Jump to content
BPAL Madness!
Ina Garten Davita

Centzon Totochtin

Recommended Posts

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.

 

This was a frimp with a recent order. In the imp, very rich, bitter dark cocoa and strong booze. I couldn't tell if it was tequila or rum, but it was like sniffing a shot before you drink it. It reminded me a whole lot of Calaveras without the burned caramel note.

Wet, the cocoa amped very strongly at first but quickly died back. The booze came on strong, a sharp liquor scent. That also died back, leaving me with a less sickly sweet version of Miskatonic University. That faded pretty quickly, and it seemed as though my skin had eaten this alive.

However, about twenty minutes after application, it started throwing some rich, smoky incense fragrance that even my husband noticed and commented on. I couldn't put a finger on what it reminded me of, but it was very nice. Sadly, the cocoa never returned. This lasted a good five hours or so before dying down. This is another one I'm on the fence about whether I need a full bottle. It's very rich. It's the morphing period I'm not wild about. Still, an intriguing unisex blend not as foody as it could be with the chocolate.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Wine and chocolate! I'm not usually a fan of chocolate in perfumes, but this is a curious combination. On my skin, I'm definitely getting the coffee ice cream feel people mention. Maybe it's something to do with the chocolate and rum? Where's my wine? This stays way foody, and not in a sexy wine food way. The wine eventually comes out a bit, but not enough to make this terribly interesting. I'll stick with Lilith for my wine fix, I think.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

My nose is stuffy from a cold, but I'm going to try anyway.

 

In the Bottle: My first whiff of this is red wine, and on the backside of the inhale comes the chocolate. It's not a heavy, thick chocolate, but more of a thin syrup type - with a cherry on top. It's like...a wine for dinner and a sundae for desert.

 

On My Skin: My skin says "Ohai chocolate cherry, let me pump! you! up!" I just stuck my nose in a cheap sundae. After three or four breaths, though, I start to get a whiff of something...patchouli-like on the very top of the inhale. There's a dark resin lurking under my cherry sundae. Where did the wine go?

 

After Fifteen Minutes: Where did all the chocolate go? Talk about a morpher! It's all boozy wood - like someone spilled sweet red wine on a freshly-cut wood picnic table. It's not precisely piney, but I definitely get a "lumber yard" type of scent. It's not sawdust, too sharp for that.

 

Exceptionally odd, but not bad. I wish I'd gotten more of the blood note.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

As many times as I've raved about and recommended this scent in other threads, I never realized I hadn't reviewed it! Centzon Totochtin is one of my very favorite scents, and the fact that it's a GC is even better! It's Chocovine, which I personally find an abhorrent drink, but this is chocolate wine for sure. The wine is not so alcoholic that I fear wearing it to work. This one melds into my skin and there is a warmth to the wine and chocolate. I get a lot of compliments when I wear it, too.

 

Try this if you loved Midnight Kiss (like me) since it's very similar and available.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I know there's not supposed to be any coffee in this, but on me this is the perfect mocha coffee. No booze, no blood. Very similar to Miskatonic U, but while it's sweet, it's not as overwhelmingly sugary as MU was.

 

I like it, however this is obviously a foody scent. I don't do foody unless the notes are blended with something more traditionally perfume-y. For example, incense would've been a great addition to the background of this. Otherwise I just feel hungry all the time. ;)

 

That being said, choc lovers rejoice! This is a yummy one.

 

*edit* AH, I knew this reminded me of something but I couldn't put my finger on it. It's a Kahlua Black Russion without the alcoholic undertone.

Edited by Balame

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Before I even open up the imp, this smells sweet...............

 

In the imp: Whoa! The sweetness here is a little overpowering. I'm definitely getting the wine grape and cocoa more than anything else.

 

Wet on skin: Still sweet grape and chocolate.

 

Dried down: Well, it's calmed down a little, which is nice, but it's getting more grape-y than chocolate. But the chocolate's still there.

 

Throw: I can smell both grapes and chocolate just fine while I type. No wrist-sniffing needed.

 

Verdict: *** Normally, I love sweet scents like this, but something about this one kind of disturbs me. It doesn't smell bad on me, but it's definitely not my favorite. I might give it another try before swapping it out, but I think there are other scents I like much, much better.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I tried the imp of this and this is the first BPAL scent I have ever had to wash off. This made me nauseated, I literally could not stand the scent. I think I amp the blood and quite frankly it just reminded me of the scent of shark week blood (you know that old dead blood smell.....)....it was so gross. It also smelled like Kahlua to me, which I absolutely despise. I think the alcohol, chocolate, and blood was just not a winner for me....it does smell very much like chocolate, though and I think Beth's chocolate scent might be a winner in a different combination! Sorry for the super negative review, but I did not like this.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Normally, I can't stand coffee anything.

 

Normally, I'm not overly fond of chocolate scents either- if it's too much, I just wander around feeling slightly hungry all day.

 

Neither of these things apply here. I am in love. It's a warm, complex chocolate smell; more "It's time for hot cocoa and a warm jacket" than "Why did I just rub myself with a Hershey bar?" It also layers surprisingly well with Embalming Fluid- I had one on one wrist, one on the other, and where the wrists have gotten together I'm noticing that Embalming Fluid seems to spice up the splash-of-rum edge of the Centzon Totochin.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I've been determined to smell & test /without/ reading the descriptions on any frimps I receive. This way, I'm doing a completely blind test.

 

Here goes:

 

Wet: Smells very much like a cigar shop. Rich, wet, dark, & sweet. I can't pull out single notes, but I think I'm smelling a lovely dance of tobacco, maybe something alcohol, and some chocolate.

 

Drydown: I smell the same warm sweet note that comes out on perversion during the dry down. I'd call it "chocolate sex" for lack of a better descriptor. This combines in with a very dry and dusty leather/tobacco note.

 

Dry, 2 hours later: Dry and dusty, not much left of the booze or leather or tobacco I thought I smelled. This smells like old men and books with the barest hint of the sexy chocolate lingering.

 

Verdict: I'm going to call this the dirty old man equivalent to the Jailbait fragrance. It smells like an older man to me: not necessarily unpleasant, but maybe staring at your chest a bit too long and offering you some chocolate.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

First review. :gulp: Here goes...

As a rabbit myself, I really wanted to love this scent, and the first sniff had me thinking I would; a bit reminiscent of Grog, which I love with loving loveness. The rum came through, though I didn't smell any of the cocoa.

 

Perhaps it's because I currently lack the ability to subdivide into 400 for party purposes, but on my skin, and after it dried, this went rather "wino." The cocoa finally peeped through, but not enough to counterbalance the flowery/tannin-ish nip - which may or may not be as much due to the blood as the wine - that left me asking

 

x6OPr.gif.

 

Alas, it's not the home for this bunny.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

hokay!

 

WET: chocolate. straight up chocolate. well... maybe like, chocolate with raspberries or cherries. I see a lot of people are saying they smell coffee - I don't get coffee at all. no bitterness. sweet. VERY sweet.

ON PAPER: still very sweet, but i'm getting a little bit of bitterness - but it's wine bitterness, not coffee bitterness. but over all very very sweet.

WET ON SKIN: chocolate. chocolate chocolate chocolate. fruit. smells like a rich fat lady who wears a lot of makeup and buys boxes of chocolates for herself daily.

DRY ON SKIN: gets a little powdery, not as lush when it dries. maybe a little flowery, but just a little. I'm not smelling any blood, like the notes promise. it still smells to me like a box of chocolates, although maybe an old, slightly stale box of chocolates.

 

CONCLUSION: i like it. but it makes me want chocolate. wouldn't wear it, unless I worked in a candy store. nobody around you would be able to think about anything but chocolate, especially since it seems to last pretty well and has a strong throw.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

When I open the bottle I get a huge coffee breeze from it, which isn't great because I don't care for coffee. When I wear it the rum and wine mix about as well as oil and water and the chocolate gets hidden behind the resulting maylay. Dragon's Blood doesn't seem to help this blend at all, in fact it just lays dead upon all the other notes giving it a kind of fake plasticy feel.

 

I want to believe that aging the bottle will improve it some and i'm willing to try even after all this, but boy do I feel dissapointed now. :sad:

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

In the imp: Lots of cocoa and red wine.

 

Wet: The cocoa note dominates, and it is a smooth, dry cocoa note, but the red wine isn't far behind. Then I begin to smell something darker and not quite right... that must be the sacrificial blood note. By this time, the wine has become the dominant note.

 

Dry: The red wine note was the most prominent for a long time, and then the smooth cocoa note returned. Both notes are softer now, and I can find the remnants of the sacrificial blood note if I inhale deeply. It's a rather warm scent by this point.

 

Verdict: This isn't bad, but the combination of the chocolate and the wine (especially when the wine dominated the blend) isn't really my thing. (Also, I did not smell the rum note in this one at all, which is okay with me!)

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

While I love the BPAL cocoa note, I just don't like the rum note, and this was very boozy hot dark chocolate on me. I prefer El Dia de Los Reyes.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Not sure why I've never reviewed this. I have tried several imps over the years, wanting to love this, since I love the Lab's cocoa note so much. Unfortunately, the wine note in this goes fake plastic fruit on me, as it almost always does, so this one is a no-go for my skin.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

On wet, it's a deep, dark chocolate. Not the creamy chocolate of The Candy Butcher or the dusty cocoa of Gelt but like those disks of unsweetened Mexican chocolate. The rum warms it up and sweetens it, and it's absolutely delectable. No wine or blood at this point.

 

After a bit this beautiful dusky, smoky chocolate incense develops. This stage is amazing!

 

On the far drydown something herbal or floral peeks out and fades after a bit. I'm left with soft chocolate. The cocoa incense is my favorite stage and it has good throw and longevity. I need a bottle!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I'm not sure how I feel about this one, it's the third time I've tested it.
When I first apply it, I get a chocolate so dark and bitter that it smells like coffee. That is very quickly overtaken by red wine. And not a dessert wine, it's the red of blood. Full and overly alcoholic. And then that blood note all coppery and sweet... It's disquieting, is what it is... There's some sort of spicy floral that reminds me of tobacco flower. Or is that just the chocolate and wine mixing to create a floral smell? This smells like sex, and blood, and war. It is not a comfortable scent, but it is definitely evocative.

Edited by SunsetKay

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Bunnies? This is a scent for 400 drunken Mexican cocoa bunnies? ++!

As soon as I apply this, before I go to sniff, I'm hit with a wave of slightly sour red wine. Oh no. At distance I get only sour red booze, but up close I get a delicious bittersweet, slightly smoky cocoa and redder smells: the sweeter part of the wine, and something like red floral-fruity dragon's blood. I also get some sort of incense.

I like the bittersweet cocoa-incense part of this, and the red floral-fruity thing brings a nice bloom of warmth. The sour red wine stuff can go home. Luckily, the sourness fades after a bit. I like it after that.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Well it's definitely wine and chocolate with an underlying hint of blood, exactly as advertised. Sweet wine and chocolate, but it somehow reminds me, just a tiny bit, of Nosferatu? Whereas that was a dry wine this is sweeter. I dk maybe the 'blood' note is in both and that's what's making me think of it. Whoever said its a touch unsettling was right, I think that's the power of suggestion for me, lol. I'm pretty suggestible by the descriptions ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ but that's kind of half the fun for me anyway. On a second wearing, I'm thinking the 'blood' note is actually dragon's blood resin, I think I can detect that in the mix. The throw was really good, I could smell it drifting around as I moved even when I wasn't paying attention, and it lasted pretty well. I liked it. It's richly chocolatey but not in a very sweet, foody way, more like cocoa powder or very dark chocolate. Also, I just love the wine notes so I'm a bit biased! It almost somewhat reminds me of those chocolate red wines you can get at the grocery store? Chico-Vino? Like a chocolate red wine but In a good way! I really liked it.

Edited by Mermaid-on-Land

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I'm jealous of everybody else who's getting lasting cocoa notes - on my skin this immediately turns to WINE WINE ALL THE TIME in a super sweet, sharp way. There's a bit of floral or resiny powderiness below it - dragon's blood, maybe? I so wish this worked on me, but it was an instant fail.

 

edit: I couldn't make it through a full wear - I had to wash this off. :( Also, this is STRONG. It has lasting throw even in the imp. I'm isolating this one in its own baggie, haha.

 

second edit: I finally remembered what this reminded me of: Blood Rose. I think it was the wine/"blood" combo - so if Blood Rose was something you really liked, take a chance on this.

Edited by vthesiren

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

This is a thoroughly boozy chocolate. It's a deep, red wine and rich, dark chocolate. That's really all I get. For people who like those types of scents this is a hit! For me, I'm not a fan of booze or chocolate scents. I was frimped this and was glad to try it, but it will be passed on to a more loving home.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
The most delicious purple-fruited chocolate, with a touch of coffee. I swear, coffee never shows up on me, even when it's the first listed note (wahh), but this smells so good. It reminds me of the new American Gods blend, The Jeweled Spider, but less dirty. This smells happy and it makes me hungry for some non-existent tart. (Isn't it weird how sometimes you crave a food that doesn't exist, except in fantasy novels?)


Where I'd wear it: Picking out sweets from Honeydukes on the first Hogsmeade Weekend of the autumn term at Hogwarts

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Starts off sweet, warm, almost buttery, then gradually the cocoa comes forward and it smells like melting chocolate with butter for some kind of confection. It makes me want to wander into the kitchen to look for a spoon to lick, even though I know I'm not going to find any chocolatey treats there.

 

Eventually the butter backs off and leaves a cup of rich hot chocolate spiked with rum, and something drier and smokier lingering at the edges. As it dries down further, the rum starts to take over, like that cup of hot chocolate is being topped off with more and more rum. The end result is just a little more spicy than sweet, with a touch of darkness lingering at the edges.

 

Very sensual and striking, with a warmth that stems from intensity rather than invitation. It's sexy, but the kind of sexy that comes from being carelessly confident rather than a sexiness that's actively trying to draw you in. The kind of scent for nights when you definitely want to be noticed, but not necessarily approached.

 

No wine or blood that I can pick out, which is a bit of a bummer, but it's too good for me to be that disappointed. I don't like really foody or really sweet scents as much as I used to, but I cannot stop sniffing my wrist, which I think says a lot.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

×