Faiza, the Black Mamba (2006)

[taramarie]

A sensual blend of twisting, exotic, serpentine oils: black amber, caraway, oakmoss, green sandalwood, bergamot, jasmine sambac, gardenia, orange pulp, vanilla, blackberry, black musk, white honey, ti leaf, and ginger.

On me, Faiza is jasmine, gardenia, and orange pulp. It's very light and feminine, perfect for summer. I may need another bottle of this.

[Wwindy]

I really wanted this one to work, even though I was nervous about the fruit and floral notes!

 

The first time I tried it, it was a giant jumbled muddle -- I think I must have hit a bad time of the month to test a complex blend.

 

The second time, I was interested in the wet stage and starting to enjoy it. The jasmine was behaving itself nicely, much to my surprise. And then... the orange pulp reared up and smacked me upside the head for no good reason! Industrial cleaning solution all the way. Even my husband, who is not a particularly discerning sniffer, said "Chemical-y cleaning stuff!" right away. *sigh*

 

If you're good (or even just ok) with the lab's citrus, this could be a gorgeous blend. Not for me, alas.

[motdakasha]

In the bottle:

Rating: 3

Notes: orange pulp, gardenia

Comment: Smells kind of like a cleaning chemical.

Wet on skin:

Rating: 4

Notes: orange pulp, gardenia, white honey, bergamot, jasmine sambac

Comment: Still a bit of a cleaning chemical smell.

Dry on skin:

Rating: 5

Notes: black amber, oakmoss, green sandalwood, ti leaf, vanilla, white honey

Scent Intensity: 4

Comment: Starts out not that great and turns into this lovely musky earthy perfume.

Misc:

Duration: +4 Hrs.

Keyword(s): musky, earthy, mossy

Color: dark earth green

Smells like: Flowers decomposing in a dirt heap.

Edited July 2, 2008 by Akasha Tsang

[inurbanus]

Faiza is very snake-like -- exotic, refined, and a little bit dangerous. While I normally try to avoid really complicated scents (those with oodles of notes don't seem to do well on me), I love the way this turns out. The notes play very well together and combine to form something unusual and interesting. It definitely has a "greenish -black" feel, as others have mentioned. There's something slick and glossy about this that I really like.

 

I would classify this a dark fruity-floral blend. It reminds me a little bit of Tavern of Hell, with its gardenia note, but Faiza is fruitier. This is one of those blends that immediately makes me think Perfume (with a capital P) -- it has a definite make-up counter vibe to it, but I tend to like things that smell a bit commercial, so that certainly doesn't bother me. The fact that I really like this kind of depresses me, since CD is going to be gone so soon. It's making me wonder what fabulous scents I'm missing out on... As it is, I'll definitely have to get a bottle of this.

 

4.5/5

[nekogrrl]

In imp: fresh-cut greenery

 

Wet on skin: fresh-cut grass

 

Dry on skin: light floral fresh-cut green grass

 

I was SO disappointed in this. I wanted it to be a wonderful vanilla-blackberry-orange dominant smell, but instead, I get a lot of the oakmoss probably combining with the honey and amber and ti leaf to get the green cut grass smell. Later the gardenia comes out, but it's still not what I wanted.

[hkhm]

bottle: amber, musk, oakmoss ginger and honey. sweet and dark.

 

wet: this is all honeyed oakmoss and sweet musk. so dark and sexy.

 

dry: the orangey scent (bergamot or orange pulp or both) comes forward with the ti over the base of oakmoss and musk. beauty.

[TeaLeaf]

This is very orange on me once I apply it that's about all you can smell. In the bottle however it smells very sweet and sexy and I can pick up on the other notes.

[nellieburger]

In the imp: Citrus, with a hint of floral. It's pleasant!

 

Wet: The citrus notes fade, and the floral notes take center stage.

 

Dry: An initial hint of floral, and a strong aftertaste of musk! Becomes a bit woodsy, too!

 

Faiza is light and refined. It's very green, and very refreshing. Again, it's pleasant, but I'm not sure if it's for me as a perfume-like substance. It has EXCELLENT aromatherapy potential, though!

Edited August 22, 2008 by nellieburger

[Dark Alice]

This is gorgeous. The Gardenia is amped but the orange and the vanilla calm it down remarkably. I don't get the other notes, but it doesn't matter. I love this. I may need a bottle of this before the CD leaves town.

 

Edit to add mental impression: A woman who knows that she looks good walking into the room. This scent speaks for her before she has to say one word!

Edited August 31, 2008 by Dark Alice

[mylogicsaysburnsendmeaway]

Okay first review

 

On me Faiza is an absoulutely gorgeous, slinky combo of well blended rich greens sweetened with honey and deepened by resins. Before trying this perfume, I said in the Batman/ Dark Knight recomendation thread that I think Poison Ivy might wear this and I was right. Green, sinister, and sex in a bottle.

 

Oh, and for a girl so trying to find lighter scents for warm weather, and at a total loss for something sexy for warm weather- cause my beloved orientals/ resins that scream sexy to me are too heavy- this is perfect.

 

Please let Carnaval Diabolique become G.C. I can't afford to stockpile, and also know I will eventually run out, and I love how this is now, I don't want it to change with age.

[heathercaley]

Interesting... I get super bright and astringant florals.. it smells like cheep perfume on me.. I'm not feeling this one too much.

 

It's green, and super harsh white flowers.. but as it dries down, It calms down a bit and starts to warm up (probably the amber waking up from it's druken stupor) But it's still super perfumy on me... I really don't like this one too much... thank god it's just a half decant I'll give this one away.

 

edited to correct stuff.

Edited September 4, 2008 by Purrsnikety

[Victory]

Faiza is an oil I would never have ordered on my own, mostly because I was concerned about the caraway, green sandalwood, oakmoss and gardenia, and I almost didn't give it a try. I opened the imp more than once before deciding this was NOT my thing and putting it away. I even tested the oil on a day I was planning to shower, so I had an easy exit if it went bad. But... I'm absolutely shocked by how well I like this. Freshly on, Faiza smells very fresh to me. I suppose it must be the florals and fruits, but neither group stood out to me. Next, there's a serpentine winding in of muskiness and a sort of green feeling and slightly foody-ness (I am guessing this is is the green sandalwood and the caraway, and I'm not fond of either), then back to the muskiness. Looking at the list of notes, I suspect the white honey played a huge role in making this palatable to me. I think it supported the musk and tied everything together. I shouldn't like this, but I do.

[ravenrigan]

In the bottle

Green and piney with floral undertones

 

Wet on skin

still predominantly green but as it warns the more complex notes come out to play, and I get orange, complex florals, bergamot and oakmoss.

 

Drydown

The green fades into the background, and a rich musky complex floral emerges, sweet and dark. There's a bit of powdery dryness to it, the smooth scaly dry of a snakes skin

 

Finish

Fades to Generic musk way too quickly.

Wearlength

Shortish

 

Throw

Moderate

 

Mood

Yes, Faiza slithers herself around the room, androgynous, and enigmatic before disappearin g in a swirl of dry dusty musk.

 

Verdict

Not destined to be one of my signatures, but I'll use the partial Imp I have. Unfortunately the lovliest phase is the drydown, and wearing it in a scent locket it's just too green and piney.

[MeiLin]

I wanted to like this, but it's completely ordinary on me.

[jencallisto]

In the imp: Spicy, slightly sharp, bit of floral.

Fresh on the skin: Green, herbal floral, dark and rather astringent, but with a bit of overarching sweetness, too.

5 minutes later: It's doing that green soap thing that herbals sometimes seem to do. But with something else going on, too.

10 minutes later: Sweetening up a bit. Still fresh and a bit astringent.

30 minutes later: A rather nice soap, sweet, green, bit of berry, bit of an incensey wood.

1 hour later: This has mellowed into a very nice subtle sweet purple-green soap.

1.5 hours later: Soft and sweet and a little juicy.

7 hours later: Totally gone, and has been for quite a while (I've been away from my computer). Admittedly, I only had the tiniest sniffle, so this is probably not representative.

 

Verdict: All right, but I don't really think I need it.

 

One phrase: nice, sweet purple-green soap.

[hlinspjalda]

In the vial: Bergamot, citrus, gardenia. This smells lovely.

 

Wet: Bergamot still. I usually don't care for bergamot, but this smells delicious: rich hints of floral, sweet, something very tannic, and something that's making my mouth water.

 

45 minutes: Oooh, this is what I remember from the Pennsic test. It's beautifully complex, mysterious, aromatic from the bergamot and gardenia, on a warm sandalwoody musk base. Jeepers, I may need a bottle of this!

 

Hour and a half: Not as rich as before, but still gratifyingly complex.

 

Three hours: Oh, yeah, this is great. It doesn't reach out and bang people over the head the way some of my favorite BPAL does, but it's so lusciously complex. I can't make out the caraway, ti leaf, or ginger, but I can catch elements of all the other listed contents.

 

Seven hours: Still going, although a lot of the subtlety has subsided.

 

Top ten! I already bought a bottle of this and will be stocking up on it before the Carnaval departs.

[acidrica]

I had high hopes for this, since I love all the other 'snake-type' bpal blends. Alas, the dreaded citrus ruins this for me. I can tell I'd love this if it didn't have that horrid, rancid tang that most citrus turns on me, but I can't tell anything besides that. I'll keep this just in case my body chemistry changes, but I won't be able to wear it until then.

 

[pinkpoodle]

Warm and spicy with a hint of berry or currant. Nice!!

[TheOneTheyCallLuna]

This is a heady, complex, swirling, purple and green scent. The reviewer who said, "jungly, dark bouquet" was spot on! It's almost too complex to pick out the specific notes. I like it, but it's way too floral and a bit too generic for me. If you are into really girly scents but want something a bit darker and more mysterious, then this may be for you!

[kelpsoda]

Wet: black musk, dark and perfumey. I also get greenery and a bit of spice (or sandalwood) in the background. I can't really identify the notes in this, it's so well blended.

 

Dry: after awhile, I get more gardenia and jasmine. It's still very dark, perfumey and sinister smelling. This is the perfume of a confident woman.

[asciident]

Wet: Gardenia and vanilla are starting this off to make a creamy floral scent.

 

First on: It doesn't change much on my skin, except that the musk is starting to make an appearance.

 

Dry: No change dry. It's a decent scent, but I don't think it's something I'd wear much.

[cinnamonster]

In the bottle I get a strong sense of DARK GREEN, yes in capitals! Also crushed rose stems.

On my skin I get hits of something which makes my nose burn a little inside, I'm really struggling to describe this one, what I think is caraway,tiny wafts of orange and more greenery. Later as it dries right down I get a softer more incensy smell to this which I love.

 

But oh no...hours later I keep thinking "wow...maybe I need a shower?", and the smell is coming from my arm, a strong honey and sweat smell I just can't enjoy as it smells dirty, and not in a nice way. Oh shame.

 

As an after note-when I tried this I was feeling very much in need of empowerment and downright edgy, Faiza sorted that RIGHT out, made me feel much stronger and calmer, and for that I love it. Just not the sweat...

[crebbsgirl]

I have found my perfect scent! And it is Faiza!! Against all odds I think this is the blend that utterly captures me! It's full of the notes of doom - gardenia, jasmine, orange and blackberry - are you kidding me? I usually avoid all of these things with a passion. Gardenia is a cloying flower on my skin and I amp jasmine like there's no tomorrow. I can't stand citrus scents and all berries go overly juicy and sweet on me. Imagine my shock when after an initial 2 seconds of floral horror, this dries down the the best version of a skin scent on me I have EVER smelled. The vanilla and ti leaf combination allows it to sweeten up without going sickly, and the green sandalwood is freaking heavenly! I can't detect caraway, but the black amber/musk/honey combo is amazing. Oakmoss adds some depth here so the overall vibe of this scent is indeed dark and sinuous. It's a sweet musky resin with hints of deep fruit/florals. But only HINTS. I have been huffing myself all day and I feel the need for multiple bottles of this in the near future.

[GardenCat]

A scent I wouldn't have chosen alone, just by the notes. But, once I smelled it I had to have it. Floral without being over powering, notes I love, but with colors in front of them I wouldn't have thought possible:

 

A sensual blend of twisting, exotic, serpentine oils: black amber, caraway, oakmoss, green sandalwood, bergamot, jasmine sambac, gardenia, orange pulp, vanilla, blackberry, black musk, white honey, ti leaf, and ginger

 

Over all - love it! Must find more bergamont scents....

[mhickle]

Though there's a lot of floral action going on here, there's a masculinity to it that makes me wonder what Faiza would smell like on my husband.

 

I can't pick out a single note, though I keep sniffing my wrist deeply, much to the amusement and confusion of my coworkers. It's completely blended, but green and a bit sharp and exotic.

 

This is another that has worked for me despite my usual dislike of florals.