Lucifer

[blu°]

Patchouli, golden amber, deep woods, fig, and vetiver.

Lucifer was a bit of a surprise hit for me. From the decant vial it smelled like a very sharp patchouli and as I didn't have the note listing at hand, I didn't remember well which fruit note it contained and was afraid of a fruity patchouli as in Imp which was horrible on me.

But this soon lost that sharpness and was nicely grounded by the vetiver, amber and woods. The fig only lends a tad of round sweetness to the otherwise almost dusty scent.

What I thought was most amazing when wearing Lucifer is that whenever I got a whiff of it, I thought, Hey, that's a nice warm and inviting, cozy scent. Then, when I sniffed it more close to get a better grasp of it, I'd notice how it wasn't warm and cozy at all, but rather burning hot, with a kind of emptiness within the heat, I can't really describe it. Definitely not cozy.

Other than that, I noticed a bit of a similarity with Lush's Karma on my skin at a certain point after drydown. Not a dupe, but a very similar feeling about the patchouli in both.

Both throw and wearlength were really good. I'm not sure, since I didn't watch the clock, but it seemed to be going strong for way more than 5 hours, maybe 8 or so.

I'm not sure if I like it enough to want a bottle. Also, I'm a bit uncomfortable wearing a Lucifer oil. It IS very nice, very intriguing. I can sense some seduction there, lol. I'll keep my decant and see how much I'll be wearing it.

ETA: Today I'm wearing Lucifer again after quite some time, and the whole day I've been wondering about a note I get from its throw and what it reminded me of. I just managed to analyze it as something I smell in Glowing V, it must share the same amber note. Also, there might be teak hidden in Lucifer's deep woods? Edited September 17, 2008 by blu°

[t_for_tau]

In the imp: fig! - and something woody and resinous. Fortunately, fig is about the only fruit note I like....

On: the fig stays in the foreground, but the woody resins come swirling forward. I'm not actually getting the vetiver at all.

Dry: ok, this is cracktastic...vanilla-coconut wtf? Incredibly delicious, creamy, wood-resin vanilla-coconut, but still - wtf? I wonder if it's the golden amber? There's a threat of powderiness that I suspect *is* the amber. I shall have to keep this on for a while and see how it develops.

After a while: I would have sworn that *this* has benzoin, rather than El Amor, because this is what it smells like. On me, Lucifer is a comforting, vaguely foody smell, with a hint of woody-resin-cologne in the background. Though this wasn't what I was expecting, it seems appropriate, and is a definite bottle candidate.

[Myotis]

I LOVE LUCIFER!!!!!!!!

 

I get mostly the deep woods and patchouli with a bit of the amber calming it from getting too dark.

It's almost sweet...so maybe that is the fig in there too?

A sweet dark wood....ya, that's it.

This is gorgeous and almost warming on a cold wintery night!!!

[Poenari]

On my skin, Lucifer is a beautiful blend of patchouli and vetiver, with an underlying sweetness that I think must be the fig. I tend to amp vetiver, and this is no exception, but the patchouli also stays right there with it. This is a warm scent, and it lasts forever on my skin. I applied a few drops on my way home from the Cinci meet'n'sniff, and could still smell it hours later when I went to bed that night. Many thanks to Forspecial Plate, who so generously gifted me with this decant of Lucifer!

[fountaingrl]

Alas! I have been rejected by the Angel of Light. On me, Lucifer does not have the sweetness so many other reviewers are getting. No amber, no powder-y aspect, no fig. It also isn't "warm." On me? This smells harsh and dark and scorched and sour. Very sad. Not a friendly scent -- but then again it is Lucifer, maybe it isn't meant to be snuggly.

[edenssixthday]

Lucifer - Deep, dark, brooding, menacing, and ultimately, uber-sexy. Holy smokes, this is one hell of a sexy blend. The woods and resins blend together so amazingly well and the fig adds just the slightest touch of sweetness - enough to keep this blend from being overwhelming in it's darkness. I love the way vetiver is gravely on my skin. Mmm. Mmm. Mmmm! I also have to say this is the first perfume oil I've worn in a couple years (so 1 out of a 1,000 or so) that my kitty-cat went crazy over. She kept coming back to me, trying to lick my arms, no matter how many times I pushed her away. But then, she's evil, so I think she must have sensed the Lucifer inspiration or something. This has really, really strong throw, so be very careful not to over-apply. It also has amazing, all-day-long staying power. Yes, more, please!

[PurringPulsar]

Lucifer

 

In the imp: whoa, lots of deep dark vetiver and patchouli here!

Wet on skin: vetiver and woods, but mainly the heavy patchouli that’s also in Goblin.

Dry on skin: patchouli and woods, brushed with vetiver, amber and fig. I don’t get sun lotion here, just a scent of rich earthy notes with dry woods and a gilding of amber. Not evil, but definitely dark, but there’s a glimmer of light to it from the sweet, gorgeous amber. But it’s the patch and woods that rule supreme here. It reminds me of Goblin mainly, with a bit of Ventriloquist’s Dummy, and maybe Death of Autumn too. It’s quite sophisticated too.

After a while: this gets a lot lighter, drier, and more golden. There’s sandalwood here, for sure, maybe some cedar as well but I’m sure the dominant wood is oude. There’s a spicy exotic-ness to the wood that reminds me of the oude scents. The patchouli has also become much stronger and now I get a hint of something almost like coconut…but that may be because the patch here smells almost identical to the one in Goblin. This is a more grown up Goblin. The fig is gorgeous and sweet and dark, and the amber adds that lovely glowing halo over what would otherwise be a shadowy scent. But underneath it, the vetiver growls (yes, to me, vetiver has a ‘sound’, and it is a growling note!) and then seems to go down the same tarry route as the vet in the Great He Goat.

Verdict: this is a more sophisticated-and more sinister-version of Goblin with fig and amber on me. It’s got a very similar patchouli note but there’s also something that’s almost like coconut, maybe one of the woods? Initially it is really nice, with a great fig note and a sublime amber glow to it all. The woods are rich and exotic, with something almost like oude to them. The vetiver is strong, though not fir the first hour or two when the gorgeous figgy amber and woods are dominant-but when the vetiver takes over, it does so with a vengeance! And then it smells like asphalt on me. A shame really because I love what this smells like before the vetiver turns rather evil on me.

Emoticon rating:

Is it a keeper? Not really but all in all, it’s not a bad scent!

If you like this, try: Goblin, Great He Goat, Strangler Fig, Lunar Eclipse, Death of Autumn, Ventriloquist’s Dummy

[donnatron]

Imp: I adore the dark, golden-red colour of this oil. Too perfect. The scent itself is patchouli with a touch of an animalistic scent that is probably the vetiver.

 

Wet: A touch of sourness as the amber acclimates to my skin, but the scent is dominantly patchouli.

 

Dry: Oooh, this is so lovely. Patchouli is still dominant, but whatever type of patchouli this is, it's almost creamy in scent. The woods just barely touch the scent, the vetiver is minimal, and the fig is also just barely present. The amber lends a comforting, sweet warmth to the whole scent.

 

Throw: Pretty good. The patchouli has the most throw of the notes.

 

Overall: This is the Lucifer of "Paradise Lost." He's seductive, rational and gets what he wants when he wants. This is an exceptional scent, the sort of thing I'll wear on days when I need an extra touch of confidence and reason.

[persianmouse]

I get such a vanilla smell from this one, though it lacks vanilla (maybe it’s the amber?). And I don’t like vanilla. This is the only one of the Retail Salong I’m not loving. It’s kinda pleasant, but generic. I was kind of hoping for something that would make me smell like The Dark Prince, like The MorningStar, like The Fallen Angel Lucifer, like The Senator from the great state of Hell. What I did not want to smell like was some dully trendy high school girl who wears aviator sunglasses and giant earrings and likes Paris Hilton (but won’t admit it), listens to FallOut Boy and thinks she’s a real scenester for it, wears those Jessica Simpson extensions you buy on QVC, says she’ll go into nursing or teaching, but hasn’t the brains or the discipline, will end up getting knocked up by some prick who spikes his hair and pops his collar, and he’ll be around at first, sure, and they’ll get ‘engaged’, but eventually she’ll find out he’s cheating on her with some girl named Trish who frosts her hair, and she’ll freak out and key his car, and then he’ll take her on Judge Judy, and Judy will mock the girl and yell ‘Not Smart!’ a lot and tell her ‘This guys a loser. GET OVER HIM, MADAM!’, and the exit interview will have her looking vaguely toward the left and trying to hard to smile in a casual mocking ‘I don’t care’ way and saying “Whatever. I’m just glad it over. I can get on with my life now.”, but she won’t, and never will.

 

Which is what this smells like. Also, kind of like sunblock. Which is odd, because sunblock doesn’t work in Hell.

[copyshopclerk]

In the decant: Patchouli & the sweetness of amber. Sweet & earthy

 

On: It's dark so it stains my skin a bit. On the sweetness of amber is developed further by the fig. I'd classify this as a dark resin, but it's got that shot of sweetness through it which is really nice. This is probably one of my favorite dark resiny blends because of that - instead of being a solemn resin or a too-sexy resin, it's very wearable.

 

Dry: There's just a little bit of a bite to it, I think it's the combination of vetivert and fig - it's more of a dried fig than a fresh one to me. Lucifer is surprisingly gorgeous!

[samarablackcat]

Bless the darkness, this is one phenomenal scent!

 

I just got my partial, and I think the Salons and Retail Salons are some of the most wonderful scents created. I can't describe this except wow. While sniffing the bottle, I chanted, let it smell like this on, let it smell like this one. Only two drops on my wrist, and he is permeating my space in the most unholy of ways. I have already been to the For Sale section, looking for more.

 

I suppose it's the vetiver that I smell close to the skin; not fond of the smell, but the wafts are sheer heaven(lol). When I sniff my wrist, I get a almost burnt rubber smell, but the aura of this scent is something I have been looking for. Mixed with the patchouli, the vetiver palys nicely. It reminds me of Schwarzer Mond in a way...not the scent, per se, but the wafting and the sexiness. As paperrose stated, very animalistic and feral.

 

I am anticipating this having a good throw, so use with caution, amount wise. I don't have a rating system, but this is definitely at the top.

[Lamia]

This is possibly the most incredible scent I have ever had the fortune of wearing. An amber that WORKS! Patchouli and vetiver? Wow wowie WOW! This is dark and wicked and magnificent and sexy all at once.

[milo]

Wow, I could have sworn there was ginger in here, but it is not listed as an ingredient. I could imagine a high powered executive type wear this scent, and not necessarily doing good things in the office! It's full of charisma, but there is a "perfume" note that I cannot get past, unfortuneately. Lucifer is just too strong and overpowering for me, not saying I wouldn't wear it again, I would just have to be in the right mood.

[ravenfeathers]

this will be a placeholder review. after testing lucifer, i fully intend to get myself a bottle in the next few weeks and test it more rigourously.

 

in the meantime:

 

in the bottle hardcore patchouli like all my worst nightmares of patchouli

wet on skin god, the patchouli! make it stop! or at least shower!

dry on skin (after i'd already bought something else and left the store) what is that amazing smell? it's snake oil with no funny business, schwarzer mond with a serious attitude problem. it's freaking fantastic! it's the darkest, most menacing, though lightly sweet scent i've ever had the pleasure of absolutely loathing upon first application. it sort of waffles between a man's man's man's cologne and infernal ashes from the very bowels of hell. which doesn't sound very appealing? but somehow it is.

 

it will be mine!

[hlinspjalda]

In the vial: Vetiver, patchouli, evergreens.

 

Wet: Smoky patchouli, something sweet, something nose-twitchy. There's some amber in there somewhere, too.

 

Twenty minutes: Patchouli-amber now, with that lingering smoke impression. Fortunately, the vetiver has receded. I like this!

 

One hour: Wow, this is great; the vetiver has gone away entirely. I love this!

 

Two hours: Still very nice, but some of the subtlety has diminished, particularly that lovely smoky note. I do like it a lot, though.

 

Four and a half hours: Almost gone.

 

I traded for an imp of this, and I think I'll probably need a bottle of it eventually.

[filigree_shadow]

Mmmm. Deep patchouli and dry vetiver. The vetiver and amber is a lovely combination -- the vetiver in this smells much drier and warmer than it usually does. No musty basement here at all. The fig is quite nice in this because it sweetens up a bit.

 

I like this scent, but I'm not quite sure it's for me. I'll test it on my husband and see how he likes it.

[Little Bird]

I was afraid to try Lucifer, because I remember reading that it had red patchouli in it, and red patchouli hates me. On me, Lucifer doesn't really smell like it has any patchouli in it at all, though. It goes oddly powdery and sickly on me at first, reminding me a little bit of the nasty woods and vanilla powder smell that I got from Glowing Vulva.

 

I don't smell any patchouli, fig, or vetiver. The initial drydown is like baby powder, dust, a sickly smelling sweetness, and rotting wood. The amber and woods are going very bad on me.

 

Lucifer isn't the sexy, dark, earthy fig scent that I was hoping for. It's more like baby powder and a plasticy vanilla that doesn't agree with me, with some rotten wood thrown in . The weird sweetness makes me kind of nauseous (after a half hour, it's reminding me of play-doh, if play-doh were amped up to a scary degree with sickly undertones)...

 

Unlike most of the salon scents, this sticks around on my skin and has decent throw. I'm glad that I tracked down a decant of this before springing for a full bottle, because it really doesn't agree with me. Lucifer is not something I'll be keeping around.

[zankoku_zen]

Hmm.... I don't know why I was afraid of Lucifer. This one the golden amber is a good counterpoint to the dark vetiver, and the patchouli is very clean. It is dark, but not stinky, vaguely masculine, vaguely foreboding. Not my kind of blend, but it does make me think of a sophisticated man's cologne. One that has no flowers to it - instead, it's a woodsy, deep blend.

 

A man not to be trifled with.

[crebbsgirl]

This starts out pretty heavy on the vetiver for me but it soon clears out. As it dries, I get a wonderous vetiver and patchouli scent. This one is pretty dark and just a tad bitter. The fig lends a bit of sweetness to the blend that prevents it from being too bitter. Overall the vibe is smoky/earthy and rather complex. I was prepared to write this one off, but the longer it sits on my skin, the more I'm really digging it. It's unlike anything I've smelled before.

[aquazoo]

Smoky, dusty, dirty. And really, really nice.

 

[stellans]

A patchouli nutcase am I, and Lucifer definitely adds to the craziness! The sweetness of the fig does not in any way detract from the sexiness of the patchouli, nor does the amber -- and amber is not one of my favorite notes, because it usually will turn a blend to a nasty plastic mess. Not Lucifer! I love the underlying wood notes, which serve to make the patchouli more refined and even more welcome to my nose, and staying power is phenomenal.

 

This is not your headshop patchouli; it is far smoother, far sexier, and far better than that! And I give this amazing patchouli blend 3 of 5 stars.

Edited April 23, 2011 by stellans

[lacyjae]

Vetiver is going to give me a complex. I swear I hate it - and then promptly find blend after blend that I love. I haven't quite figured the deal out, but either way.... Lucifer.

 

I got the chance to sniff a bunch of Salons at the retail spot in Melbourne during the way-too-short-time I was there. I didn't know notes for any of them, just sniffing. (And wow, some are nice!) Lucifer was the one I had to get, no ifs, ands, or buts. It was love at first smell.

 

In the bottle, there's something foody about it, probably the combination of patchouli and fig, or all of them. Hard for me to say, as I'm not much of a foody girl. There's a hint of the vetiver, similar to Chant d'Automne (which I also looove), but I think the combination of all of these notes is giving me a hint of chocolate, or cocoa - not foody or sweet, just.. nice.

 

Wet, it's quite similar, maybe a bit more wood, and less of the foody quality. The vetiver quickly smokes up on my skin - and reminds me why I really do love vetiver in some blends. This is a deep, smoky, incensey blend for me - it's not overly any of those, but more like scented smoky remnants of... I don't know. A dark ritual perhaps. It definitely has depth, and I just sink into it.

 

As it dries, it gets deeper and smokier. Just perfect. It's not the same kind of smoke as the other blends I've got, it's definitely in a class all its own, and I love it.

 

I may have to get a backup of this one. I really, really love it. Gorgeous.

[lilacea]

I've had this on my wish list for a while, the notes sounded intriguing. I had the opportunity to sniff it in a store that did not have testers. My initial reaction was of vetiver and oakmoss, so strong that it scared me into putting the top straight back on and not even considering it at all. Then I was frimped a sample, and despite the previous reaction, thought it best to at least skin test it (I've recently got into the habit of skin testing scents even if it smells god awful in the bottle or vial, just in case there's something there that blooms on my skin). I am so happy I did, once this hit my skin, it turned from dark sharp and menacing in your face sour vetiver, to this warm full bodied fragrance. The vetiver took on an almost cocoa like vibe and softened into the mildest dry grassy hint. The oakmoss is perfectly behaved, lending it's trademark warmth and fullness. The amber is just a squidge away from ambergris territory. I usually find ambergris too sweet for me, but this is a sweet amber reminiscent of BPAL's ambergris, but not overdone as ambergris often turns out on my skin. There's a hint of clean black musk, and the patchouli is a damn fine earthy and lusty one. There's a beautiful clean and light spark just keeping it all melded up there, but the heavy warm notes are the star. I could imagine this would be as sexy as hell on the right man, but I'm perfectly happy to wear this as a woman's fragrance.

[wendyb1063]

Thanks to bheansidhe for organizing the circle of testers for these retail exclusives!

 

The first time I tried this on, I loved it. It had a dark, sweet, sexy smell that I really, really liked. I thought I would have to get a bottle for sure.

 

The second time (granted, this was first thing in the morning) it smelled like..... peanut butter for some reason!!!

 

For some reason I cannot get past that peanut butter association. I like to eat peanut butter... but smelling like it, not so much...

[rayvn1]

I just don't get it When the decant was brand new it smelled aMAZing on me and it's made up of my favorite notes..but several months later it smells really, really not good. Maybe my skin is being weird right now but it's harsh wood - almost varnished wood. Not a fan at this point. I'll retest but I've never had something age to be so different from where it began. Maybe it just needs longer to morph on my skin or something. Sigh.