Tlazolteotl

[Lycanthrope]

It is the lady of midnight and she has arrived! She of Two Faces, She Who Eats Filth, the Death Caused by Lust – Tlazolteotl – is the Aztec goddess of the regenerative function of the earth, human sexuality, and fertility. She represents the active female principle in the eternal cycle of life feeding death and death feeding life. Her arms, dressed in flayed skins, embrace mirrored principles of sin and purification: she inspires lust, depravity, overindulgence, vice, lechery, and licentiousness, and is also empowered to cleanse and forgive moral, spiritual, and fleshly sins. Her scent is a melding of her symbols and offerings: chapapote and black copal with cacao, black honey, maize, and cotton blossoms.

Hooray! I hope this doesn't smell like teh pewp. Or, if it does, it will be my precious BPAL PEWP. Sweet.

From the bottle, this smells like a little gritty, chewy, resinous chocolate.

Wet, the initial cocoa rises to the surface, and reminds me just a touch of a less-lavender Wulric. It has hints of that delicious Boomslang-like cocoa absolute! It is marvelous in this initial wet stage. Over a little more time something slightly remniscent of corn flakes does arise, but only in the best way possible, giving the entire scent a touch more of a mild food-y vibe without veering into cake or cookie territory.

I don't get much floral, but there is a gentle sweetness suffusing the scent, reminding me a touch of the Xmvlzencab soap, which was more sweet ginger honey floral to my nose.

With more drydown, the copal is maybe a hint more noticeable, and I have no idea if what I am smelling is cotton blossom. Definitely no strong florals in this one.

This reads and projects like an awesome, deep, dirty cocoa that I could swear has patchouli in it due to the wonderfully deep, chewy and rich chocolate, that dries down into a smoky, complicated slightly foody drydown. I think the pitch/chapapote is manifest as the slighty dirt-y but mostly sand-like essence that is granting the cocoa some wondrous complexity.

I have my bottle, and I will HOAAAARD.

[annemathematics]

I was drawn to this because so many of the listed notes are new to me and my nose. I wondered if I would smell of girly nachos (maize?!?!) yet never once did I worry I would smell bad.

wet and in the imp I smell cocoa and vetiver. nutty and chewy and yum.

as it dries down a lovely creamy almost custardy white floral[?] rises up.

the cocoa dries down to a more liqueur-y cacao and is a player in the base rather than a stand-out attention whore.
if I huff my wrist looking for the maize, I can find it. more of a soft, wet masa mix than straight up corn or chips. when I assume a civilized posture, the maize, like the cacao, blends in. in fact, the whole thing is a straight up lovely blend, bright and sweet and clean at the top with a warm rich base.

this scent more than any other bpal I've encountered shifts dramatically based on what I wearing with it. if I'm wearing something deep or resiny, it holds it's own. but if I sniff it next to or after something girly or floral, then the top notes disappear and the base notes turn sharp and bitter. it shifts between a fluffy white pampered kitten and a hissing, mangy stray in a piss-soaked alley depending on its neighbor.

I do very much like this scent. fun, lovely, educational. I would adore it also as an atmo/linen spray.

 

 

eta 6 months later, this is one of my most-reached for GC's. this was a pretty smooth blend when it arrived, but it's come together so much more. it has the best elements of a foodie scent or a floral blend, but with this combination it is neithr of those at all. strange, wonderful and unique. a very wearable chocolate/cotton/resin perfume.

Edited September 15, 2014 by annemathematics

[Lethran]

In bottle: Very smoke, chalk, and ashes. I’m guessing that’s the chapapote, which the Internet tells me is tar or pitch. This has a strong burnt offering feel to it. The maize is unusually distinct for something usually so delicate, and seems to be a contributor to the burnt offering feel of the chapapote. The cacao is a weak second to the burn, distinct and well supported by honey and the touch of cotton flowers. This gives a gentle sweetness under all that aftermath. The copal is understated and connects the idea of fire’s aftermath to that of the sweeter faction. I am tempted to skin test, but my skin hates smoke and odds are I’d be scrubbing it off imediately. This really does fulfill it’s concept well.

[Magycmyste]

This oil is a gorgeous dark red.

 

In the imp: Hmmmm....... smells like cocoa and patchouli tome. It's very incense heavy. Then again, I'm not familiar with the scent of copal yet. Chapapote appears to be a synonym for asphalt - I could see the incense scent I'm getting being a variation of stone.

 

On skin: Ok, the heavy patchouli I was getting in the imp has softened into a few other notes. Based on the wikipedia article, I think it is the chapapote, but now a bit of floral is poking through. I'm guessing the cotton blossom, or maybe the copal? I'm not really getting the honey or maize.

 

Throw: Almost pure chapapote with a touch of cocoa.

 

Verdict: *** 1/* I'm rather torn on this one. It's a very complex scent, and I love it for that. I like it a lot, really, but not as much as I wish I loved it. I just don't see myself reaching for this. Oh well, can't love everything.

[tinyvulture]

Chapapote translates as asphalt, but I'm smelling a strong vetiver note, with cocoa powder and perhaps patchouli. I'm excited for the copal, honey, and corn to make their presence known.

 

A few minutes later...well, the copal is here, along with the clean, fresh cotton blossom. Sadness over the lack of honey and corn, but it's still a nice blend thanks to the copal and patchouli, fave notes of mine. Don't think I need a bottle since it doesn't really stand out, somehow.

[zankoku_zen]

Smoky chocolate, vetiver, and honey.

 

So this is gritty, smoky, cocoa. And very masculine on me.

 

So guys, if you wanted to find a manly Bliss, this would be it. This is a manly man's chocolate. The kind that smokes a cigar and then takes a bite out of some extra-bitter (70%+) chocolate bar.

[Monster]

When I first apply this, it's all cotton blossom on my skin (very reminiscent of BBWs cotton blossom…which is actually really gorgeous and one of the only BBW scents I actually like). As it dries, the copal comes out giving the cotton blossom a gorgeous, resinous feel. I think I'm detecting some cocoa as well, it's not a sweet chocolate scent but rather an unsweetened, dry and dusty cocoa powder. The final dry down is a smoky, ashen, cocoa with resin from the copal.

 

 

So guys, if you wanted to find a manly Bliss, this would be it. This is a manly man's chocolate. The kind that smokes a cigar and then takes a bite out of some extra-bitter (70%+) chocolate bar.

 

 

zankouku_zens description of it being a "many Bliss" is spot on. However, I while this perfume leans more towards the masculine end of things I think it works well as a unisex scent. Tlazolteotl is unlike any BPAL scent I have ever tried and next to Sjofn, this is my favorite out of the new Excolo scents. I will be purchasing a bottle of this!

[milo]

Kind of musky and acrid at first, with a touch of cookies, or something sweet. A bit of an odd one. Turns into red musk, incense and honey.

[miamaslegi]

This is just lovely! What I get is a soft, gentle vetiver (which I love), a rich, smokey, incensy copal, and a drop of honey to sweeten things up. I never got the chocolate at all, surprisingly enough, or the corn and cotton blossom which I am thinking my nose lumped together with the honey as general sweetness. This is very, very nice - a smooth, dark, sweet blend that's definitely going on my wishlist!

[theseagrows]

hmm, i admit i was a bit scared of some of these notes, since a lot of them often don't work on me. freshly applied this smells like chcoolate and vetiver and both are very strong on me at first. after a few minutes i think i am sensing the maize and the chocolate is calmer so this is still primarily vetiver on me. after about 20 minutes this scent rounds out a lot more and it isn't as bitter as it was in the beginning. i think after being on my skin awhile it's copal, cacao and a bit of honey. thus far i can't seem to smell any cotton blossom. i think i just amp the vetiver so much that it kind of takes over everything, unfortunately.

[boomtownrat]

This is one of the most interesting scents I've tried yet. After the cotton blossom and chapapote dissipate, it's mostly cocoa and what smells for all the world like a smokey vetiver/patchouli base. Depending on where I apply it, I also get honey and copal, and if I huff I start to notice maize, which is like masa as annemathematics said. The cocoa, honey, and maize do conspire to make it an almost-foodie scent, but I don't think I smell like dessert.

 

My sinus-congested husband said unprompted that he smelled chocolate chip cookies. It took me aback because it was just a small dab and his sense of smell is poor, but there was nothing else he could've been smelling that would fit that description. Yes, Tlazolteotl has decent throw, but it's not heady. It wafts far but gently, floating cloudlike instead of whacking you over the head with itself. To some noses it will smell foodie, but it isn't cloying. It slightly reminds me of Tezcatlipoca. Tlazolteotl is the Luper>Excolo scent that I should have blind-bought as a bottle instead of Anteros.

[Veronica]

Thick and dark and predominantly smoke and copal. Not for me.

[Teamama]

Finally, a chocolate/cocoa/cacao scent that works for me!

 

Imp, from the lab. Dark brown ITI, gold on my skin, with the occasional darker dot.

 

Wet, it's chocolate honey resins. I smell cotton and masa. The overall smell is dry and sweet and earthy, but not foody.

 

Dry, the resins lose their initial sharpness. It's still earthy and sweet, but not as dry.

 

I'm probably going to buy a bottle before my imp's all gone 😊.

Edited to add: fresh, the asphalt note takes a lot longer to die down. My bottle is aging, & I used up all my imp...oh well.

Edited January 1, 2018 by Teamama

[filigree_shadow]

Dark and smoky, for sure. Very definitely gives off that smoky reed scent that I get from the really good vetiver notes. The cacao over the top is pretty amazing. Just the right amount of light sweetness. I'm a huge fan of the Lab's copal, but I don't smell a ton of it in this. Which is odd, since historically my skin amps it (which I love).

 

Interesting, unusual, mysterious, gorgeous.

 

Fantastic.

[LizziesLuck]

This wasn't even on my radar, but I got it as a frimp from the Lab, and the notes sound really interesting!

 

Note: This is one of those blends where there is obvious sediment in it. I've given it a good shake and then a stirring with the wand. I'm assuming the bits are cocoa.

 

Wet: Such a dark scent. Very smoky. Heavy on the copal and what I think is the "chapapote" (Which Google tells me means "asphalt". It translates to me more like the motor oil that might have been spilled on said asphalt, though there is a sort of rocky quality to it as well. Is this ever interesting!

 

Dry: It smells like minerals on me. Like rocks. With a hint of something sweet and resinous. Interesting! But not something I would wear.

[Casablanca]

Finally, a perfume name my autocorrect gave up on. I like it already!

Bottle: Dry, powdery cocoa and a hint of linen.

Wet: This first smells like if you wet your finger, stuck it in a tin of cocoa, and licked off the powder. Then I get a mix of cotton linen, a honey as dark as Pennsylvania buckwheat, and a wet maize mash. There's something dark, resinous and ambery that I think might be the copal, but I haven't smelled chapapote or copal before.

Dry: A blackened, burnt smell comes out on me when dry, along with a cocoa-honey sweetness. Then the burnt smell settles into a not unpleasant smokiness. I don't smell the maize anymore.

This blend is a journey, but I don't think I'll need more than the imp.

[methodmaven]

Disclaimer: I generally abstain from reviewing scents unless I have a discordant opinion to contribute to the conversation. Otherwise, I feel as though others more adept at verbalizing their olfactory impressions have already said all I could offer and more. However, I cannot let Tlaz sit with so few reviews.

 

Bottle: Smoky cocoa. The oil is dark and viscous, but the cocoa has a tendency to form a stubborn sediment (I try to walk around with the imp upside down in my bra for a few minutes before rolling it around.)

 

Wet: Predominantly cocoa and vetiver/chapapote. Acrid smoke, with a cocoa note bitter and dry. Definitely unsettling - the first time I tried this (minutes before going out!), I had a "what have I done?" moment of panic.

 

Dry: The harsh, bitter elements smooth out as a slightly sweet element, bordering on floral, comes to mingle with the cocoa and smoke. I could not label this development as either the lab's typical honey or cotton blossom, but the result is a pleasant yet unusual, full-bodied scent that follows me for some 8+ hours.

 

Completely dry: I swear there is a hidden patchouli that only comes out to play when Tlaz is but a memory, if not gone altogether. If I applied it the night before, I will catch a whiff the next morning. This is the sweet, mellow patchouli I also recognize on Tezcatlipoca's drydown.

 

Idiosyncratic categorization / fuzzy impressions: A dark, summer evening scent. Exotic, sultry, but in a dangerous and slightly off-putting way. I am struggling to describe how I would gender-type this one: to me, this is blend is a woman with sharp, angular features; not a tomboy.

[roseus]

This is interesting, the chapapote/tar note made me a little nervous honestly.

 

In the imp: Smoky cacao. The cacao also does separate some so I rolled it a bit and made sure to get a nice streak of it on the wand with the rest of the oil.

 

Wet: This oil is thick and stained my skin. But the cacao is dark and rich, with a smoky note I would swear is vetiver. Also getting some rich honey underneath it all.

 

Dry: A couple hours later and the oil still has not sunk completely into my skin. Mostly the smoky, gritty cacoa sweetened by honey with a little cotton blossom wafting over the top. I also get a starchy/earthy note that I attribute to maize.

 

Overall: I love chocolate scents, and I'm loving a lot of these darker scents more and more. While I really like it, I'm not sure how often I will wear it.

[lookingglass]

There are nice little blobs of cacao in the oil-the real deal. Wet, this is dark and incensey, with a flash of astringency from the tar. The tar note reminds me of hard, black leather, a bit chemically, and a whole lotta badass. It quickly becomes sweeter and fresh cotton blossom really comes forward for a bit, reminding me of the ozone zing of Midnight on the Midway. The sticky, glowing, honeyed resins, though, are all melty, speckled with fire and shadow. The vertiver softens and plays a supportive role to the overally mellow, fleshy feel in the drydown.

 

This scent is definitely not playing around, but it's very "wearable": It sits close to the skin and has distinct layers: a fresh, but weird topnote, sweetened blossoms, and a rich, deep base. It would be a good transition scent for someone who wears normey frags like Angel or Muse.

 

I love complex gourmands, and this is a goodie. I think she's Kali's and Qandisa's vicious soul sister. It's one of my husband's favorites on him as well!

Edited September 20, 2018 by lookingglass

[dementia_divine]

In the imp: I'm getting a lot of the black copal note with a bit of cacao (although I know there's a lot in there, as I had to stir it around in my imp). The oil is very dark.

 

Wet: This is really earthy. Lycanthrope's description of the scent being gritty is spot-on. I'm getting cacao-covered resins. The chapapote and copal seem to be the dominant notes on me. I think I'm smelling the maize and cotton blossom beneath them, but they are nowhere near as strong as the other notes. It seems to be getting smokier as it begins to dry.

 

Dry: A few hours later, it's still resinous and smoky, but not nearly as dark and heavy as it was before. The cotton blossom is a main player now, along with the chapapote, with the copal lurking underneath. The cocoa note is rather faint now, and the scent is sweeter now, thanks to the arrival of the black honey note. I prefer this phase of the scent.

 

Verdict: This one isn't for me, but fans of smoky scents would probably enjoy this one.

Edited December 9, 2017 by dementia_divine

[achildoftime]

This is super gritty chocolate. A very dark chocolate that's I'd only ever bake with and not eat on its own. There is only a scant sweetness to it and it never moves past this almost resinous chocolate. I'm a little surprised this isn't more popular because it reminds my of a 13 that I've tried. I'm not a fan of chocolate scents, and even I think this is nice. I'll probably still trade it because I know I wouldn't reach for it often, but I still think it's a wonderful blend.

[Lunasariel]

In the imp: Very dark, resinous cacao. It feels like it should come in tar format. I'm definitely getting the copal in there, and a bit of googling reveals that chapapote is some sort of pitch or tar, so I guess I was spot-on in that regard, lol.

 

Wet: At first I wanted to call this a more appetizing chocolate, but I don't think I can really describe this as appetizing. The copal has settled way the hell down, and the dark, gloopy pitch is pretty much gone, but this is still a STRONG scent. I can't discern the honey as itself, but that must be it sweetening up the chocolate, because this is an incredibly sweet scent. A musty or starchy element starts to make itself known after a minute or so - must be the maize. Or is it the cotton blossom? There's something very not-foody about this blend developing; even though it's all cacao, honey, and maize, this definitely doesn't smell like food.

 

Dry: OK, it's primarily a cotton scent now. Wow, what a morpher! It started out all dark, gritty, growling fuck-you tarry cacao, but it ends up smelling like my grandmother's closet of expensive lightweight summer clothes, with only a hint of (sadly?) tamed, sweetened chocolate around the edges. Certainly no more dark, growly pitch or tar, and almost certainly no starchy maize. So I guess the notes appeared, and then disappeared, in almost exactly the order they're listed!

 

Huh, when I first uncorked this imp, I was all set to put it in my "fuck-off sexy" jar, where a cacao-flavored roofing tar scent would naturally go, but now it's going in the "office-appropriate" jar instead.

[Darkersolstice]

This is not chocolate, this is cacao. That's the first thing to get straight, if you're looking at reviews. It's bitter and dark and there's something clean to it, and when I grabbed it from my imp box and put it on without looking at the description, my first thought was "dirt. Good clean dirt." I mean that in the best way, though. It's an empowering scent, one that makes me feel really grounded as I'm wearing it. I definitely get the lift of the cotton blossoms, but this one never strays into the girly floral zone that I avoid like the plague.

 

I'm debating getting a full bottle--this is a great warm-weather scent.

[AraliaShine]

I love chocolate foody scents and I love gritty, dark elemental scents. I think Darkersolstice

nailed it when they described Tlazolteotl as cacao (not chocolate), and empowering. This blend

sings of raw materials gathered together as an offering. Somehow it feels as though each

component represents a different wavelength and in combination, so much earthy goodness

becomes elevated-- a cresting wave, a puff of smoke, a message or intention released into the

endless blue sky. I kept thinking of the rainbow mnemonic ROYGBIV when wearing this, heavier

on the warm colors, and farther reaching than the visible spectrum of light. Chapapote tar

bubbles up languid and hot in the infra-red. Cacao simmers from brick red into burnt orange.

A light dusting of yellow-gold, honey kissed masa lends a touch of mealy sweetness. The green

wavelength isn't fresh and chlorophyll bright, rather a mature resin -- aged copal with some dry grass vetiver. The offering made, transmuted by fire, a handful of cotton blossoms is scattered,

their high crisp chime carrying heavenward, rising through the blue and indigo sky, then

dissipating where white meets ultra-violet.

A song on the wind.

 

This imp became a bottle with my recent order. I can't see my nose ever getting bored with the

depth and breadth of scents in the opening and, as others have observed, the high sweet

beauty of the dry stage is wearable anywhere.

 

Edited to fix wonky tablet spacing because my cacao journey. while grand, didn't need to dribble

down the page.

Edited May 29, 2018 by AraliaShine