Dia de los Muertos

[shelldoo]

... This is a Mexican paean to La Huesuda: dry, crackling leaves, the incense smoke of altars honoring Death and the Dead, funeral bouquets, the candies, chocolates, foods and tobacco of the ofrenda, amaranth, sweet cactus blossom and desert cereus.

I will start by saying I am wearing this on one wrist and f54 on the other. the f54 is really over powering my olfactory senses so I will probably have to update this review tomorrow. This is not nearly as sweet as I expected. I smell something faintly reminescent of fried rice? The real fried rice a friend of mine used to make, not the instant kind. It also has a light floral scent. I am not sure what the cactus blooms would smell like but this floral is lovely. Simmering in the back ground is something faintly creamy. I do not get any chocolate notes. This is a very beautiful scent.

[UltraViolet]

Dia De Los Muertos

 

Wet

It’s like a cross between Kali and Sugar Skull.

The syrupy, rich, chocolate and tobacco blend conjure images of burnt reds and browns and there’s a bit of smokines too which reminds me of when I used to go to see “The Burning of Zozobra” when I was younger. Zozobra centers around the ritual burning in effigy of Old Man Gloom, or Zozobra, in Autumn to dispel the hardships and travails of the past year.

10 minutes

More of the floral is out, at first I thought it smelled a bit like jasmine but now not so much. Seems to be some vague floral notes, not too much which is good.

30 minutes

It’s not as rich and the tobacco and chocolate have lessened but it hasn’t changed much other than intensity.

[summer]

Dia de los Muertos ended up being my favorite of the Halloween LE's. Like Samhain, it's distinctly autumnal, in that it has a smoky, heavy, dark nature. Crisp leaves. Decay. A chill in the air. However, it's got a rich, chocolatey, leathery element that warms it up and rounds it out in a way that makes it a lot more wearable than Samhain for me. It's got a mischevious, flamboyant aspect to it. Purple flowers and dark, dark chocolate. Tobacco smoke. Sugar.

 

It's not something I can wear everyday, but it's a delicious, evokative blend that I really love when I'm in the mood for it.

[Theravada]

I didn't order this one because the notes in it sounded entirely too sweet and floral for me. But after reading all of these wonderful reviews, I bought an imp decant from someone and WOW, this is yummy! I actually like this one more than Samhain.

 

It reminds me of ribbon candy, chocolate bon bons, and incense smoke. It's very complex, mysterious, and playful. This is one of those blends that is so hard to describe because it's utterly unique. But I can say that I liked it so much I went on a hunt until I found a bottle of my very own! Yummy I hope we see this one agian next year, because it is such a beautiful masterpiece.

[LupaWulf]

As I wore Dia, it ended up being on the sweet side with insence...

 

In the bottle I thought it was more of a cross between apple and maple sugar...

 

I definatly smelled the sweet candy scents for most of the day, when I headed outside for lunch the smoke wafted out. Very intersting!

 

Finally it has calmed down to an insence-crossed with sweet fruitish sugar smelling notes.

 

It's like the scent could not make up its mind on how it wanted to act on my skin. I was fascinated by the different notes that kept comeing out.

 

Fun! I think I'd wear it more on days I'm outside, since I'm not much of an insence person. I like the other sweet notes tho.

[fallow deer]

There is so much going on in Dia de los Muertos that I don't know where to begin. It's got the sweet notes of Kali and Harvest Moon and the burning leaves and smoke of Samhain and Hunter Moon.

 

I was at first unpleasantly put off by the strong smell of smoke. I was made to think of the smell of a room after a sumptious feast, with a layer of smoke and dust over everything.

 

It actually smells a lot like my scarf after going to a pub - perfume mingled with smoke.

 

Wearing it more though, the tobacco smoke dries to a more palatable incense and Dia de los Muertos becomes sweeter.

 

It's a dark, brooding perfume which I like, but I'm not sure whether I'll keep it since it's so similar to other oils I have.

[paperdoll]

Initial Sniff: In the bottle, I smell wood smoke, incense, and some kind of candy sweetness. It is complex and gorgeous.

Wearing: While the smoke is really prominent in the bottle, it disappears once it is on my skin. The candy scent gets amped up by my body chemistry, but the incense holds its own and balances the sweetness in a really interesting and balanced way. The staying power is adequate - I can go a few hours before having to reapply.

Fianl Impressions: I *love love love* this!!! It is beautiful, complex, and... just all around flippin' fantastic! It is a scent that suits many moods and occasions for me... I hope it comes back again next year!

[ashtonrose]

Mmmm. It smells like chocolate, tobacco and light flowers. I can't say anything more than what has already been said. Great scent!

[starrykitten]

This is a much lighter and cleaner scent than I expected. I actually find it rather soothing on, and I'd expected it to be heavy and woodsmoky.

 

The chocolate and the tobacco and an incensey note come out the most on me. It's a very dynamic scent. As you breathe it in, notes turn into each other, but nothing ever overpowers. I feel very calm and grounded when I wear this, yet always looking for adventure.

[phaedrine]

This blend is so incredibly HOME for me. It's so much the southwest, the warm desert as the chill of fall is approaching.

 

It's so very complex, but so very beautiful at the same time. It's dark, sweet smoke, rich dark chocolate, and the fresh sweetness of cactus blossoms.

 

That's all I can say. It's just home to me.

[Cats]

I was very hesitant to try Dia because I'm asthmatic and severely allergic to both smoke and incense.

 

Great merciful galloping wildebeests, am I glad I got an imp (and later a bottle!). It's incredible.

 

In the bottle it smells rich and warm. I don't smell smoke or incense. Instead it's a warm, comforting blanket -- sweet and rich with a hint of chocolate.

 

And on me it becomes even richer and darker. It's a soothing, all wrapped up in a warm woolen blanket smell.

 

Absolutely incredible.

[Longstofly]

In the bottle this smells amazing. I can smell the smoke, bouquets, chocolate all swirling together but not overpowering each other.

 

On my skin, it is straight up smoky floral. All the other notes disappear. I have to apply it very sparingly because it goes on quite strong.

 

Not really the scent for me and I am really disappointed because I love anything to do with Dia de los Muertos.

 

I am keeping my bottle because I love the smell in the bottle. And who knows, maybe someday I'll try it again and get a different result.

[Aurelius]

In the bottle: cocoa and flowers

 

Wet: This is a blend that constantly seems to be moving. I smell chocolate, then flowers, then something smoky, then back to chocolate.

 

Dry: All notes have vanished except for a very strong flowery scent. It's nearly overpowering.

 

Overall: This is much better in the bottle than on my skin. This smells like ashy potpourri on me. It's much too brash. I love the idea, but it just doesn't work with my skin chemistry.

[Macha]

Yesterday I noticed my review for this was inexplicably lost. No one really knows what happened, so I'm going to have to try to recreate my view. I'm a bit pouty about this, since I don't usually save reviews on my own computer. Ah well.

 

I swapped for this from another forum member, rather on a whim because of some lovely reviews.

 

In the bottle: Red wine with flowers and a smoky undercurrent. I don't smell chocolate at all! *sniff* How disappointing. I've been on a chocolate kick lately. Well, despite that fact, this is quite lovely. And who knows how it will react on the skin? I've seen (smelt?) some strange things happen when chemistry kicks into high gear.

 

Wet, on skin: The wine note stays very true. Now, I'll admit, that since I don't drink (and when I did drink, I was not a wine connoisseur) I expected that I wouldn't like wine notes in my perfume oils. Hunter Moon was my first indication that I might be mistaken about that, and Dia De Los Muertos is driving the point home. I LOVE wine scents. Who would have ever believed it? There is something else going on here too though, a sharpness that I can't quite put my finger on, but it seems familiar.

 

Dry, on skin: Oh, there's the chocolate! Only it's not chocolate, it's cocoa, dusted on top of the wine. The flowers and smoke stay to the background, content to let me enjoy my cocoa laced with wine. There's still a sharpness though....oh.

 

Okay, yeah, I do know that scent. That's blood. I went back and checked the description. Dia De Los Muertos isn't supposed to contain anything that smells like blood. Yet...it does. Blood, red wine and chocolate, served on a table with flowers and a bit of smoke straying in from the fireplace. As it ages, it mellows a little bit and the flowers peak out a bit, but it basically stays this way through whole way, with excellent throw and staying power.

 

Conclusion: Since I've never gone to any of the Day of the Dead celebrations in LA, I don't have that connotation here. Instead, this is the most "vampire" perfume I've ever experienced: decadent, jaded and bloody as sin. If I played in a vampire LARP, this would be the only perfume I could possibly wear. It's beautiful, complex, completely hedonistic and corrupt. Needless to say, I love it.

[hepkitten]

This one is definitely brilliant in its complexity...after all, how often do you smell an incensey foody/floral scent? It's also the one BPAL with chocolate that works for me. (Which, as I'm a huge chocoholic, is pretty funny.)

 

My boyfriend LOVES it, also. Then again, he clearly has good taste. This scent is best applied after using Villainess Soaps' Gingersnapped Smooch and soap in combination...the combination is to die for. (Hee!)

[sarada]

I got a small sample of this from a forumite! I missed out on the Samhain blends last year because I wasn't paying close attention to LEs at that time and most of them seemed too foody to me.

 

I've been using up my sample of this throughout the day -- it's very, very complex. Florals seems to be the most prominent to me, and it's a little bit headache-inducing, though I'm not sure what is causing that. I am pretty sure that cactus blossom and cereus are among the flowers that I DO like, though. There is very little foody in this to me which is a good thing -- I can't stand foody smells. But there's that slight whiff of dad's pipe tobacco, and something spicy and sugary. There is so much going on in this scent...what I like the best though are the hints of smoke and desert that develop when I put this in my hair. It fades to something unspecific and vague on my wrists, burnt sugar and a funeral parlor floral.

 

I think I would have ordered a 5 ml of this if I had noticed when it was available, but I probably would have not used the whole thing...an imp or two would probably be nice for autumn though.

 

This does really nice things in my hair, because it loses those cloying floral notes (is there jasmine in this? i'm zeroing in one what gives me headaches and that is one of the things...), and wafts up the smoky leaves and Mexican bakery smells. I feel like I had to reapply it constantly though to get the notes that I like, and it's beginning to make me light-headed...I have a feeling people would tell me I smelled good if I wore it out around October time though!

[girlmadasbirds]

i think this is my favorite scent so far. the smoky incense and tobacco, the sweetness of the candy/chocolate, and the cactus blossom.. this is bottled perfection. i'm kicking myself for missing out on the 5mL of this.

[mobilejessie]

Damn damn damn damn damn! This scent sounded SO wonderful in the description, and all the reviews were loaded with lines like "this startlingly complex scent" and "it keeps changing over time".... to me, my bottle smells like florals spiked with chocolate. On my skin, it's a bouquet of random, nameless flowers. This smell never changes. No chocolate, no incense, no candy.... just plain, dull, predictable flowers for the entire day. My skin makes Dia so boring that it makes me angry. Wearing this scent feels like going on an all expense paid trip around the world and only eating McDonalds in every country.

 

*Sigh* Off to the swap pile it goes. Granted, it's in the "I'll only swap this for an LE bottle of something I absolutely ADORE" part of the pile, but still.

[requieminblack]

First sniff from the bottle- Sweet floral

 

After 10 minutes- I must be smelling the cactus flowers in this because it is all floral on me. I get no smoke, no chocolate or candy...just floral.

 

After 30 minutes- I had a quick sniff of this when I first got it. I was expecting this to be very different. It smells like a cross between honeysuckle, gardenia and stephanotis to me....or something like that. It is a pretty scent, but it is just waaaaaay too floral for my taste.

 

Summery- Flowers and I do not get along. Swap city.

[Julilla Regina]

I got this as a decant imp, so keep in mind it's about 7 months old now?

 

I can smell the copal and some floral, they blend together in a very rich way. I don't get any tobacco or chocolate, but there seems to be something a little vanilla'ish. I don't think it smells like pan dulce at all. It's more like a deeply steeped floral with vanilla to me. The copal is faint but noticeable.

 

It is complex, even though I say that's all I can smell, that doesn't mean there is all there is to this. I hope that Beth makes this again later this year, because I'd like to see how the fresh compares with this imp. I could see where a cocoa note in this would make it even better than it is. It *is* good though, and I would buy a bottle!

[anmorata]

Dia de los Muertos:

 

Wet: Very sweet.. almost a musky/fruity smell.

Drydown: Scent fades very, very quickly. What's leftover is a slightly fruity, slightly powdery "perfume" smell.

Long-term wear: This one really surprised me by losing its "oomph!" so quickly. I'll be swapping this.

[alston78]

In the bottle: My nose (admittedly a bit overwhelmed at the moment) smells chocolate, cherries, and light florals in the background. Yummy!

 

On my wrist: Wow, this is lovely! The scent perfectly blends foody smells with florals and a bit of something savory for a rich but smooth scent. I'm very impressed. This is complex but still manages to send off a single scent.

 

Drydown: I was sitting here about 1/2 hour after application and noticed that something smelled like a dryer sheet. Sadly, it was my wrist. I have no idea what reacted badly, as musks usually do well, I only have one big flower issue (orange blossom), and chocolate just smells like chocolate. Some combination of me and Dia de los Muertos is producing a strong, harsh, scented chemical smell. I still get a smoky note with florals when I lean in close.

 

Final decision- I'll be swapping or selling the decanted imp I have- I *really* like the first stage, but wouldn't wear this because of the drydown.

[magikfanfic]

In the bottle: Tobacco. And...something floral. I was expecting this to be more pungent, but in the bottle it's a nice, subtle blend. Not very foody or overpowering.

 

Wet: Tobacco and chocolate. This gets more interesting when it hits my skin. Candy. There's this candy rush of a throw that comes up from it along with a pretty strong floral. This reminds me of Kali in some ways. Only it's pretty smokey on my skin. The throw is sweet and foody but on my skin it's smoke with floral in the background.

 

Dry down: It's...pretty smokey on my skin. The throw has all but disappeared. I still catch the occasional whiff every now and then but it's mostly settled onto my skin by this point. There's a slight burning on my hand where I have the oil so I doubt that I'll wear this past the reviewing point. Flowers. It smells like funereal flowers. Very heady and strong but also solemn and...white. It makes me think of white flowers and fires. Sweets as well. Oh. What is that smell? I know that smell. Tobacco. It's down to mostly tobacco on my hand along with some residual burning.

 

Dry: Tobacco and funereal flowers as well as the lingering scent of burning chocolate. This gives me a headache and makes my skin burn, which is unfortunate because it's a pretty blend.

[Medici]

I came home to find yet another pleasant package waiting for me - a happy little bottle of Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab's Dia de Los Muertos, a Limited Edition fragrance from Halloween 2004. I have got to say - I'm floored.

 

The intricacy of this blend goes far, far beyond my expectations. It isn't a perfume - it's an entire atmosphere, and as its drying down its sweetening up and evolving from just a skin scent into a blossoming cloud that smacks of dirt streets, stucco pueblos, and torches burning brightly on the night of All Hallows - an aromatic experience that's vivid and fuelled by images of a warm night in Mexico when the Day of the Dead festivities are in full-swing. It makes my heart ache - and that's not an exaggeration whatsoever.

 

In the bottle: Chocolate, something boozy, a touch of vanilla sweetness, wilting flowers, that evil undertone that was present in Eris (mimosa I think), spices, and baked somethings.

 

Wet: Chocolate and sugar, a touch of spice, cactus flower (oh it's heavenly), there's something green behind it, incense - the tobacco flower is rising. I want to bathe in this.

 

Dry-Down: The baked goods come out to play, and the spices become much stronger. After about an hour it settles into a very pretty sweetness that isn't cloying in the slightest. It feels candle-lit - if that makes any sense - like I can almost see the torches burning casting shadows as a parade goes by. If I want to keep the sweetness going, I'm afraid I'm going to have to layer this puppy on thick - maybe with a vanilla base, or a bit of straight chocolate. I think it's time I get my hands on an imp of Bliss to see how they would react together.

 

This is bloody brilliant though. A definite keeper – when fall rolls around, Dia de los Muertos is going to be a permanent fixture in my arsenal.

[OriginalWacky]

Bottle (Imp): Very mild, with a tiny little hint of spiciness. 2nd Try: Smells flowery, uh oh. We shall see.

 

Just On: This has to be one of the softest smelling things I've smelled, I can barely smell it at all, even just put on and wet. 2nd Try: I'm smelling flowers, some spiciness, maybe a hint of bonfire smoke. The flowers are pretty overwhelming.

 

An hour or two later: I can hardly smell it at all, and what I can smell is just a massive blend so that I can't pick anything out. Maybe food, flowers, smoke, but so intermingled that it's just it's own scent. 2nd Try: It's not so flowery, so I can handle it, but it's not my favorite scent by a ways either. I'm not really getting the foodiness or smokiness.

 

Around 6 hours: Pretty much gone, but if I really sniff close to my wrist I get the barest hint of it. 2nd Try: It's gone again.

 

12 hours: It's completely gone on me now. 2nd Try: Totally gone.

 

Overall: I think I might like it, if I were able to really smell it. Even in the imp, it's just so quiet that I have trouble smelling it. 2nd Try:

 

After reading other reviews: Didn't really get all the foody things, no incense, smoke and such. Just a blend of many things. I like it, but it goes away REALLY fast on me. I might have to try this again, and really slather to see if it sticks. 2nd Try: Well, I just can't use it much, because it doesn't seem to stick worth a darn, and I don't get much of a scent at all, just some vague notes. Guess it gets swapped. Darn it.