Huesos De Santo

[ravenscanary]

Orange-glazed cake, dotted with anise seed, and filled with custard, set beside a bouquet of celebratory funeral flowers.

Version: 2010

Source: Fresh decant

In the decant: Buttery, vaguely boozy

Wet: Sweet, buttery orange cake.

Dry: The florals come out very slightly, but this remains predominantly dense, rich orange cake. The buttery note to this is *not* the "buttered popcorn/fake butter" note but this really smells like orange pound cake to me.

Notes: Light-to-moderate wear, light throw. The boozy note in the decant never came up while wearing it.

Very nice. I may get a bottle of this, because I think I'll need to bathe in it to keep it around all day.

[Truelove]

Version 2010:

Sort of nice, but then seems to meld down and have a fake plastic smell to it - I think it's the cake.

[cherrycherry]

If you could put a cake in a buttery, warm pie it would smell like this. 'Cake-pie'. Makes no sense really, but that's just what it smells like to me!

 

I don't usually have much of a sweet tooth, but with perfumes I cannot get enough of those luscious, gourmand fragrances. Huesos De Santo is a fine example of a wonderfully foodie scent and I can't stop sniffling at myself whenever I wear it. Gorgeous!

[milo]

Wet, very cakey with a bit of spice. Very reminiscent of Beaver Moon Resurrected at this point. As it dries, the spice amps out of control, and the buttery cake is in the background. I get no anise or orange, or flowers to speak of. I'm not a foody, so I don't really dig this blend. The cake seems to be gaining strength on me, as I'm typing. I bet foodies will love this. Not fake, cloying just yummy cake and spice.

[sunlitgarden]

Huesos de Santo (2010)

Buttery in the decant. On my skin, it's sweet custardy cake at first, orangey with a bit of dryness. I don't smell any flowers, or anise distinctly, unless it's what's causing the dry quality. I like it okay, but think my decant will be enough.

 

Edit: I did ultimately get about a half-hour of soft florals, which were nice. Overall I still don't love the scent though.

Edited October 7, 2010 by sunlitgarden

[megank4]

The 2008 version was too sickly sweet for me, but either my scent preferences have changed or this one (2010) is slightly different. It is sweet, warm, glaze.

[Voleuse]

2008 Version: This is DELICIOUS. The cake scent is a fluffy, moist vanilla-orange, with a zest of tangy oranged cream. The scent fades quickly on me, however, to a faint orange syrup scent, with a hint of bakery. Still yummy, but not quite as vivid as the first blush.

[SophieCedar]

Wet: custard thick cake with a hint of orange in the background. I can smell something a little sharp..not in a bad way. Maybe the flowers and anise in the background but not obvious at all.

Drydown: ahhh there it is. This is the sister to Dia de los Muertos. Sweeter and more orangey. the flowers bloom and the sweet spice similar stevia is coming out from the anise. Very nice!

[cometgirl21]

I love this scent. It doesn't really change from the bottle to my skin. It's a dry cake with orange and just a hint of the anise. It smells completely edible.

[Ceisdein]

In Bottle: Slightly floral cake and vanilla buttercream frosting. Tasty.

 

Wet: Still cake and sugary glaze. Thick and rich. It smells a lot like orange-blossom pound cake, in particular.

 

15 Minutes: Something is going wrong here. It's turning to cake and plastic. And the plastic is growing.

 

Dry: Awful, chemical, plastic, with no hint of sugar-cakey-goodness. Almost nose burningly so. I can't believe how much this changed.

 

Overall: The start was fantastic. I'm not usually very pro-foodie scents but this was really good. I'm a little heartbroken over my crap chemistry. I'll have to test it in a locket and hope for the best.

 

 

Edited to add: 2010 version!

Edited November 18, 2010 by Ceisdein

[thekittenkat]

This is the 2010 version.

 

In the imp: Sour flowers and orange cake.

 

Wet: Now it's more like orange frosting on vanilla cake. Some florals--suspect that they are things like lilies, sunflowers, roses, mums, that sort of thing.

 

The dry-down: Mostly now just vanilla or white cake. But there's hints of custard and also the anise, giving it a bit of tartness. Also, the florals are creeping back in, down deep. I had a feeling that this probably wouldn't work on me at all, but thought that I would try something outside of my comfort zone. I don't like it, but I don't dislike it either.

[meatcake]

This is really lovely. I don't think I'm going to have a chance to order a bottle of this because I just got my decants but I will enjoy the imp wholeheartedly!

 

Wet on skin: vanilla, orange, custard and cake. Very foodie - I love foody scents!

 

Dry: vanillay-orangey with a bit of coconut custard thrown. Mild throw--- but still very nice. I'm not getting any of the florals, though.

[hkhm]

2010 version

 

bottle: delicate orange cake.

 

wet: delicious orange custard and cake with glaze. this smells a bit richer than the 2008 version.

 

dry: once dry, this smells identical to the 2007 version on my skin. still one of my favorite foody scents ever.

[PumpkinGuts]

[2010 version]

 

Huesos De Santo broke my heart. In the bottle it smells like an orange creamsicle-flavored cake. On my skin, overbearing anise, rotting funeral flowers, and orange cake. Sob.

 

Throw: Strong [4/5]

Longevity: Unknown [i had to wash it off...]

Rating: Yucktopia [1/5]

Edited September 5, 2011 by PumpkinGuts

[kisha]

Not sure which version I have but I haven't touched it for almost two years, I think. I was in a rush, so I didn't get a sniff before I put it on. My first thought was the color orange when I put it on, and thought it may have pumpkin in it. I had to second guess that pumpkin assumption because I didn't smell any, but I kept envisioning the color orange. I also thought dessert of some sort, but was confused by the slightly floral image I was getting. I guess I wasn't too far off. This oil is pretty strong on me, and I feel like I smell like an orange cupcake. It's not bad, I do like it, but I was totally thinking this was going to be different on me. Maybe next time I'll look up the notes before slathering. I'll give it a 3.5 out of 5 for now.

[subtlesiren]

The scent I get from the bottle is Cockaigne and orange creamsicles.

 

On my wrist, the anise seed becomes present, with a hint of flowers. The custard really smooths out the scent, preventing it from being too fruity. Unlike Cockaigne, Huesos De Santo never becomes overpoweringly foodie. The anise seed is what makes this scent interesting, and it's a note I really enjoy.

 

I'm not too into cakey, gourmand perfumes, so I feel like I need very few of these type of scents. Nothing will ever top Cake Smash in the cake department, but this scent is interesting enough to keep around.

 

ETA: This is the 2008 version.

Edited February 15, 2012 by subtlesiren

[donkehpoo]

(2008 Version)

 

Wet: Cake and anise.

 

Dry: I was hoping that anise would stick to the background... but on my skin, it's the star of the show. It's so strong, that this is almost a single note anise blend on me. Definitely not for me.

 

 

 

2/5

[Invidiana]

This is really delicious. It's all orange cake wet, and then as it dries down it becomes smooth and creamy with the custard coming through. I actually only get the faintest hint of anise with this, which is good, because I was hoping it would be subtle. Surprisingly the hints of floral notes that make themselves known in the very end actually work with the rest of the notes. I was a little leery of them at first but the give a soft finish to the cake, orange and vanilla custard notes. I've never eaten actual huesos de santo but not I want to try them!

[vanilla323]

2008

 

In the bottle: delicious orange custard (very excited)

 

Wet: the anise seed comes out stronger when on the skin and it's the black licorice variety. I love it mixed with the orange and custard, this is delicious for about ten minutes but then....

 

Drydown: sadly it all goes to crap when the funeral flowers come out! They are strong heady and over bearing. They take over all the foodie goodness and what is left is dead flowers. This was such a heartbreaker, and one of the biggest morphing scents for me. I love the initial stages if you could just take out the flowers!! The throw was strong and lasted a while! But sadly the flowers made me let this one go...

[paperdollsandbpal]

This is sooooo yummy. I love, love, love this.

 

As soon as it goes on its a delicious yellow cake with halloween spices. I get the custard too.

 

After a while a dried flower scent peeks out from the background and makes this a little less foodie but still absolutely beautiful.

 

[LizziesLuck]

Another glorious cake scent from the lab. I have yet to have anything "cakey" go seriously wrong on me.

 

 

This is straight up cake with a bit or orange and just the faintest hint of anise. Gorgeous. Love!! So glad I tracked down a bottle.

[Lucchesa]

2008 Huesos de Santo is entirely foody on me. I didn't get the florals intruding at all. It's creamy baked goods yumminess with just a hint of orange and anise, and it doesn't do the weird thing the BPAL cake note does on my skin sometimes (Eat Me, I'm looking at you). Sweet and comforting but not really me.

[theredkilt]

2008:

 

This is so good!!!! The orange glaze and custard are the standout notes and OMG it's such an amazing combo. Mouth watering and appetizing!!!

[ritardataire]

Version: 2018!!

In the bottle: Butter. LOTS of butter. Not entirely sweet butter, either, but almost salty - my first thought sniffing it was "caramel corn" before catching just the slightest hint of orange peel.

Wet: Dense, still very buttery, vanilla cake. Not a strong vanilla, OR a light cake, but a very dense, almost bready cake with a touch of vanilla. It almost has a sticky sweet feeling, like a cake that was soaked in sugar syrup. The orange is present for sure, but not in an orange peel way, more like orange zest.. I'm getting the faintest touch of anise but only if I'm looking for it!

Dry: Buttery, dusty (!? Must be the funeral flowers) and just a touch of sweetness. The BAREST hint of anise on me. barely there.


The throw was better when wet but dry, this seems to be a bit more of an up close kind of scent - even though I slathered it on, haha. I wish there was more orange in the drydown, but maybe as it ages/settles?? I've seen some people compare this cake note to the one in Eat Me and at least on me it really isn't similar. To me, Eat Me smells really bright and light, like pineapple upside down cake, and bright vanilla. Overall this is a heavier cake scent, and one that's much more subdued.

[Soupy Twist]

2018 version:

 

A savory kind of orange in the bottle. The best way I can describe how it goes on is “the bottom of a baked pound cake which is heavy on the butter.” Then some OOF orange liqueur comes in, which is good for a bit, but once it’s dried the whole thing devolves into a mess of gross flowers, and I’m done.