Elegba

[fathom]

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.

Oh, hell yeah. So rich. Like a mink coat in a bottle. Very dark and compelling to my nose. Yes, tobacco, rum, coconut… but also coffee, pecan maybe, cocoa perhaps?
The coconut here is definitely not sweet like in Black Pearl, one of my favorite BPAL scents. I still love the coconut in this stronger permutation.
Dang this is nice. I can imagine this wouldn’t be a scent for everyone, but for those of us who love the nutty, foody, rummy scents this is a winner.

(edited for typos...)

[Ishtar]

Oh but... this is just delicious!!!

 

I put off ordering Elegba for a while, fearing that it would be too masculine. Then I decided that the coconut would probably make it more manageable than some similar-sounding blends like Santo Domingo, so I went ahead and I am sure glad I did!

 

There is not much I can add to the other reviews... the three listed notes are quite recognisable, sweet rum first, then coconut and rich dark tobacco.

Lovely, buttery and exotic. Yum!

[Monster]

Mmmm...lots of coconut! I knew I was going to like this one from the description.

Out of the bottle, the rum is very strong as well.

 

My my skin, wet the run really comes through. I can't really smell any tobacco though, which is sort of dissapoint,ing, I love tabbacco scents.

 

On the dry down it fades to smell exactly like some tanning oil I have.

It's a really nice summer scent. Reminds me of vacationing on tropical beaches.

 

Overall, I like this, but it's definilty a seasonal scent.

[dawndie]

I went to SoCal in June to "see my family," but the real, nefarious reason was to go to Black Broom! My sister lives just a few blocks from there. My plan worked perfectly! Mwahaha! Anyway, I brought a list of things to sniff and at the top of the list was ELEGBA! I was so disappointed when they were out, so the next Moon update included a full bottle.

 

In the bottle: swoony buttery rum! I just drooled on myself a bit.

 

On my skin: more of the swoony rum, with the tang of tobacco. The coconut is slight and a bit chemical. I'm kind of disappointed, but my ideal coconut scent is tanning oil, so what do I know?

 

Half-hour later: oh, this is nice! It's like Perversion without the fruity winey aspect. I'm sniffing my wrist over and over.

 

In conclusion: Welcome, Senor Elegba, to my humble home! I'm happy I bought a bottle unsniffed.

[LiberAmoris]

Yum! Elegba is Perversion and Grog in a blender, served up beachside. It's a lot foodier than I thought it would be (although how dumb is that of me, because the description says rum and coconut!) and has a slight butter note that makes it even more drool-worthy.

 

This is a definite contender for a big bottle. How great would this be in the winter time?! It smells just like a beach vacation. Delicious.

[jewelbug]

Bottle: OMFG. Butterscotch and coconut. Reminds me a drink I make with Baileys, Parrot Bay and Buttershots. I am so tempted to chug my imp.

 

Wet: More buttershots. My favorite liquor. Blissful. Tinge of coconut, and something a bit more unfamiliar. I guess that's tobacco?

 

Drying: Less buttershots. Still warm and sweet, the coconut is a little suntan lotion actually, and I'm afraid its going playdoh, but I might be overreacting. After 20 min, I realize that yes, its going play-doh-y. It's still coconuty, but now it smells of fake coconut because it's meshed with playdoh. Fades in a bout 2 hours.

 

Overall: I ADORED this in the imp. Sadly it just doesn’t work with my skin chemistry. I would love this as a room scent, though.

 

12/07/05: Thought I'd try this again, since I got a new imp from the lab, and was hoping maybe my last one was just wonky. No such luck. Once again, stunningly beautiful in the imp, playdoh suntan lotion on my skin. Curse my chemistry!

Edited December 8, 2005 by jewelbug

[erikasilverstein]

Delicious. Smells carmelized and smokey and the same time. Lasts a while on my skin and has a good throw. Makes me sniff my wrists in public.

[leahcat]

Elegba

 

In the bottle: Oh! Sweet happiness! Sugar rum for SURE.

Wet: sugar rub, soft tobacco...barely coconut. Much fun!

Drying/4 mins: Coconut sugared rum. Do I need to ask for more?

Dry/17 mins: happy sugared rum! Happiness!

[fragrantgrasse]

gaaah.....i love this!

 

i would be hard pressed to add anything more articulate to what most have said about Elegba. Coconut is one of my favorite notes these days, and with tobacco and sweet rum i am ready to upend this little imp and drink.

 

i will be ordering a 10ml in my next order

[judas_kiss]

Okay, I have one regret about ordering an imp of Elegba...that I didn't order a whole big bottle. God this stuff is creamy, devine goodness.

 

In the imp: almost buttery cream-coconutty-rummy. This is thick and rich, like a syrup. Not foody, though. Something, perhaps the tobacco, keeps it from beign that way.

 

On: Oh sweet love of Christ this stuff is amazing. It starts out all gorgeous coconut, but not sweet, oily, spf 2 dark tanning oil coconutty, but like a coconut milk. I would say the meat, but to me, this is much creamier. It's devine.

 

After an hour: The tobacco and rum are more in play and this is just gorgeous. Very creamy still, with a manly bite which makes it oh-so-delish.

 

Overall: Big bottle purchase for sure. Good ammount of throw to this one on me. Even through a head-cold, I could smell its goodness. Amazing, truely amazing. Beth, you have outdone yourself...again. An amazing triubte, really.

[13bodies]

In the imp this is rum with a hint of fresh (not sunblocky) coconut.

 

Wet and then for a couple of hours this is a sweet, almost buttery rum. Occasionally there's a whiff of coconut. The tobacco seems to be AWOL for the moment.

 

Then this morphs to a soft rummy scent, grounded by a dark brown slight spiciness that I suppose is the tobacco and every so often it releases some of that lovely fresh coconut smell. It lasted for several hours, too, and I kept sticking my head down my shirt for yet another sniff.

 

Wonderful, wonderful! Big bottle scent for sure.

[BlueStar]

Elegba is both a masterpiece and a mystery. To my nose and on my skin it stays the same through the bottle, wet and in dry down.

 

In the Bottle: Who knew coconut tobacco and sugared rum could be this unbelievably sexy? I suspected. This blend is just the very essence of sensuality. This one is just lovely and in addition to working as a panacea of sorts for stress it could probably be used as a natural alternative to Viagra

 

Wet on Skin: See Above

 

Drydown: See Above

 

Verdict: Buy it by the keg!

[Northernminx]

Tobacco, a touch of coconut, and a layer of rum, this is masculine, sweet, and rich. It reminds me very much of Hearth's sweet, warm tobacco, but it's definitly a bit boozier, a bit more subtle. Gorgeous and complex and utterly male though I can see women wearing it as well, this really made me want to go bury my nose in my boyfriend's neck for a few hours and inhale deeply.

 

Yummy stuff.

[gangstaknitta]

In bottle: sweet syrupy rum with a hint of tobacco; smoky and candyish

 

Wet: this smells like delicious rum cake, dripping with syrup and just a bit of liquor. It fades pretty fast initially.

 

Dry: this scent fades so fast. Still very much like rum cake, but so light that you have to get on top of it to smell it.

[moon_lemming]

In bottle:

Got a strong whiff of coconut as soon as I opened it, then that scent was devoured by the rum. Which is good and bad, because I love rummy scents, but they smell horrible on my skin. I think I can smell the sweet tang of the tobacco behind it all, too, although it's hard to tell if I'm just imagining it, because I'm new to picking out specific notes. But ANYWAY, overall the scent is deliciously butterscotchy in the bottle.

 

Wet:

Oh god, there's baby powder coating the back of my throat. Yerch. Baby powder and coconut. The coconut stays nice and sweet -- it reminds me of those neopolitan coconut bars you can find in candy stores -- but the baby powder is destroying all the goodness.

 

Dry:

Dry, it's not as throat-clogging, but it still smells (to me) like baby powder with a layer of sugary coconut underneath it, like I lathered up with sunscreen and then liberally dusted myself with powder. I'm pretty sure it's the "rum" scent reacting badly, since this has happened with most of the delicious butterscotchy rum scents that I've tried over the past few years. Which makes me sad because I love the buttery rum smell. This one smelled really good in the bottle, too.

 

I should note that my husband thought it smelled pretty good, so it might not be that bad. I'm glad he likes it, but I'm sure there are husband-approved scents out there that won't give me a headache. This one's going into the nay pile.

 

Should it stay or should it go?

GO. And there goes another "but it smelled so good in the bottle!"

Edited October 8, 2005 by karen

[AliBabble]

i'm having a problem with this one...it starts out good, with the dark rum/butterscotch/coconut thing, and i love it, although it's almost too syrupy sweet, which is a rare thing for me to say (i love sweet). but then, it goes into this other stage - which could be the tobacco, although i love tobacco, but, hmm..it's kinda cardboard-y woodchip-y. and i'm not so crazy about it. then it goes back to the coconut! i do kinda like this, but it's got a weird middle phase, for me.

[lookingglass]

Absolutely delicious. I get all the notes dancing beautifully together. Blooming on my skin, I feel decadent, warm, wanton. Everything I love in a fragrance. Bet this would be great on DH, too. He loves Hellcat, though...Elegba is lighter, flirtier. MINE!

 

Edited to note that I bet this is JUST what Captain Jack Sparrow smells like!

Edited October 20, 2005 by lookingglass

[malabar]

My first impression was that this smelled very familiar somehow, but I couldn't put my finger on it. I put a few drops into the bath, climbed in, and then it hit me... it smelled just like one of those instant International Coffee blends! Mostly coconut, very sweet, with a tiny bit of coffeeness in the background. I thought for a bit that I had got a mislabeled imp and had something that was based on Irish Coffee, but then read everyone else's descriptions and figured out that I was smelling the sugared rum and mistaking it for Irish Mist or Jameson's. No tobacco detectable for me, though.

[strawberry_star]

In the vial: Smells like butterscotch!! I loooooove butterscotch.

 

On my skin: Smells like butterscotch still, yay!! I had gone out tonight wearing it and I kept smelling butterscotch and it made me order a Buttery Nipple alcoholic drink. The perfume is slightly milky and luxurious to me. It's not overly sweet and I think it's the rum and coconut combo that is creating the butterscotch smell. Underneath it all, especially 8 hours later, I can sniff my skin and smell tobacco and I know it's not just the cigarettes from the bar tonight! It's a pipe smell.

 

Overall: I absolutely love this. Butterscotch with pipe tobacco underneath. Very nice and versatile scent. There's no where I can think of that would be inappropriate to wear it for.

[Shollin]

First sniff: Toasted coconut!

 

Wearing: Toasted coconut perfection. I was afraid of the rum and tobacco – rum often goes way-too-boozey on me and I hate cigarettes – but on me, this is just pure gorgeous toasted coconut. With maybe a teensy hint of mint.

[ladymissspyder]

In the bottle: Rum with a pineapple undertone

 

On, wet: artificial rum flavoring!

 

On, dry: the rum has scaled back a bit, and now I can smell coconut and just the barest zing of tobacco.

 

On, 20+ minutes: sweet rummy tobacco (light throw)

[lemonade]

i was convinced i would love this but as soon as i opened it i felt ill. way too strong for me.

 

I felt as if i had been engulfed in a rum and tobacco monster forcing large spoonfuls of dripping sugared caramel down my throat.

 

It felt like i was dying from some kind of tropical disease called " YOU WANTED IT SWEET LITTLE GIRLIE,,,, WELL WE SHALL SHOW YOU SWEET" ( as the monsters laugh like THE COUNT from Sesame Street)

 

sigh never mind i swapped it for dirty so we shall see ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

[inbigtrouble]

The first thing I think of when I smell this wet in the bottle is Gluttony. It has the same rich, nutty, buttery foodiness to me, but is not quite as overwhelmingly rich as Gluttony.

 

When first applied, the coconut really hits me over the head! After just a couple of minutes, some of the rum peeks out, but I am not sure I would know what it was if I hadn't read the description. It seems weird to me that I get an extreme butteriness from this. It must just be my chemistry.

 

Oddly enough, this is so rich that I expected it to be long-lasting, but it was all but gone within a couple of hours.

 

I have to say that sadly, I don't think I am in love with any of Beth's coconut scents I have smelled. This is a pretty true coconut, though, so if that is what you want, you got it!

[LyndaM]

In the imp, Elegba smelled just like hyper, boozy butterscotch. When I first applied it, I clearly smelled the rum, and then the coconut. Reminds me of a thick sweet tropical drink, as many others have said before me.

 

As it dries down, it stays rummy coconut, and I'm recognizing a whiff of the tobacco, but if I sniff directly on my skin I get a weird plasticky note. That isn't enough to ruin it for me, as the waft stays true.

 

I do wish it lasted longer, it's gone leaving only a faint sweetness on my skin in about an hour and a half. That might just be me though; my skin soaks up oils and most blends are gone pretty quickly.

 

I luckily snagged a 5ml off swaps, and I'll definitely use it up. It's like a little bit of summer on a dreary fall day.

[LushNatty]

In the bottle: It’s amazing how distinct each of the three notes is in this one; this has never happened before for me. There is coconut, rum, and a third item (must be the tobacco?) that smells tangy and bitter, and I really don’t like that one. Too bad it is hovering in the background, because otherwise it smells like coconut rum. (YUM—my favorite.)

Initial application: yep, that tangy, bitter thing in the background is ruining it for me, because it’s in the foreground now, and very unpleasant—making me nauseated, in fact. It must be the tobacco. I don’t know what tobacco (as a leaf) smells like; I smoked for a few years but I only smelled the smoke.

As it develops on my skin, however, the tobacco tang is fading away and it’s blending more into the coconut. In fact, as it blends in it’s getting sweeter, and the tobacco is getting less bitter, gradually. If it ever goes away, I might like this, but I really can’t stand that tobacco smell.

Medium throw, but the scent got a lot stronger as it developed, so I think I overapplied initially and thus the throw may be milder with a more normal amount. It made my companion allergic, though, and didn’t wash off easily after she told me.

Unfortunately, the tobacco is not going away. But hey, at least I identified a heretofore unknown (to me) scent! If you like tobacco leaf, though, I would imagine you’d love this blend as the other two notes are gorgeous.

On a scale of 1 to 5: 3.