Defututa

[Argentwolf]

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

At first, it gives off a very floral hue...sweet, but not overly sweet like jasmine. The other flowers seem to be tempering it. As time passes, the spiciness comes out more. It has modest throw and decent longevity. I think I'll continue to enjoy my imp. Edited September 9, 2009 by Silvertree
Added lab description.

[fairnymph]

In the bottle: Chartreuse-coloured oil. Green, smoky, incensey and floral. Candlewax, jasmine, and champaca. The jasmine is a little sour. I get a sort of tart/citrusy olive oil note, too.

 

Wet: Definitely the same 'smoky candle' scent as in Gypsy Queen. It's a little bit sweet and beeswaxy, a slightly different honey note from the usual. The olive flower is both fresh and sort of smooth/polished. I get loads of very SMOKY, but not cloying, vanilla.

 

Dry: It's oddly clean (a teensy bit soapy, probably the jasmine) and tratitionally perfumey with the heady champaca. And an odd, almost citrusy sweetness - olive blossom? The sandalwood has emerged in a major way. It's very warm in feel, and very opulent.

 

Later: This going really sweet on my skin, with amping honey/beeswax/vanilla, almost syrupy but in a good way. The jasmine and champaca are bright rich, unisex florals, and in balance with the olive blossom - no one flower dominates. Less soapy, now.

 

Summary: Waxy honeycomb and vanilla candle smoke with velvety, almost citrusy olive blossom, warm, dry sandalwood and heavy white florals. It's very smooth, rich, and deep. Fabulous throw & longevity.

 

A very well behaved jasmine note, and I don't get any hint of cinnamon. Too smoky/heady for me, but nicer than I had anticipated. There's definitely resins and incense, though not listed. I do think it fits the theme very well - it feels very languid.

 

[Babette]

This smelled so beautiful in the imp but when it was on my skin, it turned stale and dusty. I think it's the smoky vanilla. I will probably try again later. My body chemistry could be a little off and probably didn't do this much justice.

[Bluestocking]

In the imp: ~swoons~ Smoky, creamy vanilla-honeyed-floral goodness! Right out of the imp, there's a wave of silky vanilla and honey, heavy on the vanilla, followed by some more delicate florals (primarily jasmine) to add complexity. There's nothing that screams "cinnamon," but there is something warm in here that might come from either that or the sandalwood. The honey is of the thick, rich and golden variety, and the vanilla takes it right over the edge to intoxicating. It's definitely decadent and sexy! It almost feels like Antique Lace, after her wedding night.

On, wet: More floral when it hits my skin. Now it's champaca and jasmine, with a radiant aura of honeyed vanilla cream. Underneath it all is the sandalwood, providing a drier, slightly exotic, warm/woody backdrop for the sweeter scents. It's really satiny and well-blended, heady and very sensual. It makes me think of damp skin and tangled sheets and come-hither looks.

On, dry: Jasmine, blended with champaca and what must be the olive blossom—soft, sweet floral. It still has a smoky-rich vanilla aura, although the honey is much more subdued. It's incredibly feminine and voluptuous, warm and just slightly spicy from the cinnamon and sandalwood. There is no sharp or off-putting jasmine in this blend; it's just pure, creamy, perfect sweetness.

Later: Warm, lightly spicy vanilla floral—soft and sweet, but still very sexy. It feels like the ghost of the perfume that you wore the night before, if you know what I mean. The flowers are no longer distinct from each other, but the vanilla and sandalwood have blended together beautifully.

Overall: I have a soft spot for really decadent, sensual scents, and that's exactly what Defututa is. It's soft, light and satin-smooth, but also warm (almost humid), rich and unabashedly sexy… not really dark, but probably candlelit. I worried about the cinnamon before trying this, but it works amazingly here, adding just the right amount of warmth and spice without this poem ever striking you as a particularly spicy blend. It's blended extremely well, and it has such a creamy, smooth, glowing feel that it makes me feel like a sex goddess just wearing it. Love at first sniff!

 

 

 

[chrystanthem]

first sniff: oooooh... sweet and exotic. I can smell vanilla, sandalwood and honey, with a hint of spices (probably the cinnamon, although it doesn't smell exactly like cinnamon). It is very warm and yummy and very comforting.

 

wet: exotic. the sweetness has retreated to the background, leaving warm cinnamon, something that smells slightly like orange blossom, smoke and sandalwood. very warm and "orange" in colour.

 

dry: sweetness coming through again as smokey vanilla with florals. soft and not overpowering. very sensual and golden.

 

final thoughts: loved it from the first sniff!

[bubblefish]

In the bottle it's a flowery musk, but on my skin it is all floral. Actually, it's far too flowery for my likes. There's a hint of warmth and a very light touch of spice, but in my opinion that doesn't save it from being too flowery.

[chimera87]

I did not think I'd love this so much. When I first put it on, I thought it was too strong and was gonna go to total powder. Within minutes it settles down on me though, and becomes one of the yummiest scents ever.

 

I can pick up every note in this except for cinnamon, but I can sort of feel it's presence, because this is a sort of warm scent.

 

In my opinion, this is very much like O. I love O, so I can't say which is better. They're both awesome to me. It's not EXACTLY like O though. I suggest everyone that likes O try this and those who wanted to love O but didn't, well, you need to try this as well. This is a smoky and floral O. Incredibly sexy!

[donnatron]

Bottle: Warm vanilla and honey with champaca and a sort of incense/resinous quality.

 

Wet: On my skin the jasmine definitely becomes the star player. I like jasmine so this is definitely a bonus. It's the same sort of sticky sweet languid jasmine in New Orleans and Twilight. I also get a sort of green floral edge that I'm going to say is the olive blossom because I honestly don't know what olive blossom smells like. The champaca comes out more as the scent dries down. This is all over a heady, smoky, honeyed vanilla base. I get a very faint hint of the cinnamon but it's not the primary scent here.

 

Dry: So... this lives up to its name. Technically it dries down to a soft, skin close vanilla-honey with jasmine and champaca. But it smells like someone who has just had one hell of a romp in the hay. It's really blatantly, overtly sexual. Bot necessarily in a "Come here NOW!" sort of way like Depraved or something. It's more like a languid, naughty wink and a whisper of "Wouldn't you like to know what I've been doing." The cinnamon comes out more on the drydown and gives it a really warm, sensual golden haze and the vanilla and honey combine to give a sort of skin scent with the florals warm overtop. It's just... wow. Really, really sexy.

 

Throw: Skin close. That's a good thing. I think if someone walked into a room blasting this scent at everyone we'd all be like, "OMG! WE KNOW WHAT YOU JUST DID!"

 

Overall: This is so beautiful and golden and just so raw and sensual that I am kind of at a loss of where I should wear it. It's glorious, I'm going to treasure my bottle (and am very curious to see what it will smell like as it ages) but it's the type of scent where I feel like other people have to earn the right to smell it on me. I guess this is the sort of scent I will be dragging out when I feel like smelling like a glorious, sexy queen

[liquidtrance]

In bottle, a smoky jasmine. Jasmine is still the most prominent on contact with skin. Quickly, though, another scent overrides the jasmine. One of the flowers, I think. The cinnamon gives that slight nose tingle, but doesn't crop up directly. As it dries even more, I think the 'smoky' vanilla is blooming and the honey is making the scent thick and gooey. There's a bit of a resemblence to skin musk somewhat... That cloying pseudo-sweetness. The scent might be petering out at a smoky sweetness. Not terribly appealing. The flowers are at the back, but they smell like they've been swallowed up in a tub of smokey honey. Almost enough to start giving me a headache. I was hoping that the cinnamon might keep this scent a little spicy and be especially nice with the "smoky" vanilla, but the cinnamon is totally gone. The champaca might be the top note that smells familiar from other scents. Not a big fan.

 

Well I'll be damned, this keeps morphing. Not nearly as smoky anymore (about 10 minutes later)...The vanilla seems more prominent. When this is much more dry ~20 mins, there's the barest hint of a too-clean, soapiness, but overall it is thick honey, vanilla, and nudge of florals. It loses its smokiness, it loses the tropical champaca(musk) scent, and becomes a bit more demure (not unlike antque lace/O/Mouse's). Not quite bottle worthy, mostly because of the rig-a-ma-roll to get to this pleasing scent, and for it being soo much different than expected. I am wary. I should try O/Lace/Mouse's and Defututa and see which comes out on top for favorability. In the full drydown, this is actually really quite nice. as good as Mouse/O/Antique, perhaps.

[sonia13]

The combination of the olive blossom, honey, and cinnamon, for me, is gorgeous. On my skin there is just enough jasmine to keep it from being too foody, but it really is a silent partner. It is warm, feminine (but not girly, refined) and rich smelling... I adore it!

 

But I may be biased... Defututa instantly transported me back to summer Sunday afternoons in Greece, baking with my mother - She is pouring the cinnamon-infused honey over the warm tray of baklava and the breeze is carrying in the faint scent of the jasmine in the windowbox. Definitely need a bottle of this.

[sunshinedaisybliss]

Wow.. this is the first blend with jasmine I've found that doesn't turn into stinky baby poop smell - jasmine is usually my nemesis, but it's not bothering me at all in Defututa.

 

Instead, I'm getting lovely honey and cinnamon - not really spicy, just sweet and soft - that would be the sandalwood, I'm guessing, combined with the vanilla. This is a very pretty and quite intoxicating blend, very nice!

 

[ladyl]

All I could smell is pineapple! I was hoping to get a wift of the champaca (although I don't know how it smells like). It's not too bad.. very fruity... the pineapple toned down after a while, but it's still there. I keep thinking I'm wearing the Pineapple Ginger Body Lotion from Crabtree & Evelyn.

[Gin]

Defututa smells like coconut milk and pineapple to me. I guess I can kind of see (smell) the honey + vanilla + champaca, but really? It smells like a softly-scented tropical drink. Very pretty, very close to the skin.

[Aldercy]

Oh my... creamy smoked vanilla with big ol' sexy flowers. The floral notes are pretty much fused together, as far as I can tell, but it does have a jasmine sort of attitude about it.

 

And spiced pineapple candle? Yep, spiced pineapple candle. Bizarre, but not unpleasant. The spice is kind of cinnamon, but also kind of chili pepper, and it's barely there, but still faintly noticeable.

 

The overall effect of this combination is kind of that of drinking a slushy, vanilla-drenched pina colada at a fiery, passionate luau.

 

 

Also, warning: bees will fall in love with you. They will mistake you for their soul mate and try to woo you all afternoon while you're just trying to read your book on the freaking porch, thank-you-very-much.

[topazphoenix]

I'm getting a sweet, bubble gum-ish, fruity floral O. It's wistful and foreign and kind of the fresh faced greek girl in floral print cotton dress I'm gonna make you a balaclava just let me put on this checked apron and pin up my hair charmingly kind of exotic. I like it.

[rayvn1]

Sweet bejeebus this is good on my skin! I would not have guessed this had jasmine since that's one of my death notes more often than not. Tropical, fruity clouds of sweetness. This is pretty foody on my but in a good way. Such a good way! Smoky vanilla is the key here I think, and the honey isn't the overly clingy sort I get in other blends. Keeper, in a big, big way!

[Evengloam]

A yummy feel-good scent. Sweet floral. A bit heady initially but does soften.

 

I can detect the jasmine and flowers right off, but it isn't cloying as it's sandwiched between the honey and vanilla. The cinnamon trails along behind everything else, and sandalwood shyly joins it every now and then. The sandalwood is a surprise, because it's usually quite strong on me. It does come out a little stronger once the scent has dried, but not by a whole lot.

 

I am reminded of olives, but since I've never smelled olive blossoms before, I'm not exactly sure where the blossoms come in. I smell florals I don't recognize around the top and middle notes; that's probably it.

 

If you're looking for something with florals, and you're normally not a floral person, try this. Definitely. Also try it if you like vanilla and honeys scents.

[tajana]

Wet: Knowing this had jasmine in it, I almost tossed the imp aside without trying it. But I took a whiff of the imp when I uncapped this, and found it strangely... not jasminey. (Jasmine is a death note on me. 97% of the time it turns to cat pee and horror, and takes over the entire blend, eradicating almost all evidence of any other notes. 2% of the time it smells like a flower but gives me a headache, and the remaining 1%, it's like it's not even there.) Freshly applied, it starts off with what I believe to be olive blossom, an interesting light floral with green, herbal edge, underpinned by creamy smoky vanilla.

 

Dry: The smoky vanilla gets smokier as the champaca amps up a bit. It brings with it an absolutely divine cinnamon note, warm and glowing, distinctly hot without being overtly spicy. As it dries down the primary floral shifts over to jasmine... and it is just barely recognizable as jasmine... astonoshingly, it doesn't make me want to scrub myself raw. There's a base of golden, glowing honey sweetened sandalwood, tempered by the enduring incense smokiness of champaca.

 

Overall:All together, this blends into a smoky, sweet but not too sweet, floral but not too floral, cheerful but sensual perfume. There is something about the way it mixes together that does remind me of a bit of a tropical drink, and it's not the power of suggestion... I was thinking pina colada before I even looked at the forum! I really enjoyed this when I first tried it, and wore it for a full day twice... but then I got sick the second time... and haven't been able to bring myself to wear it again (or any other honey scents!) since. Let's hope I get over that, because my notes about this scent are glowingly positive.

Edited December 8, 2009 by tajana

[tragedy]

I get a nice mellow vanilla flavored jasmine from this... its not the type of jasmine that amps screaming cheap air freshner... its soft and vanilla spicy. The cinnamon is almost a side note, I only get a true sense of it when huff hard... it just spices it up a bit.

 

 

[Violaine]

I tried this on this morning and forced myself not to look at the scent description until after it had dried on my skin. Before I saw what was in it, just on blind smell alone, I was telling myself coconut and apple. It smelled then (and still does now) like a tanning salon and that was the closest approximation I could come up with.

 

However, I have no idea what olive blossom or champaca smell like. I never got cinnamon from this, nor did I smell the jasmine, though I suspect that the jasmine was what caused the oil to go ever so slightly soapy/powdery on me. It could perhaps be the honey as well, as I don't have great luck with BPAL honey, but I can't be certain.

 

So... I like this. I don't believe it's a bottle buy, which kind of makes me sad, because the notes and the description are just heavenly. It still smells a lot like a tanning salon to me, warm and almost tropical, but in a very sensual, forbidden way. If it weren't for that touch of soapiness, I think I might be sold. I'm definitely keeping my imp, though, and trying it on again in a couple of weeks.

[ellebelle]

Cinnamon. All I smell is cinnamon. Maybe a little bit of honey. Oh, but where is the beeswax? Where is the olive blossom? Oh why, oh why cinnamon? Note to self: cinnamon may be a note of DOOM. Even as it dries, cinnamon is the predominant scent on my skin. I wanted to love this so much.

[symphonyinsilence]

I absolutely adore honey and vanilla, so I was glad that I got this as a frimp. But jasmine is a note of death for me. Also the vanilla and honey together smell more like cotton candy. Wet, I get honey/cotton candy/jasmine. I'm not a fan of candy-floral mixtures. Those types never fail to give me a headache. My mum told me it smelled overpowering. I was really hoping the jasmine wouldn't be so prominent, but knowing my luck, it was. About an hour later the jasmine started to disappear (thank God!) and I was left with the honey and champaca. Absolutely gorgeous and smoky. I only wish I could smell the other notes as well. I didn't get cinnamon or sandalwood from this. Not sure what olive blossom smells like since the jasmine was taking over everything.

 

As much I love the drydown of this, I'll have to pass this on since the top notes give me a headache anyway.

Edited December 14, 2009 by symphonyinsilence

[CCretarolo]

This may be my signature scent. It took me a couple of times of wearing it to really appreciate it but... Wow. Defututa just makes me feel sexy. Plus I've had nothing but good feedback from it. It's mostly vanilla and jasmine on me but it has a nice creamy feel that is just amazing.

 

I only wish it was available in a 10 mL bottle.

[wrestlingentropy]

The best thing about attempting (attempting!) to keep my BPAL acquisitions to a minimum is that I can still somehow consider every bottle in my collection to be a favorite. Me, this morning, while slathering: "Oh, Defututa. You're my favorite scent! Why don't I wear you every day?"

 

Personally, I don't know why I would ever wear O when I could wear Defututa. I always marvel at how rich and complex it is. To my nose, it has a depth and dimension that I find lacking in O's sweet, sweaty warmth. I'm usually not one for floral scents, so I love the way that the honey and smoky vanilla lend the jasmine, olive blossom, and champaca flower some sweetness, while the sandalwood and cinnamon warm everything up. It's got the perfect amount of throw, and when I combine it with some coconut oil on my skin, it lasts a nice long time, too. It's also, of course, suuuuuuper sexy. I feel all drowsy and smiley when I'm wearing it, like I'm peeking out from under the covers, with my eyes half open, to gaze at a very special someone. I'm a wrist-sniffing fool today!

[thewondersmith]

Hm, this is kinda nice! I'm not really a floral kinda girl, but this has enough vanilla to keep the jasmine from screaming at me. I do agree with the reviewers above me that this is sort of like O but with more florals. It's not really my thing, but it's quite lovely just the same. It's got great throw and it'd be really nice for summer.