Obatalá

[Sarah]

About Obàtálá

Obàtálá is one of the creator gods in Yoruba mythology. The oldest Orisha, the task of creating the Earth was given to him by Olorun, the Sky God. Olorun gave Obàtálá the necessary materials for his creation. These materials included blueprints, a chain, a handful of mud, a five-toed chicken, and detailed instructions on how to assemble all these items together.

 

Obàtálá was prepared for his task. However, along the way he happened upon a god-party and became intoxicated with palm wine for the rest of the evening. Seeing an opportunity for fame and glory, Obàtálá's brother, Oduduwa, seized the materials and successfully built the Earth. Olorun was pleased with the results and gave Oduduwa the title of God of the Earth.

 

The drunken and disgraced Obàtálá was sentenced to making mankind as punishment. The reason for the imperfections you find in human beings was that Obàtálá was drunk while making his creations. As such, he's also known as the patron deity of physically handicapped people and albinos.

 

In time, Obàtálá overcame the obstacles of his past. He is now known as the Great White God of Mankind. White is the sacred color of Obàtálá. His children wear it to protect themselves from evil, as it is representative of purity and cleanliness.

 

Obàtálá's other areas of expertise is white wine, laundry, and refrigerators. In addition, Obàtálá is also the God of the North.

 

Sources: Wikipedia and Godchecker.com

 

 

In the Bottle

Fruity, and tropical, with a hint of something that doesn't make it feel bright, like "I'm strolling on the beach on a remote tropcial island in the middle of the day" bright. A muddled kind of sweetness.

 

 

Wearing

I tried this blend twice. The first time I tested it, I accidentally put too much on. At the time I was chatting with Belladonnastrap online and she asked if I smelled earthy. "Kind of," I said, but it's not a kind of earthy smell I associate with the forest and greenery. I detected a hint of banana. Perhaps that was the palm wine, but I had no idea what palm wine smells like.

 

My brother comes in and said I smelled like the dollar store! To which Karyn asks me what does the dollar store smells like, because she's never been in one and the ones she's seen are next to crackhouses. All the dollar stores I've been in smell the same. They smell of mothballs and cheap aerosol sprays. Musty. When I think about it, I can understand what my brother meant by "dollar store" smell. Like something that's been put away in your attic for a long time and hasn't seen the light of day for a while.

 

However, this isn't a bad scent. I decided to try it again. The blend is rather potent so for those of you who are heavyhanded with your application of the Lab's oils, try not to slather on too much. This time, I got of coconut and banana. Again there's that sweetness. It reminds me of freshly made sugarcane drink. Sweet and refreshing with a bit of green to temper out the sweetness.

 

If I put my nose to wrist and inhale deeply, I get woozy. I understand that palm wine is made from sap of the palm tree. Upon collecting the sap, it begins to ferment immediately, to the point within a span of two hours, it yields a mildly intoxicating, sweet wine with 4% alcohol content. The longer its allowed to ferment the more sour and acidic it gets. Eventually it becomes vinegar rather than wine.

 

Thus, when I smell that musty scent, I kind of envision Obàtálá at his station, drunk off his gourd. He's covered head to toe in mud, and his flask of palm wine has been sitting there for a while. It's almost at the brink of becoming a more potent potion. Light on the verge of becoming dark.

 

 

Final Thoughts

This pretty much stayed the same on me as on the bottle. It has tremendous staying power. Before ordering this bottle from astrobabe, I have never heard of the Orishas. So after conducting a bit of research and trying it out, I've decided that Beth captured the "essence" of Obàtálá well. Brightness muddled with a bit of dark. The idea that not all gods are infallible, but are subject to being human, just like the rest of us.

 

It's not quite a scent I'd imagine myself wearing often, as I tend to stick with light florals and cheery fruity/foody scents. However, in the future, I'd like to try this in a balmy summer's day and compare it to when I wore it in the winter. I imagine since the mythology of the Orishas are derived from more tropical climates, it might feel more "authentic" as a summer scent.

 

NOTE: These reviews are for the Twilight Alchemy Lab oil. Reviews of the BPAL Excolo scent of the same name can be found here. --Shollin

[OriginalWacky]

Bottle (Imp): Wow, hard to figure out what I'm smelling. I'm actually thinking minty musk?

 

Just On: Definitely musk.

 

An hour or two later: Woody musk.

 

Around 6 hours: It's faded to nothing.

 

12 hours: Still nothing.

 

Overall: This one confused my nose a lot. I bet I'm totally off here.

 

After reading other reviews: Well, this faded much faster on me, and while I can relate to the musty scent, musk is often musty smelling, I don't think I got much else the same. Could certainly be intereting to work ritual with.