Shango

[portalkat]

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

I'm drawn to anything fruity, so I knew that I had to try Shango. This is a lush combination of fruits. I smell the pineapple the strongest with the apple and everything else falling behind. On me there is a resiny sweetness and I can't quite figure out where this is coming from, perhaps musk or amber. This would definitely be a summer blend for me. I would try wearing it in the colder months with something with wood notes, now that might be lovely, too. It's most likely going on the bottle list - oh my poor pocketbook!

[jarvenpa]

Shango was a gift from a generous forumite, and I put it on in blind trust, without checking the notes, greedily grabbing it from its package.

 

Omigod. Apples, juicy sweetness, tart and sparkly. (yes, later I would check the notes and find out the fruit was more than apple--but I wouldn't have guessed the mix). It smells bright: a shimmer of red and orange. I thought I got a hint of tobacco, once the burst of juicy loveliness started to soften down: odd nostalgic sensory memories of my grandparent's home: his sweet pipe tobacco, her bowls of fruit picked fresh from the trees in the magical Southern California garden.

And just a hint of old fashioned canned fruit cocktail. Well, okay.

 

I'm usually not into fruit fragrances much (my daughter loves them) but Shango is exceptional. It fades into a gentle sweetness, clinging close (the initial apple exuberance is pretty powerful).

 

Doesn't seem to last all that long--an hour or so later there is only a sweet memory.

But I love the initial burst of delight in this one, very fun.

[melange]

Imp: tropical fruity yum.

 

Wet: I want this on ice, please, with a little plastic sword stuck through a cherry.

 

Drydown: the coconut is coming out to play, and the apples/pineapple/pomegranate are shaping the blend into a direction.

 

Worn: it's amazing how this becomes very wearable even beyond the fruit; as others have mentioned, the chili pepper adds a richer warmth that's reminiscent of musk. It has good throw on me, and lasts perhaps two hours.

 

Thoughts: Shango works great for warm weather, in a way that neither battles (minty) or amps (musky-spicy) the heat. I don't think I have another scent anywhere near like it, and the imp will definitely keep its home with me; if it lasted longer, I would be more likely to bottle it. Also, it really makes me want to make a drink with these ingredients in Shango's name and see just how they taste together.

[sophia_helix]

Sigh. Another Orisha misses with me. The fruit was nicely candy-sweet at the beginning, but the scent just turned vaguely fake-smelling on me, like a spicy-fruity potpourri or something. Not nearly that bad, just not as fresh as I'd like.

[Thorne]

Delicious! There's definitely a musk or an amber (or both - it actually reminds me of the base of Snake Oil) lurking around in here, and combined with the sweetness of the fruit, it's very sexy and strong.

[priscilla]

I like it a lot. It smells very fruity, kind of like a hard candy. Lifesaver may be?

I can't really separate the components but it is great for bright summer days when you feel like wearing something fruity on. I can't wear it all the time, though, I really have to be in the mood for it.

It has a good staying power and the scent does not change with the time.

My husband likes it, my my daighter says it smells " like a medicine" to her, although I don't get it at all.

 

overall - 3.5/5

[judas_kiss]

I ordered this for my husband as a summer scent as he loves fruity scents for summertime. I will be reviewing based on what I get with his chemistry.

 

Initial impression: I went into this thinking this is either going to work and be dead sexy or this is going to be a fiasco. I was a bit skeptical as there is SO much fruit in this blend.

 

In the bottle: I don't know if this will mean anything to anyone here, but in the bottle this smells like a Mexican fruit cart. Here in our part of Chicago we have a very diverse community and there are these amazing fruit carts on the corners where vendors sell fresh-cut fruit and they will sprinkle it with chili powder if you ask...Shango manages to capture the heavenly smell of one of these carts in a bottle.

 

On (Mike): At first, this is a very strident blend. It really smacks you in the head with "I AM FRUIT"!!! No surprise, but it is a caucophony of scents hitting your nost at once. It's rather like a fruit salad right when it's blended...everything is competing for flavor time on your tongue. The same goes for Shango. It is all competing for dominance.

 

5 minutes later: This chills out really fast. The chili pepper comes forth and bitchslaps the fruit ho's into their rightful place. This pepper is very strong and I really love this stage of this blend. It's awesome. I swear I can smell just a tad of ozone as if there is a storm coming...

 

Aside from mellowing out a bit further with time, this blend stays and has plenty of throw.

 

Recommenation: If you have a guy in your life who is perfume-adventurous, give this to him for summertime. It smells really amazing on a man, and I wouldn't expect that. It is a rather masculine scent after all...who'd have thunk it? I would buy this again, but only in the summer for the Munky.

 

Also, I tried this blend on accidentally one day and I did not have any issues with the pepper and my sensitive skin. My husband has sensitive skin as well and he has reported no issues. I was concerned about this for a while. Great job, Beth! You roxxor.

[edenssixthday]

Shango - Sweet, tropical fruitiness! This is the type of tropical blend I've been praying for Beth to make, only I would have never thought to put chili pepper in it. She's absolutely brilliant! I adore Shango and picked up a bottle of it last weekend, and can't stop applying it now! I carry it with me everywhere. It's not a scent that morphs and changes much on me, and unfortunately, it only lasts a couple hours before it fades, but those two or so hours are heavenly! This is a scent of the richest tropical punch combined with deep, red tropical spices. It's sultry and slow, like laying in a hammock under a tree on a hot afternoon, as your sun-browned body glistens as the glaring sun beats down above you, and you sip on a juicy, fruit-sweet tropical beverage, to help keep you cool until the sun sets.

 

(As it ages, I'm really hoping the chili pepper note will come out more!)

[jewelbug]

Imp: Wow, this oil is so much darker in color than I'd expect for a fruit blend. It smells of super sweet fruits, and I can't pick anything out specifically except for the banana. So, its banana plus other super sweet fruits.

 

Wet: The banana is still very distinctive, but when this hits my skin i can pick out the coconut and pineapple. Just so you know, bpal coconut has a habit of going plasticy on me, but this one doesn't! Which makes me really curious about the other coconut blends recently added to the list....

 

Dry: There is a rich musky smokiness to this (dragons blood?) along with the strong fruits. The banana is so strong that this ends up reminding me of manila, but shango is richer, thicker, darker, more syrupy. The coconut makes it creamy and the pinapple's acidiy cuts through really nicey. The later drydown (1.5 hr+) was a melding of fruits to result in a deep red fruit smell (no more super strong banana, and can't pick out coconut or pineapple either). Its sweet and smoky (can chilis be smoky?). Its almost like a rich, exotic wine scent.

 

Overall: This is intoxicating, and I hope its not too improper to write that I felt twinges "down there" when wearing it. I'm very seriously considering a bottle. Maybe to replace my hanging gardens, which doesn't seem fruity enough now that I've tried Shango!

[Voleuse]

This is fruity bubblegum on me, all banana and pineapple. As it dries, the sugar cane, apple, and a hint of the chili appear. It's lovely, darker and more complex than I expected, but I still think "bubblegum" first whenever I sniff it. It would make a scent for summer evenings.

[Eros]

First sniff- Urd with pineapple.

 

On wrist- Yep, still getting the light grape and yummy incense from Urd with the addition of pineapple, *maybe* apples and...mint?? Eh? A slightly cooling mint, not very strong but definitely there.

Fortunately, the pineapple note fades to almost nothing leaving behind that lovely, sweet incense from Urd without the strong grape wine note. Nice throw and staying power.

I wasn't sure about Shango, pineapple, bananas...No thanks. Coconut likes to go WAY strong on me, too, occasionally, but not this time =) I like this one!!

[maijasu]

Wet: yummy, sweet coconut and a hint of apple.

 

Drydown: Oh no, the apple is turning sour.

 

Dry: It has turned. Sigh. I love the smell of fresh apples, but sadly, my skin does not.

[sofiaviolet]

This is very fruity. I mostly smell the pineapple, pomegranate, and apples blended together with a bit of coconut. And bananas, loads of them. The bananas become even stronger on my skin. While I will make use of this, I won't wear it because smelling like baby food isn't appealing.

[storme]

In the imp: hmm, ripe fruits - mostly pomegranate and apple. Smells like a tropical fruits cordial with manky banana.

 

On me, wet: urgh, really over-ripe fruit. I think the apples went rotten and mouldy on my skin, and it's hard to smell much else - except maybe some more rotten fruit.

 

On me, dry: I don't think I can bear to keep this on long enough to let it dry, frankly. It just seems to be getting ranker.

 

Verdict: If you're looking at this (as I was) with an eye to it being a bit like Fruit Moon, it really isn't. This lacks the sharp juicy kick behind that scent, and replaces it with dry rot. Urgh yick retch.

[steffanina]

Shango-

 

In Bottle: This is hard because it smells like someone's spilled The Premature Burial (or some earth scent) on the label of this imp, so I smell earth all over it before I even open it. Once it's opened, I smell grape pop!

 

Wet: Ooh, yummy and candy-like. A bit of the banana along with the grape.

 

Dry: This stays candy-like, and it's light and fades before too long, but I really need to try it again, because I still have that earth scent on my fingertips from that label. I need to decant this one into a fresh imp (or at least tear off that label and wash the bottle well) and give it another go in the future.

 

Overall: I think I like; must try again.

 

Addendum: I've figured out what it was--my imp of Zombi that arrived in the same shipment had a cracked top and the whole imp leaked and that's why most of the labels in the shipment smell like Zombi. On the second try, all I said before goes--grape pop and banana, candy-like, fades quickly, overall nice.

[Diana]

Wet: bananas! very lush & tropical smelling.

 

Drydown: This might sound crazy, but it smells like a banana Snake Oil. It's warm & lush with just a hint of the banana smell. Maybe it's the coconut + sugarcane? I don't know. Maybe I just have Snake Oil on the brain.

 

I do like it regardless, and this is now going on my wishlist for a bottle!

[L-z_Empress]

I am having a bad day with my BPAL order because everything in this package is making me sad. This was a freebie from the lab and I swear it smells like an exact dupe of Robitussin when wet and Luden's cough drops once it has dried down. It is not for me and it's actually making me feel ill.

[shellyshells]

Shango:

 

In the imp, I smell very dark sweetness and fruitiness.

On my skin, mainly fruits (apples, bananas, pineapples...) but I get a hint of that chili pepper in the background, it gives it an interesting kick but makes my nose itchy!

This one's a toss up, I like fruity scents but I'm not sure if I like Shango so much.

[TrailerTrashPrincess]

i confess, this one never made it to my skin...

 

i sniffed the imp and got the sweetness of sugar cane, fresh cut apples, a hint of banana and a whole lot of the sinus-burn i get from pepper.

 

and i haaaaaaate pepper.

so this one's gonna go live with someone else.

[Iceblink]

If Fruit Moon is a bag of original assorted Jolly Ranchers, then Shango is the tropical fruits assortment. Fresh and light and fruity and...fading...fading...fading very quickly, another trait it shares with Fruit Moon. But it's so good while it lasts!

[sofaking6]

Imp: bananas, straight up.

 

Wet: more well-rounded fruit...a little overripe but not unpleasant

 

As it dries, the chili comes out, and it reminds me of eating in Cuban restaurants where plantains and chili are often served.

 

Verdict: I'm not sure I could wear this regularly, but I still think it's a great scent, very evocative.

[buzz23666]

OK - I am now convinced that foody scents and I DO NOT get along.

 

Wet - all melon and banana

 

Dry - this one doesn't change much from its wet smell.

 

Way too sweet and foody. Last thing I want to smell like is a fruit salad.

[Reedsong]

With all due respect to the Master of Lightning...ewwwww.

 

In the imp, this is a very intriguing scent; I can actually smell each different note of the ofrenda listed, and I was excited to try it. Typically, though, my fruit-hating skin chemistry took over, and once the oil hit my wrists, it morphed from "interesting mixture of different offeratory elements" to "overripe bananas, overripe pineapple, and sickly coconut." I wish this smelled half as good on me as it did in the vial!

[RaeiNarcissus]

In the bottle, shango smells really yummy.

 

On me, it settles into this interesting sugary fruit cabanza.

 

As it is stated in the disclaimers to Drink Me and Eat Me, BPAL is not for eating. But I wish it was!!

[sookster]

this was a gift frimpage and let me tell you when i opened up the package

all i could smell was banana!! through the bubble wrap and tape it was all sealed up in...

i was beside myself as to what that gorgeous banana was.....i have been dying to try shango for like ever

 

sooooooo, straight sniff from the imp is a booze laden banana...the color is extreme....deep, dark brown...the scent is absolutely intoxicating!!!!

 

once applied i get apples, pineapple, sugar and i do believe some civet...but in

the most phenomenal way possible; something resinous as well......omG...if the lab still had 10 mls available

i woulda been all over this....

 

my own fault for not buying an imp way back when to try it....

 

in any case, my next lab order will most definitely include a bottle of this ....

 

incredible