Centzon Totochtin

[LadyWilde]

The Four Hundred divine rabbits of the Aztec pantheon that preside over parties and drunkenness. Bittersweet Mexican cocoa with rum, red wine, and a scent redolent of sacrificial blood.

I got this as a frimp, so I had no idea what was in it when I first sniffed it. When I smelled it in the imp, my first thought was, "Conversation hearts and buttered hazelnuts." Okay, so I knew that the "conversation heart" note I was getting was probably something else (ya think?), but I was morally certain that there was hazelnut in this. I put a little on the crook of my arm, and it instantly went itchy and red. . .which hazelnut is wont to do on me. I immediately handed it to my roommate, who tried it and smelled hazelnuts and flowers. Bizarre. I can't figure this one out, but the roomie likes it, and she too finds the story of the 400 divine rabbits to be just as odd and compelling as the scent itself. Edited December 30, 2005 by Shollin

[judas_kiss]

Ooh, hello top ten...sorry, some of you rested on your laurels and have to be replaced!!

 

That said, this is now one of my new faves! DH got it in a swap on the LJ.

 

Imp: Cocoa, bittersweet cocoa and something boozy underneath. There is also a slight "tang" of something more sinister.

 

On: This is all cocoa and booze at first. Wine, liqour and cocoa, what the hell is not to like??? I adore this, for certain. There is still the underlying acrid note which makes this special. It is foody for the foodies who want something more...diabolically gourmet. This is not for the faint of heart.

 

Dry: This one lasts and lasts. I get TONS of throw and it's wonderfully sexy, believe me. The notes mellow out a bit, but they are pretty much the same.

 

Overall, bottle purchase, for sure.

[couscous]

I recently swapped for an imp of this because I was extremely curious about it, and I thought it would be a good way to expand my scent preferences. I fear I keep buying the same types over and over!

 

Wet, it's a bit unpleasant, because the wine note smells a bit "off", a bit tangy, and, alas, it's the strongest note you smell. It's not really ugly, just a bit shocking. The acrid wine really does make you think of blood.

There's no dragon's blood in this, I am reasonably sure of it, and so the "blood" notes more than likely come from the slightly metallic quality of the wine note.

 

I urge everyone to put it on the skin, because the cocoa comes out almost immediately and takes over. It's powdery cocoa, very light and not too sweet, and it's lovely. Throw is medium, too, so it's not overwhelming. This is nothing like it is in the vial.

 

As it dries, the red wine comes out more and more, mixing with the cocoa to evoke...mexican sauce? the chocolate kind you put on chicken. Savory cocoa. There's also some woody note I've smelled before. Is this sandalwood of some sort? A very dry one? This is not spicy at all; it's very dry and soft.

 

Funny that Beth suggests revelry and chaos with this, because it evokes high-end partying for me. If the Centzon Totochtin are having an orgy of fun somewhere, it is most likely in a place I couldn't get in to.

 

This is very sophisticated, and, as reviewers above have said, it would be a perfect scent for foodies out there

who want to stretch out a bit and try something with an edge.

[Fyre_in_Winter]

It smells like.. hmm, "wet" cocoa in the vial.

 

On my skin it becomes an interesting mixture of cocoa, grape-ishness, with a vanilla-esque and perhaps sandalwoody undertone. I apologize for the imprecise description! Hmm.. something a little tangy is peeking out and mixing with the grape (wine usually goes to grapes on my skin)and fuses into a nifty berry note. This has some similarities to Intrigue and Velvet to my nose. It also has some similarities to Hellcat (I can see why LadyWilde said hazelnuts!). Very warm and sweet plus the tangy berry. I wonder too if there might be a wee hint of vetiver in here... a similar undertone as Blood Kiss.

 

This should be a scent I love.. tang, sweetness, and warm.. but it doesn't "do it" for me. I may have to put cocoa on my iffy notes list... a "good in theory but not in practice" kinda thing.

[weaver]

It was a freebie from the lab. I wouldn't have ordered it myself, as the name was meaningless for me. Not anymore...

 

Bittersweet chocolate, more bitter than sweet, dark rum, old port, and a puff of smoke. Beautifully blended. The throw and staying power are great, after several hours it morphs into bitter coffee. Without milk or sugar. I love it.

 

I am always slightly annoyed reading in Clavel or Galsworthy about how English ladies were required to leave the room after dinner “to powder their nose”, so that men could drink their port and talk about deals and politics. I am no raging feminist, but it ticks me wrong. Centzon Totochin paints a picture for me:

 

An old country club dining room, lots of leather and dark green velvet curtains, heavily starched tablecloth that used to be pristine only an hour ago. The dinner is being cleared away, and men are leaving the room to go to the john or to the garden, or wherever they go when they leave. The waiters in black are bringing in old port the color of blood, aged amber rum, dark almost black sticks of bitter chocolate and French cheese. The ladies are kicking off their shoes under the table and getting comfortable. Finally… they can talk among equals without the silly flirtations that seem to be necessary when men are around. They drink and savor and talk about Sartre, movements of silk market, new Russian ballet. Occasionally you hear: “An interesting thought….Have your people call my office tomorrow”. As port is being finished, the conversation slowly dies down, and you hear Brahms played on the grand piano by the window. Time for coffee and maybe a smoke. The opulent power. Yes, ma’am.

[walkingundine]

Weirdest. Thing. Ever.

 

When they say 'sacrificial blood', they don't mean dragon's blood, or any other red note. They mean real, straight-from-the-veins, iron-and-copper blood.

 

And chocolate.

 

This is not for the kiddiewinks. It's a very dark, velvety-sharp scent that will sneak up behind you and cart you off for sacrifice to the Pointy-Toothed Bunny Gods.

[mexicat]

Oh how I LOOOOOOVVE this!!!I could roll all day in it,like a dog!! This fragrance is so complex.SNIFF SNIFF SNIFF....I'll bet the other people in the office think I'm a total nut-case sniffing my arm!Okay,I will attempt to describe it,in between my crazed wrist-sniffing.At first,Cocoa!!Then it immediately switched to chocolate-coated...what?!?Drove me crazy trying to figure it out...then it deepened to a cinnamon-y smell.Cinnamon graham crackers!!Then,a grape smell.Deep rich wine.Such a sweet,intense scent like Samhain.Then it hits me..Grape Kool-aid!!!(okay,mixed with wine).At one point I smelled root-beer,then after a while it turned into grape smoke.What a morpher!I even smelled pretzels!At this point I realize what I smelled at first with the chocolate,so familiar.It's peanut brittle!It has stopped morphing,and I am left with the sweet,candied peanuts.This is such an amazing,tantalizing scent.This Aztec girl is ordering a big-ass bottle!!!

[Kiera]

In the bottle, this smelled like chocolate with a hint of wine. I was very excited to try it, I thought I would love it. Ony me though, it smells awful. Like cheap incense and funky corn tortillas. And, unfortunately, it lasted all day. My first real disappointment, I was really looking forward to this one.

Edited January 16, 2006 by Kiera

[SeaMonkey]

all cocoa and rum. Boozy notes always tend to over power in most other blends, but this is a nice mixture. It kind of goes a little floral, but this is really weird. I'm starting to get a very strong wood note, like being in a log cabin with a fire going. I was scared I wasn't going to be able to wear this to work because of the booze notes, but this is so pretty and woody. It reminds me of spending the winter in Eureka Springs when my dad was working there, and sleeping in the loft of a wood cabin and a fire going with snow outside

[silver_dollar]

In the vial: Bitter chocolate.

 

On my skin: Bittersweet cocoa (not chocolate, but cocoa). I can't smell the wine or rum, but I can smell what Beth must mean by blood - this has a strong coppery afterbite. This is darker and stronger than I expected, not that I'm complaining.

 

My dog likes this, too - she keeps trying to lick my wrist.

 

Edited:

 

Now, a few hours later, it's starting to smell like sinister baby wipes. I like it, and will probably buy a bigger bottle, but I'll definately have to reapply often.

 

Edited again:

 

Sorry for the double edit. Reapplied a few hours ago and now it's dried to a more chocolate note. Much better.

Edited January 26, 2006 by silver_dollar

[kaltomere]

Complex and delightful. Take a really good cup of mexican hot chocolate, subtract all the vanilla and sugar, and pour it into an empty glass that had held a dry cabernet. This is the smell on me

Definately in line for a big bottle

[pickman's model]

In the vial: Rich, boozy and chocolatey.

 

Wet: Chocolate, awash in red wine, rum and florals with a metallic undertone. I can definitely see the "blood" in this.

 

Drying: This is what I wanted Dia de las Muertas (2005) to be. There's booze, chocolate all over the place. This seems a lot wilder, but still the same vague sense. And vetiver. I hate vetiver with a fiery hate, but in this, it's dark, calm, behaved, adding a pleasant wildness.

 

Dry: Now it's just chocolate and vetiver, with rare peeks of florals. I can't stand florals or vetiver, but I love this blend. Odd, awesome and fun.

[GemmaCat]

In the bottle: Oh yuck! Cloyingly sweet and very heavily foody.

 

On my skin: deep, over-sweet coffee and caramel. *gag* It's like Elegba all over again! Dun like it! Bleck! *scrubs it off*

 

Again, like Elegba, this is clearly a complex scent that must smell *gorgeous* on other people, but on me it's just too much and makes me nauseous.

[Rock Goddess]

In the bottle this was all bittersweet chocolate.

 

On my skin, it goes burnt bittersweet chocolate. After it's dried, it's toned down a bit, but now it's burnt chocolate with coffee. The hint of a coffee smell is nice, but I haven't had much luck with chocolate scents. I have a friend who I think will love this one though, so I'll let her try it.

 

~ RG

[Rhowan]

The very first wiff I got of this, it brought an image to my mind of standing in the dark on a chilly Halloween night, peering with a flashlight into my candybag. That is the definite first impression - the smell of chocolate from the bag and woodsmoke wafting on the cold night air.

As this dries, this turn sinister - a picture of a lone trick-or- treat bag laying in a deserted street with blood splashed all over it- and I am talking REAL coppery, tangy blood.

 

Centzon Totochtin is a very creepy ominous scent to me. I have tried to give this a "normal" review but all I get is nightmare images. This is not going to the swaps though (in fact, I need a 5ml!) - I am saving this one for October and especially Halloween!

[Caltha]

Centzon Totochtin

This one's an original favourite. It's sort of sour and fruity and sweet and at the same time woody/spicy/dry/dark. I detect cocoa, mmmm. As it dries it blends together to a sweet, warm, cosy oriental mix of wood, spice and candy, still a little sour in a pleasant way.

[dreamingjune]

In the bottle: A dry, almost roasted cocoa note really stands out more than anything. This isn't sweet by any stretch of the imagination. Just a hint of incense and wine in the background.

 

Wearing: Very much like in the bottle only the wine pops out more and adds some sweetness. The chocolate smells a bit tart now too. After about 5-10 min the chocolate and the wine fade away and this scent becomes less tart and sweet, and more smoky. The incense really takes over and is coupled with a scent that is perhaps "redolent with sacrificial blood". With the tiniest bit of cocoa and wine left over this becomes a truly unique and wonderful incensy blend.

[darkitysnark]

Centzon Totochtin

 

I sooo wanted to use the in all sincerity, alas, at least for now, it is a .

 

This started off very promising - a gritty, dark, bitter-but-not-whangy cocoa floating on the delicate surface tension of some luscious sacrificial wine.

 

Then it hit my skin.

 

Grape koolaid, y'all.

 

I'm gonna give my body a few weeks to work its hormonal kinks out (ooooh, sounds nasty!) and try again, because at first? So lovely. But this right now is just too sweet and grapey and where did all that nummy bitter chocolate go?!

 

Sigh.

 

Thanks to hepkitten for swapping with me!

[niter]

Imp

At first, I smell dark, bittersweet chocolate baking squares. This is followed by a freshly ground coffee smell.

 

Wet

Whoa. This is NOT Bliss type of chocolate! It is dark, smoky and ritualistic. The wine note is very evident and really helps capture secret heart of the eerie jungle feeling. Next to the wine, the rum adds a swarthy, boozy note that is delicious yet reminiscent of places dark and foreboding.

 

Dry

This has a very powerful throw.

 

For the past hours or so, this has a strong woozy berry rum scent to it. It is strong and dark and very animalistic. While this is an awesome blend, I think it is not something I would wear frequently enough.

[Mountaingrrl00]

I liked this initially because of the cocoa, but I'm put off by the buttery note which I think is the rum. I also don't do wine scents well, so that's two strikes against Centzon. There is something honey-like in here that's quite appealing, and a hint of cinnamon. Makes me wish the booze wasn't there.

[nancybridget]

I'm brokenhearted!

 

I had romanticized this scent so much and now I've finally tried it and I can't stand it!

 

This is an utter tragedy!

 

Darn you cocoa....and red wine....<heavy sigh>

[GypsyRoseRed]

This is *gorgeous*. Chocolate, but not the cloying milk chocolate of Bliss.. It's like the Godiva chocolate cocoa powder dry in the tin, with a mild undercurrent of coppery blood and some kind of spices. This is a surprisingly sexy scent, and the first time I tried it, my brother-in-law kept making comments about it then wrote down the name so he could buy a bottle for himself.

Edited March 11, 2006 by GypsyRoseRed

[abberlaine]

The scent is most lovely in its opening stages, when it takes on the smell of plain cacao beans ground to a paste and blended with a small amount of sweet rum. There's a very authentic South American feel to it.

 

The cocoa in Centzon Totochin is of the powdered and unsweetened variety. Sadly, it falls apart without much grace: first, it loses its sweetness and its soft richness, and then, it dries down to smell like it's been sitting out in the sun all day. There's a brief stage where it smells like a buttery hazelnut chocolate (here, it blends really nicely with the rum and the fruitiness of the wine), but then it dips back below the blood and finishes syrupy.

 

The "blood" is thick, sweet and alive. Sometimes, it gets a little too strong and metallic and evokes memories of nosebleed nausea.

 

In a snapshot, it smells like I'm trying to sniff chocolate paste with a splash of booze through a nosebleed. It's veritably interesting all the way through, at least, and I'd have kept it around if it had retained the feel of the opening stages all the way through.

[cameroncrazed]

First review, so here's hoping I don't mess up too badly

 

In the imp: Wow, wine. If this note keeps up, I'd better not wear this into work, or the boss is going to be giving me one of those "special" lectures.

 

On the skin: Mmm... dark chocolate mocha.

 

5 min: This is exactly the smell I smell when I'm sipping a glass of wine while there are brownies in the oven - red wine with these wonderful underlying hints of chocolate. Coffee scent is totally gone.

 

30 min: Less chocolate - although it is still there. Wonderful blend of the rum and wine, with just a hint of something deeper.

 

Overall, pretty much settled to being a buttery rum-y type of wine with slight dark chocolate, not much change after 30 minutes. My left wrist is glued to my nose, and I'm seriously considering a brownie run. Either that or a booze run. Much deeper and dark than I'm used to, but I absolutely adore.

[septima_pica]

I forgot to review this one, I see. It was a sad experience.

 

I was so very much looking forward to this one, and so it was one of the first ones I tried when I got the chance. And, indeed, the rum smelled appropriately sugary and boozy, the red wine is as lovely as it is in Nosferatu, and the blood is exactly right. But the cocoa -- it's a disaster. Instead of smelling like good bitter chocolate, it just smelled like burning a panful of cocoa powder on the stove. It was acrid and bitter and yeccch. Heartbreaking.

 

So, sadder but wiser, I will find another way to celebrate the Infinite Drunken Rabbits, and in future avoid chocolate blends. ::sigh::