Tenochtitlan

[PersephonesChild]

The greatest of all Aztec cities, and capital of their empire. Amber, hyssop, coriander, epazote, Mexican sage, prickly pear and Mexican tulip poppy.

This imp was a freebie from Beth.

In the vial, I sensed a sort of fruitiness that I couldn't quite place. In fact, a whole lot of scents I couldn't place, but very lush...

After a few minutes on, I start to smell the sage-- sage brush! Of course! I live half my life in Utah, so it smells like home! The amber adds a little richness, and a vague bitterness from the hyssop.

Now, maybe a little bit floral from the Mexican tulip poppy.

Ooh, it's turning kind of musky on me now... But with a fresh scent behind it that I can pull into my nostrils...

Hmm, for something I'd barely glanced at when I saw the description, I quite like it.

[PurpleHeather]

In the Bottle: Dusty & herbal with a fruit background. Nice.

 

Wet: Very fruity, but not overly sweet - prickly pear? (is that a fruit?) Faint soapiness. I like this one.

 

Dry: This has turned to a soap which makes me sneeze. Pity, as in its wet form, it is lovely. I wanted to like this one.

[Extispex]

In the imp this is just gorgeous. Herby, a bit fruity, maybe a minty sort of edge. On, wet, mmmmm... heavenly. Reminds me a little of Cancer 07, with its unique and somewhat quirky sweetness. I'm not picking up a heck of a lot of amber. Mostly herbs with a hint of floral, but its not the strong medicinal apothecary's cabinet kind of herbs. These herbs are sweet, aromatic garden herbs. Lovely. Delicious.

 

As it dries, I might be picking up a hint of soapiness, which would really really suck, because this one has such 5ml promise. I'm going to give this impie a few more tests.

[rockchickie]

Wet: Musk, soap and bubblegum?

Dry: I take that back! There's the prickly pear. And...cinnamon? No, not cinnamon...something else I can't put my finger on. This is a rich, sweet, semi-spicy blend but well-rounded and not suffocating. And boy, do I love it. I'm a little biased in thinking this smells like Arizona, even though this is an Aztec inspired blend.

 

However, does it hold up in our desert heat? Heck no! Definitely a scent for cooler temps...either those that want to feel warmer or those that miss the desert. Haven't decided whether to keep this or save it for winter. Either way I very much appreciate this complex and different blend.

[funkmoppet]

Lab frimp.

 

This starts fruity sweet when wet. On my skin, it's got enough of a bubble-gum edge that I had to double check the notes for any lotus. Nope. Something else is the culprit, and I have no idea what it is. Possibly the prickly pear, possibly the tulip, possibly both.

 

Again, the amber is behaving, but I also think that the super-sweet fruity note is simply dominating it. But there is enough of the amber there for me to wish to hell the "sweet thing" would back off. Any other notes in here are simply drowned out on my skin. It's like a slighty less overt Tintagel on me, which means this is a wash-off-and-swap.

[ceiswyn]

In the imp: Fruit. Oh yeah. Sweet initially, but with a slightly more rounded afterscent. Slightly spicy/herbal too.

 

On the wrist: Mmm. Sweet and fruity, but not sharp, turning dryer. I think I can detect a hint of the hyssop and coriander, but mostly the smells just blend together into something, well, nice.

 

One hour later: I may be keeping this imp, though I won't be getting a bottle. It's sweet and fruity, with a faint but complex herbal edge. It starts to turn slightly talcy around the edges on the left wrist, but that's all; it's a little sharper and spicier on the right. It's still got a good throw after almost two hours, and I don't think I'm going to find anything else that's such a nice, sweet, fruity, lasting summer scent.

[mlleglass]

I loved the description so much I bought a 5 ml bottle unsniffed. (Quite some time ago, I might add, and I've been in denial trying to make it work for me ever since.)

 

Unfortunately, while I was looking for spicy herbs and a desert feel, I got bubblegum. The oil is juicy, almost mouthwateringly so, in the bottle and juicy-fruity when wet, but after a moment it turns to bubblegum on me. It was supposed to be so exotic! But...bubblegum. I'll be swapping it methinks.

[Czarina]

In the imp: a definite pear scent, not too much else going on there.

 

Wet: Musk and bubblegum with a hint of ...honey?

 

Drydown: the coriander and the poppy start coming out and the pear recedes into the background.

 

Light and pleasant, while at the same time a full scent. It didn't seem to have much staying power on me, however.

 

Lovely scent.

[stinkerbell]

Eep! My first review! Ok, diving in:

 

In the imp - All I smell is bubble gum.

 

Wet: First impression is something more organic than bubble gum but still very sweet. Like a ripe galia melon that's just been cut open. Is that the prickly pear?

 

As it dries, a more floral note emerges, that I can't quite identify. A bit lilac-like. Maybe from the hyssop or Mexican tulip poppy?

 

A few hours later, it's faded quite a lot, but what has remained is a light, sweet, airy scent. It reminds me of beeswax candles, or Lush's Honey I Washed the Kids soap. There's no honey in the description, though. Hmmm...

 

It's a nice relaxing scent, but it doesn't really pack much of a punch. I think it'll be nice for days puttering around at home.

[Iceblink]

I kept sniffing this and thinking it was apple, then I read the notes--it's pear! Aha. Or it's pear at first, anyway. The drydown is more herbal and dry--the sage and coriander? Smells a bit like a spice rack. It's ok but there's nothing about this blend that makes me swoon. Just a nice smell.

[lainevierge]

I'm getting a bit of a sweet, dusty scent with a sour fruit background. I don't like it at all, despite the interesting description.

Edited November 29, 2007 by lainevierge

[Lyrical]

In the vial: pale, golden green, amber and pear, very sweet and absolutely gorgeous!

 

Wet on skin: sweet and golden tropical fruit. Not a lot of throw, but very lovely indeed!

 

Dry on skin: Amber is always faint on me, and this is no exception. But it's an incredibly beautiful scent and it lasts well.

 

Afterthought: this was a bit too Herbal Essences shampoo-like for me to wear it often. But it ages well - the syrupy fruitiness subsides and leaves sweet, spicy-herbal pale amber after 6 months in the imp.

Edited June 15, 2008 by Lyrical

[batsy]

In the vial: fresh cut pears with a golden hint of amber. Interesting.

 

On the skin: The tulip jumps out under the amber and pears. It's a very "springy" scent, bright, golden, green. It's quiet lovely, nice on a dreary winter's day. On the dry down it gets heavy on the sage, with the coriander wafting through. A very interesting blend indeed.

[prettybird]

It's really hard to describe this scent, mainly because I don't know what any of the things in it smell like alone. Floral, in a "wind across a field of flowers" way. Whatever they are, the notes used are a very good choice, because it very much evokes Central America to me.

[Christine Daae]

In the imp, this is sort of fruity-floral and very light.

 

Wet on my skin...bubblegum??

 

As it dries, this is really pretty and not at all what I was expecting. There is no amber-of-doom in this, it's all sweet, light flowers. The prickly-pear is what is giving me the bubblegum impression, I think. It reminds me a little of Glitter, and a little bit of Phantom Queen - the sparkly, bubblegummy pear and the light, sweet, sort-of-herbal flowers.

 

Yeah, definitely getting a Glitter vibe from this. Even without the lotus, it's really sweet. Pear is one of the few fruits I can wear, so this is really lovely, with a light herbal-floral underscoring the sticky-sweet pear. I can definitely smell the amber, but it's not as strong here as it is in other blends - it smells a bit like the amber in Bastet.

 

This is really pretty, and not something I would have ordered for myself. Thanks, lab! I'll definitely be keeping the imp!

[donnatron]

Another late-night review scribbled on Post Its without the benefit of a list of notes.

 

Imp: Like Christine Daae I get a strong bubblegum vibe from this. It's a mentally threatening scent because it smells like freshly chewed bubblegum stuck onto a very expensive armoire or similar. It smells like all hell is about to break loose.

 

Wet: That pink bubblegum you get with the little comics inside.

 

Dry: The sweet bubblegum smell is tempered by the wood and a sort of herbal-incense scent. Looking over the ingredient list, it must be the sage. On me this smells sort medicinal and almost like a disinfectant. The woodiness stops it from being too sterial, but I can't see anyone standing next to me complimenting me on it.

 

Throw: Slim to nil. I have to get up close to smell it on myself. I'm not too fussy, though, because it doesn't seem to like me.

 

Overall: I'd probably care for this more in warm weather. I'm not in a rush to swap it more out of laziness than out of faith that it will come round on my chemistry.

[indybear]

In the imp: Sweet - bubblegummy. The sweet overwhelms other notes.

 

On my skin, wet: It's sweet bubblegum with a hint of floral.

 

On my skin, dry: The sweet is going away and it's more complex now. There's something in it that tickles my nose and makes me want to sneeze. I am starting to pick up just a hint of something warm - amber?

 

Final Thoughts: I like it much better the longer it's on my skin, but it makes me want to sneeze. It seems to be fading fairly fast.

 

Final, final thought (2 1/2 hrs. later): Now I like it - it's faded a lot, but whatever made me sneeze is gone. It's mildly spicy and warm.

Edited March 11, 2008 by indybear

[laliloo]

I don't get bubblegum at all from Tenochtitlan! It's a spicy, warm, glowing, herbal scent on me. The amber adds a touch of golden dust, shimmering in sunshine. It definitely evokes a dry, golden almost-desert landscape, with the sage adding it's herbal dusty-green aroma. I don't smell any pear (which is great, as I really dislike the smell of pears - I'm guessing prickly pear doesn't smell like the pears I'm used to!) and I can't distinguish any florals.

 

This is a surprise winner for me - and will go on my 5ml list, I think. I can imagine I'd like to wear this to bed. It's a very comforting scent.

[bryghtrose]

Minty+ bubblegum, but not spearmint or peppermint chewing gum. It mellows to a nice warm herbal scent. I like it

[Honeygirl]

Bottle: Amber and fruit or flowers, can't tell which

 

Wet: This is very feminine and summery, I see that the notes are floral, but they're coming off as fruits to my nose, which I enjoy.

 

Drydown: Now it's amping as floral. Sigh.

2.5 outta 5

[savage_rose]

There's a really interesting scent in here somewhere. I say that because all I can smell is some kind of floral...it's all I smell in the imp, and on my skin I can smell the rest of the scent underneath it. Barely. Disappointing!

[charshark]

In the imp: Candyish, but nice.

 

Wet: A bit of prickly pear and quite a bit of amber. Some floral notes that I can't identify as well.

 

Dry: Clean-smelling and flowery with a hint of sage.

 

Overall: This was a frimp and while it's unique, it's probably not a scent I'd really chose for myself.

[Kippy]

When this was wet I can smell the epazote and probably some of the coriander underneath sweet amber, and I liked. Then it dries and it goes to a flat non-descript sweetness - I'm not sure it's exactly the scent of bubblegum but it's the feeling of bubblegum.

 

Yick. Get it off!

[ladyver]

this one took me on a very long journey....

in bottle & wet on skin: yummy, in a sweet, warm, spicy herbally way - I'm not familiar with most of the notes (except for amber, prickly pear and coriander) so i had to do a bit of research to work out what i could smell - so i worked out initially i could smell the four herbs and the prickly pear.

bit later, uh oh something soapy has appeared and taking over (amber, though i don't normally have this problem);

a while later, ok i can now spot the herbs again through the soapy amber;

even later and there is the sweetness from the prickly pear and the herbs, so we have almost come back full circle (though amber is still there).

if i could get through the hour or two of soapiness, this one could be ok for evening

[fireflower]

Light, gentle, herbally/flowery/fruity, powdery. I can't pick out any of the notes listed. Pleasant and not at all bad, just unremarkable.