Mictecacihuatl

[innocent]

Known as the Mistress of Bones and the Lady of the Dead, she is the Queen of Mictlan, the Aztec Underworld, who still presides over today's Day of the Dead rituals. Sometimes known now as La Huesuda, she brings peace and joy to the spirits of the deceased, and blesses the living who do honor to those who have passed before them.

Copal, precious woods, South American spices, agave nectar, cigar tobacco, and roses.

I've never done a first review before... I'm a little scared! What you shouldn't be scared of, if you dislike roses, is the rose in Mictecacihuatl. It's no more than a floral whisper beneath the resins, woods, and spices. I actually wish it were a little more floral (but then, I love me some roses).

Mictecacihuatl is a lovely blend of copal (yum!) and wood (I'm not sure what kind, but I'd say NOT cedar, since that turns to hamster cage on me). The spices add a bit of kick, but they're not the sort of "dirty" spices that are in many BPAL blends, they're much lighter and cleaner.

I worried that, with the nectar, tobacco, and rose, this might be too sweet, but it's really not. The sweetness just serves to make the other elements less dry. I really like this one, but I might layer it over something with a stronger rose to bring out that note. If you like woods and resins give this one a try!

[tamburlaine]

Note: On my bottle, the name is spelled "Michtecacihuatl"; the label bears the likeness of a statue of La Huesuda (an image of a skull face atop a female body -- but never fear, I hear she's pretty benevolent), surrounded by yellow flowers.

 

Quick n' Dirty summary: An experiment in mixing watery green floral-esque fruit and dry balsamic spice; turns out powdery and a little too sweet on my skin.

 

In the bottle: Immediate to my nose is the fresh green *tingle* of the agave nectar, followed by a woodsy feel mingled with that slightly acrid smell tobacco notes always leave in my nose. Lingering in the background is the promise of some floral-tinged sweetness.

 

On my skin: Wet, Mictecacihuatl goes straight from sort of non-descript tobacco/woodsy ~something~ to a spiky green cactus. Watery-sweet agave nectar flowing straight from the cactus, the fragrance still retains the unique scent of that fruity bite of agave juice. Mictecacihuatl remains sweet throughout and doesn't give way to the spices and the dark balsamic qualities copal can have; the spiciness here is tempered by the agave and the brush of a powdery rose. Now I can smell the spice only through the woods components though, and I might identify those spices as chile? Maybe a pinch of pink pepper? The spices are by-and-large dry, in any case, and mingle almost seamlessly with the wood. In the drydown, the spicy-floralish balsamic copal appears and darkens the oil, though not making this a pure balsamic blend to my nose per se. Mictecacihuatl is hard to classify. It starts out with the watery greenish fructose of agave nectar -- a fragrance that is hard to explain but definitely smells "prickly" -- then ultimately dries down to powdery sweetness with a balsamic resin quality. The spiciness and smoke have gotten half-swallowed by the sweetness of the agave nectar and the rose (that doesn't smell like rose on me, just powder).

 

I was expecting Mictecacihuatl to be more balsamic, spicy, smoky, and warm and got a pleasant surprise with the initial taste of lush bright green fruit. However, the longer the blend wears on my skin the less surprising it becomes. The final product is a fall/winter woman's perfume dominated by an unidentifiable sweetness (coming from fruit or floral or overexpressive copal, but which one is hard to tell) stifling and nearly snuffing out the existence of the spices and woods. You can smell the latter notes if you sniff hard enough, but upon first waft, Mictecacihuatl is powdery sweet agave touched by a molasses-colored copal balsamic floral. I bet the dry woods and spices contribute to the powdery quality. Their virtues aren't truly expressed in the blend until 30 minutes on. I didn't get the cigar tobacco in here, probably because it was chillin' with the "spice n' woods" crew and got drowned out.

 

After a good while, I finally smell the spices and woods approaching the foreground. Dry, though still powdery, Mictecacihuatl has merged into something balsamic-n'-spicy comforting and not too loud on my skin with sugary nectar. Balsam has two heads: spicy and sweet. In this blend, the sweet comes first, then after approx. 30 minutes you get the spicy. I prefer the spicy, so that's obviously biased my review.

 

If you huff hard enough, Mictecacihuatl offers a great palate of scents, but it's not to my taste for everyday (i.e. "non-experimental") use. In the winter, this Lady of Death might actually prove comforting and relaxing (because copal to me just makes me feel warm and fuzzy), but for the time being not so much. Something to note is that resinous copal ages well, so Mictecacihuatl might be a keeper to age and the powdery smell might evolve into something warmer and spicier upon initial application.

Edited September 2, 2008 by Shollin

[TooMuchTemptation]

I ordered a bottle of this unsniffed because I love the copal and florals in Xiutehcuhtli, and this just sounded divine.

 

When I sniff at the bottle, it's hard to say what I'm smelling. I get the copal right away because, for some reason I find copal intensely sniffable. Smelling it almost makes my mouth water. There's also a slightly green sappiness that I'm assuming is the agave nectar. Maybe a hint of spice, but my nose may be faking me out. I'm not sure if I like this or not.

 

Wet on my skin, this blooms into a scent that makes me huff my wrist, and then tip my head back and sigh. I'm glad no one can see me holding my wrist in front of my nose going "Oh! *sniff* Ohhh! *sniff* Wow! *sniff*" Yum mouth-watering copal, then sweet agave nectar, then deep dry woods, and just at the finish something faintly spicy and ever so slightly rosy. As it dries, the woods and resin tilt it slightly towards the cologne-y end of the spectrum, but not in an annoying way. Copal, sweet woods, and spice. If you're afraid of rose, you should know that I don't really smell it strongly here. There's a slight rosy roundness to the tail end of the spices, but nothing that I would sniff and say smelled like a rose.

 

I think I've found my fall into winter scent. This is round, warm, resiny and spicy without being heavy or smelling like fall potpourri. Damn if I don't think I might need another bottle.

 

Edited for clarity.

Edited September 3, 2008 by TooMuchTemptation

[Dark Alice]

Ordered this unsniffed because of the Copal and Agave Nectar notes!

 

In Bottle: Slight sweetness of copal and a hint of something dry

 

Wet on Skin: Slight Sweetness of copal

 

Drydown on Skin: Oh my goodness!! This is absolutely lovely! The agave nectar is now coming out, but is not too strong. The copal keeps it in check. I don't smell any rose!!! Yay!!! And then there is just the slightest hint of drying tobacco (cigar, I do believe) This is absolutely one of the most unusual and gorgeous scents i have tried in a while!!!!

 

After letting this age for two weeks in the dark the agave has died down and the copal comes shining through. (more like martial arts kicking) Once it dries down it becomes the cleanest rose that I have ever smelled. I love it!!! (This is the rose scent for me!!!!!):D

 

 

The lab wins again!!!

Edited October 1, 2008 by Dark Alice

[tativa]

mmm... wore this one today on a cold rainy day, it fit right in. I was taken off guard how aquatic this turned out to be, given the wood, spice and resin notes in it... but its not an ocean aquatic or river or lake aquatic. Nope, our lady of the underworld is an oasis aquatic scent, a beautiful temptress lounging near the water hole in a dessert.

The rose comes through a lil at first, but then agave/tobacco dominated for a bit, before settling down into copal with whiffs of tobacco.

 

The specialty coffee of the day today happened to be aztec coffee... mmm... so I was surrounded by aztec aromas most of the morning. Mictecachiuatl lasted at least 8 hours, though I reapplied when I got the chance then, because after 4 or 5 hours it had lost a lot of its complexity on me.

 

The perfect aquatic lady's fall scent... or a great aquatic for those who can't generally wear aquatics.

 

I think I need another bottle... I hope it gets a lil more resinous and a lil less sweet once it ages, but its wonderful as is too

 

edit 9/12. The woods and resins are really coming out alot more now... so the lasting end result is sweet woody tobacco. It lasts well over 12 hours... its been like 16 (with two showers) and its still going strong. It feels more and more aquatic to me the longer it wears... even though its woody. I really need a backup!

Edited September 12, 2008 by tativa

[Kippy]

Harumph. Other posters have said it's woody or aquatic, now I'm going to muddy the waters further and say it's a floral.

 

My first impression is dirty floral. It's not immediately rose to my nose - the copal and agave are covering it a bit and keeping it in control, but yep, if you concentrate, there it is. I'm definately picking up the cigar tobacco, it's whats keeping this floral a little dark, a little dirty. In time, the woods come out and it gets a bit cologney.

 

Nice - not a homerun, but it will get some rotation this fall. It's a welcome change from all the vanillas that seem to be multiplying like tribbles on my bpal shelf.

[Heavenlyrabbit]

Some of my most favorite BPAL blends have been related to Central/South America cultures. Add to that the Copal and Agave Nectar and I REALLY wanted this one to work.

 

Happy Day! It sure does.

 

The Tobacco and Rose keep each other in check and what really makes it work is the sweet Agave Nectar. BPAL's Honey note has always been very rewarding and this is a real treat.

 

Edit- here it is 2 weeks later and my chemistry is finding this to have a heavier floral, like Lily or Tuberose or some such. And the incense is much more pronounced.

 

BIG difference. And it's much better now that the Rose has been thrown into the background.

Edited September 21, 2008 by Heavenlyrabbit

[jehrichardson]

In the Bottle: Sweet and rich and delicious, but not foody. Reminds me of Shalimar by Guerlain - exotic, spicy, and smooth. Very sexy. Tiny backnote of coffee.

 

On the Skin: Same as above, but the notes coalesce - sweet tobacco leaf, a bit of woods, a tiny bit of the bite of bpal honey, and that ambery backnote that is so distinctive in bpal.

 

After a While: Softer, sweeter, smoother, richer. Woods and spices and tobacco leaf with a honeybite. I don't get any rose.

 

Verdict: Absolutely gorgeous.

[Brianne]

I feel like I am missing something here My skin must be eating all the notes in this except for rose and a faint incense sweetness. It's VERY VERY light - for rose, that's pretty remarkable on my skin as my skin tends to amp and blare it. But this is really faint incensey rose for me.

[sookster]

straight sniff from imp is heavy on the copal and spices...

 

once applied this is quite unusual...the tobacco and agave are awesome...

after awhile a whisper of rose swirls with the other notes gorgeously...

love it

[Hawke]

Resinous and sweet in the imp. The idea of roses scares me, but I'm going to try it anyway.

 

Wet on skin, it's thickly sweet. Warm, a little spicy. I assume the honey-like scent is the agave nectar but I could be wrong. Ah, there's the rose. For the moment, at least, it's not screaming about it's presence and is actually fairly nice. We'll see what happens as it continues to dry.

 

Fortunately, this never reaches Screaming Rose levels, as most of the other lab blends with rose in them do. I can smell it, of course, a soapy note hiding beneath the spice. It's not horrid or traumatizing, but I do think it makes this a little less enjoyable than it started out. I'll keep the imp for now and no doubt retest it. I seriously doubt that this will end up a bottle scent.

[femmefatale]

I really have no idea how to describe this. I mostly smell roses and agave, with I think a hint of woods and ???. It's very mysterious.

I would definitely say this is a warmer smelling scent.

 

I'll have to try it soon in my locket to see if I can pick out more of the individual notes. My skin chemistry is wonky so I have a feeling it will smell completely different.

[plunderparlour]

I had a difficult time identifying individual notes with this as well. On wet this is aquatic. I really like it but this dried down on me like Autumn Coolness did. Within minutes it was pretty much gone leaving powder in its wake. Hoping it will do better on something not my skin.

[greenranger]

Wet, I smelled agave.

 

Drying, the rose began to amp, till the scent was ROSES and agave. For about an hour, all I could smell of it was the ROSES and agave. Then, the roses began to fade out.

 

For the next two hours, most of what I could smell was the agave. It was a fresh wet cactus scent, and neat, but, I knew there were other notes hiding in there somewhere.

 

Three hours in, I am finally getting the tobacco, spices and woods.

 

I need to try this in a locket. My skin didn't play nice with this one till the agave and roses burned off.

[tinyvulture]

this is the awesome copal scent i’ve been hoping for. it totally reminds me of the copal incense i’ve smelled at the dia de los muertos parade that my city holds each year. in addition to the copal, i smell tobacco and floral notes. note to rose haters -- i couldn’t tell that the floral was rose. it’s extremely light. the agave nectar adds a pleasant sweetness. again, it’s very light. nothing about this scent is too heavy. it reminds me of incense wafting gently through a crowd. it’s sort of addictive – because it’s not that strong, i find that i keep re-applying it throughout the day so i can smell it again and again. i also think it bears a resemblance to last year’s Dia de Los Muertos, minus the cocoa.

[isisonearth]

Bottle: OMG...swoon worthy. Honeyed spices...gorgeous copal...rich tobacco and just a faint hint of rose. In the bottle it is already so swoon worthy I'm glad I ordered it. I'm just sitting here opening and closing the bottle to sniff. I don't want to rush. I can tell this is going to be one to savor.

 

Wet: More mellow. Well worn, ornately carved chest of precious spices. I'm not sure what spices are native to S. America but there seems to be something fiery like chile with something mellow like cumin or anatto. The tobacco rises as fragrant smoke mingling with the scent of the spices. There is a little dewy sweetness from fresh roses but is is very much a back ground note...plus a green honey note that must be the agave.

 

Dry: Warm and close to the skin. As though you have returned home after the Day of the Dead rituals with the scents of the offerings having become one with your skin.

 

This is really amazing. I can't believe I almost didn't order it. Thank goodness for the copal dragging me in. I will be wearing this often. In fact I may take a day or two before testing any other Halloweenies. I want to smell Mictecacihuatl again and again.

Edited September 22, 2008 by isisonearth

[ND¢]

The previous reviewer described this as a well worn, ornately carved chest of precious spices & I think that is just spot on. I keep my imps for swap in a wooden box and this has a sweet, spicy unity that really calls my imp box to mind in the best of all possible ways. I find myself thinking of cozy parties, exotic places I've never been... The copal is clearly dominant on me, the agave nectar (not that I'd necessarily know) seems not apparent, and the tiny hint of rose is just a peep of freshness that cuts all the spiciness really handily while complimenting it perfectly. And I am not a huge fan of the way rose smells on me normally. I didn't like the plain spiciness of this in the bottle so I'm glad I really gave it a chance.

[empi girl]

I got this on a whim, sure it wouldn't work, but had to try it. And it's a surprise hit. Practically single note honey (which I'm assuming is the agave nectar). It smells like honeycomb-the sweet freshness of the honey. And since practically nothing with honey works on me, this is even more surprising and pleasing. The tobacco makes itself known by pinning down the sweetness and giving it depth, and I suppose the rose could be combining with the agave also.

 

Lasts a long time. Tried it on in the evening and could still smell it the next morning, easily.

 

No woods, no copal. Maybe when it ages? Definitely a bottle puchase!

[Cereus]

In the bottle rose and agave with spices and a whiff of tobacco.

 

Wet the agave nectar stands out among the dry woods and spices. I'm definitely getting the aquatic vibe from the agave. I wish I was getting more of the copal, but it's sadly dormant.

 

Dry I get a hint of rose and dry tobacco, but the spices and agave mix oddly on my skin and are almost pungent.

 

In my hair, however, I get the woods and rose and a little copal! Lovely.

[Schmoozy]

First Sniff: Rose, agave nectar and tobacco.

 

On Skin: Woah. Why is it that agave nectar translates into honey. Nope this isn't working for me.

It is too sickly sweet, and almost baby powderish. I was hoping that copal and some precious woods would maybe balance it out and perhaps tone it down, but this is gross. Must wash off now.

[Wwindy]

This blend morphed like crazy on me. I kept mentally revising my review the whole time I was wearing it!

 

Fresh on from the decant, it's all rose and green cactus. About ten minutes later, I get a HUGE BLAST of honey sweetness -- like I've drenched myself in pure honey. Maybe a half hour after that, if I stick my nose right up to my wrists or the crooks of my elbows (and I do mean right up to), I get a gorgeous, sexy smoky/woody scent... but the throw is still entirely sweet, slightly green rose.

 

I love that yummy tobacco-copal mix on the surface of my skin, but I don't think I can bear to put up with the billowing wafts of sticky-sweet rose for the sake of a faint trace I can't even smell without snorfling myself! Ah well...

[GreenSpine]

I agree with the posters above that the copal, woods, and spices smell just like a wooden chest full of delicious spices. The agave nectar sweetens up the blend a great deal to the point of being nearly - but definitely not - too sweet. The tobacco is amazing, almost smoky, hanging close to my skin. The rose is smooth and lovely but is barely present in the background.

 

Mictecacihuatl starts out a little bit cool (I'm guessing that's the nectar) and gradually warms through the day. Very long wear length and great throw.

 

It reminds me the tiniest bit of Frederic because of the woods and the warming, and a bit more of Chrysanthemum Moon for the spiciness and the overall feel of the scent - but mostly, Mictecacihuatl is a unique blend. I'm almost halfway through my imp and hope the bottle I ordered gets here before too long.

[dawndie]

Wet: sweetened roses

 

On skin: dusty light roses, sweetened with a bit of cactus juice

 

Half-hour later: the distinctive tobacco of Hellfire has appeared, but it's lightened and diffused with the dusty roses

 

In conclusion: this is a delicious and unique blend, and I already have a bottle winging its way to me. I really like this one

[jade_starlight]

This is one of those scents where I'm writing the review with my wrist plastered to my nose. It's woody (but not any kind of evergreen wood) and spicy (but not too spicy) and the tobacco gives it a nice little kick of smoke and sweetness. There is no rose in this at all for me, which is a very good thing as rose tends to pull out its stompy boots and dance on all the other scents.

 

This scent is pure heaven, and may be the first scent where I need multiple bottles.

[azhriaz]

It was the agave nectar that prompted me to buy a bottle of Mictecacihuatl unsniffed. I can't pick agave out at all, but I am still very happy that I have a bottle.

 

It's basically a fragrant, light wood. The spices are more incensey than foody. I was scared of the rose and tobacco, but the rose is very subtle and blends perfectly with the other notes and the tobacco is definitely hiding from me.

 

Very sophisticated and even romantic, but I feel like I could wear this one for any occasion.