Tezcatlipoca

[ephemera]

... Deep cocoa laced with patchouli, leather armor, ritual incense, and a touch of Xochiquetzal’s flowers.

At first application this is a heady cocoa mixture with a strange undernote to it. As it starts to dry the patchouli rockets to the top of the heap, climbing over the cocoa note and just flat-out burying any leather armor, ritual incense or anything else that got in the way. A bit later on, I can smell what I think is the incense and the flowers, but they're starting to be overshadowed by my dreaded nemesis: Leather.

[Veronica]

A little cocoa and all "leather armor." Ugh, this scent definitely does NOT work on me, I feel like vomiting everytime sniff my wrist.

[crebbsgirl]

This starts out predominantly leather on my skin but then patchouli really blossoms after a couple of minutes and there is a hint of cocoa. It seems similar in vibe to Sin. After awhile, the leather comes to the forefront again. The incense is pretty faint here, more of an undercurrent than anything else. It really reminds me of something, but I can't put my finger on it. All in all, it's a nice blend, but not a standout for me.

[sylvanusurban]

In bottle: Smells brown, musky, and leathery.

 

On me, wet: It warms up some, and a sort of… berryish? … note is added to the mix. If I were to describe this in topographical terms, I’d say that the base scent is low, and then there’s a juicy, sweet “spike” that pokes up over top. I thought I smelled cocoa, and now that I’m looking at the notes, I see I was right. It’s not a “chocolatey” smell, though, in any sweet desserty sense of the word. It’s quite musky and potent. An interesting smell, but not necessarily “me” – though maybe I’ll feel like wearing it on those occasions when I feel a little bit slatternly.

 

On me, drying: The leather smell recedes when it’s dry. Now it’s just musky cocoa with that “berry” sweetness.

 

In summation: I don't know if this suits me, but it's a neat scent and I will certainly keep the imp around.

 

[angelicruin]

Inside the imp, chocolate patchouli

 

Wet on the skin, leather and cocoa and incense. While I like all of those notes, I don't necessarily enjoy them blended together here. I smell the patchouli more as it dries and powdery floral underneath.

 

 

 

[Bluestocking]

In the imp: Dark and bitter cocoa powder over strong patchouli, with maybe a whiff of old leather. It's an odd combination, and at first it smells kind of funky, but it works—I think. Extremely earthy and powerful, with only the barest hint of sweetness. It smells dry and almost dusty to me, sort of ancient.

On, wet: Bitter dark chocolate and patchouli with some warm, worn leather… extremely earthy, but really strong and virile and appealing. This so longer has the dry sort of quality that it had in the imp. I'm getting a little curl of incense smoke as this warms up on my skin, and it sweetens and balances this just enough, while adding a smoky edge. This scent is strangely magnetic, because I can't stop sniffing it.

On, dry: Smoky, spicy-sweet clouds of incense with gorgeous, humid, jungle blooms, backed by the dark, delicious leather and very, very subtle patchouli. The cocoa isn't prominent now, but it's still there, giving this a dark, rich feel. The floral is blending beautifully with the incense, and the leather keeps it from being at all a typical floral. There is something powerful, really grounded and ritualistic about this—earthy, in the sense of feeling connected to the earth. Excellent throw on this one, too.

Later: Warm, sweet, spicy, cocoa-ed incense, with a touch of smoke and leather.

Overall: I got this one mainly as a curiosity, but after the initial weirdness of chocolate-covered patchouli, I like it MUCH more than I would have thought possible. Actually, I love it. It was quite sweet and gorgeous after the incense and florals came into play, and the leather/patchouli combination grounds this perfectly and keeps it feeling very strong and… masculine isn't the right word, but it's as close as I can come to it. In other words: Tezcatlipoca can and will kick your ass, even if he does smell like pretty incense and flowers. After the dry down it really smells quite rich and resinous, with a smoky, ancient vibe—sort of like Anubis in feel, even though they smell quite different. The cocoa gives this a very dark and velvety feel as it develops, too; it's a stronger presence here than it was in the Great Sword of War, though it isn't remotely foody. Moderate wear length, with a potent throw. Gender neutral, though it would be glorious on the right man.

 

 

[anna1850]

Chocolate patchouli.

 

2,5/5 Not a big fan of any of the notes in this so it's not bad but not right for me.

[zankoku_zen]

On wet, the cocoa definitely dominates this blend --- but as it dries, it's definitely more of a patchouli + leather combination on me, with a hint of cocoa and perhaps a floral brush here and there. But yeah, smells like Aztec warrior.

[arsenicsauce]

I thought I'd reviewed this when I got it last year, but apparently not. From what I remember, I didn't like it at all at the time- I was hoping for a earthy cocoa and got too much leather, no cocoa or patchouli at all. It was a sharp, almost cologne-y scent with florals doing all the things I hate most about florals. However, after aging a year I tried it again one more time before preparing to swap it off, and wow. It still goes on sharp floral-leather, but after fifteen minutes or so it dries down to a gorgeous incense-y cocoa that's earthy and dry and everything I'd been hoping for. The florals are there, but have retreated into the background and actually smell great, and the leather is barely there lending itself to the incense.

 

This could be one of my favorite scents, a good non-overpoweringly foody or sweet chocolate. I don't know if it's the age or changes in my skin chemistry, but if it morphs into this after a year a bottle of Tezcatlipoca would be worth waiting for.

[greenforrest]

Imp: chocolate!! squee!!!!

 

Initial: darker cocoa and patchouli

 

After Initial: bang-on to a sensual masculine smouldering scary yet irresistable ancient aztec priest if yer ask me! the cocoa and patchouli come on strongest, with hints of incense and leather, very light on the ancient flowers. Bottle worthy, swoon worthy, doesnt knock my beloved DeSade off it's platform, but is just as empowering in a more green-nature vibe.

 

Impressions: sadly makes me want to go out in search of a sensual masculine smouldering scary yet irresistable ancient aztec priest to snuggle up into. (sad b/c where do you find that these days?) This is one hot-stuff perfume blend!

 

EDIT to ADD: *weeping* this one just doens't last on me at all. Maybe an hour-two. Maybe I need a bottle with which to continually slather myself?

Edited August 27, 2009 by greenforrest

[rayvn1]

This went on a bit odd and powdery, but now that it's dried I really like it Cocoa and spice with an incense feel that really reminds me of Xiutechihuatl (sp?). Very similar blend on me though I think this one is a little more laid back. It will be fun to compare the two side by side.

[MamaMoth]

Wet in the bottle, there is a strong hit of cocoa. Dark unsweetened powdered cocoa, definitely not chocolate. And some incensey undertones.

 

The minute it hits skin, it undergoes this massive change. The cocoa disappears, and it scent turns almost candy sweet. Not like any candy I know, but that's the only way I can think of to categorize it. It's aaaaalmost foody, but not. And still with an earthy incense underbelly.

 

I was anxious to try this one because chocolate + patchouli sounded divine. I never smelled the patchouli in particular, just a rich earthy incense tingle underneath the sweetness. It's compelling and gorgeous. I want gallons.

Edited August 31, 2009 by MamaMoth

[Muppetk]

Wet: dark cocoa with a wee pinch of something interesting underneath. This is decidedly my favorite cocoa bpal note yet -- it's the first one I'm actually excited about! (I don't usually do foodie)

 

Drying: still dark cocoa, with the leather starting to come out. Not really crazy about leather notes. This particular one smells, well, kind of band-aid like. *crosses finders* Actually, I wonder if one of the flowers is narcissus. That one usually turns straight to band-aid on me. Phooey!

 

Dry: dark cocoa melds seamlessly with smoky non-sweet incense! Ooh! Band-aid scent faded but not gone! *has fingers crossed that over time this will go away*

 

Dry after an hour or two: the bandaid scent seem to finally be gone, and I do love what's left. Still, it's an awful lot of time to wait. Will have to experiment more.

 

verdict: (Mixed.) Wow. I'm not a foody, but I suddenly must try all the other dark cocoa (not sweet sounding) notes in the catalog. I had NO IDEA that chocolate could be so good in perfume! (I generally shun things like Bliss or candy butcher because they make me hungry. This just makes me want to stuff my wrist up my nose.) Until the bandaid note fades out on me completely, it's doesn't *quite* work, but without the bandaid its incredible -- of course, by the time the bandaid is gone, some of the gorgeousness is too. grrf. Whodathunk bitter chocolate & patchouli... like boomslang without the sweetness. Sigh. This is a layering experiment to happen - need to try mixing it with other scents that are patch heavy to see if that drowns out the bandaid...

[modillian]

*Note, patchouli generally does not work on me, and chocolate-ish things only work half the time. If you love patchouli then you might be wilder about wearing Tezcatlipoca than me.

 

Omg. OMGZ?!?! I'm smelling...chocolate? And flowers? And wood?! And maybe a little musk? This is insaaaaaane and yet good. Aha, looking at the description, maybe not musk but leather, the oily kind. I am so shocked that I like this, I expected it to completely blow up in my face. The chocolate fades from topnote to midnote pretty quickly and the incense/patchouli scent is on top. Still, this is insanely good, and I can bear patchouli stank when it's mild like this. The flowers are detectable but also a midnote, something pungent like moonflower or jasmine or freesia.

 

After an hour the woods and flowers balance themselves out, chocolate and leather as a minor back notes. There is surprisingly little throw as well. Someone compared this to Snake Oil, and I can see it since they're both in the foody/incensey category. I put SO on my other arm to compare. Tezcatlipoca is spicier and drier with that more BO stank of patchouli while SO (mine aged 1 year) is more roundly vanilla and sweet musk.

 

It dries down to rather smelly patchouli so I'll need to take more time to consider whether to keep it, since Tezcatlipoca is so wonderful otherwise. This is maybe not a body scent for me but would be insanely wonderful as a room scent/clothes scent/in a locket.

Edited October 27, 2009 by modillian

[Diva Urd]

Vial: Lots of cocoa with a woody undercurrent

 

On: The cocoa goes into the background less than 30 seconds after I put this on, but instead of sweetness, it lends an almost spicy note to the remainder of the mixture. I definitely get the incense and patchouli, and maybe a hint of leather. The flowers stay in the background so far. It starts going a little dusty on me as it dries, hopefully that won't mean it vanishes on me...

 

Later: Slight woody spiciness, the cocoa is pretty much gone. This reminds me a lot of some other blends I've tried, and at this point, I think I'm gonna keep the imp and not get more.

[voodoocatwoman]

Yes indeed, this one morphs up purty.

 

Starts out as cocoa and evolves to a soft but potent blend of patchouli and incense. Neither overpowers the other and the end result is lovely. I think that this might become a favorite. Thank BOB it's GC.

[Coldfire]

 

 

imp: Cocoa....heaven

Wet on Me: cocoa and patchouli. mmmmm

drying down: now leather joins the mix making this even more heavenly for me. wow!

Dry: To keep! A blend of cocoa and leather and incense and patchouliand wonderful and wow! I'm not much for foodie scents but this is cocoa and not chococlate and it is noticable to my nose. LOVE!

 

[HKB]

At first, strong cocoa, then it becomes chocolate and leather. Then it gets really smokey. I thought I smelled tobacco but apparently there's no tobacco in this. It's kind of a strange blend in that sometimes it seems really warm and chocolatey and leathery, and other times it just smells like smoke with some floral mixed in. I like it, but I don't think I would wear it often. I will apply to my boyfriend and try it out on him. It's very masculine. Not particularly foody to me despite the cocoa.

[Venneh]

In the imp, I'm getting cocoa, patchouli, and incense. Uhm. Well, this should be interesting. On my skin, the chocolate and incense seem to be combining for a similar scent to the March '09 13 on me, but slightly deepened by the leather, I think? I'm not quite sure. Yeah, it's turning out really similar to the March '09 13 on me, sadly, so it's a no go. Swaps/sales.

Edited November 20, 2009 by Venneh

[jizatt]

wow - I cant believe I've never tried this one! This was a frimp to me, and I've never even really glanced at this in the catalog. I gave it a quick test tonight, and WOW. This has a beautiful complexity to it, I get the dark, nto exactly cocoa, and patchouli first, with bright deserty florals skimming over it. The leather is the sweet deep kind, and I think i get incense too. Dry, i get a sweet, dry leather and incense, with an almost opium touch to it. I REALLY like this one =)

[stitchpirate]

Tezccatlipoca is awesome. I get mostly cocoa, with a bit of a kick (I guess that's the incense or patchouli) for the first few hours. Towards the end, those fade a bit, and I think the floral element comes through, but it's not very floral or particularly strong. I hate florals, and it comes off as more of a general "clean" smell. I like it a lot. I don't get the leather at all, but if I did, I think I'd like that also. The only mainstream perfume I wear regularly is Pink Sugar, and while this isn't really similar, it has a lot of elements in common with it, and I think someone who likes one would like the other. My two favorite perfume categories are foody/sweet smells and masculine leather/tobacco smells, and I never thought I'd find one that combines both so well! It's really wonderful; I think my only complaint is that it doesn't have much throw on me.

[ModderRhu]

Tezcatlipoca

I get no leather from this at all.
To my nose, it's identical to The Malignant Dreams of Cthulhu in Love (ThinkGeek exclusive) plus some flowers, and minus the saltiness. I'll have to do a death match to be sure, but I think I prefer Cthulhu in Love.

2.5 out of 5

[aquazoo]

Starts harsh. It sorts itself out starting with dusty leather. I'm getting the cocoa and incense.

 

[SophieCedar]

Yum. The cocoa and leather are a strong but equal couple in the beginning. It mellows a bit on drydown so you can smell a waft of incense and flowers. This is like Bow & Crown of Conquest> one step in the sweet direction (cocoa instead of sage/carnation)

[Teaotter]

This one is definitely a morpher on me.

 

In the imp, I smell cocoa and patchouli. On my skin, the cocoa dominates for a moment, then sinks down under the leather note. For a moment, I got the dreaded caramel-corn note-of-doom (I still have no idea what that actually is, since it appears in plenty of blends that don't have caramel), but then it disappeared!

 

Dry: Warm leathery incense with cocoa grounding it just enough to be yummy.