clover Honey mixed with tobacco juice. As I'm meeting my father this morning for breakfast and then will be in a car with him for a quick trip up the hill for some wine tasting, I CANNOT CONTINUE TO SMELL LIKE THIS!! I lower my head and inform the Mistress of Bones that it is my shame but her stay in my home will be short. I hope to find her a more gracious and loving host...and that she will not cling to me when I wash my wrist ;P

[b00cat]

I tried this last today after slathering on all my decants earlier. In the vial it was syrupy sweet so I wasn't ready to try it this morning. On my skin it smells like golden happiness in a bottle (or sun in a decant in this case). Mostly I get the copal and agave and leaves. I don't get any tobacco or rose.

 

Overall, this scent makes me very happy. It's very light and different from my usual dark patchouli scents so it's odd that I love it this much. I will give it another test run tomorrow and see how I feel. Overall this is just gorgeous light in a bottle though

[WidgetAlley]

Mine is the 2008.

 

Imp: Strong tobacco, I think, and golden resinous copal, and a lovely sweetness that reminds me of honey but must the agave nectar. I don't detect any florals at this stage. Mostly it's woody, resinous tobacco.

 

Wet: Almost immediately a sweet candied rose takes the fore, blending beautifully with the dark dry wood and golden copal. The agave nectar is indeed very agave nectarish-- I have a bottle in my sweeteners cabinet that smells just like this! The tobacco dies, thank goodness, to a faint brown richness. The end result is a gorgeous, sweetly spiced incensey floral that doesn't run to soap or powder on me.

 

Dry: This dries down to a beautiful transparent gold scent full of roses and honey, and it reminds me of nothing so much as a more exotic Katrina Van Tassel in its combo of sweet-honey and roses. But where Kat van T is very innocent and pretty and tempting, Mictecacihuatl is much more sophisticated and grown up. I really like this, and I didn't particularly expect to. Damn, them complex florals surprise me every time! I'm not sure it's bottle-worthy, more testing required before that decision, but I'll really enjoy my imp.

[Incendiare]

2011: This immediately elicited a nose-wrinkling reaction from me. I do however appreciate the spicy touch this has. In the vial, I am immediately hit with the deep earthiness, but the spiciness quickly follows with each whiff, like an after effect. After about ten minutes, the woods are definitely more pronounced, but I am surprisingly getting no rose from this, which my skin usually amps. It's a little too earthy for my liking.

[PixieSkull]

If it has copal, I'm there. Add cigar tobacco and roses with sweet spices and dry woods, it's right up my alley. Without the florals, it rounds out my smoky spice collection. I wanted it to have the sweetness of copal with the dry woods and rose of Seance and a little bit of spice like bitter cumin to bring that darkness underneath.

 

Bottle: Sweet resin and lots of spices, just like my old friend copal

Wet: Okay, this is interesting... the spices are swirling around, trying to decide which wants to be dominant. The cigar tobacco is pre-smoking and humid and delicious with that little bit of greenness from the rose.

Dry: There are two stages of dry for me. The early dry stage is smoky-sweet with the dryness of the wood and spices predominant. The later dry stage is creamy (copal, you devilish beast!) with greenness and cigar tobacco with a solid smokiness. Less swirling, more constant.

 

Overall: Irresistable by the end, despite a lot of indecision in the first 30 minutes with all the swirling. A creamy smoke with enough sweetness to overpower the dry woods and herbs. I need to test this a few dozen times more before deciding.

 

ETA: Yes, I like this. A sweet, smokey scent with the faintest floral and the tobacco... I get all of this. The agave combines with the tobacco for me in a separate spot than the sweet smoke of the copal. Better than a bakery scent for me.

Edited March 6, 2012 by PixieSkull

[Ghost of a Rose]

My imp is a decant from schackjj, The Goddess of Decanters (to borrow a quote from another participant in our decant circle.)

 

In the imp: Oil is a bright orangey amber. The scent is sweet, with spices and copal.

 

On me, wet: On me, it's even sweeter. The strongest note is an acidic tang that seems almost fruity, like some kind of citrus - but not anything I recognize. I can pick out a breath of florals that isn't specifically rose. The tobacco and resin are there, but just as the faintest of undertones to warm up the scent. I don't notice any wood so far.

 

After 10 minutes: The rose is now a definite and stronger presence, running a close second to the fruity note. That's puzzling me, since no fruits are listed in the description. (Agave nectar doesn't count, since it doesn't smell fruity - I don't even know if it comes from the fruit of the plant. I use it in place of sugar as a sweetener for cold drinks because it dissolves easily, but like sugar, it adds no flavor or scent of its own.) And there's almost a jasmine-type note to the florals. But it's gentle, without the sharpness or soapiness usually associated with jasmine.

 

After 20 minutes: Both the tangy-ness and most of the spices are gone. Now it's mostly florals (again, not identifiably rose but closer to jasmine. The actual rose note only lasted for about 10 minutes and even then was rather subtle.) There's still some of that mysterious fruitiness which has now turned rather artificial and plastic-y. I can barely smell a bit of the resiny copal in the background.

 

After 30 minutes: Same as above. I do notice that when sniffed from a few inches away instead of right up close, I can still smell the spices and the floral note is a bit rosier. But there, too, it has an aspect reminiscent of super-sweet Strawberry-Shortcake-doll.

 

After 45 minutes: The fruitiness is fading, and taking the artificial/plastic-y note with it. That allows the rose and spices to come out more, and I'm liking the scent better.

 

After 1 hour: Much the same as above - mostly spices, with a bit of rose. A subtle backdrop of tobacco is supporting them and warming up the overall scent. Clearly there are other notes present, adding interest and nuance; but my nose isn't sophisticated enough to specifically identify them.

 

After 2 1/2 hours: The scent is pretty faint, and is mostly spice, with something sweet and unidentifiable in the background.

 

After 3 1/2 hours: There is still some fragrance left, now primarily tobacco with some clove, warmer and more beautiful than ever.

 

After 12 hours: Wow, I can still smell this. It is soft, but still clearly tobacco and spice.

 

Verdict: This might not be perfect, but it's still a 5-star fragrance in my book. And very long-lasting, as well. I must have a full bottle!

[ami226]

2011 version:

 

On the skin: Spicy with a bit of sweetness! I like it! It does become a bit... acidic after awhile. Kinda woodsy too.

 

-ETA-

Hmmmm, this smells a little off to me nowadays. The rose isn't blending quite as well with the other notes and is starting to smell a little rotten on my skin. The rest of the notes are lovely, but the rose just isn't working for me anymore.

Edited August 26, 2012 by Catseyes

[thekittenkat]

Note: this review is for the 2011 version.

 

In the bottle: Gorgeous! Roses, dark and lovely, dipped in copal and agave, then rolled in wood chips and tobacco.

 

Wet: Suddenly, it's mostly cigar tobacco, but some rose and copal hovering nearby.

 

The dry-down: Thank goodness all the other notes (with the exception of the spices) return to temper the tobacco. It's now more like what I sniffed in the bottle. Still, I might put it in the scent locket when I want a stronger rose note.

[sabrebabe]

This, I absolutely adore! Now I have to find someone willing to part with a whole bottle of it!

 

In the bottle: Smells like a very mellow version of a high-end perfume. No hard biting notes to scald the nose hairs (like the ones in the store do). Smells very balanced, can’t pick out any one note over another. If I focus, I can just barely pull out a rose scent.

Wet: Very delicate, I can smell fresh flowers. Not too sweet, nor too “floral”. The spices are keeping them grounded without overpowering them. Smells like a floral display at a funeral. More and more rose coming out as it dries.

Dry: More old world roses coming out, softly. Not heavy. Should I be looking for vampires? Ah, there’s the copal and tobacco! And the woods! This is very lovely, smells like something my Grandma Chavez wore. Very elegant and ladylike.

Much later: Roses, roses and more powdery roses. Light, not overpowering and the most ladylike perfume I’d ever dare to wear. BUY A BOTTLE!

[84trillion]

I've had a low partial bottle of this since right after the Weenies came out last year. I suppose I never skin-tested it until yesterday, when I discovered that I LOVE this scent!

 

On my skin, it's a very sweet floral that keeps making me huff my wrists. I can't exactly pick out the notes because they blend so beautifully. It definitely has staying power, too! Easily an 8/10 in my book.

[milo]

This is the '11 version. I bought a bottle of this back in 08, as the notes sounded yummy, and I was just getting into bpal. It turned out far to sharp, woody and over aggressive, the rose was shrill, and it borderline masculine. This sniffy is rather lovely, though I'm not really a rose girl, just pleasantly surprised. That being said, I'm not getting much in the way of woods or copal in this version, just a soft, sweet rose. Maybe later the other notes will come out. I don't like it enough for a bottle, but I'm glad I got the chance to try it, as it does show what how different vintages are, and what age can do.