Elegba

[vikitty]

The Spirit of the Divine Messenger, the Lord of the Crossroads, He Who Owns All Doors and Roads in this World. He is the intermediary between the Orishas and mankind, and stands at the intersection of humanity and the Divine. He opens all paths of communication, both mundane and Heavenly. His ofrenda contains coconut, tobacco and sweet, sugared rum.

Elegba is probably the first coconut I've tried with BPAL and I absolutely love it. The coconut is deliciously toasted and fragrant, the rum sweet. The tobacco only shows up at the very end before it fades away completely, thankfully.

[Ohmaude]

I've been slowly going through my imp box of limbo scents; stuff I haven't swapped, but haven't given my attention, either. Elegba has been there for probably a couple of years.

 

Perhaps my bpal tastes have evolved somewhat, but now I am regretting overlooking Elegba. It is absolutely beautiful. I could have been slathering myself in this all the time! The coconut is fresh, it the whole thing sweet and just a touch boozy, the tobacco keeping it from being overly sugary or overwhelming. It is yummy but at the same time, soft and graceful and everything I could want from a coconut scent. I'm so getting a bottle of this with my next order.

Edited October 6, 2008 by Ohmaude

[rayvn1]

Oooh, I am very grateful for my sniffie of Elegba! This is a not a foody coconut and smells slightly browned or blackened. Very thick, rich and syrupy. Sweet, but in a not overpowering kind of way. Keeper!

[beturtlement]

I really wanted to like Elegba, but alas, I didn't. At first, it almost seemed floral tor me. After a little while, I finally got the deep coconut I wanted, but it was fleeting. I don't know what happened, but after a half hour, it turned into a light, powdery scent with a tobacco finish.. like a chain smoking baby.

[awesomeoverlord]

Mmmmm...there's the rum! This is delicious -- boozy, smoky, and sweet with a touch of toasted coconut. Not my style, but I can totally appreciate this!

[windbourne]

Elegba was great for the first fifteen minutes -- boozy, coconutty, very sweet and a little burnt, but then it turned strangely plasticky and awful. I was stuck wearing it for the better part of several hours at work, which made me very sad. The throw, fortunately, was not strong, and it wore off eventually, but it took a while.

 

This is one for which I like the sound of all the ingredients individually, but the overall whole leaves me feeling disgruntled.

 

Passing it on. Go, imp, Go!

[binkin]

In the bottle: Mmmmm rich round rum and buttery coconut. I want coconut cream pie.

 

On, wet: Still want the pie. Must not eat wrist. usually I don't like smelling like food but if necessary I am willing to put meringue on my head.

 

On, dry: I'm still getting the coconut, but what's this... something... powdery and almost floral. Huh.

 

Dry after several hours: All the yumminess is gone and it's turned powdery and flowery on me. I wonder if it would work better as a hair or room scent.

[isisonearth]

Very sweet, boozy coconut rum. I'm not a coconut girl but it give me a happy summery feeling. A bit of the islands in a cold northern winter.

[crebbsgirl]

This is smooth coconut on my skin, and the sugared rum/tobacco combination prevents the coconut from being sunblock-y. This is really nice, if a little masculine (through my own associations, rum = man), but I like it. I'm not sure how often I will reach for this, but this is a really well blended scent. Each of the notes is identifiable but they mesh together seamlessly, creating a really wonderful sweet boozy scent. Overall the effect is a little playful.

[jencallisto]

In the imp: Mmm, caramel and butter.

Fresh on the skin: Ooh, really nice coconut. Rich and delicious.

5 minutes later: This just might be the perfect coconut.

15 minutes later: Hrm. Maybe going a little plasticky.

1 hour later: Plasticky coconut.

3.5 hours later: Basically light sunscreen. Not bad, but not great.

 

Verdict: Enh. Might try it again sometime.

 

One phrase: plasticky coconut.

 

[cometgirl21]

I got this as a frimp from the lab in my last order and I put it in my frimp box, which I use to frimp other people. For some reason, I was going through it today and gave this a sniff. I'm so glad I did.

 

In the vial: Coconut. Lovely coconut. Not sun tan lotion coconut.

Wet: Same. Yum.

Dry: I'm smelling a little bit of the rum, some coconut and something in the background. It's a sweet scent and light. I love it and definitely need a bottle. This is nice. I get a whiff of rum every now and then, but it doesn't make me smell like a lush.

 

[Pottersville]

Mmmmmm, very foody, which is odd because I don't usually eat tobacco! As usual, my skin chemistry amps up any and all sweet notes it can get its grubby hands on, so Elegba is all sticky sweet syrup on me. The tobacco keeps it from going into sugar overload, thank goodness, and the coconut is more coconut in the husk than the nasty sweetened shreddy stuff you find on cakes. A nice scent, but it doesn't knock my socks off.

[tapestry]

I'm a lot like Pottersville in the sense that my skin chemistry amps sweet notes. And yet I can't help but love Elegba... so long as it's fresh from the Lab.

 

This perfume seems to come in two flavors. There's Lab-fresh -- how I was introduced to Elegba and all his glory. It's my favorite option, and is to me very much a summer scent. There's a strange, bitey kind of tang to the coconut, almost like a musk (the white musk effect on Dorian comes to mind). The coconut is fresh rather than toasted or sweetened, as it's the rum and tobacco which lend their sweetness to the fruit. This will wear for hours and hours and glorious hours, and wafts like nobody's business. There isn't much morph, and what I walk away with tends to be rummy (but not boozy) coconut with the barest hints of tobacco to further ground the scent.

 

Aged Elegba is, IMO, very different. When I first received an imp of this, I actually recoiled. What had happened to my beloved Elegba?? It smelled thick and rich, like the coconut sunblock I had grown up with. This wasn't the almost sharp thing I'd come to love! Well, I have an aged bottle of Elegba now and while I think it's very wearable -- foodie fans, you should love it -- it's still not the magical being the fresher oil is to me. Aged, this sees the coconut as much stronger, much richer, much more foodie. A lot of the sweetness is amplified into something edible, so it's almost like having coconut rum cake or something to that effect. Positively (I guess), it continues to be a long-lasting scent so a little application goes a ridiculously long way.

 

I'd still rather have my new Elegba, though.

[catattack]

Imp: Sweet floral

Wet: Sweet, dusty. I smell the sugared rum. So far, it's not turning into caramel-from-hell (as some rum notes do). I'm smelling coconuts. They are fleshy and smell dry and tart, not candied. The tobacco smells more like tobacco flower instead of the leaves.

Drydown: This is a nice summer scent. I imagine sitting in the shade of a large palm tree on a hot beach. I think of vacation....ahhh....

Overall: This is a light scent on my skin and doesn't have a lot of throw. Very relaxing.

[anna1850]

This would probably would be good if you like coconut. I don't, so this isn't really me.

 

It's not bad but I don't think I'll ever wear it again just cause I'm not into coconut but there's nothing else wrong with it.

 

There's a bit rummyness about it but I'm mostly getting coconut,

 

2/5 I just don't really want to smell like a Bounty bar.

[magikalbrownies]

love this stuff, total instant hit as soon as i smelled the sweet coconut.

 

and the thing is, when applied, it stayed mostly true...smelled like coconut rum cookies...

 

LOVE IT.

[Kikkervisje]

Wet: A toasted, dry coconut scent. *Very* sweet. I… smell like a donut shop. Am getting some of the rum, but I can’t pick out the tobacco (although others seem to).

 

Dry: A pleasant smokiness with a bit of sugar.

 

Wear Time: 5.5+ hours

 

Fits Description?: I love donuts, but they don’t remind me of a divine messenger.

 

Overall: Too foody for me. I actually don’t mind the sweetness so much in this, but I smell edible which is not so much my thing. I do really enjoy the dry down. If it smelled more like that start to finish, I’d be all for it.

[Evengloam]

Bottle: Toasted coconut and sweet rum.

 

Wet: So very coconuty. It's kept from smelling like suntail oil with the rum's gaining strength.

 

Dry: The toasted coconut has mellowed down thanks to the rum and a shy note of tobacco.

 

1 hour in: Mmm. This is yummy. Smoky coconut and rum.

 

Lasted about 3-4 hours. Something is missing to keep me from purchasing a bottle, but I'll use up the imp.

[mhickle]

As soon as I open the imp, I get the coconut. Sweet and light and not at all the overbearing scent of sunscreen! Normally I don't like boozy scents, but the rum is sweet enough that it works. In fact, it's an absolutely fantastic summer scent. Of course, it does have the effect of making me wish I were swaying in a hammock with a tropical drink in my hand rather than sitting at my desk at work....well, more so than usual, that is.

 

 

ETA: I think I might want a bottle of this one!

Edited July 16, 2009 by ViolaVanWilde

[MamaMoth]

An imp of Elegba was a freebie included with my last order. What I find interesting was that I ordered an imp of Santo Domingo on a whim, and I expected Santo Domingo to smell very much like Elegba does. It's like they read my mind, and sent me what I really wanted.

 

All of the listed ingredients are immediately apparent, and so well blended. It goes on in a burst of sweet buttery rummy coconutty richness. As it dries down, this fabulous skin-warmed tobacco lets itself be known. It could almost be a food scent, but the tobacco keeps it in check. It's such a rich, warm, yellow scent. I love the way it smells on me, but I think it would also smell divine on a fella.

 

A happy surprise for me. And tobacco is now on my "made of WIN" note list.

 

ETA: Got my hands on an aged bottle. Not sure just how aged it is, but it's in the old-style cobalt blue bottle. The rum is MUCH more apparent when it's wet, but it dries down practically the same. I would say the rum is slightly less buttery in the wet stage, and the tobacco is a bit more prominent when dry. Still just lovely.

Edited September 15, 2009 by MamaMoth

[HKB]

There is rum and coconut but basically this smells like an ashtray full of cigarettes that's been left outside and rained on. Yuckkkk.

[samhainschimera]

*hugs the imp* Elegba is gorgeous. I didn't have very high hopes as coconut scents tend to turn a little sour on me, but this one is fantastic. It smells like true coconut oil with a splash of not-too-sweet rum that keeps it from smelling too fruity. The tobacco is very very light and fresh, it lingers in the background like faint tendrils curling around an island bar. Lovely.

[jennythereader]

First Worn On: 8/24/2009

 

In Imp: Strong vanilla with a sharp undertone

 

At Application: Strong vanilla, the undertone is sort of woody

 

When Dry: Soapy, faint food smell left but it isn't anything specific

 

Rating: 2 (Use up but don't replace; tradeable for something amazing.)

[livingdead71]

Elegba is a delicious coconut rum scent. It's too sweet to be overly boozy. It reminds me more of a candy filling in a box of chocolates. It has a better than average throw and wear length. I've been able to smell it all day. Definitely bottle worthy! Now, must find a nice chocolate scent to layer it with...

[silver_springs]

This was a nice and not too sugary coconut with a hint of rum. I was happy that it wasn't the sun tan oil scent that coconut sometimes takes in scents. I was pleased with this one. I don't think I would get a bottle but I'll keep the imp.

 

There are few scents that are considered gender neutral that I actually think work on me and this was one that I sniffed and thought "Ooh wouldn't this smell nice on the fiance." and I indeed got him to try and sadly what was a decent throw on my skin was next to nothing on his, it was oh so faint. It's too bad, I would've loved to smell that all the time on him. Ah well, it was still nice on me.