Machu Picchu

[Balame]

Sweet tropical fruits burst through deep, wet rainforest boughs, enormous steamy blossoms, over thin mountaintop breezes, mingled with the soft, rich golden scent of Peruvian amber.

In the Imp: Delicate and juicy, green and fresh.

Wet: This literally does smell "wet", as the rainforest imagery would suggest. I can't place any specific fruits but it would smell like something you wanted to drink if it weren't for the sweeter floral scents that make these seem more like... some sort of relaxing tropical bath oil, to me. Not bad, somehow evokes both a cool and warm feeling at the same time. Like walking through a misty clearing in the early morning but the air is still humid from the night before.

Dry: Still has a pleasant watery feel, but getting more of the dew-laden plant vibe now as well as vibrant flowers. To be honest this is more of an "aquatic" to me than a decent amount of others I've tried have been. (*coughDanubecough*) Keeps a clean, bright feeling through its wear. I'm also really enjoying that amber hanging in the background. I am afraid the longer I wear this that it's getting a liiittle bit laundry-ish on me though.

Verdict: I'm viewing this more as that piece of jewelry that's nice, you might wear, but it's sort of just "meh" overall to you. My chemistry is pumping up the sugary flowers, I can tell, as on the testing rod it's still a nice green/citrus scent. Sad, since I'm not a fan of very sweet smells. Something about this isn't exactly what I wanted, I think it's too "prettily" feminine and didn't push the "wild" tropical feel enough for me.

Rating: 2/5

[Amaroq]

I smell citrus in the imp. It's delicious. I put it on, and it stays delicious. The citrus vanishes within three minutes and leaves a vaguely lush but warm and soft amber, but it comes back in a lower key within three minutes after that, then fades again. Then it all seems to disappear. Strangely, I smell the citrus in the air, but almost nothing on my wrist. Weird. I'll have to do some experimenting. I love the wet tropical feel of this scent, so I hope I can make it work.

 

(I edit my posts too much, I know...) Now it smells like water and flowers and fruit. Mostly water. Very relaxing, very nice. Hopefully it'll stay that way! If it does, I'll look into getting a bottle.

Edited January 2, 2010 by Amaroq

[DeltaCat]

I get lots of steamy florals and amber when wet. On dry down I get sweet florals with a touch of aquatics. I wish the fruit scents come out more on me.

[heatherovka]

Ohmigosh. I love this.

 

Citrus/fruity, orchid, green. Very clean and fresh. Later, mostly amber and floral (orchid). I wish it would last a little longer.

 

Just a lovely, delicate, fresh scent. Love it.

[strahlend]

I'm getting citrus and pretty flowers. Light, clean and inviting. I would sware there's something from the lemon-esque family in here. I'm not sure where I know these flowers from, but they feel familiar. Alas, the citrus is stealing the details. That's probably a personal skin chemistry issue though. Very pretty, but it does fade fast. Maybe it would do better in a locket?

~edit - I think this is reminding me of Giant Vulva in a way. I wonder if anyone else gets that?

Edited April 27, 2010 by strahlend

[Venneh]

Flowers and fruit and breezes in the imp, on my skin, mostly the flowers and a bit of fruits and breezy, very clean and light. Potentially a second skin test.

[Gwydion]

In bottle: The fruit note is complex, rich and definitely tropical. It blends well with the rich dark florals and the lighter amber and breeze elements. This rich and delicate at the same time, very appealing and womanly. Wet: This turns on my skin. I think it’s one of the fruit that doesn’t agree with my skin chemistry. Suddenly it’s a touch over ripe and the bits separate instead of blending properly. Dry: Mostly amber with a touch of the other elements.

[sunlitgarden]

Machu Picchu

 

As the description implies, this is a very green and ripe scent! It reminds me of walking through the greenhouses at my university, which are filled with exotic plants from all over the world. The fruits are sweet and sugary, somewhat candy-like. It's a little bit dryer-sheet-laundry-fresh. The amber is very light. I like it!

[INFJ4w3]

Tropical fruits and flowers, yes, but mostly a strange sugary mint scent, like sweet mint candy. And there's a wetness and greenness, too. But the mint candy scent is by far the strongest and most lasting aspect of this oil. It's got a short wear length and low-medium throw. It's ok, not bad or great, 2 1/2 stars out of 5. I do like the wetness, though. Interesting!

[FathomBelow]

Initially, Machu Picchu is a very fresh, wet, mild yet wild scent that makes me want to describe it as "green" but completely lacks the sharpness that I usually reserve the word for. It's incredible.

 

As it dries, it acquires just a drop of dryer-sheet note which blends superbly with the initial fresh, wet quality. Imagine being a kid on summer break walking around your yard at home on an early August morning. The sun is just rising and brushing the houses and trees with orangey-golden light, and you can hear the sprinklers going all along the street. You're dressed in your thinnest, lightest t-shirt and shorts that your mom just washed for you, for the blazing heat you know that's coming but isn't here yet, and the air is cool and moist. You've got the whole day to enjoy yourself and do glorious things in, and you're looking forward to it, but you're content with being where you are, now as well. Overall, you're filled with an immense well-being. This is the scent of that magical childhood moment.

 

Dry, Machu Picchu gets sweeter and almost banana-y but more floral, all the while retaining that initial freshness and wetness. Still reminds me of the early morning, but on a misty jungle plateau.

 

Absolutely beautiful - must get a bottle.

[ajansuz]

This was another lovely frimp.

 

In the imp, very lush, wet floral. Makes me think of plumeria with something soft under it, almost a coconut note but not quite.

 

Wet, I still get plumeria and a little of the creamy coconut impression. I don't really get fruit much. There's also something fresh and green, leafy.

 

Dry down, it stays a soft, sweet tropical floral with almost no throw. Unfortunately, it lasted less than two hours on me, but I enjoyed it while it did.

[zagadka]

In the imp this is the scent that was missing in my collection: something light, airy, fresh, slightly sweet. A scent that isn't a total floral or aquatic. Something to bridge the gap between the two with a bit of juicy fruitiness in between. Completely yummy- reminds me of the jungles of Maui.

 

On, it went all to soap and smells like regular ole perfume. It was nothing like what I smelled in the imp, which was amazing.

 

After the dry down, it just smells like a cheap aquatic floral and liquid hand soap on me. It smells "clean". I can't tell you how disappointed I am!

[MaritzaCardona]

When I open the imp the first word that came to my mind was 'sweet.' It'd definitely fruity and somehow lemon-lime is the dominant scent. One applied it changes a bit to fresh linen, which isn't a bad thing. On the drydown it smells like fresh linen and a bit powdery. It's not a bad scent but it's just not for me.

[Gin]

Ooh, what is that? It's sweet and lush and green. It reminds me of The Conservatory at Como Park--a glorious greenhouse with all sorts of exotic plants. It also smells a bit like the original Scorpio--maybe that's why I like it so much? Absolutely gorgeous.

[JasminDreams2010]

wow, what a fun scent! I first wore this to a summer garden party, so it stays associated in my mind with good times, hot sun and a wicked hangover.

 

Nevertheless, I love this! It's so amazingly intricate. There's a sort of "fresh" lemony/dryer sheet twist to this one, which normally is not the type of scent that I go for. Still, something about the tropical notes in this evokes a sense of adventure. There is something aquatic here, and lush. It's a very humid, jungle, green scent if that makes sense. I am having trouble identifying any other note than the amber, which is soft and golden. To me this evokes not Machu Picchu, but Chichen Itza- a lower altitude, more rain, more heat, more green. A fabulous scent for summer or for the days in winter that you want to imagine your way out of. Something in the lemony/fresh notes would help this work as a unisex scent as well.

 

This is somewhere in my top five and I don't even think it contains jasmine or tuberose (my favorite notes) but I might detect some plumeria, which is another favorite.

[tkannon]

In the bottle: sweet and fruity

 

Wet: Still sweet but now floral is coming out.

 

Dry: Soap. Mixed with flowers going bad. Not for me unfortunately!

[NaiadOreiad]

Fresh mountain mist, a cool damp. Lush greenery dripping and tropical fruits and blooms waft their scent at high altitude. It creates a mysterious feeling.

 

4/5

[imaginepageant]

Review from 2005.

 

In the Vial: This is one complex scent. At first I smell the sweet tropical fruits and blossoms, which is very lovely, but at the end of my inhale there's a powdery bitterness that I assume represents the mountaintop breezes, but which really turns me off.

 

Wet: The sweetness turns into tang, and the floral notes stomp all over the fruit. Unfortunately that powdery bitterness grows stronger.

 

Dry: Again, the complexity of Machu Picchu is confusing me. I'm not sure whether this is likeable or downright unpleasant. It does smell more reminiscent of a tropical rainforest full of fruits and blossoms—I'm smelling something citrus, something sweet, and the hothouse blooms from Bayou and New Orleans. But there's that powder that I can't get past!

 

An Hour Later: I forgot to come back to this at the appropriate time, and now, a few days later, I completely forget what Machu Picchu had become after awhile of wear. I do remember, though, that it still irked me.

 

Overall: Definitely not for me. I wish I knew what was causing that bitter powder smell so that I could avoid it in other blends.

[Schmoozy]

Lush florals and tropical fruits. It's airy and aquatic, almost soapy and very perfumey. The amber is barely noticeable over the florals, and unfortunately it's just a bit too heady for me.

[Juushika]

In the vial: Tropical, but darker than just fruits or florals.

 

On me: It goes on perfumey—the airiness of the breezes combine with the fruits and florals for a department store, spray-on scent. Thankfully, it loses that perfumey quality on drydown. What emerges is dark tropical fruits, familiar insofar as it fits nicely into BPAL's catalog of tropical scents, but its darkness makes it unique. It's not quite greenery, but rather the shadows cast by jungle branches: depth, darkness, almost like cocoa without being too similar to Xiuhtecuhtli, cutting the airiness and brightness of the tropical fruits and flowers. The scent is still quite sweet, but not cloying or sharp. I don't get much amber in its own right, but it may contribute to the general well-roundedness of the scent. Scent-color is a dusky, dark pink. Throw is fairly low, but that may be because I applied very little. Wearlength is moderate long.

 

Verdict: To my great surprise, I rather like this. Tropicals aren't my style, but this one is—well, not exactly toned down, but smooth, round, shaded. It's a very full scent without being overpowering, its sweetness makes it palatable, and its dark tropics have great individuality. I still don't think it's a scent I would wear, in the end, because however lovely it's still not my style. But it's an interesting one to try. (On the other hand, I also tried this many years ago, as a frimp to my first BPAL order, but didn't review it at the time. If I remember correctly, it was brighter and more generic tropical fruity floral to my untrained nose, and I had no particular love for it.)

[Honey]

Imp: Oh, wow! Smells very fruity and exotic! I think what I get is banana and mango. Perhaps with some sweet floral notes.

 

Wet: Sweet banana. Maybe a dash of coconut. It's very creamy.

 

Dry: Slightly sour-sharp but mostly light, green and sweet. Still mainly banana and floral notes I think. The way I pictured Manila to smell, but this is way nicer! Has a sort of clean smell to it, like soapy cotton. I like it somewhat but it's not a fav.

 

 

2021 update:

 

I'm retesting this (different imp than last time), and all I get is green melon flavored nail polish remover. 😓

It gets a bit more lush and floral during drydown, but it stays a bit sharp and unpleasant.

I was wondering if ageing had done anything to the blend, but when looking at the label, it looks pretty new to me.

I get a bit of a "banana bandaid" vibe coming through - where is the tropical jungle that everyone else is smelling? Give it!

 

In the end, this is sour yet spicy lilies and orchids, unripe bananas and a faint green melon (or other) scent.

Bah, no need to upgrade to a bottle I guess.

Edited March 29, 2021 by Honey

[Alethia]

Thoughts before testing: The description of this scent is so intriguing; thank you Witch!

 

Wet: All I get is pure salt. Salt? What the heck?

 

Dry down: Still salt with a little soap. How does florals, fruits, woods, and amber turn into salty soap?

 

Dry: Salty soap

 

Final thoughts: What the heck, skin? I've gotten soap from many a blend before, but never pure salt. So disappointing.

 

Verdict: This is a no go for me.

[coldandsleepy]

Interesting. I really expected this one to be a floral explosion and was bracing myself for that.

 

Instead, it's mostly the other things in the scent description-- I get high, cold breeze and spicy amber with maybe just a slight touch of white florals. No fruit that I can detect.

 

I like it quite a bit though.

[sunlitgarden]

I forgot I had already reviewed this, and I tested it again without looking at my previous review... I apparently had liked it before, but I don't now.

 

In the imp this mostly smells like a lemon-scented cleaning fluid.

 

On my skin, I do get the fruits, and also a clean, aquatic-ish note that I'm assuming is for the "wet boughs". I can see how this would be a pretty scent - but unfortunately, I've smelled too many cheap imitations in cleaning products and sprays, and that's where my association goes.

Edited April 24, 2012 by sunlitgarden

[ami226]

On the skin: Tropical lemon? Smells like a tropical place with lemons. I would like to vacation here!

 

Hmmm, it starts to smell like a breezy lemon similar to detergent and cleaning supplies. Not for me.