Defututa

[olive]

Good Gods, what a night that was,
The bed was so soft, and how we clung,
Burning together, lying this way and that,
Our uncontrollable passions
Flowing through our mouths.
If I could only die that way,
I'd say goodbye to the business of living.

Olive blossom, honey, smoky vanilla, cinnamon, jasmine, sandalwood, and champaca flower.

Defututa gets very high marks. Pairing the honey note with the olive blossom creates a very rich and deep scent which is only made more cozy with the smoked vanilla. It is light and spring-like, but it is not a bright scent. The vanilla and olive blossom really round the edges of Defututa and create something that is very pleasant to the nose. When I think of "well blended" scents, this would be near the top of the list.

[Eros]

Took a big chance on this one. Love jasmine, can't wear BPAL jasmine, gives me a raging headache :l Cinnamon amps like crazy...

 

First sniff from the bottle, jasmine. *But*, not screaming jasmine, and lo and behold, not a even a hint of cinnamon =) Tried it on wrist and ACK, jasmine(still not overpowering, though). As usual, here comes the headache, so I washed the oil off and put the bottle away. Next evening I tried it again and this time what I got is the same lovely jasmine found in LUSH's Flying Fox =) Best part, no headache this time, yay! The champaca, which I also tend to amp although not to the point of complete takeover, starts to come through beautifully, blending just right with the jasmine, the vanilla adding just the right amount of smoky sweetness. The other notes all blend beautifully. The honey and olive blossom keep it from becoming too head shop incensey(for those of you who shy away from those blends, try this one). I don't get much, if any, sandalwood and the cinnamon is nowhere to be found.

I couldn't stop sniffing my wrists. Whether that's due to being thrilled that I've found a BPAL jasmine blend I can wear, or because this is so lovely, or both, I can't say. Either way, beautiful!! The husband took a sniff of my wrist and said, "Mmm, yummy!"

[Beatrice33]

My review on this one falls into the category of a nose gone bonkers or crazy skin chemistry. At first this is a jumble of notes, mostly jasmine, cinnamon, sandalwood and vanilla, I think. Then, the craziness happens. The notes meld together and smell like ... pineapple. Quite strange. Not unpleasant, but not at all what I was looking for in this scent. And I had such high hopes for this one!

 

ETA: Sniffed this one again on the second day, and I'm able to pick apart the notes a bit more (so I can attempt more than "pineapple"!) It's still fruity to me, and I guess that's the honey, champaca, jasmine and vanilla working together. And it's still the ghost of pineapple. But I like it more, and I'm thinking I need to give this one some time. Maybe my nose needs to adjust to it. It's certainly cheerful--bright and sweet but with some depth--and I could use a cheerful scent this grey time of year.

Edited February 1, 2008 by Beatrice33

[Heavenlyrabbit]

WIN!

 

Jasmine and cinnamon tend to amp. Jasmine being only good for a few weeks every month as my hormones shift.

 

That said- there are so many Divas trying to get to the spotlight, they hold each other in check.

 

Olive blossom, honey, smoky vanilla, cinnamon, jasmine, sandalwood, and champaca flower.

 

My nose IS finding the Cinnamon and Jasmine but they're held in check by the Champaca.

 

And underneath the Champaca, making this so gorgeous is the touch of sweet and and smoky.

 

This is a slow-burn of a scent. Smoldering. Not white hot flames.

 

I

Edited January 31, 2008 by Heavenlyrabbit

[slave1]

DEFUTUTA

 

In Bottle: Sweet floral

 

On Skin: I smell the jasmine right away. Followed by the beautiful and sweet honey (my favorite note). The olive blossom is deep and gives this scent a very strong punch. I should have gotten a bottle of this straight off, but the cinnamon scared me. Now smelling it, I smell almost no cinnamon, just a very, very light spice that along with the smoky vanilla sweetens the scent and makes it nice and velvety. The sandalwood blends in perfectly adding to the soft feel. The champaca flower is sweet as well and offers it’s own floral, fruity spice. I reallllly love this scent, it is my favorite so far of the newest general catalog scents. If you are a fan of sweet, honeyed florals, you MUST try this one! And I love the visuals the description gives. 2 thumbs up!! Medium throw, average to long wearlength.

[scarletgenesis]

It's a good thing I ended up really liking Defututa, because I managed to spill 1/3 of a bottle when trying to apply it!

 

So consequently, I'm wearing a lot more oil than I usually would, in an effort not to waste it. At least it's a GC scent.

 

In the bottle and wet (on me and the dresser!), this is light and flowery. Maybe too flowery, I thought.

 

But once it starts to dry down, and work with my skin chemistry, it becomes much more complex. I definitely get the olive blossom and jasmine, but I also get a warm cinnamon and maybe a hint of vanilla lurking in the background somewhere.

 

It's like spring, but before it gets truly warm. It smells like the end of March makes me feel. Though I love winter, by March I'm ready for a bit more warmth and life. Defututa is like the coll breeze at the end of winter that holds a waft of spring flowers and makes me want to become energized. A Lot more complex than I thought at first, and I'm really liking it now.

[jj_j]

In the bottle, sweet flowers. Not to be unkind, but it's a little like the scent of my grandmother's bathroom air freshener. Crap-ola. I love the things Beth's been doing with olive and olive blossom, and that's not what I'd hoped for.

 

I always try, though, so on it goes. No question I've been surprised more than once!

 

Hmmm. I wish this were bolder and more in your face, because I definitely like the dry-down. Defututa's getting very warm and rich, more like smoky vanilla honeycomb than actual honey, and it's working its way toward sex-in-a-bottle without using musk. It's only floral in the sense of faded perfume that isn't in the foreground - think of perfume applied the night before and only sniffable by the person with their nose pressed up against your skin - and that perfume is a little green, for lack of a better term. I think the jasmine may be far enough down the list of components that I can wear this.

 

Ouch. Good thing I didn't slather to see if this would have more throw; I have the jasmine-spike firmly planted in the middle of my forehead and coming out my temples. It was all good for about five minutes, though.

 

In a perfect world, this would have more throw and not give me the jasmine headache (biggercritters is still the only one I can wear, apparently). It's good, though ... very sensual and langorous, rather than rabidly sexual, and my preference aside, not the kind of thing that should have a lot of throw because it's such an intimate scent. Makes me think of a lazy rainy day spent in bed.

[tamburlaine]

Defututa is one of the funniest words ever to be invented or uttered. I remember discovering it in a Catullus poem when I took Latin in grade school. There isn't a single word for it in English as far as I know; the best translation my friends and I could come up with was "all f*cked out," or more delicately, "exhausted from much passionate sexual congress." Like I said, it's one of the best words ever. Defututa. I had to get an imp, in tribute to this word and all the giggles it provided me and my grade school friends.

 

In the vial: Sexy and narcotic honey with wisps of jasmine. Heady, sweet, similar to O and other BPAL honey blends.

 

On my skin: The honey remains a strong middle/base note, but the heady (but not that overwhelming) jasmine and champaca flowers (a little more overwhelming) blossom upon hitting my skin. There is a fresh, almost citrusy tang here that I'm going to attribute to the olive blossom. This note keeps the blend bright and dynamic; without it, the narcotic jasmine, champaca, and honey might weigh it down. In the drydown I get only the vaguest hints of cinnamon, and I honestly wish there were more of it in here. Cinnamon + honey is sooooo sexy. Here cinnamon is used as an afterthought. This whole blend was conceived to represent an afterglow, though -- at least that's what "defututa" is supposed to describe -- so if this blend were too red hot and spicy it wouldn't seem right. There's spice here, but it's cushioned on an orgasm cloud of languid honey and sensual flowers that always smell especially great when one's senses are at their most stimulated. After fifteen minutes, Defututa has eased up on the florals and reveals more of its dry cinnamon, youthful olive blossom, and a calmed honey note. At this stage the perfume is at its best. Before the drydown, it was rather unremarkable.

 

Defututa is very well-blended, but it reminds me of many other BPAL blends. The honey note that BPAL uses is common in a lot of their sexy perfumes and tends to overwhelm the other notes. It took a few strong sniffs to get past that note to smell the heart of this blend. I doubt people sniffing me would be able to differentiate between Defututa and O, for example. Its originality is unmistakably BPAL, but it's not a standout in the Lab's catalog.

Edited February 3, 2008 by tamburlaine

[dluszcz]

I took a gamble on this one because I'm not familiar with most of the listed notes. However, I found it to be quite pleasing, though perhaps not the show stopper that the inspirational poetry suggested.

 

In the bottle, a barely there, sweet floral.

 

Wet, on the skin, sweet jasmine (but not the usual BPAL jasmine that goes plastic on me), some other floral (perhaps the olive blossom), rounded out by sweet, beeswaxy honey.

 

On dry down, the florals nearly go away, leaving the sweet honey, maybe a hint of sandalwood and the merest suggestion of soft jasmine. Reminds me a bit of the "Lush" Silk Underwear solid perfume I received for an X-mas gift (which I cannot wear, as the jasmine in that immediately goes plastic), but definately better. No cinnamon, no smokey vanilla, though, at least as far as my nose goes.

 

This is perfect for Valentine's day- it's a little bit reminiscent of candy hearts and candy necklaces... A pink scent, if I ever sniffed one!

 

In an edition: I've been wearing this one lots since I got it with my V-day order (and am waiting, with baited breath for my Pisces) and am more and more in love with it every wearing. It's not what I expected at all, probably not that sexy on me, but I'm finding it somehow comforting and yet alluring at the same time. Maybe it'll rub off on me, and make a sweeter, nicer, pinker, me. Very glad this is GC!

Edited February 13, 2008 by kittysdesire

[alicia_stardust]

DEFUTUTA

 

Defututa is a winner. I smell champaca right off the bat. I find that the sandalwood and champaca provide a strong, smooth base for the rest of the notes. I have to mention that the characteristic sweet sensuality of jasmine is present, yet very different from its standard behavior. It seems to be more of an accent and it almost buries itself into the champaca and honey.

 

Above the champaca sandalwood base, and outside of the jasmine accent, the other notes swirl into a sensual, earthy, glistening, breathy, bare skin effect. The olive blossom and sultry honey hit my nose the most, but the smoky vanilla adds a touch of smoothness to them. The cinnamon is ever so subtle.

 

I bought this as part of an imp pack, but a 5ml of Defututa is without a doubt going into my next order. Sensual, breathy, sweetly hypnotic, good throw and wearlength. This is amazing.

[sarada]

Damn, I won the Latin award two years in a row in high school and I didn't know what this word meant until I noticed other people posting about it! Maybe I should give back my awards...

 

The strongest note both in the imp and on my skin at first is champaca. Which, unlike the champa incense that I love, almost smells kind of tropical and fruity in a way, though it smolders with a honey-warm intensity. As this dries, the honey and olive blossom must be combining in a glorious way because it now reminds me of the Kiss my Face lotions and soaps that contain honey and olive oil. Body-heated, it hints at smoky sweetness and just the faintest kiss of spice. I don't smell jasmine, though I suspect it helps to add to the overall mesmerizing swirl. It's the scent of that moment when gentle kissing suddenly turn probing and a flush of excitement spreads across your cheeks.

 

It's also rather like the a 'greatest hits' companion to the Lupercalia blends -- a cousin to Khajuraho maybe, a year-round poetic incensy passion blend that does not linger too long in any corner, whether floral or sweet or woody, it nibbles just a little on each earlobe.

[filigree_shadow]

This smells wonderful. Totally blended -- can't really pick out any one note in this. Would never have guessed that either jasmine or cinnamon was in this. It honestly does smell warm and glowing, and on me it has this tropical aspect to it. Like banana or pineapple or something. Slightly fruity, and definitely in a tropical way. But that just makes it smell creamier with the vanilla.

 

I would definitely like a bottle of this one.

[vegasblueblood]

I ordered a bottle of this on a whim with my Lupercalia order and I'm so glad I did. I absolutely love the lab's honey and Defututa does not disappoint. In the bottle, I get gorgeous golden honey and olive blossom and very little jasmine or cinnamon. I can also detect what I think is the champaca flower. On initial application, it's still that golden honey and olive blossom scent but after about 15 minutes, the jasmine is starting to emerge very lightly. The jasmine does not overpower at all. It is quietly in the background filling out the scent. The champaca adds a lovely exotic note to this. It slightly smoky and the vanilla is light but quite sweet. I adore this blend! Absolutely lovely!

Edited February 19, 2008 by twistedophelia

[SmileCat]

Um, yeah. My arm and I, we'll be in my bunk.

 

This kind of reminds me of Vasakasajja, but while Vasakasajja is waiting for her lover, Defututa is later that evening as she's sprawled across the bower all, well, fucked out.

 

It's the champaca flower and vanilla combination that's doing the reminding, but the honey is noticeable as well and the sandalwood and cinnamon give it a spicy undertone to keep it from being too sweet. The jasmine peeks out sometimes.

[sookster]

straight sniff from imp is beautiful olive blossom and sweet golden honey...

 

once applied the jasmine comes forefront but not "in your face" jasminey...the smoky vanilla

tempers this very nicely...great sillage as well...

 

next order will include a big bottle of this terrific scent

[fireflower]

This is so grown up and sophisticated and demure and lovely. I feel too young and immature for this one. And I swear I've smelled this scent before somewhere else.. it reminds me so much of a bubble bar or bath bomb from Lush I've tried. Maybe All That Jas or Romance In A Stone, since they're the only florally ones I've tried.. but I can't put my finger on it at all.

 

For those who can't wear certain scents (like Sophia, for example) for the jasmine, give this a try. It's a subdued, delicate jasmine.. not an in-your-face jasmine. I think it's the honey and smokey vanilla that's making this semi-creamy and soft. But it's much more complex than just those three notes.. the other notes are working harmoniously so that I can't really detect any of them or can say that jasmine is the dominant note.. it's a creamy floral for somebody very sophisticated. I would only wear this on very special occasions. I'm not sure about a big bottle for this one, I'm definitely going to have to give it a thought since I generally only like buying bottles of scents I know I'll reach for often.. I'll have to see.

[fireweaver]

Wet- very sweet floral. ALmost too much, but not quite.

Drydown, sweetness fades and the smokey vanilla comes out more.

I really like the vanilla, and once the sweet floral fades a bit, it's very nice. It's just a bit too much at first.

[euterpe414]

At first when I tested this it was cloyingly sweet and gave me a headache! Then I let the bottle sit for a week and tried it again- seems like it just needed a while to mellow out. Trying it now, I get an even mixture of pretty much all of the notes- the sweetness of the champaca, honey and vanilla really tempers the jasmine's sharp tendencies on my skin, making it one of the few wearable jasmine scents for me There is also a very faint spicy edge to this scent, the cinnamon I suspect, but it's almost hard to detect but I really enjoy it when I do smell it. I do not get any cloying aspect to this now, I suspect perhaps it was the jasmine hone haywire in transit, who knows... This scent also reminds me a little bit of Vasakasajja, but with way more attitude.

[AEris]

Honeyed jasmine.

 

This is sweetly light, but as much as I love honey, and as much as I adore jasmine, they don't work on me when they're together in the same vial. I'm sad because I was looking forward to loving it, but I'm sure someone else will give my imp a loving home.

 

3 out of 5

[Miss Lynx]

In the imp, and at first sniff when applied, this smelled way too floral for me. But after it settles in a little, it's actually pretty nice -- the spiciness and smokiness begin to come out, and there's a soft incensey feel to it, toning down the florals a bit, though it's still more of a floral than not. It actually has just a hint of the same feel as Gypsy Queen, though not nearly as musky - which given its insiration, I'd have kind of thought it would be.

 

It's definitely got a bit of a sexy feel to it, though not as overtly so as some of the other Ars Amatoria scents. But it's got a bit of a nose-tickly feel to it, which I think is probably the champaca. So, not bad, but not really for me.

 

Grade: B

[steelxrose]

Defututa

 

Right out of the vial, I was considering getting a bottle of this oil. Usually honey + vanilla makes me run for the hills or makes me think of cakes having a food fight on my skin. Somehow, Defututa managed to smell almost fruity with a bit of sweet incense in the background. And it lasts for hours.

[tartchef]

Guh. This is glorious.... Straight out of the vial, the jasmine is elbowing its way to the top, a bit shrill & mouthy. Given a few minutes, though, the smoky champaca gets it to calm down & go have a drink, and the olive blossom peeks out in its sweetly pineappley way. The vanilla & sandalwood & honey envelop the lot in a beautiful haze that cuts through anything cloying & makes Defututa an incredibly well-blended, round scent... equal parts smokey, fruity & delicately floral. This is a floral for non-floral-lovers - even the jasmine behaves. Undeniably sensual... mrowr!

 

ETA: This was feeling really familiar to me, so I did a quick champaca search... aha! Defututa is the feminine counterpart to Dr John Seward - that same smoky champaca/sandalwood/tonka/vanilla feel...

Edited March 11, 2008 by tartchef

[Little Bird]

Defututa smells really strange and disjointed. There's a clean, oily smelling olive blossom (makes me think of olive oil), a cloying vanilla note, spicy cinnamon and sunny, slightly sour smelling jasmine. The mix of clean, green, sweet, spicy, and floral is just too much for me and doesn't mix well to my nose. It's like it's trying to be too many different fragrance families. Some of the recent imps I've gotten of this have been a lot heavier on the cinnamon as well, which I have a hard time wearing.

Edited April 3, 2013 by Little Bird

[Cheri]

It's hard to believe Defututa is a GC and I can get it whenever I want to. Usually my favorites are gone too fast.

 

This scent is amazing. It'a sweet, soft, and girly and so well blended. Love it!

[Honeygirl]

Bottle: Smoky vanilla and olive blossom

 

Wet: This is a gorgeous smoky, sexy scent. It's olive blossom, vanilla and honey/sandalwood on me.

 

Drydown: It's very 'nice bar picking up men' sort of scent. If that makes any sense at all.

 

3.5 outta 5

Edited March 23, 2008 by Honeygirl