Dia de los Muertos

[Faerykin]

Dia De Los Muertos

 

... This is a Mexican paean to La Huesuda: dry, crackling leaves, the incense smoke of altars honoring Death and the Dead, funeral bouquets, the candies, chocolates, foods and tobacco of the ofrenda, amaranth, sweet cactus blossom and desert cereus.

 

Swiped across wrists and along collarbone.

 

Initial Wet (8-8:30am): Right out of the bottle, the chocolate is quite prominent. Then … there is something oddly familiar with this scent, but I can’t quite put my finger on it. It is candy-sweet and calming.

 

Initial Dry (8:30-10am): This is still that warm, pleasant, familiar scent. I still can’t place it, and I really enjoy it. I think it is a mixture of the funeral bouquets, candies and chocolates. The individual notes blend exquisitely – as is often common with BPAL, the Lab-Goddess is quite extraordinary.

 

Throughout the Day (10am-on): This is still a complex, oddly familiar scent. I don’t know if it’s the funeral bouquets (long story involving my grandfather who died before I was born), or the memories of celebrations in the Russian Orthodox Church Hall with food, incense and people smoking cigars. This scent evokes memories of both. I see myself surrounded by old family members, some who have passed and some who are still with us. I see us celebrating life. The scents of food, flowers, cigar smoke and incense wafting about.

 

This is a perfect scent for the time between Samhain and Yule, when the veil between the worlds is thinnest ... for it evokes many comforting memories of those who have passed.

 

As this slowly fades throughout the day, it becomes a light semi-floral – really difficult to explain. As I sniff my wrist, I am confronted with that oddly familiar scent, while the air around me is a bit lighter, a bit breezier. Still warm and ever-so-lovely.

[miss apple]

Dia de Los Muertos

 

In the bottle I can't pick out any single note, it's a bit sweet and a bit smokey.

 

On my skin, at first all I can smell is tobacco. After about half an hour something deeper comes through - maybe the copal? I'm not sure what that smells like but it reminds me of incense. I don't notice anything floral.....two hours later it's faded quite a bit and all I really get is sweet tobacco. I'm not quite sure I like this so I'll have to try it a few more times.

Edited November 11, 2004 by miss apple

[Lina]

I have worn this twice now and I don't get the foody scents.

 

Wet: Spicy, sweet, and dark.

 

After several hours: I want to know why this is a LE? This is heaven and hell juiced into a bottle! It is by far my favorite scent. I can't even begin to say what I am smelling but damn I smell good.

[any_old_actress]

FIRST SNIFF: brown sugar

 

WEARING IT: sweet brown sugar still with a hint of tobacco and dried leaves. after a couple of minutes florals emerge and really make the scent well-rounded and a lot less foody. it still remains creamy and rich though. the smell of incense completes the scent.

 

VERDICT: a really nice scent, one i'll be keeping

[lorajc]

Wow, did I have a difficult time getting my thoughts together for this one. The first time I wore it, I couldn't smell it at all, but a hostess at a restaurant commented how good I smelled. Go figure. I'm wearing this for the second time today and I can smell it, but it is very mild. When I first put it on, I smell a pastry-ish foody/slightly chocolate smell with some smokiness. I can't pick any of the single notes out of this. It is just a touch incensy and a touch sweet on me and smoky with a slight floralish tinge. It is quite yummy .....I keep thinking of chocolate eclairs like I ate when I visited Montreal and it's making me crave one of those badly!! I'm sure there is a Mexican pastry this probably smells like, but I'm clueless on Mexican pastries, thus the image of the french pastry in my head.

Edited November 15, 2004 by lorajc

[xoe]

Creamy sweet complex smoky floral. Heavy on the sweetness and complexity.

 

Dia De Los Muertos is not what I expected at all. And I got an unsolicited compliment at work. (Possibly due to my inevitable reducer cap difficult. I always end up pouring a huge drop down my arm. heh.)

 

I really can't get over how beautiful this is.

[sihaya09]

On me, this is sweet dark chocolate and tobacco, very dark, very velvety. This was not a scent that changed very much on me, though the candy and incense did make a brief appearance. This oil is almost a mood oil, mysterious and comforting at the same time. I'm glad I got to sample it.

[Caitfish]

In the bottle:

Dominant notes: Chocolate, tobacco, dusty florals.

Impressions: Oh, this is deliciously complex. I can detect a veritable pile of notes, and they are all fantastically blended. This is a gorgeous, delicious blend, I can already tell.

Initial On:

Dominant notes: Mmm, the same as above plus definite cactus blossom.

Impressions: Delicious, incredible. I really am at a loss for words. This smells like New Mexico in the fall, plus the most delicious chocolate, not overly sweet… chocolate cactus… mmmm….

After a while: Persistent notes: Chocolate, floral, cactus flower.

Notes that fade: Hard to say, this puppy is so complex.

Staying power? Very good. It stays very complex, never degenerates into a single note, though it is a unified blend.

Summary: Okay, this is my favorite perfume so far. I'm really failing in an accurate description here. Simply, I love it. I would give up all other perfumes for it. I will cry and cry and cry when my bottle is gone, and I hate myself for not ordering like 3 of these. This is New Mexico to me, absolutely. It's home in a bottle.

 

ETA: Please Beth, bring this back. I'll order a gallon of it.

[ChupaChup]

Dia de los Muertos is another chocolate-tobacco scent that hasn't really worked for me. I don't know why, I love those notes, but both this and Kali just didn't bloom on my skin the way they seem to have done on others. I don't know if it's the chocolate and tobacco notes, or the florals, but this never blends smoothly on me, it's a cacophony of discordant notes. I find it a little unsettling

Edited November 19, 2004 by ChupaChup

[k00kaburra]

In bottle: Yummy. I smell fried-bread and candy, a combination that sounds odd but smells delicious. This is very busy, hustling and bustling, like the atmosphere of 'most any street festival.

 

On me: It's hard to describe what Dia becomes on me. A bit like fallen leaves, but not in a pleasant way. The leaves are soggy and have been trodden upon - perhaps by festival crowds - and the scents of the surrounding vendors and displays mingle with the dirty, destroyed leaves. This twisted combination, along with a smoky note that's quite strong, conflict in a bad way. My skin's really done a number with this one...it isn't for me! I might try to use this for a room scent, because in the bottle it was gorgeous!

[Mrs. K]

I love this scent!

 

It smells quite complex yet soothing. Both in the bottle it and on me it has the same aroma; candy-sweet, spicy, smokey and with a hint of floral incense. It smells like a really nice candy shop. Not heavy or cloying in any way.

 

Did I say I love it!

[Diana]

Ok. I'm in total love.

I'm sad that this is a limited edition and that I only have one bottle! WAH.

 

In the bottle: Smells frighteningly floral. Like old lady perfume. MEH?

 

wet: OMG CANDY! Very sweet, candied fruits come out. LOVE. I want to gnaw on my arm at this point.

 

drying phase: It becomes a bit softer, there's still a pungent sweetness to it, but it's blended down with a really faint incensy smell. There's almost something minty to it, but not quite. It's so rad. I want to swim in it.

 

I've had this on for a few hours now and I still LOVE this. I may have to fight people for it.

 

Send all bottles to me!

[Astarte]

Wow this is delectable, initially it smells like the vibrantness of dragons resin and the smokey scent of tobacco. No chocolate for me, but this scent is very unique and I love the underlying resinous scent.

 

Its quite a sophisticated scent, but I can totally see the imagery behind the perfume.

 

Asbolutely delicious

[asa805]

I had the same reaction as chupa chup. I find this did have similiar notes to Kali and that one didnt work for me either. I didnt mind the scent when i first applied it - mostly sweet chocolate. Minutes later all tobacco. i almost washed it off. I did stick it through till like a n hour later and i liked that scent but it just took too long to get there and i didnt like the ride. Swapped this for Samhain

[zapevaj]

Awesome, awesome scent. Really good staying power- I put some on at 4pm and was still smelling it at midnight!

 

I mainly smell mellow flowers, faint tobacco, incense, and a bit of chocolate (the bitter Mexican kind). Oddly, it reminds me of perfumes I've smelled on Mexican women- I wonder if some of the floral elements are the same? It also smells very much like a botanica, or the Santeria section of an occult store- always a plus to me!

 

-Rae

[feline.by.design]

I didn't really get much of anything out of Dia de los Muertos except the feeling of being rolled in sugar! This was the reason I had avoided Sugar Skull, because I really didn't want to smell like a confection.

 

Where was the tobacco? The florals?

 

It didn't really come through for me on my skin, I just felt as if I had put white refined sugar on my body. I still want to make it work between me and Dia, so I think I will try layering it with another oil or using it as a room scent. It's well crafted, but too sweet for my liking.

 

-doreen

[darestodream]

Is "yum" a detailed enough review? Okay, I'll try to break it down a little bit.

 

Wet: I get a strong floral hit, but not sweet. There is a slight smokiness that really mellows that out.

 

First 30 minutes: Oh, amazing. I don't really pick up any of the food notes, but the smokiness intensified, wrapping itself around the floral notes. I pick up a bit of dried leaves, too, which is a great balance to the florals. It keeps the scent from becoming too sweet.

 

Next 30 minutes: Uh-oh. Did I speak too soon? Now all the sugar is coming to the forefront, and I smell like a candy stand. I want the first scent back!

 

Settling in: Oh, this is better. The sugar has receded quite a bit, and the tobacco and florals are coming back and I finally catch a slight of the chocolate. All in all, absolutely gorgeous. It is a perfect floral scent for fall. It's similar to Harvest Moon, but I like this one even more. So long as my body chemistry can keep that sugar note at bay for the rest of the wear, I see myself wearing this very often. I am so glad I ordered it.

[jessamynit]

ooooooh! I'm loving this and want MORE!

 

I'd been very wary of all the "sugar" scents, it seemed a little too weird to wear sugar. this oil felt a bit sticky at first but once on it's heavenly! I really love it!

Edited November 30, 2004 by jessamynit

[goddessrobyn]

I recieved this in a swap/sale from another forumite and i love it

If anyone wants to get rid of theirs PLEASE PM me!!!!

 

On me the incense comes out very strong... its very much the copal smoke of the ofrendas... in the background there is a field of the cempasucxhil (flowers of the gods) calling the spirits home...

 

when its wet, I get a hint of the traditional mole placed on the alter... spicey chile chocolate sauce still warm from the stove... but that goes away as it dries

 

this captures the day really well... as I said... I definately want more of this!!!!!

[ViolentKitten]

At first I felt Dia de los Muertos was too floral for me...I was hoping for more chocolate and candy. But one day I wore it to work and kept wondering what the lovely smell was! Rich, yet not too heavy. And as I read about this celebration, it started to make sense. If you were to wander by an ofrenda, the strongest scents to drift over to you might be the incense and the colourful mix of flowers. Beautiful, if not a tad heady at first, but it gradually smoothes out, as a breeze ruffles up the incense smoke and dry leaves from the street, mixing in with the flowers and incense. A wander closer to the ofrenda, and the smells of just a hint of a dark bittersweet chocolate (though most times I can barely grasp it), burnt toffee (which my man could smell) and a sweet dry tobacco come out. Later, another warm breeze blows in the scent of cactus blossom, light green and fresh, with a succulent sweetness. I don't get a lot of sugar in it, the sweetness is more of a floral sweetness or it could be coming from the amaranth and desert cereus, but I'm not sure what they smell like. This is such a complex scent, and blended so beautifully. I have never been to Mexico or seen an ofrenda, but from reading about them and wearing Beth's exquisite olfactory creation, I feel like I have.

 

PS: It was driving me mad not knowing about the incense and flowers which are used in the ofrenda, so I did a little googling....

 

Copal incense (resinous sap of a Mexican tree) must come before all other items that are placed as an offering. Its scent attracts spirits, drawing them home. The flowers: As goddessrobyn mentions above, bright orange gold Cempazuchitl (Marigold) – the “flower of 400 lives” to Aztecs and a symbol of death and how short life is. The fragrance of the Cempazuchitl also leads the spirits home, along with purple Cockscomb or Mano de León, baby's breath, white amaryllis, and wild purple orchids. These flowers are known as the "flowers of the souls".

[wolfie13]

This scent is incredibly evocative. It perfectly captures what it sets out to.

 

I contemplated keeping it for this reason alone, and also because it was my very first LE, but decided to send it on it's way to a forumite that had missed out and was desperate to try.

 

It may have worked better as a room scent for me - why oh why do I keep forgetting this option?? - but on me it was all and only - heady floral and smoke.

Just not working for me.

[Electra]

Dia de los Muertos is surprisingly foody on me. I don't really get any incense at all. The wet scent is a really strong, heady, perfumey rush of flowers over something bready/yeasty. The drydown is some sort of baked good with butter and honey. I actually really like it, even though I'm generally not much for foody scents.

[Ishtar]

I got to try Dia de los Muertos thanks to the lovely Chin who swapped her bottle with me

 

On me, this starts off very, very sweet and heady, yet rather smooth. There was something earthy and smokey behind the sweetness, not unlike the wet stage of Samhain.

During drydown, the flowers started coming through, but it was the smokiness that was most prominent.

After completed drydown, the smoky note faded, as did most of the floral ones. They were replaced by a sweet scent with a definite woodiness/earthiness to it.

 

A very complex scent, not unpleasant at all, but I probably will not keep it as it is quite reminiscent of the early stages of Samhain, which are not my favourite in this otherwise beautiful blend. I am very grateful that I got to try Dia de los Muertos though

[ismene]

Oddly enough, this smells like nothing on me. I mean, I can tell I'm wearing perfume, but that's it. I can't describe any of its characteristics at all, let alone any notes.

[shriekingviolet]

Initial Impression:

Sweet, dark chocolate swirled with smoke.

 

After Wearing It:

I had to wear this scent several times before I felt comfortable reviewing it because though I couldn't have predicted it after reading the description, Dia de los Muertos is a very subtle scent on me. The first two times I wore it I only noticed the smell of pipe tobacco and smoke, slightly sweet, but more smoky than anything else. After my skin got to know it better, I started noticing the chocolate and other sweetie smells, but the sweets were still rather soft and inobtrusive, hiding beneath the blanket of cigarette smoke.

 

The scent makes me think of celebration and ceremonies past rather than present. This isn't the smell of the parades and the rituals as they happen, it's the smell you might catch walking through the streets early on the morning after. There are treats caught in the cracks on the road, reminents of trampled offerings piles in the gutters with the afterglow of smoke clinging to every hard surface. It's a memory that doesn't belong to your own catalogue of experience, it's one you read in the clues the event leaves behind.

 

Final Thoughts:

I like this blend though not as much as I expected to. The tobacco is a bit too dominant for my liking, and overall the scent is much too subtle for me.