Defututa

[calivianya]

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

This is a cinnamon floral. At first sniff it reminded me a bit of Sacred Whore of Babylon, in that both of these made me recoil. Defututa is more bearable on my skin than Sacred Whore, but not by much. I washed it off almost immediately.

[hanabi]

One of my first ever BPAL scents! My first impression of Defututa is that it is very cozy, warm, sexy and languid. It's hard to pick out the individual notes; I mostly get the smoky vanilla, which doesn't really smell like smoke at all, just a very pleasant and complex vanilla. I wish I had another lab blend with vanilla I could compare it to. The cinnamon is very soft and subtle, and it doesn't read as spicy to me at all. The honey gives it a touch of sweetness, but the olive blossom keeps that sweetness in check. It's very well-balanced.

 

This is the perfect spend the day in bed with your SO scent. Very sexy in a "I just got some" kind of way, not a "I want to get some" way.

 

One problem - something in this blend (the cinnamon maybe?) irritates my skin. I'll put up with the discomfort for the time being because I love this scent.

[Ishtar]

Even though I usually love every single note in it, Defututa isn't that great on me for the first half hour or so. The olive blossom and the jasmine vie for dominance, and they combine into a sour scent that I'm not enjoying.

 

Things improve during drydown, as the vanilla, honey and cinnamon show up to help ground the olive blossom and jasmine.

 

Once all the components have settled down, Defututa reminds me of a spicier, slightly greener O. Not unpleasant by any means, but I'd rather wear O itself, if only to avoid having to go through the chaotic first half hour.

[lejlkwiet]

I had no idea what to expect when trying this out - in the imp it smelled rather sharp to me, and I was apprehensive at first.

 

But on my skin it was immediately delightful, the olive blossom providing a smooth and creamy base to the sharper scents of cinnamon, sandalwood and smoky vanilla. It barely morphed on me at all once it had warmed up on my skin. The notes are amazingly well-blended and had a really good throw on me - and I put it on over 12 hours ago and can still smell it slightly! This one's a keeper.

[asciident]

Wet: The scent in the bottle is complex -- olive, jasmine, honey. A bit woody with a hint of cinnamon.

 

First on: Very delicately smoky, but also sweet. Harder to pick out individual notes at this stage.

 

Dry: Still complex, but light. Almost, but not quite, fruity. I like it, but I think it's probably not really my style.

 

 

[Vega]

Sniffed: Oily olive blossom and sickly sweet honey. This isn't promising...

 

On skin: Defututa contains two of my least favourite notes: olive blossom (it smells oily) and honey (it smells sick and decaying). And they're dominating here. Olive blossom has the upper hand initially, and keeps the honey from turning excessively sickly-sweet -- which is good, but it's suppressing the other notes too. Only until after drydown, though. Over time, the other notes gradually emerge. Now the scent morphs quite a bit: I can smell some spice, some vanilla sweetness, some sandalwood and champaca smokiness -- all swimming in a sea of olive oil enriched with honey. Defututa ends up thick, heady, hazy, and a bit cloyingly sweet. Colour impression is liquid, languid golden skin.

 

Verdict: If only Defututa didn't have olive blossom and honey! All the other notes are firm loves and winners on my skin. Sadly, not meant to be.

[Penance]

Origin:

 

Lagniappe from the Lab. Many times over.

 

Preconceived notions:

 

The Lab apparently really wants me to try Defututa. They've sent me 6 frimps of it within the last couple of months. It's not the sort of scent I'd choose for myself (because of the olive blossom and jasmine), but I always make an effort to try all the frimps that come my way, unless I know I'm allergic to something in them.

 

First sniff:

 

If I didn't have the notes in front of me, I'd have a hard time explaining what this smells like or picking out notes. It reminds me of a very distant relative of Jezebel for some reason. I'm mainly getting honey and a clean, almost soapy floral (which must be the olive blossom) with a hint of smoky vanilla in the background. It doesn't smell bad, but it doesn't smell like something I'm going to really enjoy, either.

 

Wet on skin:

 

Sweeter than in the imp, but still mainly a mix of honey and clean, soapyish florals. There's an almost tangy sweetness to it, which I'm sure is the honey, because I get a somewhat similar vibe from Half Elf v5's honey.

 

Dry down:

 

This isn't really my style of scent, but it's not bad at this point. The soapiness of the olive blossom goes away as it dries and I'm left with a sweet, slightly spicy scent with hints of florals in the background. It's feminine and somewhat mature smelling for some reason. It's not an old lady scent, but it's not a youthful, girlish scent, either.

 

The bottom line:

 

Not my style, but Defututa is pretty. There's not much point in keeping my frimps since it's not a scent I'd wear, but I hate to get rid of them when I've got enough to make almost an entire bottle if they were combined. Maybe I'll offer them to my mom and see if the scent's more her style.

[CiaoBonefish]

Like Penance the Lab has been wanting me to try Defututa for a good while now. I want to say I've gotten around 4 or 5 frimps of it? A few I swapped off and now I am left with two. I decided it was high time I tested it out!

 

Right from the start this reminds me a lot of Snow White, I don't quite know why, but the vanilla and floral note is very reminiscent of it. On the skin this one really blooms though. The vanilla and olive blossom are definitely at the core of this, the vanilla not really being very smokey to my nose. After a while I begin smelling the jasmine which makes a nice pair with the olive blossom. I was initially wary of jasmine notes, but have learned I actually really enjoy them, and this blend is no exception (that being said jasmine is in no way a big player in this blend). After a bit the honey begins to bloom on skin, but this is a very different honey than the one I'm accustomed to smelling. It is nice, light, and sweet, actually very similar to beeswax but a touch sweeter and without the waxiness. For the record, O was terrible on me. Way too sharp and sour honey, but Womb Furie was rather nice and the honey in this blend reminds me of the honey in Womb Furie. Overall I really really love this! Surprise surprise! It ends up being this lush vanilla, olive blossom, jasmine, trickled with the perfect honey note. Can't say I get much smokiness or cinnamon, but I'm ok with that. Could be bottle worthy!

[Honey]

I cannot believe I haven't written a review for this yet as it is one of my favorite scents that I blindly got a 5ml bottle of and never regretted it! ^^

 

 

Bottle: Vanilla-in-your-face! Actually, I do not like vanilla all that much, yet.. in Defututa it works its special magic on me so I cannot not like it.

 

Wet: To me it's smokey vanilla and something.. green, possible the olive blossom. I cannot detect anything else.

 

Dry: Now we're talking! Smokey vanilla and olive blossom. The green freshness of the olive tones down the sweet vanilla. Alas, I cannot detect the honey or the sandalwood or the champaca flower per se. Either they are too weak and only add to the "texture" OR the scents just blends so well that it seems like one note that's just lovely. Ah, yes, it takes a while for the sandalwood and the honey to get through. They fit so damn well to the smokey vanilla! And I totally forgot this had cinnamon in it, too! I cannot detect it but I think that is good. Don't need another chai or gingerbread scent (although I love them!) so the cinnamon can work its more subtle qualities here. I dunno.. I just like this scent. And, I totally have to agree: men love this scent! My bf complimented me on this and, heck, my former boss at work even told me I smelled really good (which made me go a little). I guess this is a great girl-next-door-who-wears-kinky-lace-lingerie-underneath kind of scent.

 

Layering: Works great with Flor de Muerto, apparently! The greenness in FdM blends well with the olive blossom. Great way for me to tone down the vanilla even more. I could imagine that layering Defututa works with other white/green scents that are not laden with too many notes, OR I could imagine this could work with a lavender-heavy scent (maybe Veil).

Edited July 29, 2011 by Honey

[Autumnsky]

Wow... this one is really hard to pick apart! It's so smoothly blended that nothing jumps out, but the overall effect is dead sexy.

 

Wet: Fruity/Musky....must be the olive blossom/honey/sandalwood connection?

 

Dry: Floral/Musky/Spicy. What I'm reading as "musky" has to be sandalwood, the jasmine is present, but not overwhelming like it so often is, and it all just lingers on my skin in a warm fug of "wow". there are no screaming-forward-bold notes here...just an overall "skin" scent.

 

Love.

[brittanywut]

In the imp: Jasmine, honey, and smoky vanilla.. *sighs*

 

Wet: Olive blossom comes through and makes it a bit more green.. Unfortunately lost the honey goodness though. Still heavenly so far.

 

Dry: Hello sandalwood.. This is such a lovely scent. Gorgeous jasmine, vanilla, sandalwood, and a bit of olive blossom. This is blended beautifully so it was kinda hard to pick out individual notes! I REALLY like this.

[Alethia]

Thoughts before testing: This was a frimp in a recent order. I would have never picked it out for myself because it has my archnemesis Jasmine. I'm apprehensive but I'm trying to skin test everything that comes my way so I can expand my BPAL horizons just a tad.

 

Wet: This is a sweet floral vanilla, and it is lovely. No sign of the jasmine (which I'm ok with!) and cinnamon (which I'd like to see).

 

Dry down: The jasmine is still not making an appearance, and the vanilla has faded slightly. But I think I can smell a little cinnamon because it's changed from a sweet floral to a more spicy floral. Loving this so far.

 

Dry: Beautiful spicy floral, but not in a "leave welts on your skin" kind of spicy. Love this.

 

Final thoughts: I'm so glad that the jasmine was nowhere to be seen, and I quite like this blend!

 

Verdict: I'll have to skin test a few more times, but I'm thinking that this is a bottle purchase.

[WidgetAlley]

Imp: Heavy, heady champaca, a sweet bubblegum incense smell, accompanied by honey, vanilla and just a little spice. Yum!

 

Wet: Oh hells yeah. Thick green olive blossom, warm jasmine, that same champaca, a bit of cinnamon and a rich but not sugary honey. I smell good enough to eat... with flowers! It's not a girly floral at all, though, it's heady and rich and smoky and womanly.

 

Dry: I am terribly sad to report that this is one of those vanillas that goes just a bit plasticky on me. Maybe it's because it's fresh? I'll have to stick this one in the aging box and see what happens, because it was great for a while there, but it dried down to a yummy warm floral with just a hint of... plastic. Dangit.

[becca_s]

I tried Defututa today and I thought that I would really love it - the honey, cinnamon and vanilla sound warm but soft at the same time.

 

When first applied to my skin all I can smell is cinnamon, a hot peppery kind of cinnamon - that is really strong. After about 1/2 an hour the main note is still cinnamon but the vanilla and honey are coming through to add a bit of sweetness and the sandalwood is adding a really strange element in the background. It had really good staying power and I could still smell traces of it on my skin after my shower.

 

Overall, the cinnamon in this is way to overpowering on my skin. I like warm scents but for some reason the cinnamon becomes too strong and almost medicine like on me. I can imagine it would be nice in an oil burner around winter because it is quite warm and spicy It's a nice scent but I think that cinnamon does something strange to my skin.

[BoneBone24]

Wet: Warm, creamy honey. Slightly tropical?

 

Drydown: Tropical and sweet. The sandalwood and jasmine make themselves known and settle in as mid-notes. Normally I'm not fond of sandalwood and jasmine, put paired with the other notes in this blend they are sexxxxy. The tropical aspect reminds me of pineapple and Hawaiian ginger...is that what Champaca smells like? Or is it a combination of the olive blossom and cinnamon? I have no idea, but it's really good either way.

 

Dry: Tropical honey rounded out with touches of sandalwood, jasmine, and creamy vanilla.

 

 

 

Wow! Defututa is glorious. I am baffled by the niceness of the sandalwood and jasmine, surprised by the vanilla actually working on my skin, and intrigued by the tropical goodness that I can't quite identify. It is curious and delicious and the kind of scent you remember in a very good way.

 

 

 

 

9.5 out of 10 bones

Edited June 21, 2013 by BoneBone24

[curlofsmoke]

Wet on skin: quite floral but well blended, it has quite a vintage vibe about it. It’s not as lusty as I was expecting - Defututa does mean well fucked, after all. The jasmine is in there somewhere but not shrilly taking over the whole show as it normally does on my skin. It’s a more ladylike floral than I would normally like, but I do like it, I think because it somehow reminds me of those 1930s/40s perfumes I am fond of.

 

Drydown: softening a little and there are wisps of vanilla, honey and cinnamon now. It isn’t quite what I was wanting - a stickily languid post-coital scent with prominent vanilla and honey - but I think I’ll keep the imp. It smells to me like a lady in the 1930s, drinking a cocktail in the gathering dusk. Her red lipstick is perfectly reapplied, her stockings straightened, and this soft skin scent the only evidence that an hour earlier she had been dishevelled and noisy, rolling around in bed with her lover. In that very delicate way it is a sexy scent.

[jkfagtongpun]

This was a frimp with an order last autumn. I was skeptical as I'm not a huge fan of honey scents...

 

It started out really nice and 'warm' smelling. It was mainly the olive blossom, honey, sandalwood and the tiniest hint of vanilla. Then, it dried down to just smelling of wee. I think it might be the honey and vanilla mixed with my skin chemistry.

 

... there was a reason I wasn't into honey scents! Wee is not for me.

[puellacaerulea]

At first sniff, I was worried that the cinnamon would end up being too much for me, as it seemed to completely overwhelm the floral and slightly smoky vanilla/honey notes. On dry-down, the cinnamon took a back seat, and the honey and vanilla notes really amped up, with some nice, subtle floral notes in the background. It's very warm and languid (definitely the closest thing I would imagine to a "post-coital" sort of perfume). Maybe I just really amp the honey and vanilla notes, but this really reminds me of O (one of my favorites), with some spice and floral notes floating around in the background to give it some more complexity.

[oncominbeige]

This may be my inexperience talking, but literally all I smell after this goes on my skin is the sandalwood, possibly jasmine. I'm not sure if it's because sandalwood is easily recognizable for me, but I KNOW I smelt all these delicious things when it was in the imp, and it was all buttery-wonderful.

 

I might give this another try, but luckily this was something the lab threw into my order. I'm really sad though, the imp smells delicious. Mmmmaybe I just amp sandalwood.

 

ETA:

 

After a few weeks, Defututa is growing on me. Don't get me wrong, sandalwood is still the dominant note at every stage (except in the imp), but I can also smell the honey/vanilla now, which makes me much more friendly towards this blend. I'm not sure I'm going to buy a bottle, but I'm definitely keeping the imp.

Edited November 23, 2012 by oncominbeige

[stardreamer]

In the imp and fresh on: Sweet, slightly floral.

 

Drydown: Mostly vanilla and jasmine, with the sandalwood adding a dark under-note. This stays fairly constant, with the rest of the florals nicely in the background and only the barest hint of cinnamon. I think the honey is blending into the vanilla.

 

Long-term: The florals fade back, leaving primarily vanilla; very late in the game the jasmine reappears. Staying power is average -- after 13 hours only a tiny trace remains.

 

Bottom line: Pleasant, not offensively floral, and I like vanilla. This one's a keeper.

[Kit Foxly]

Oh, this was a tease!

 

The whoosh of honey, cinnamon and vanilla on initial application was amazing enough that it went onto the bottle list – for about fifteen minutes.

 

As it dried down, those lovely scents were kicked into the background by the florals, which added a nostril-curling edge – remarkably disappointing after such a promising start! I like the scent of jasmine normally, but combine it with the other florals here and something scary happens. Enough sandalwood comes forth to give that slightly-soapy, almost-hippie-shop tinge to the whole affair. Sigh.

 

Maybe it's worth trying on cloth/hair to see if it can hold that initial wonderfulness? I'm sure I can find the wonderfulness elsewhere, though...

[whitsunweddings]

In the imp: Kind of like sweet, cinnamonny olive oil?

Wet: Cinnamon and sandalwood soap.

Dry: Yeah. A nice, tasteful, spice scent.

[kaberett]

In the imp: Sandalwood, smoke, cinnamon and olive are all definitely there... ooh, vanilla and honey and jasmine too – v interesting how many notes show up from the get-go!

 

Wet: ... oh wow, this is a really delicious honey-sweet floral smoky vanilla.

 

Dry: Th- this is so tasty. Smoky honeyed vanilla and florals, and it's all underlain by the sandalwood tying it together beautifully. The cinnamon isn't being Aggressive As Fuck. It's just... beautiful. Warm and sweet and yes, well-blended, and... amazing. Wow. Full marks.

 

I've got to say, I was dreading the cinnamon taking over and smelling like a spice cupboard on me - it normally does - but at least one of the aged imps I've got just didn't do that at all, and I am SO DELIGHTED.

Edited April 21, 2013 by kaberett

[boomtownrat]

Defututa isn't overtly sexual on me, but without a doubt, it's sensual. Still, I would wear it in a more innocent mood, oddly enough. To me it's a more girlish scent and not a bold scent that announces Woman to the world. Even knowing the inspiration for the blend, I think of Defututa as a girl just starting to explore womanhood.

 

Honey, smoky vanilla, champaca, and sandalwood all love me as much as I love them, so I'm grateful to the Lab for having frimped me this in an order earlier this year. Otherwise I might never have noticed this subtle, seemingly obscure blend.

 

Jasmine smells delicious to me in tea. I drink it sometimes just so I can huff the steam. That isn't how it tends to develop on my skin most of the time, though. It's one of those few floral notes that I haven't had any issues with so far, but only a hint of that gorgeous fragrance comes out in what is a masterfully blended scent. This feels pink on the verge of deepening into red. I love it and plan to order a bottle.

[Jupita]

Apparently I'm the only one, but to me, Defututa smells like Snake Oil.

A milder, less bitter, Snake Oil.

 

I like it, it's a sweet, grown up, feminine scent...

 

I shall write a more full review later on...