Baron Samedi

[aquazoo]

A notorious voodoo priest, who eventually rose to become one of the funereal Guédés, alongside Baron Cimitère and Baron La Croix. He is a Guardian of the Crossroads: the pathways between our world and the realm of the spirits. As a Master of the Graveyard, he ensures that burial rites are performed with skill, and he helps ferry souls to the dark realm. In his honor, we have created this scent: our spin on traditional Bay Rum.

Dusty dirt. Then dirt with a hint of butterscotch. Finally a nice soft dirt with a not-too-sweet overtone.

[CrazyPretzel]

In the imp: light almonds and cloves and a green rotting smell.

 

Wet on me: The cloves get stronger right off the bat, and there's still that moist rotty smell. I can just about imagine that's fresh-cut grass, albeit very intense. I'm beginning to smell rum.

 

After a few minutes: Still mainly wet grass and cloves. Not so boozy as I would have expected!

 

Drydown: A weird mix of warm spicy cloves and wet green grass. Not bad, but probably not something I would wear, either.

[n3m3sis42]

In the imp:

Almond and woods. If this works on me, I will be surprised, as woods typically do not.

 

Wet:

Cola and wood. Within about 3 minutes of first contact with my skin, nothing but wood, which is generally not a good sign for me. Wait, maybe this one will actually be okay, as it's now smelling more like burning leaves than wood. This one goes through a lot of evolutions as it dries down--now it's smelling more like clove, with that burning-leaves undertone.

 

Dry:

Hmmm, sort of an earthy cola. Interesting. I will wear it out and see how it goes.

[Czarina]

In the imp: almond extract.

Wet: bitter almonds.

Dry: church incense, lemons, orange, musk. Clove. The almond disappears completely. Very interesting.

[Fishwomon]

Almond in the imp and when very wet on the skin. The bay and cloves emerge quickly and hang around a long time. This is a classic men's cologne, but it doesn't have the sharp note of so many commercial colognes. And yes, it does smell like an autumn/Christmas candle - it's bay leaf, after all.

[ralenth]

Imp: Faintly spicy and musky.

 

Wet: Lemons and oranges, kind of a surprise.

 

Drydown: Lemon Pledge... ick.

 

Dry: Lemon Pledge and baby powder, with occasional flashes of spiciness.

Overall: The Baron clearly does not love me. Off to the swaps!

[hkhm]

imp: almond and... bay leaf?

 

wet: this smells like sweet ashes. there's a burnt scent that overpowers everything else. i can catch hints of citrus and almond and the bay-leafy scent but the burnt smoky aroma is by far the strongest.

 

dry: the burnt scent faded and vanished after a little bit and left a very pleasing bay rum scent. this is quite nice, i'm be tossing it onto my husband's imp pile to see what he thinks.

[laliloo]

Sweet almonds. Cloyingly sweet. I can smell alcohol as well. It actually smells pretty much like rum marzipan!

 

Unfortunately, I'm allergic to almonds (when I eat them) and the smell doesn't have good associations for me. I'm going to wash it off and the Baron will be headed for my swaps pile. I don't know what it smells like dry as I washed it off before it got that far!

[topazphoenix]

Baron Samedi smelled like coca-cola wet. It dried down to a dark, smoky, heavy scent. Very bitter. I didn't like it.

Edited July 10, 2009 by AmandaKay

[carbide]

oh dear. i had high hopes, but it starts off with a blast of almond (the one note i avoid because it turns my stomach), and dries down into clove (yay!) mixed with a zing of something i can only describe as lemon pee (less yay!). followed by burning, irritated skin.

 

i don't think i'll be testing the baron again, let alone wearing him.

Edited November 14, 2007 by carbide

[alexandra]

In the vial: Urgh - If marzipan was a super-villain. And I hate marzipan. Bad almond gagathon.

 

But reviews have said Mr Marzipan disapparates so, in the interest of furthering knowledge, I put him on my wrist...

 

Wet: For one minute it is cherry bakewell badness but then the bad almonds go, and it is spicy-sweet christmas on my wrist - good gracious. Hopes soar.

 

Dry: And then it settles back into a warm spice strangely mixed with talcum-powdered rubber - like a pilates stretch band after use that's been dusted with clove, cinnamon and all-spice. Odd, but likeable.

 

The Husband Sniffs - "Cinnamony chocolatey stuff", "comforting, homely" - "s'alright".

 

And?: It is indeed 'alright' but not fabulous. One to wear when in need of succour, or when I want to work out my core muscles.

[AEris]

Ew, almond and dirt. I don't like this at all. *ugh* not at all

[maribouquet]

I smell almond and something rich and earthy (vetiver?), mulchy almost, as I put this on. Eww, and there's whiskey?

 

Baron, vat are you do-ink?

 

Smells like drunken Troll!

 

This is neat but not really me.

[Torrain]

In imp: Makes me think of allspice and cinnamon, although that's not quite right.

 

On skin, something dry and spicy starts coming out—cloves. Right, of course.

 

10 min: cloves and bay leaves. Not picking up anything else yet.

 

15 min: faint hints of something mellower: not sure if it's the almond people keep talking about. Left to myself, I'd've almost pegged it as amber, but I'm sure that's not an ingredient.

 

25 min: getting drier and dustier. Smells like clove oranges.

 

45 min: much the same. Not reacting with me much, but a nice smell.

 

1 hr: still around, pleasant enough. I'll file it in the “Definitely worth hanging onto for an interesting swap, and dipping into occasionally in the meantime” category.

 

Love and coffee,

Frances (collating and posting reviews)

[voodoocatwoman]

In the Imp: Smoky incense with a smattering of dirt thrown in for good measure.

 

Wet: Spice drops have been dumped into the burning incense.

 

Dry: Still spicy, still smoky, but now there's cedar coming to the forefront.

 

This would probably be lovely on a man. Not for an old lady, though. Buh-bye, Baron.

[faded_stranger]

I wore this one so constantly during my freshman year of college that when my imp ran out (but before I'd found a good scent to replace it with), several of my friends mentioned that "something had changed about me, but they didn't know what."

 

Baron Samedi was earthy and spicy and sweet, and I positively adored it. This one never hit my radar as a "masculine" scent, though I'm one who can't wear oils like Wilde because they're too cologne-y on me. It's on my list of bottles to buy "someday," when the husband and I are no longer grad students and have disposable income.

[sirsaber]

This came off really spicey and sweet all at once when I first put it on,but shortly after it set on the skin the sweet went in back and the spice came forward. By itself its not too bad,with Snake Oil it smells really exotic and good.

[skittisheclipse]

My sweetheart requested I acquire this one for him, because he thought it would be fun to have a bay rum. But I don't think I'll be missing it when I send it. It starts out vetivery and spicy, but stays pretty hollow on me. I'd probably like it more if I didn't know about Voodoo; this reminds me of Voodoo, but without the enchanting depth of the myrrh or the exciting twist of lime. I'm nervous because I can't really pick out the almond, though.

Edited April 5, 2008 by Skittish Eclipse

[lmaunu]

Source: Imp from the Lab

 

Both in the imp and on my skin, the almond is more subtle than the rum, which is mixed with a nice smoky, incense scent. As it dries, the clove comes out more and more, but it's not too overpowering.

 

It's a nice scent that I'm going to pass on to my hubby since it's a little too heavy for me, but I think that I like the rum in Port Royal better.

[savage_rose]

This smells like someone made some moonshine out of gasoline and cherry cough syrup. Yuck!

[PurityAlighieri]

Wanted to try this because, well, of the description. I was in a voodoo mood.

 

In the bottle: Wow, this is strong. Definitely a rum scent. I can kind of pick out the almond, but mostly rum.

 

Wet: Wow, lots of almond. A little spicy and a bit of rum. Something sweet in it too. ...Vanilla? o_O Where did that come from?

 

Dry: Don't know where that vanilla went, I just got a few whiffs. o_o Maybe my nose was off... Anyway, it's now mellowed out into a spicy, mild rum. (A few minutes later..) Wait, I think I'm getting the incense people talk about. It's barely there and mostly covered up by the sweetness and spices.

 

Conclusion: This would be good scent for when I'm feeling like wearing my Hawaiian shirts. That would be nice. Maybe a 5 ml, but no more than that. At the very least, I'm keeping the imp.

 

UPDATE: Argh... I believe this is what people mean when they say a scent turned "soapy". About fifteen minutes in and there is this bad soap smell. Damn. Guess I'm trading this... T_T

Edited April 30, 2008 by PurityAlighieri

[brsis]

Frimped to me by Ebayer Melenass!

 

Initial thoughts: Oooh, bay rum. I'm yet to find a bay rum that works on me (Although I've only tried what concoctions my mother can come up with) but I'm ever hopeful. And hey - anything named after Baron Samedi is good in my books.

 

In the Imp: Holy crap. Almond booze. Really strong, dark, alcoholic marzipan. Eyewateringly strong. 'Makes me cough' strong. I'm actually scared of putting it on my wrists, but here goes nothing.

 

On the wrist, wet: I've been sparing with this one, because it's SO potent and... yeah, not sparing enough. Oh my. It's really strong, but less almond, but dark and slightly bitter marzipan. Almost a hint of something herbal, but just a hint. Ooo la la.

 

Ten minutes later: It's calmed down, but it's still pretty potent. Less almond, more clove, still got quite a rum-sting without actually being boozy, if that makes any sense, and just beginning to get a hint of bay leaf. This is dark, rough and rather sensual. This is what the worst kind of Victorian gentleman smells like. This is bay rum in it's best black silk tophat and skull mask. This is a man's scent, and not a very well behaved man at that. By every logic, I shouldn't like this - it's potent enough to knock out a horse, and I hate marzipan - but I'm actually starting to really love it. If nothing else, it makes me grin. It's a wicked kind of grin, a skeleton grin, the kind of grin that makes me want to go tie damsels to traintracks, but a grin nonetheless.

 

Vedict: Keeper, and probably a bottle. Mwah hah hah hah hah.

 

Tl;Dr: Potent bitter marzipan fades quickly into manly clovey goodness. Get your coat and tophat.

[Argentwolf]

Upon first whiff, it smells very sweet -- deliciously sweet to me, as if I'm smelling a bag of good, pipe-quality tobacco. Then the bay kicks in, giving a strident, not-quite-sour edge to it. Over time, it gives the impression of faint whiffs of booze and tobacco; it combines all the scents you'd expect to find on your long-lost Uncle, the ne'eer-do-well that likes to take long trips to exotic locales and then saunter back into your life to regale you with intriguing yet slightly menacing stories of his travels.

 

Bay leaf is an interesting thing. Used to flavor a dish, it imparts a very nice, hearty flavor. If you forget to take that leaf out and happen to get a good taste of the thing itself, though -- yowza. Not nearly as pleasant. And, unfortunately, though Baron Samedi has that delicious, evocative air to it, ultimately he is like sucking on a bay leaf -- just too pungeant, too sharp around the edges. Not my thing.

 

This scent is not for me, yet somehow I think I would like smelling it on someone else. Once you have that degree of seperation, this blend becomes a lot more tolerable; it's a bit like settling into Uncle's chair after he's gone off for more sinister adventures somewhere, revelling in the scent he's left behind, and breathing a sigh of relief that he's gone.

[fairnymph]

Dark cola-root beer reddish-brownish colour oil. Sweet, DIRTY (as in, lots of soil, the slighly sweet kind), rooty, a little mentholic-medicinal in a darkly herbal way. A bit gritty - definitely that sort of vetiver. Some benzaldehyde (fake cherry/almond extract). Strange, and not reminiscent of either rum or bay.

 

Sweeter and much heavier on the benzaldehyde; this reminds me of herbal medicinal extracts meets fake cherry cough syrup. Quite bitter, still loads of soil and dirty, harsh vetiver, and I think the rooty note is patchouli. This is everything I don't want in a perfume, either on myself or a man.

 

VERY STRONG and awful throw! The benzaldehyde dies down a bit, but the dirty and rooty notes amp if anything, and this becomes harsher and more bitter and almost dark-evil-minty as it dries. It is making me quite ill, so off to the sink. Of course...it refuses to come off.

 

Edited February 16, 2010 by fairnymph

[galahad]

In The Bottle

Really strong almond and leather

 

On Application

Overall this smells like very strong anise (yum) with leaher beneath (similar to when I layered De Sade with Black Annis).

 

Dry Down

Burn-your-nostrils-out strong. 5 minutes into the drydown I get the spiced rum reference. This is becoming very nice as it softens. 20 minutes on it's.....Bay Rum occasionally with a strong clove kick. I will enjoy the imp but don't think this is bottle-worthy.

 

Rating (0-5)

3.5