St. Lucia v8

[Persephone76]

St. Lucia is a spicy, hot scent with a divine creamy base. I'm definitely getting cinnamon over a gourmand base, though I wouldn't classify it specifically as foody. Perhaps vanilla/sandalwood in the base. This smells like the love child of Three Witches and Underpants, and it's very VERY good. It's sexy and also reminds me a bit of Red Phoenix or (gasp!) Storyville without the hazelnut and plus spices.

 

Since it's as good as Three Witches and Red Phoenix, but doesn't reach the monumental heights of Underpants or Storyville, I would give it a 3.5/5.

 

If you amp cinnamon, you may want to skip it, though, as there's quite a lot of that.

 

ETA: After about 3 hours this becomes very foody on my skin, and smells like cinnamon-drenched cake. Not really my thing, but if you're a foody you will probably love it!

[RaeiNarcissus]

The lovely Persephone76 decanted an imp of this for me, it's........ not what I expected. Someone reffered to it as foody and smelling like sticky buns, so i'm like yes! this will be wonderful.

 

In the imp, it smells really foody and wonderful, and on me, it turns spicy. And as i'm sniffing my arm, i'm like..... this is familiar, not medicinal, it's spicy, why do I know this scent? So, I go to my mother, who usually does not care for my perfume, and I ask her to smell me, and she says, curry powder. I then go through the spice rack, eventually ending up with curry powder, and yes, it's curry powder, though not as strong as curry powder is in the jar. It's got a foodyness underneath, and I keep sniffing my arm going, how do I smell like this??? Cinnamon is the only one of the spices that ever works on me, all the others turn to bleah. How am I getting CURRY? ESPECIALLY from this scent, I see St. Lucia and I think of the Italian song Santa Lucia, which I learned in choir and got to hear while I was in Rome multiple times. How does curry = Italian!!!!!!!

 

Ok, it's drying down a bit, I think i'm detecting a bit of cinnamon allong with the curry, and i'm getting a slight wiff of that smell you get when you are approaching a Cinnabon, so i'm totally getting where the sticky buns concept came from.

 

This stuff is awesome. I really don't know why it never made it, though if it's a scent for an Italian saint, and it's got curry in it, I can see if conceptually, it might have been weird. They should have re-labeled it into something else, cause I think this would have been a big hit, like how when Jelly Belly had to make a vomit flavored jelly bean for the Bertie Botts every flavor beans, they put in their failed recipe for pepperoni pizza(true story)

Edited February 10, 2009 by RaeiNarcissus

[midnight_aeval]

I was so excited to get the chance to buy a St. Lucia scent - my family is Swedish so I know the story well!

 

The first thing that comes to mind when I open the bottle is SYRUP. It smells like a thick, molassesy, rich syrup. Even when it's first applied I only get that smell. After it dries down I get a faint hint of baked goods and spices which becomes more dominant as the time goes by.

 

It's foody, unique, and very strong, but just a tad too potent even for me

[edenssixthday]

St. Lucia v8 - When I first sniff this, it smells like sweet, cinnamony sticky buns. Mmmm! But the moment it touches my skin, it becomes cinnamon sticky buns with cinnamon, CINNAMON, AND MORE CINNAMON!!! Whoooo, there's nothing subtle at all about this blend. It's fiery cinnamon (maybe a bit of spicy pepper, too?) and very bakery-like foody, but mostly cinnamon. And then, about 20 minutes into wear time, it turns to plastic, and another 20 minutes later, it dies and I can barely detect it on my skin. I think it would work better as an atmosphere spray than a personal fragrance -- at least for me.

[twilighteyes]

At first sniff, all I could smell was indian food. Cardamom, curry, etc.

 

But now, yes, the cassia or cinnamon is coming out to play. Whew.

 

Will have to test further and return.

[ObsidianSwirl71]

In the Decant ♦ Almost lemony gingerbread cookies. But like the scent of these cookies is wafting through a well dressed elegant crowd. Not 100% foody.

 

Initial Application ♦ Aha! This is raisin! Almost raisin oatmeal cookies. There's some vanilla or tonka present, but it's not plastic at all on me, so I'm guessing tonka. And I want to say there's leather in this and something like fine cloth. And cinnamon sticks. And a touch of brown sugar to compliment the raisin. Definitely raisin! I would almost say one of those elegant people is having a frothy cappuccino.

 

Dry Down ♦ This stays true and is very well blended. This is how the Goddess of an Italian kitchen would smell. A beautiful savvy one although she can bake like the plumpest grandmother. Someone who pays attention to the most delicate of nuance, someone savory and fashionable. I don't know whether to eat my hand or visit a runway!

 

Really like this; it's very witty and warm. And there's nothing else like it.

 

ETA: Full dry down is syrup ... but it's still an elegant syrup!

Edited March 17, 2009 by ObsidianSwirl71

[lightgatherer]

In the bottle: Spicy foodiness

Wet on my skin: Whoa, curry?! I think there's some saffron in here that's giving off a curry note when combined with the other spices.

Dry on my skin: The curry note disappears. Around Christmas my mom used to make this bread that had a filling that was made of raisins, nuts, spices, and I think some sort of alcohol. St. Lucia smells exactly like this filling. There's a definite raisin note, spices reminiscent of cinnamon or cassia, and a slight hint of something boozy. I don't see wearing this scent very often, but I think I will wear it during the Christmas season to remind myself of the bread that my mom made.

[tarotgirl99]

Wet, this was Curry Central--a ton of curry and cardamom and with a heavy sprinkling of cinnamon.

 

On drydown, the cinnamon is getting stronger, but it still is a bit tart/bitter for my tastes. Even if the cinnamon finally takes it down, this is not my kind of scent at all.

[freneticfloetry]

Frimped with this one by the lovely piwacket.

 

In the imp: Smells like this glorious gingerbread candle I had once upon a time, and could never find again. I loved the smell of it, I'm just... not sure I want to smell like it.

 

Wet: Hello, spice! But syrupy spice, like someone smacked Misk U in the face with a cinnamon stick. So far, this one is a Big Red screamer.

 

Drydown: I kept waiting for a waft of curry, like the other reviews have mentioned, but no go on me. The screaming dies down a bit, and I start to smell... ginger? Shub has invaded, and is getting it on in Misk U's syrup-slathered library.

 

Dry: Mmm, yes. On me, this is a combination of both those blends, with extra spice (it ran the gamut from cassia to clove) and something smooth and rich (sandalwood, perhaps?) grounding out the base. It's an interesting blend - not one I'd wear often, but even still, I can't seem to stop sniffing at it.

 

Very grateful I got the chance to try it. I'll be passing it along to a St. Lucia-craving foody lover.

[djnevermore]

I personally believe if you are a fan of Hearth or 3 Witches, St. Lucia is the scent for you...and even better than the previous two! Like a blend of the two together with a toned-down smokiness and a bit more sweetness. I still wouldn't call it foody, as it's too strong and spicy for that definition. But I submit it's a YUMMY one for Hearth and 3 Witches fans!

[angelicruin]

I was gifted a bit of this from a kind fellow forumite.

 

Inside the imp, it's warm and spicy.

 

Wet on my skin, I'm getting mostly cinnamon and spice. The more it dries, the more foody it goes on my skin. It does turn into cinnamon bun on my skin. Very very nummy.

[ForeverLastcXs]

This is a basket full of gingerbread, clove and cinnamon goodness, with a touch of something creamy in there too, perhaps vanilla. I love this! And now that it's been swapped to me I will be keeping it forever and ever.

[zankoku_zen]

Oh man, definitely smells like gingerbread. In that sense, it evokes the limited version of Shub, but less evil. It definitely has way more cinnamon, and perhaps a touch of cassia. There's a sense of smokiness and a bit of sticky sweetness, that makes me think honey.

 

It's a little too foody for me, but at least I got to try it.

[Ondine]

Smells like Gingerbread Poppet 2005 to me! Gingery, spicy, foody. I love it

[myth]

Curry over gingerbread. Turns more gingerbready as it dries, the curry rolls off some. Final dry-down is very like a slightly-less-sweet Gingerbread Poppet. It lasts forever, too.

 

I love the way this smells, but I'm not sure I'd want to wear it as a perfume because it smells so much like curry, even after the curry rolls off. You'd smell like you'd been cooking and eating Indian food, and while I love to eat curry, I just don't really want to smell like my dinner. I think this is one I'll keep the decant to wear for myself because it does smell really delicious, but I won't wear it out anywhere and the imp I have will be plenty for me.

[Little Bird]

St. Lucia is sharp, red hots cinnamon candies on my skin . I amp up spice notes, so this smells like pure cinnamon on me. It's strong and headache inducing, and it makes my skin red and itchy. The blend gets a little sweeter smelling and loses its sharpness after about a half hour, but it's still too heavy on the cinnamon for me.

[heathercaley]

Oooooooh this isn't too far off from eating a chocolate*, clove and cinnamon Necco wafer at once!! It's delicious. As soon as I sniffed this (while in line at the final cobwebs) I had to have it. It's cream and spice. It's not too foody (I am not a foody girl at all) As it dries down, more of the spice comes through, but I don't think that it's cinnamon. Cinnamon usually burns me, and it smells a bit sweeter. This spice is bright and red like cinnamon, but it's not hot and spicy. It's just spicy. Maybe it's cinnamon bark and some sort of bright mint underneath to really sharpen it up? Who knows! All I know is that this is beautiful and fantastic, especially during the cold months!!!

 

Overall, my impression is that of eating a chocolate*, clove and cinnamon necco wafer all at once!!

 

*Everybody knows that the chocolate necco wafer isn't really chocolate. It's just a chocolate flavored hard wafer with a sort of powdered minty taste.

[milo]

Wet, I get caramel. Not a good sign. It kind of reminds me of Red Lantern at this stage. As it dries, the caramel disappears, and we get a lovely cinnamon musky blend. Kind of like Gingerbread Poppett, but with attitude. I really like this, it is a warm, not too foody blend. Perfect for fall/winter.

[beachbabealways]

Oh dear lord, I can NOT belive this isn't in more ISO's!!! Very foody! If you like Pancake Breakfast, MB Underbed or MVJHL Bake Sale V.III then you should LOVE this!

[LavenderCoffee]

This is a yummy blend! When wet it gives off a luscious gourmet fruitcake vibe. As it dries it veers a bit towards gingerbread or red hots - a warm, dry, sweet spice - but it also reminds me of the powdered sugar aspect of the recent funnel cake scents. Could be an Italian panforte maybe. Fully dry, it smells like a spiced cake with powdered sugar, and it has decent throw and staying power.

Edited October 9, 2022 by LavenderCoffee