Xiuhtecuhtli

[merveilleuse]

Patron of the Aztec pantheon, he is the personification of light within darkness, warmth in the cold, and life in, and after, death. He is a creative and destructive God of Fire and Light, and is appeased only by sacrifice, trial, and the slaughter of his people's enemies. Copal, plumeria and sweet orange and the smoke of South American incense and crushed jungle blooms.

this one is verrry hard to describe. it is beautiful, kind of adult-ish smelling, and after awhile it morphs into something creamier and reminiscent of snake oil [both this and morocco become snake oil-ish on me]. I really find it nice - like I could wear it anywhere and it would be appropriate.
I can't think of even one word to describe it! I can't smell specific notes ... it's just delish. [thank you friendthegirl and minilux!]

[Renny]

This was a free one, and I'm sad to say I don't like it.

 

In the bottle - It smells EXACTLY like the foaming Lemongrass soap in the bathrooms at my college.

 

On me -The lemongrass soap smell is still there, but it turns into more of a lemongrass musk on me.

 

I like this scent, and that lemongrass soap, but with that musky part added in I just can't stand smelling it all day. This one's going up for sale.

[Honeywhip]

Hands down, this is the most unusual and intoxicating perfume I have ever smelled on a boy. Strange and resiny, all sweet and acrid copal, with only the barest slithery hints of deep jungle beyond the cloud of smoke and roaring flames. This smells crackly. It has all the sweetness of a kiss followed by a slap (or vice versa). If I had to be offered up as a human sacrifice, I would go willingly if my executioner smelled like this. Cannot. Stop. Sniffing.

[stardust]

This is amazing.

Wet, I smell oranges and incense. The scent of leaves and dirt quickly appear in the background, along with exotic flowers that I couldn't identify. It smells a bit humid, like being in a tropical jungle.

 

The patchouli note remains, mingling with orange and light, creamy florals (I don't think that anyone's mentioned patchouli, but if there's the tiniest hint of it in something, my skin will amp it up). This is wonderful--kind of along the same lines as Maccu Pichu, but whereas that one was lighter, airier, and ultimately headache-inducing on me, Xiuhtecuhtli is earthier, smokier, and...just better.

 

I'm so glad I tried this; I was a bit afraid of the floral components. This might be a good one to try if, like me, you don't normally go for floral scents.

 

Going on the big-bottle list.

[UltraViolet]

My third in a review series of blends with too many "X's" and "Z's" in their name.

 

Xiuhtecuhtli

In the bottle

Fresh, green and floral

 

Wet

Mmm...scrumptious. This is a marvelous warm yet light blend of mostly sweet orange and light floral, in the distance are the teeniest bite of incense which is yummy but lightly perfumey.

It reminds me of a gorgeous commercial perfume but I can't remember...

 

10 Minutes

More powdery now. I love powdery.

Oh My God I'm so in love with this scent. Okay, for you Lush BPAL fans. If you mixed Oxeo Cube and Silent White, you would get this. Maybe add a touch more sweetness and an iota more of spice. It smells like that one soap Irish Spring? But with less fake scent and more sweetness and spice. It's the copal, incense and jungle blooms that saves this from being a real soapy Irish Spring scent, and they mix so nicely.

 

20 minutes

OMG I've never smelled anything so good in my life.

I'm totally beholden to it now I can't even be objective any more. LOL.

My husband even said it smelled nice. *Shock*

 

Throw:

Medium to High

 

Scent category:

Spicy Fresh Floral (I realize I'm somewhat contradicting myself here he he)

 

Summary

WOW.

Though this is a strong scent, because of the ingredients I don't find this fact as alarming as I usually would.

Purchase again?

Yes. 5ml

 

1-5 rating, 5 being best.

I want to say 5, but I'll wait till the honeymoon is over before I say for sure, so until then I'll give this little beauty a 4.

Edited March 15, 2005 by UltraViolet

[shelldoo]

hmmm floral? i didn't get floral at all

 

in the vial i couldn't detect any smell at all

 

wet it is still very very faint but i get a small whiff of vanilla maybe? a hnt of copal (white copal i believe)

 

as it dries it becomes very incense, almost smells like burning leaves or pot but w/ a hint of creamy vanilla type something that softens it a tad, this is so ultra light and very beautiful it maybe a good bedtime scent for me

[girlmadasbirds]

i really loved the orange and incense in this, but something made it smell kind of manly on me. it's really a nice scent, but just not for me. i'm passing it along to the boyfriend..i think it'll be wonderful on him.

[Macha]

This was a freebie from the lab. It's not something I would have ever ordered for myself. I'm not sure why. I'd heard people go on about it, but it just never clicked as something I thought I would enjoy. The vial that Xiuhtecuhtli came in was cracked at the top, so I knew I would end up destroying the cap in the process of removing it. Fortunately I had decanting supplies with me, and was able to save 3/4 of the imp.

 

In the Vial: Orange juice, with copal's resiny sweetness. Hmm...this smells very nice. Fresh and invigorating.

 

Wet, on skin: Oh dear me. oh! Okay, if you don't like citrus, or copal, then perhaps you should run screaming, but if you do (like, say, me) then this is a dream scent. It's just glorious. Bright and fresh, with the sun streaming through flowers, the fresh juice of tropical fruits eaten on top of a gloriously golden pyramid. This is eyes rolling back into the head good. I just close my eyes and sniff my wrists and feel the most glorious sense of joy and peace.

 

Dry, on skin: As Xiuhtecuhtli dries, the copal and incense comes out a little more, a creamy mellowing of the intitial orange juiciness that gives it a little more character and interest. It's very sweet and light and glowing, and it's just so lovely I can hardly stand it. Oh, this is SO good.

 

Conclusion: I'm not sure if I'm reapplying so often because it doesn't have much staying power, or because I just can't enough of the fresh orange scent from the wet stages, but I find I'm slathering this. Do I need mention how badly I need a 5ml of this?

[requieminblack]

First sniff from the bottle- Sweet floral

 

After 10 minutes- After the initial wet floral stage the copal comes oozing out. I adore the lemon like zest of copal and mixed with the sweet orange this is smelling very citric, clean and refreshing.

 

After 30 minutes- At dry down there is a smoky and peppery kick to this. I am getting the citrus zest of copal mixed with peppery incense. This one is full of wonderful surprises!

 

Summery- Absolutely fantastic. This one is a keeper.

[donsixgun]

First off, this was my first smelled intro to bpal. Angel Sixgun has gotten me hooked and wanting to try some, so she sent along a couple imps that didnt work on her too well...and here is what I think:

 

In the vial: Wow. Smoked citrus, with something that I couldnt quite make out. I decided this is a great intro. It wasnt overpowering, and it seemed like it would be nice...

 

Wet on me: Im still liking it. The incense/smokiness is really coming out, along with a light floral. The citrus somewhat died off though, and I was left with a musky/smoked floral. Very nice.

 

Dried and a couple hours later: Its still lingering, and I started getting more of what I think is the plumeria, along with that incense scent. It was very nice, very relaxing, and considering my line of work involves frequent hand/arm washing, it stayed for over 5 hours.

 

I like!

[diabolique]

in the bottle: citrusy, green, and acrid. it doesn't smell promising, which sucks, because i ordered a 5mL and got a gimp in another order that arrived the same day.

 

on my skin: wet, it doesn't smell as green on my wrists, the citrus emerges and all i can smell is orange. i smell a TINY, TINY bit of plumeria, but not enough for my tastes. dry, it smells like, and this is a quote straight from my grandmother, "a dirty, wet dishrag."

 

she's right. i don't like this one, and i had high hopes.

 

it smells a little better layered over MMU's mayan gold; the lotion lends a necessary creaminess that this blend lacks, and the "dishrag" stage is postponed for a couple of minutes. i think i'll keep the imp for layering purposes, but my bottle has already found a new home.

[Witch's Dagger]

Xiuhtecuhtli

 

Preconceived notions: This sounded like a lovely combination of sensual and elegant.

 

In the vial: a soft, sensual, flowery fruit. I can’t really make out any specific notes here, but I do get a gentle, soft, and somewhat exotic feel to this.

 

On me:

There’s a lot of orange here. And yet, I don’t feel like I’m orange juice, so there must be something keeping it in check. It is soft, and this usually means some kind of musk (not red), at least when I can’t tell what it is. There’s definitely a “basking in the sun on a beach” feel to it.

 

In 20 minutes:

It has definitely softened to something much smoother and sensual, yet still retaining the fruitiness of the original. I find it, at least at this point and earlier, to be too fruity to classify as “elegant”. Hopefully this will change, but if not, it is still very nice.

 

In 40 minutes:

It is beginning to fade. No real change in the scent.

 

Overall:

This does not qualify as an elegant scent. However, it is sensual - just more of a lounging, relaxed, sensual scent. Like some other Black Phoenix oils, this is a skin scent - it makes you feel like this is the way your skin naturally smells, not like you are wearing perfume. Perfect for a summer day when you want to relax outside with a good book or let your feet hang in the water. That said, I probably will not get a 5 ml. of this one. It’s a little too light and fruity for my tastes.

[Brianne]

In the bottle:

Not getting any floral smell at all yet. Just a smokey, heavy scent.

 

On me:

Kind of unusual...it's smokey, a little sweet - definitely not showing any florals on me though. It has an unusual crispness for a smokey scent though. THis comes off as slightly cologne-y on me - not overwhelmingly masculine though, I could just see this on a man as well as a woman.

 

Final note:

I like this a lot. Though my chemistry definitely didn't pick up on a floral smell like some others, this has a really beautiful and rich warmth to it.

[wickedgoddess]

Wet - Orange and a touch of plumeria.

 

Dry - a ghost of a scent. Sort of smokey, but just barely there. A whisper of orange, of incense and smoke. It's a maddening scent…so tantalizing and yet distant. Just like a ghost, when I think it's gone, it starts coming back, stronger. Smoke, incense and a touch of orange. I really don't know what copal smells like, although I know it's a resin, so that's probably the incense smell. If so, it's delicious!. I will definitely get a big bottle of this. Warm and exotic.

 

On the wickedgoddess scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being best, this rates a 5.

[gangstaknitta]

In bottle: It smells like the description...I can definitely detect the plumeria. Very sweet, but not overpowering. A very sweet forumite threw this in with my order!!

 

Wet: Uh oh...I've smelled this before and I did not like it. On me it smells like the perfume Angel, which I still can't stand because of a European au-pere that I used to know that dowsed herself in Angel instead of bathing. This went on for three months It took two weeks to air out her smell from the house. No kidding. But I digress...

 

Dry: It didn't get any better. Sad. I don't think that my skin gets along with plumeria very well anyway.

 

Not that everyone here hasn't already commented upon this, but I love how vividly scents brings back old memories.

[Julilla Regina]

This is probably one of the most exotic BPAL fragrances I've smelled. If you want something really different, this is one to think about.

 

It turns, on me, to sweet copal. I know that's hard to explain, but I think it's the slight dusting of plumeria (?)that tones down the incense of the copal. Once in awhile, I'd get something dark and wet, and then it would turn back to the sweet copal again. It shifted faintly when I first put it on, and then tamped down into something that is really hard to describe. This isn't a 'me' scent, but it's so unique that I can't help but think that anyone who wore this would be really interesting in an iconoclastic way. It's somehow wise yet funky.

[Digital_Hypoxia]

Perfect.

 

Even though I’d heard the Angel comparisons, I was hesitant to order a 5ml unsniffed.

 

Boy do I wish I had. This *is* Angel after it settles down from super- spicy- everyone- look- at -me -and –my- cloud- ‘o- smell mode. It has the same complexity.

 

Hooray affordable spicy-sweet-earthy-citrus-mystery perfection!

[magikfanfic]

In the bottle: Orange hates me. It really, really does, but I'll try anything. Holy exotic orange juice, Batman. With yes, some incense in there as well.

 

Wet: This is so gross on me I can't even begin to describe it. The orange is rotting. There's some kind of horrid wood and incence smoke to it as well that is just awful on me.

 

Dry down: I don't know. I don't think I can take this. It's like it morphed from something interesting into the scent from hell once it touched my skin. I don't know what that wood note is but I must avoid it always.

 

Dry: Just nasty. This has cemented the idea that orange and my skin is a bad combination.

[amrita]

Wet, I'm getting a fresh, sweet, creamy citrus dessert-- something like sugared oranges. This is evoking some very pleasant memories of outdoor parties; I'm not sure why. A few minutes later, the aroma of tropical fruits emerges. A half hour later I'm getting the copal and plumeria, and an hour later I think I smell rock rose (cistus) wafting, which is one of my favorite scents.

 

These are all great smells, but overall the blend is too sweet for me. It's a really beautiful blend-- just not me.

[Essay 28]

In the bottle: citrus, with a clean floral smell underneath.

 

On skin initially: very strong citrus, but florals making their appearance strongly as well.

 

After an hour: Unfortunately, the citrus I was enjoying faded, leaving only a powdery floral that just didn't appeal to me. A swapper.

[k00kaburra]

I had an imp of this before, but did not review it. Since I couldn't recall specifically why I didn't like it, I swapped for another imp of it.

In bottle: Smoky incense and tropical blooms - the plumeria is by far the most prominant amongst these...possibly because this is the only note I know quite well.

On me: It's very pretty. The incense isn't heavy and overbearing; this is a light and delicate over the bouquet of florals. I don't normally wear incense - it just doesn't suit me for day-to-day wear - so that must be why I got rid of it, but this is definitely beautiful and I'm so glad I tried it.

[rainbow]

Fresh and citrussy in the bottle, with herbal undertones. When wearing, I get the scent of fresh florals, still with herbal undertones. This is clean and crisp, but there's something earthy about it as well, though not in the traditional way. The citrus undertone remains. As others have said, this is pretty and sophisticated.

[orangepaas]

This is very similar to Angel on me (I had forgotten about Gucci Rush until I read some of these reviews) and has now become my holy grail of BPAL. I cannot believe it. It's amazing!

[vyvyan]

HOLY OMG LOVE.

 

I was afraid of this one, at first, because I'm not really a floral kind of person, but I am *so glad* I gave it a chance and bought it off a forumite. I am in mad, mad love.

 

Wet, it's strong, and incredibly hard to describe - woody, but with some spice (the incense?) and fruit and just a tiny hint of floral over top - it feels like it *should* be dark, but instead it's both dark *and* light, somehow at the same time. So complicated! So gorgeous!

 

Dry, it is not nearly so strong - fades down into "my skin smells *excellent*" mode, a very soft version of the earlier smell. I wish it were stronger! I'm not sure how I could amp this up so it stays loud longer, but as it is, I may well order a bottle anyway so that I can have it on hand to slather - and it does hang around for a while, it's just so, so soft.

 

Oh man. Now I know what *I'm* going to be smelling like this summer.

[slave1]

In Bottle: Orange and incense.

 

On Skin: Yum! Almost like a creamsicle with spice. So sweet and orange… The plumeria adds to the juicy fruitiness. The incense gives a smoky spicy edge and the jungle blooms actually give it a tribal note. The description suits it perfectly… It is very light, my skin drank it up quickly. A beautiful unique scent.