Shango

[yewberry]

... The Master of Lightning's ofrenda contains red apples, banana, chili pepper, coconut, pineapple, pomegranate and sugar cane.

Lovely and evocative. In the imp, tropical fruit. On (both wet and after dry-down), sweet apple, pineapple, the tiniest tickle of banana, and a solid slap of ozone (BPAL's ozone tends to amp a bit on me, so YMMV). The combination is definitely more than the sum if its parts, making for a completely unique blend. I'll wear it in warm weather, with a storm approaching.

[VioletChaos]

in the imp: pineapple and banana.

 

wet on skin: a hint of the apple is coming through, for sure. not turning Yankee Candle on me, either.

 

dry down: a fruity mix. i sadly don't get the chili note, which i was hoping for, to give this oil some bite. i don't detect it, though.

 

in all: a great fruity mix, and if i run out of Fruit Moon, i'll certainly get me bottle of this. for now, i leave it on the back burner.

 

 

[charshark]

In the imp: Apple and banana.

 

Wet: Bananas, pineapples and apples drenched in sugar and coconutty goodness.

 

Dry: Mostly apples and a hint of pomegranate.

 

Overall: This is nice. I really like red apples, so it's a good scent for me. Big bottle-worthy, me thinks.

[NixieCakes]

Shango strongly reminds me of the chewable tylenols I took as a child. Eh.

[kawaiiferreto]

I can't really smell any specific notes in this other than GAH SWEEEEET. Coconut and pineapple commonly do that with my skin, so I'm not hugely surprised. I don't get the sugar cane note, which makes me sad since I love pure sugar notes. No chili pepper in sight either, which is a shame. I love a little spice!

 

I may have to try this again another day, just to make sure my cold/flu/whatever this is isn't doing funny things to my nose.

[Cereus]

In the bottle chili and apples! There's also something greenish in the background like the fibrous bits of a sugar cane stalk.

 

Mm, fresh pineapple, coconut, apple, and pomegranate with a spicy zing to it. There's the tiniest tingle of the chili on my skin, but nothing painful. The banana is present, but not overripe at all. This is exquisitely blended.

 

When I was younger I loved Carmen Miranda and made my own ludicrous fruit hat. This reminds me of my hat and dancing around under the heat lightning.

 

This isn't the type of scent I would generally wear, but it's so much fun!

[maromi]

holy banana and coconut batman! that is all i smell and it's giving me a headache

[jencallisto]

In the imp: Bright! Yellow! Fruit! With some sharp, lurking, bitter green something underneath.

Fresh on the skin: Tropical fruit cocktail with an apple wine base. Pretty! And ooh, it gets a splash of cream on the drydown. Mmmmmmmm.

10 minutes later: Holy crap, this is gorgeous. It makes me want to slurp on my wrist, it smells so delicious.

15 minutes later: I just re-read the description. Shango is Challenge, the concept of finding the best parts of yourself through conflict and adversity. Shango’s weapon is the double-headed axe, and His animals are the black cat and the leopard. Wow. No wonder I love this so much. My favorite ex-boyfriend once gave me a double-headed throwing axe for valentine's day, and I've always had a thing for big cats. And oh, do I ever have adversity in spades at the moment. But I'm working through it, damn it. I am.

20 minutes later: You know, there's something slinky about this, silky and graceful like a cat. Or maybe I'm just suggestible. It doesn't have huge throw, but is instead a nice medium. The waft smells like Starburst. Yum.

1 hour later: There's a fair amount of vanilla warmth seeping in, making it a little more like cake and a little less like a fruity drink, but it's still delicious.

2 hours later: Yup, still delicious in that bright tropical vanilla and fruit way. It's quite close to the skin now, though.

4 hours later: We're down to the faintest of fruity vanillas now.

5 hours later: And we out.

 

Verdict: I enjoyed this a lot, but I wish it lasted a bit longer. Still, seriously yummy in all stages. Definitely a keeper.

[tigerfish]

In the bottle: Chiquita Banana has covered herself with whipped cream and jumped into the mixer for a whirlwind romance that she (and me both) will probably regret.

Wet on skin: Banana Mama! You love me, I get it. But uhm, some breathing space would be much appreciated...

After half an hour: The lady loves and leaves in a rush. What remains behind: A coconut bra, half a pomegranate and apples on the bedside table, her slightly spicy scent in the sheets and a gentle breeze from the tropical forrest.

 

Miss Banana will knock you off your feet, but the after-glow is very pleasant.

[hlinspjalda]

In the vial: Food! Sweet, apples and pineapples first, but also banana. There is a sharpness too. Mouth-watering.

 

Wet: Oooh, if I were a foodie I'd love this! It smells so wonderfully tropical, like the bar beside a huge pool at some Caribbean resort. Food scents aren't me at all, but I'm hard-pressed to find anything to object to about this one.

 

Half an hour: More complex, less fresh-fruit now. I get coconut now, along with the settled-down banana and apple. The pomegranate is struggling to come out. Everything's a little more powdery than before, too. Don't get any scent of chili, but the patch of skin where I'm testing feels a little warm and sensitive as if capsicum has been there.

 

One hour: Now it smells rather like Horn of Amalthea did on me, only without that amazing bitter complexity at the heart of it. I didn't expect this scent to be anything more than a lark, but I kind of like it.

 

Two hours: Still smells like Horn of Amalthea to me, but less complex.

 

Four hours: Still yum. Keeper. What a surprise this one has turned out to be! I'm sorry I let it sit in the "untried" pile so long.

[Andrea912]

This smells exactly like a Mexican fruit cup from the flea market...melons, chilipepper, lime, etc; it smells exactly as advertised...sadly not a smell for me

[crebbsgirl]

Tropical indeed! Wet this was very much banana and coconut. The apple and pomegranate came out more in the drydown. This was very fruity. I didn't get any chili pepper here, and I could faintly detect the sugar cane. I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys sweet fruit scents, but my tastes run a little darker.

[zankoku_zen]

I definitely get the fruity pineapple on wet... however as ti dries, it gets more of a resinous sweet coconut blend.

 

Yeah, not for me.

[Leopard403]

Another freebie from the Lab that I am *so* grateful for! I never would have looked twice at Shango, but on my skin right now it is glorious!

Wet it is all red, red apples, bright and summery, though as it dries I smell more like a tropical drink, with the pineapple and something wonderfully coconutty peeking out behind the red. This will be a phenomenal scent to wear in the Springtime!

[savage_rose]

Fruity coconut with a hint of spice...but not like a Tiki scent, like a cologne. Sweet pineapple, tart pomegranate. I really like this, but I'm not sure it's something I'd wear often. I'll just have to try it again .

[msbcozad]

Shango

 

Wet on skin, this oil is puuuure apple. After an hour, the apple dies back and this is nearly all coconut with some sugar cane. Another thirty minutes and it's all banana. Er, no thanks.

[marared]

Lab frimp that's loud and tropical! Initially, the apple stands out loud and clear, almost to the exclusion of everything else - after a few minutes I start picking up a pina colada mix with the pineapple/coconut and a leetle banana. (The banana gets stronger and the apple starts fading after about ten minutes.) I'd sure like to drink it, but I'm not so fond of the *smell* of coconut and sugar, so I think this is going to end up in the swap pile.

[BuxomM]

I had high hopes for this scnet. In the imp it smelled like fruity goodness but my skin chemistry warped it. I love sweet foody scents so this smelled great in the imp but not on my skin.

 

imp: Apples and Pineapple

 

on me: like sweet baby powder and a bit of chili powder

[ShadowsDance]

Mmmm. in the imp it's all sweet and fruity - kinda like a fruit punch.

 

On my skin it's still a sweet scent, but something is holding it back a bit. The pepper, perhaps? Maybe the pomegranate as well. This scent didn't morph a lot after the initial dry down. It stayed a sweet fresh scent, really reminding me of fruit punch of some tropical drink, but was never too sticky or especially over powering. It reminds me quite a bit of the Atomic Luau Lounge scents, in that way.

[isisonearth]

Very pineapple fruity drink with an umbrella but then that chili pepper adds a bite. If you love tropical fruits this is a fun and unusual take on them. I'm not much of a fruity girl so off to the swaps for me.

[Eutectic]

Shango shocked me as I hate banana. Luckily I had this frimped to me by the lab and did not check the lab description before I dabbed it all over.

 

I did not spot the banana right away, just warm fruits and soft scents. I adore this one and was so surprised it had banana!

 

This is a staple for me when I want a warm slightly fruity scent.

[bubblefish]

This is pure fruit! It starts off slightly tropical and bright, but then mellows out, so it's less like the scent of fresh crushed fruit and more like the scent of warmed in the sun fruit. There's something deeper lurking underneath though, but I can't pinpoint it, but it lends warmth and depth to the scent.

[tajana]

I just realized I never posted a review for this! (I have a strange fondness for posting reviews, and I haven't had the opportunity to test very many new smellies lately...) Anyway, Shango was a frimp that I was quite curious to try, as I had seen a few raves from Shango sprinkled around in the past. I never sought it out myself because excessively fruity perfumes don't always sit so well with me, and banana made me especially wary.

 

Shango is certainly a unique scent, right out of the imp... On my skin it's a swirl of fruit, emphasis on the banana, pineapple, and apple. It's not a typical tropical fruity smell, though, because there's a dusky, spicy quality to it. The chili pepper is really prominent and really life-like, which is interesting and unexpected, but odd. When it dries down it's just "potpourri" to me (it's just what I'm reminded of with certain combinations of fruit and spice)... a brown, somewhat powdery, almost musky scent of chili powder, sugar, and fruit.

[sylvanusurban]

 

In bottle: Banana!

 

On me, wet: Banana! With a slight hint of… something else I can’t identify, something that makes this smell like a blended aroma, rather than just a piece of peeled fruit I rubbed on my wrists. A slight muskiness, or something. I don’t like bananas at all, at least for eating, but the scent is actually kind of nice.

 

On me, drying: Now I’m smelling another fruit – melon? Ooh, I just caught a whiff of the coconut! I think I can smell the red apples too. This is nice and tropical and fun! It’s like the olfactory equivalent of lying on a white sand beach with a fancy umbrella drink in a coconut shell. Conga drums playing in the background, and surf swooshing on the shore, and nothing to do but relax and enjoy life.

 

I can’t really smell any pineapple.

 

Mmm, the coconut is coming out more. Sweet, milky, creamy coconut. Like very much. I’m still getting little whiffs of melon here and there, even though melon isn’t listed in the description.

 

I might smell some pepper now, but it’s possible that I’m imagining things.

 

Later: Fruity smells have mostly been replaced by a soft, musky sweetness.

 

[milo]

Wet, this is pretty much juicy fruit gum. When I first started to get into Bpal, I had an imp of Shango, but got rid of it right away as the fruitiness was just too much for me. Well, I received another imp, and decided to give it a whirl, as we all know that scents can change on the skin.

With Shango, this really is the case, and the fruit backs off and a wonderful, musky incense comes out, with just the teeniest hint of fruit in the background. I really like this, and am glad that I gave it a chance!