Velvet Tiki

[amanderinorange]

Gold-washed frangipani, vanilla flower, vanilla bean, coconut, hibiscus, papaya, pineapple, bouganvilla, passion fruit, and three orchids.

I was really excited about this as it had pineapple, vanilla, papaya and coconut in it as well as so many beautiful flowers that just screamed summer to me. We really need some summer around here.

In the bottle: nothing really stands out here. It's a very subtle scent, but warm all the same.

On me: okay, still nothing standing out here, but that's okay. Maybe if I give it a bit something will appear.

5 minutes later: OMG! It's celery smell. Wha-? I had to wash this off of my arm because it really smelled like I had rubbed celery leaves all over my arms.

Overall: I really hope that this is just a matter of my skin chemistry or nose being off due to my cold. I'm going to let it sit for another two weeks or so and then try it again. Hopefully it'll become a deeper smell, but if not I have friends that might like it and whose skin works this scent.

[Leopard403]

I agree that this smells like pina colada... if your pina colada is the kind that comes bursting with flower and fruit garnishes on the top of your glass: The floral is just as present as the fruit.

 

The bad news? Absolutely no lasting power. You'll need to slather this one!

[milo]

To think I almost didn't even get a decant of this! Tropical florals have never worked on me, in fact Tiki Queen was a big miss. I love the fact that this is tropical without being overbearing, and I don't get any cloying floral at all. What I get is coconut and a touch of pineapple, but not like Rangoon Riptide, this is soft and inviting, while RR is IN YOUR FACE, I am HERE! After a bit, the pineapple fades and a delicious sweet floral comes out with warm vanilla. I can't really identify it, but as someone who doesn't like most florals, this is not heavy at all. A surprise win, a nice surprise win..I think I need a bottle..

[blu°]

Very fruity, more fruity than floral IMO.

 

I don't know why but I detect a (fortunately light) hint of brown sugar/caramel. Maybe that's a part of the golden-note?

 

This mingles with the coconut and vanilla to give a base to the juicy fruit and floral notes. Very pleasant, especially some time into drydown.

[Lamia]

This is FABU!

 

Light and bubbly, carbonated like Pink Moon or Golden Wave.

 

Regretfully, it's a quick fade, but while it lasted, it was a fun fizzy fruity floral.

 

 

[steffanina]

Velvet Tiki-

 

In Bottle: A hint of musk, and pineapple and something flowery. Gardenia? Tiare? Frangipani? Okay, I'm making it up now. (checks description) Oh, no, wait, I'm not! It is frangipani!

 

Wet: That musk hint, not so strong that it makes me want to take a shower (some musks hit me that way), but pleasantly balanced with pineapple and florals.

 

Dry: Mmmmm, this is lovely! The fruit rises; I can detect the passionfruit now and it's yummy. This ends as predominantly a floral but the hint of musk and fruit remain.

 

Overall: A great tropical scent.

[Iceblink]

Tropical goodness. Tiki began very candy-sweet on me and then went through a slightly odd powdery phase about 10 minutes in; once that passed it became more of a fruity-floral. I smell the vanilla and flowers. It's not as sweet as last year's Tiki Queen but absolutely beautiful and definitely puts you in mind of the tropics! Nice.

[catattack]

Imp: Caramel covered flowers

Wet: Coconut and pineapple. Very foody initially.

Drydown: Coconut and pineapple with some sweet tropical flowers. After about 30 minutes, the notes have melded into a fabulous tropical island scent.

Overall: This is a beautiful scent. The fruits keep the florals from taking over and becoming too heady, and the florals keep the fruits from being too foody. It does fade somewhat fast on me so I'll have to reapply often.

Milo said it a few posts above, but Tiki Queen didn't work for me either. And Rangoon Riptide was too "in your face". For me, Velvet Tiki is a wonderful blend of the best components of those 2 scents.

[ljaylh]

Sadly, I'm not getting any of the beautiful fruits and vanillas.. Velvet Tiki for me is like a strong boozey brown sugar/caramel. Not nice.

 

I am seriously considering the possibility that my skin is somehow conspiring against me

 

 

[edenssixthday]

Velvet Tiki - I really thought this would be an amazing scent, but sadly, it doesn't do a thing for me. I think the strongest note is the pineapple, followed closely by the orchid and passion fruit, but there's something in this (the papaya, I think) that just destroys the scent for me. I can't smell the vanilla, coconut, or frangipani at all. Without that dastardly papaya note (I can't stand fresh papaya, and apparently, I don't like it in perfume, either), I think this would have been an awesome floral-pineapple scent that would go crazy over, but sadly, it's just not going to work on me.

 

[pinkusmaximus]

I think another reviewer called this scent "tropical vacation in a bottle," and for me that's a dead-on description. It's impossible to pick out a single note, but I can tell they're all there, doing their part to make this smell like a trip to Hawaii.

 

I don't smell coconut, exactly, but there's a rich depth to the scent that tells me it's there. I couldn't have identified pineapple, specifically, but I can tell it's lending its sweetness to the blend. I would never call this floral, but upon sniffing it, I can tell there are flowers there to cut the sweetness of the other notes. It's a perfectly blended scent on my skin--not floral, not fruity, not foody, just warm and summery and cheerful. I love it and will enjoy wearing it this summer.

 

ETA: This had good staying power on me, and I found the throw to be fairly close. Another reason it's a good choice for warm weather--I don't think you'll overpower anyone by wearing this scent, but you (and anyone close to you) will still smell it. Perfect!

Edited May 2, 2009 by pinkusmaximus

[QueenFae]

There isn't one note in this I don't love. Seriously, this was custom blended for me! I ordered it unsniffed, and I of course love it!

 

I love frangipani, and it is such a lovely base for this blend. The other top notes are the pineapple and the coconut. It's a very fruity - smooth blend, but the florals are there too, hovering quietly underneath. I think the orchids are the stronger of the floral notes, but everything is so beautifully blended it's hard to pick out individual notes. On the dry down, the passion fruit starts to show itself a bit more. Ahhh, like a yummy tropical paradise! This is so sexy, my man will adore this on me. I am soo glad I got a 5 ml of this, LOVE IT!!!

[fairnymph]

Sniffed: Very pale yellow oil. Sweet, floral, and VERY tropical. A delicious juicy, fruity tartness from the pineapple, passion fruit, papaya and hibiscus. The thankfully light coconut gives a mild Pina Colada feel, and the vanilla flower, frangipani and orchids blend together beautifully.

 

Wet: Super sweet, sweeter and less tart on my skin - lots of vanilla bean, more coconut, CREAMY. A little cloying. Still some pineapple, but the other fruit is pretty much GONE. One of the orchids or maybe the bouganvilla, which I don't know by scent, is giving this a heady/heavy floral richness I don't like.

 

Dry: This is almost spicy in a woody way? Oddly dry, almost dusty - bouganvilla, I'm pretty sure - and lots of orchid, as well, are dominating. Frangipani is pretty much gone. The sweetness has faded a bit, and it's no longer as creamy, while the pineapple is tarter and I get some papaya again.

 

Summary: Dry, dusty wood and floral with sweet, almost candied pineapple and vanilla bean. A little bit of orchid, but a surprisingly simplistic (and disappointing) final drydown. Decent throw & longevity.

[Gin]

Velvet Tiki

 

What the hell? What's in this? Nothin' but gorgeous ingredients. What does it smell like on my skin? Generic men's cologne. I seriously cannot believe this went so wrong on me.

[zankoku_zen]

This one sure is tropical. I get alot of pineapple, coconut and big tropical flowers from this. There's something vaguely familiar about this blend, but I can't quite put my finger on it.

[grashopper8]

To me, the coconut in this scent smells like green coconut, which has a much different feel than sticky-sweet-suntan-lotion coconut. It's less pungent, and has a freshness at the edge of its creamy heart. It's AWESOME. I can't even say how much I love this note. Beautiful!

 

For the first hour or two, the pineapple and other tropical fruit notes give Velvet Tiki a fun twist - again, not too sweet or overbearing. It's subtle and yummeh.

 

I don't get much in the way of frangipani or vanilla. I can definitely smell the orchids though. They have a rose-like quality to them, but thankfully the usually-too-sharp-freshness that orchids can have is perfectly tempered by the creamy notes, making the orchids a perfect juxtaposition to keep the scent from being one-dimensional.

 

After the fragrance has been on for a few hours, I was able to single out a strong white musk note. I think.

 

Velvet Tiki is luscious and wonderful. The green coconut is especially divine and I totally love it! I got a compliment on my 'nice perfume' from a stranger today, and that was awesome : -) Thanks Beth!!

 

4.6 out of 5

 

[Hestia]

Meh. Slight pineapple juiciness, which quickly turns to a slightly sweet hairspray smell.

 

Not for me, but I am going to let it age a little and wear it again on a hot day and see what happens.

 

Had to use half my decant to smell it, too. boo hiss....

[devilot]

Had to google "frangipani" and it seems that it's a different name for plumeria. Nice! Plumeria = Hawaii to me and that's not usually a bad association, hehe.

 

In the vial: WHOA! Floralpineapplefloralwhoa! Yes, pretty much like that. And undoubtedly tropical.

 

Wet: Tangy. The only note listed that I think might come across as tangy would be pineapple and passion fruit. Sweetness of the pineapple. Now shifting into florals. Sort of sharp (odd because the first time I tested this there wasn't any sharpness, so I'm guessing the 90º+ heat is making things wonky).

 

Drydown: Ah, the edges are rounding out. Methinks the vanilla bean and coconut are adding a creamy smoothness to this blend. And the florals are peeking through now.

 

Verdict: Absolutely gorgeous! I'm not usually a big fan of fruity blends, but this has enough floral and other notes to blend with the right kind of fruits that I still really enjoy it! Or, more likely, it's the fact that the scent really does call to mind fantastic memories of Hawaii/ Bahamas. At any rate, I'm gonna need to get one bottle for sure. I'll retest on a cooler day and see if I'll want 2 bottles or not.

[thelaurenator]

On me this is sweet coconut milk and vanilla smothering tropical fruits (pineapple and passionfruit are what I smell most, no guava). I'm not getting any florals but I know they're there because they tame the sweetness and juiciness. This is a CREAMY, luscious scent. Instant fave!!

[gingiemay]

Wet in bottle - A yummy coconut, hibiscus, papaya, pineapple cocktail. It's what I hoped it would be, the perfect summer scent!

 

Wet on skin - A fun, fruity, tropical coconut explosion. It smells like summer cocktails on the beach in Maui.

 

Dry on skin - Sweet vanilla tropical fruits. Yummm!

[miri]

Velvet Tiki was quite floral when wet, but dried to a nice vanilla with very little throw (though it may have been overshadowed by the O CTV I had next to it)! The next day, it smelled almost like digestive biscuits, which was rather bizarre - but hey, it stuck around!

[spiresinthesnow]

I smell the pineapple first but its not too strong, then a sweet coconut vanilla and an array of tropical flowers. This is a very soft tropical scent, and fades too quickly on me.

[tinyvulture]

i love all things tiki, so i had to have a bottle of this. first off, i adore the label! at first sniff, it’s like i’m sipping a pina colada poolside at a polynesian resort. reminiscent of manila (minus the banana) or shango (sans melon note), it’s totally tropical and fruity. the coconut and pineapple stand out for me. there’s also a good dose of vanilla and florals. i think i will enjoy this year-round. it’s perfect for humid summer days and, come winter, i will apply it whenever i can’t take the cold anymore and need to close my eyes and imagine a tropical paradise.

[MeiLin]

In the imp: Very fresh, almost green, coconut. If you've actually gotten a green or very newly ripe coconut, you know the smell. It's not a sweet coconut at all. A quick whiff of all the exotic florals, and then that yummy tart hibiscus. It's funny, I hate hibiscus tea, but I love the fragrance note.

 

Wet: Huh! No coconut! Passionfruit, hibiscus, pineapple--oh wait, here comes the coconut. And then the florals, led by the vanilla flower/bean. (Sir walks by and says "Oooh, you're smelly." Is that good or bad? "I wouldn't kick you out of bed, but it's pretty heavy.")

 

Drydown: Warm vanilla, soft tropical flowers, a little tart hibiscus, fresh coconut base.

 

A few hours later: Nothin' left but vanilla and a smidgen of coconut. It's nice, actually, but I don't think it's bottle-worthy. I have other tropicals I like better.

[FallDaze]

~In the bottle - warm, tropical and fruity. I keep catching whiffs of different notes vying for the top. First it was vanilla, then it was the pineapple and papaya, then the coconut. It just keeps changing every sniff I take.

 

~ Wet - warm, tropical vanilla slathered fruits, delicious and golden. The scent itself reminds me of some shampoo I used to use though. Hopefully that association will fade though.

 

~Dry down- A very light tropical vanilla with a muted hint of bright fruits. It might be too much vanilla for me and not enough fruits. I'll give it a little longer and see if those fruits make a comeback.

 

~After some hours, it's practically nothing but sweet vanilla at this point. Probably going to try to rehome the bottle.