Mommy Fortuna

[jizatt]

MOMMY FORTUNA
When the first wagon drew even with the place where the unicorn lay asleep, the old woman suddenly pulled her black horse to a stop. All the other wagons stopped too and waited silently as the old woman swung herself to the ground with an ugly grace. Gliding close to the unicorn, she peered down at her for a long time, and then said, “Well. Well, bless my old husk of a heart. And here I thought I’d seen the last of them.” Her voice left a flavor of honey and gunpowder on the air. “If he knew,” she said and she showed pebbly teeth as she smiled. “But I don’t think I’ll tell him.”

Honey, gunpowder, and pleonectic, twopenny magics.

wow. I've never been first, but I have to review this so the wafflers can decide! I took a chance on this bottle, because seriously -- honey, gunpowder, and magic? So it was with trepidation that I tested this, about a two hour wait after its arrival. (I will be keeping and testing it after it rests better of course!)

first impression. Stronger gunpowder than the Liberty, which was my only other experience. Then it settles and I get a woodsy vibe from it, and then the sweet honey. Didnt get anything funky from the honey, like I worried about. I get a gunpowder spice sweet woods and honey. The waft is way sweeter btw. As I write this, I get mostly honey with everything else and undercurrant. Up close, I get mostly gunpowder/spice/woods. No ozone, no funky notes with the magic

[tartsquid]

For me this is primarily honey until it dries down - the super sweet honey smell covers everything else. As it dries down it smells a bit metallic, from what I'm guessing is the gunpowder note I haven't smelled before. Two hours after I put it on it's become a close to the skin honey with a little touch of an herbal and metallic undertone.

 

It's not something that I would usually be a fan of, but it's interesting a fairly unique!

[hkhm]

imp: sharp honey.

 

wet: metallic honey, no other way to describe it.

 

dry: a sharp lemony scent over a sweet metallic.

[Venneh]

In the imp, this was honey and a strong slap of vetiver, and much the same on my skin, though the vetiver ended up domming the hell out of the scent. Not quite for me.

[Blood onmy hands]

Mommy Fortuna is mostly sweet honey on me at first, with a clean, citrussy edge, and the combo sort of makes me smell like cough drops :/. As it dries down, I can smell something oddly rusty, sweet, and slightly spicy here, that might be bpal's gunpowder note going wonky on my skin. I don't know what the magic part is supposed to smell like, but it's not saving this blend for me, lol. I have trouble wearing honey, and this one isn't really working on me at all...

[Invidiana]

I knew the honey in this would work, though I was a bit leery of the "gunpowder" note. However, it does end up working! It's glorious honey with a sinister woody edge; there must be black cedar in the gunpowder note, I recognize it from An Altar to Cold Dark Rigid Death which is the first cedar BPAL that actually liked me. While any other cedar turns into straight hamstercage on me, blackcedar i san entirely different story. It gives a perfect dark balance to the honey; there might be a tiny bit of some dark variety of sandalwood in there too, maybe even the slightest tinge of black musk. For the unattractive character it represents, it's surprisingly sexy. Two words: evil honey. And I love it.

[edenssixthday]

Mommy Fortuna - On me, this is just awful. It opens up with a sickly sweet honey note -- one of the BPAL honeys I can't stand and which never works on me. Mixed in with it is the weird smoky, gritty, rusty-metallic scent of gunpowder and it smells like there's a bit of vetiver in it, too, which usually works great on me once it dries down, but this combination of notes is just awful on me, and sadly, no amount of magic seems to be able to save it. This is a "MUST WASH IT OFF NOW!" scent for me.

[crebbsgirl]

The honey note here is very sweet on my skin, and the gunpowder goes sharp and metallic. I'm not a big fan of this one on my skin, but I can see how it would be wonderful on the right person!

[TNTknits]

When wet, the scent has something sharp to it. Maybe that's the gunpowder? Mommy Fortuna dries down into something reminiscent of Halloween: Los Angeles but even better. It's sweeter and not as smoky as Halloween: LA. The honey comes out just a bit and the sharpness disappears. Overall, a lovely scent.

[strahlend]

In my imp this reminded me a lot of Womb Fury. On my skin it's a unique honey scent with something that feels fresh and has a bit of a sparkle to it. I'm thinking it smells like there's pink pepper and cinnamon in here. I'm really not sure how to describe it. This is a wonderful blend!

On the dry down it's mostly honey. I don't get the feeling of anything metallic or woodsy in this blend at all. I would call this a sparkling honey, it's not cloyingly sweet, heavy, dark or powdery... it's like honey with sunshine glowing through it. The more I sniff this the more I think it's my favorite honey blend so far. Bottle worthy!

Edited January 4, 2011 by strahlend

[cfrancesca]

I get smokey vetiver and honey (which softens the blend a little), it's got a slightly sharp, charred feel to it with some green plantiness and I'm also getting something metallic. The honey comes out more as it dries.

[lilwhiterabbit]

As a general rule, vetiver smells like garbage on me. Literally like garbage. So if there's vetiver in this, either something's canceling it out or it's such a small amount as to be undetectable, because there's zero garbage smell. Instead it's a very sweet honey with a powdery, metallic bite. I don't get any of the woodsy smell others are describing either; just honey and metal. It's a very dry scent, evocative of the crone-like Mommy.

[ajansuz]

In the imp: Honey and gunpowder, definitely. It may be vetiver, but it's not like the vetiver of Saturnalia or Malediction. It's not that smoky.

 

Wet: For a little bit, I really amp the gunpowder scent. Since I spend a lot of time at the firing range, this smell doesn't bother me. lol YMMV. The honey is very sweet without being cloying, and there's something with a little bit of a bite. I can't tell what note it is, only that it's a little sharp.

 

Dry down: This is the BPAL honey that really works on me. The honey of O. Thanks to the gunpowder/vetiver/peppery note, it's not pure sex. It's darker and more complex. I've been waffling back and forth for a while now on getting a bottle of O just because it seems so single note honey on my skin. Now I'm glad I waited, because Mommy Fortuna is everything I love about O and then some. There's something a little incense-y about this. It's a close skin scent, but it has real staying power. I put it at a few different pulse points. On my wrists, the gunpowder is the strongest. Elsewhere, the honey amps more. I adore this. The first one I've tried of the Unicorn series that I can definitively say I'll get a bottle.

[zankoku_zen]

For me the gunpowder is sharp and metallic, combined with the sweetness of honey I get the same sharp, metallic smoke that I do from Gun Moll. It's like a slightly sharper, less floral and less complex version of Gun Moll.

 

I like, but then again, I like GM. For those that missed out on GM, give this a twirl. It doesn't have the same vibe - it is much darker and sinister but it gives you an inkling of what GM is like.

 

I am beginning to think I like gunpowder as a note.

[Altaira]

Honey and a bit of smoky gunpowder. Not sure what cheap magic smells like, so it's hard to distinguish from the gunpowder. I like this, but I'm going to have to wear it a bit longer in order to really make up my mind about it.

[SophieCedar]

Wet: sweet syrupy dark wildflower honey.. honey that's dark amber brown when you peer through the bottle. The gunpowder is sweet and metallic with hints of dirt.

 

Drydown: Something about this is reminding me of a combination of lush products..the honey note is very similar to what I smell in flying fox and flying saucers. Something smells of sandalwood or a similar dark wood. I think that's reminding me of coalface or dark angels. Not bad because all those are my favorite products! I'm really liking this one.. much more than I thought I would.

[Lethran]

In bottle: This is aptly named. It really does give a honey heady insensey slightly herbal/grassy impression that suits the idea of a fortune teller caravan. The gunpowder gives it a smoky dangerous edge that blends well with the incense. It is quite strong. I am really liking how the sweetness of the hints that all might not be as it appears. Wet: Oh wow! My skin loves this. It’s still incense dominant, but the honey blends in better. It is almost fruity now, but a tart fruitiness instead of a sweet one. I like the way the herbs give it edge without overwhelming it. As it warms, it does this lovely gunpowder/leather thing under the incense and grass/herbs. I can’t think of anything else like this in the catalog. Dry: Mostly a soft, honey sweetened leather with beautifully blended soft incense.

[milo]

At first, smokey honey. Dry, pretty much the same. This is very similar to Sara Pezzini and Door, though it lacks the leather in Sara Pezzini, and not as 'soft' as Door. Very yummy, sweet, but with an edge. I like this, but between my decant of this and SP, and Door, I'm set for smoky, sultry honey scents for awhile.

[Ramen]

I get vetiver and honey, which somehow combines to smell like sweet poison. I'm not sure how I feel about this just yet.

[Leafy Sea Dragon]

The best way I can think to describe Mommy Fortuna's scent is, "Cramming stanky magnets up my nose." There's definitely something metallic about it (hence the magnets), and the magnets are drenched in honey. Or, in my case, stank. Because that's what honey turns into on me.

 

The good thing that came out of my trying this scent is that I realized that Honey is a horrific note as soon as it makes contact with my skin, and that I owe an apology to Rose since I blamed that for my extreme distaste for Alice.

 

I'm sure anyone who doesn't find the honey note repulsive will enjoy this scent.

[mxtine]

The first time I sniffed this, I felt ill. It wasn't the honey, but something else.

 

I tried again today, and I smell mostly honey with something metallic. The honey reminds me of O, but I can't get past the gunpowder/metallic smell that's making my nose wrinkle up.

[invisible iris]

in imp: cedar & honey

 

wet on skin: honey & gunpowder; peppery, smoky honey.

 

dry: The honey turns kind of floral on me, and the peppery smoke of the gunpowder melds with it so that the notes become indistinguishable. I agree with the reviewer above who detected black cedar--for me, that adds warmth and strength to the blend. Mommy Fortuna smells slightly sadistic, or slightly offensive, or abrasive (in a good way), which comes from the acrid choke of the gunpowder. The offense is outweighed by the allure of the smoky, woodsy honey, but it’s still there. I could see wearing this at night to go out. It’s very sophisticated and it also has a “Fuck you” bite to it.

[imaginepageant]

In the Vial: I wasn't expecting this to smell green and herbal, but there you have it. It's like standing in an herb garden beneath a tree from which hangs a beehive dripping with honey. There's something metallic way in the background.

 

Wet: The herb garden flares up for a few seconds, but then calms back down and balances out with the honey again. It's starting to get just a little warm and woodsy. I've just put more on and realized that it's not an herb garden, it's dandelions! You know when you just pick one and the stem is kind of juicy? That's exactly what this smells like in the wet stage.

 

Dry: I am so confused! I'm somehow getting lilac out of this now, especially in the throw. I'm unfamiliar with honey (it never used to work on me and I'm just starting to give it another chance), so I suspect my nose is mistaking the honey as lilac. In any case, it is a golden, almost watery honey. I still get hints of the green and metallic notes.

 

An Hour Later: The same - a light, green, watery honey.

 

Overall: I am shocked that this didn't turn disgusting on me - it looks like my issues with honey are no more! Well, hopefully, and it's not just the combination of notes that's keeping it from going bad. In any case, I do like this, but I think it might be a little too green and watery for my taste. I'll have to wear it a few times before deciding.

 

ETA: This is looooooong laaaaaaasting. I slathered last night at around 7:00, and I can still smell it quite strongly now - fifteen hours later. This almost never happens with my oil-eating skin.

 

ETA, again: Still there, twenty-four hours later. And I tried washing it off.

Edited May 26, 2011 by imaginepageant

[virusq]

I actually really loved this scent. It went on smelling very metallic, like hot rusty copper or iron instead of cold steel. Then it sweetened up, just a tad, probably due to the honey. Eventually, it all mellowed out into something very mature and strange that I couldn’t quite discern. I asked my sister what she thought and she said “Blood and honey.” Okay. I can deal with that.

[violetblue]

I was frimped this recently, from the lab or a swap, I have no idea, but I thank whoever sent it to me because I never would have tried this on my own because honey usually ends up musty on me.

I loved it the second I put it on. I came here immediately to check the notes and wow, not what I thought. I get a resiny vanilla lemon that dries to an indescribable earthy lemony scent. Not usually the kind of scent I would wear, but I am already waffling on a bottle.