Xiuhtecuhtli

[birdiefu]

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.

 

Wow, this is a truly unique blend! Although I can only pick out one note in particular, it's very rich. In the bottle, it smelled like a very perfumey floral, but when applied I got sugared lemons. As it dries the lemons become oranges (well, that's what they were to start with, but my nose rebelled), and there is still a sweetness to them. There is a creamy, almost watery feel to this scent and definitely more going on than the oranges but I can't quite describe it. I don't get plumeria, incense, or other florals (which is good as I generally don't do well with florals), but I think they must be blending in just the right way to add depth to the blend.

 

I find this to be a very feminine, light scent. Though it's not my usual cup of tea as far as scents go, I'm sure this imp will find some use when I'm in the right mood.

Edited September 15, 2006 by birdiefu

[Alchemy21599]

In the vial: citrus and floral. Hmm, where is the incense?

 

Wet: Very light citrus and tropical floral. Pretty, but very little throw. In fact this is the first BPAL that seems to just soak into my skin.

 

Dry: Uh, oh. I don't think the scent went away, it just turned to a plastic Off to swaps.

[klavierbarrette]

bottle: liquid plumeria! i love plumeria.

 

skin: ...less liquid plumeria!

 

few minutes later the orange comes out, very pretty (my skin and nose love orange)! if you REALLY smell it, you get the copal.

 

it's bottle worthy, but when i have more money.

[supremegoddessofall]

Soft and pretty, mostly light spices. I think I need another try to get a good sense of it though.

[Clementine]

This smells unpleasantly smoky on me. I have to agree that it's peculiar. Florals usually turn sweet and inviting on my skin, but not this! It smells oddly earthy on me. I am not quite sure what I will do with my imp, but I'm certainly not buying a bottle.

[sofiaviolet]

Vaguely floral. I don't really know what cactus flowers smell like, but from now on that's what I'm going to think. Unfortunately, as this sits on my skin, it takes on a tinge of latex.

[Athena's Owl]

imp: smells like orangey angel. so like angel, except, citrus!

 

wet: but then i get it on my skin. and then it's orange oil.

because I was peeling an orange, and I got a mist of orange oil all over my face.

 

and in my eyes. ow!

 

in a few minutes it becomes ten ton orange peels clogdancing on an angel dancing on the head of a pin. and that's how the balance goes - the scent that makes me think of angel, precariously balanced and carrying orange zest on its back.

 

a few minutes after that...

 

this is angel.

 

no, I mean it. The orange backed off and all of a sudden I am twenty one years old and sticking my nose in the collar of my coat because AT LAST, I have found a perfume that does not make me smell like a girly bouquet. My Makeup is by MAC. all the shoes in my wardrobe are black. everybody loves my haircut, as it makes me look like Josephine Baker. the only perfume I wore for fourteen years. except... richer. smoother. not as sharp on the nose, but still that thrilling and familiar scent.

 

hours later, it stayed close to my skin and lasted until I could faintly smell it in the morning.

 

overcome with LOVE!

[Loligo]

So... this doesn't smell like celery on anyone else? Okay, just me, then. Loam, dust, and celery. A faint, sharp whiff of citrus zest, if I sniff just right.

[blackfelicula]

In the bottle: This smells sweet and floral to me, almost too floral.

 

Wet: Sweetness is first, then floral, but there is a light orange citrus in there too.

 

Drying down: It has a powdery, earthy undertone to it which creates a richer texture. I think that's the copal and the incense. The mix is interesting, but tickles my nose.

 

Dry: As a whole, it is starting to smell like a creamsicle with a floral edge. It makes a rich and lovely orange scent.

 

Later: I am not sure this one is really "me." I like oranges and creamsicles, but the floral edge in it makes seem like a foody scent that went floral rather than the other way around.

[cinderfallen]

It's citrus at first, with something dirtier underneath.

 

Then it dries down to artificial orange cleaner and patchouli. =(

[Lionesse]

I got an imp of this in a mystery grab bag, and I was instantly in LOVE. I'm not a big fan of food scents, or citrus for that matter. But the lemon against the incense (is that what I'm smelling?) and then something else... and I can't stop smelling my wrists!

 

My husband took a sniff of my neck and said OMG LEMON DROPS and tackled me!

 

I have no idea how a creamy, lemony, incensy concoction can be so damned sexy, but on me, it is!

 

This is on my "big bottle" wishlist =)

[mjames121]

OMG this smells just like Mayan Gold! I used to use Mayan Gold while making soaps and for a time my whole house smelled like this! I love it! One of my favorite scents. Wore this yesterday and 3 guys came up and asked what i was wearing.

[batsy]

In the vial: citrusy sweetness

 

On the skin: Most definitely a floral. Boo. There's a cloying sweetness, salty smoke and orangeness to this. It's not all that bad, but the floral undertones (paperwhites?) would destroy me.

[n1k1ta]

I don't know where the flowers went, but I didn't really smell them on me. When I first put this on, I immediately thought it smelled very male and fresh. I think this is from the incense and copal. The flowers and orange were almost nil throughout the life of this scent.

 

However, in the bottle there is a citrus tang which is quite refreshing. The plumeria probably added to the uplifting zing of Xiuhtecuhtli. This zing might be stronger on someone else but me. My chemistry tends to bring out the darker notes in a fragrance (which is something I love about my body).

 

I think most males would smell temptingly delicious with this oil on. *purr*

Edited January 9, 2007 by n1k1ta

[dorothy humbird]

When I first applied Xiuhtecuhtli I was strongly reminded of cleaning supplies - the citrusy orange smell only increasing the association in my head. Something about the floral notes smelled chemical-y, and I wasn't too happy about it.

 

Now, about 2 hours later, it's settled into something much more pleasing - creamier, more like the "angel" that someone above described. It's a pretty scent, and I could see myself possibly wearing it in the future.

 

ETA (two years later!):

Bright, beautiful sweet orange is the shining note when wet on my skin, but the copal and plumeria work a glamour on it to make it glimmer with a deeper, more luxurious glow. Altoghether this blend is gorgeous; much moreso than I remember when I tried it back in my BPAL infancy. I think my tastes have widened. And, I should note, this does smell a bit like some more standard acceptable "perfume" fragrance, but in the best possible way. The whole is far more than the sum of its parts.

 

I think revisiting this one was an excellent idea on my part.

Edited March 23, 2009 by dorothy humbird

[femmefatale]

Wet: mmmm....a lovely blend of refreshing citrus and warm florals

Drying: yum, the smoke and incense appears. The further it dries the smoke fades and a beautiful musk appears.

Dry: It reminds me so much of Pele, which I love, but a bit sexier.

 

I must get a bottle!

 

ADDED 12/2/08:

 

This should be perfect for me. I love all the notes, but there is something about the way they are playing together that is turning my stomach and giving me a headache. I have to wash this off now.

 

In the imp though it is a beautiful orange with tropical flowers. Maybe I should try this as a hair scent since on my skin this is just really not working.

[filigree_shadow]

This smells a lot like a commercial perfume that I'm sort of familiar with, but I don't remember which one it is. It's one I always liked, so this isn't a bad thing.

 

I like the orange with the florals, and a little bit of smoke. Sweet and lovely. Kind of a unisex scent rather than being distinctly feminine, I think. It smells just slightly aquatic and very exotic.

 

I meant to get a bottle of this a while back, but the imp disappeared in the back of my imp box and I kind of forgot about it. It's going back on my bottle list.

[forspecial_plate]

What a great scent! I really love this! The notes are blended so seamlessly, at first I didn't even realize it had any kind of citrus. It just smelled bright, bold, slightly floral, sweet, and somewhat resinous, in a sunny kind of way. Reminds me of the daytime counterpart to Midnight On the Midway (then again, my nose has been known to make some strange associations, so this could be way off). It lasts for hours....a good 6 hours later and it's still here, mostly resins now. I guess the copal is what I'm smelling. I can see where someone would think this smells masculine. It reminds me of after-shave. I'm finding out that I'm partial to a lot of 'masculine' scents (fancy that!). This seems to be a golden-orange colored scent.

[Browneyes]

Imp: Strong orange liquour

Wet: OOoh some sort of resin/incence... with the overlying citrus/floral

Dry: I like this! It's sweet, and spicy somehow, yet tropical... without being overtly so, if that makes sense. It throws quite far too.

 

ETA: The throw on this is really yummy almost in a vanilla-ish kind of way.

Edited March 12, 2007 by Browneyes

[nikkoblue]

I bought this unsniffed and glad I did....

 

At first I get a fruit, maybe orange blossom? but the incense-y notes quickly bloom underneath, it kind of smells like I though Zarita would smell. I'm getting an incensey dreamsicle. Yum!

 

1 hour: THis has got some THROW. It's morphing into.....a familiar scent. I wrote Butterfly in another thread because it has some vague similarity but it's not until now that I realized that the drydown on this is twin (though a more wearable twin for day) to Nuits De Noho. I love NDN but can't wear it all the time because it's too strong, Xiutecuchtli looks like a great replacement.

 

Evening: Lasts forever; I could still smell it 7 hours later.

[Ancientgirl]

This was a freebie imp that I've had for awhile, but only tested now. I'm glad I did!

There is something about this scent that just makes me feel happy when I catch a whiff of it. Normally I don't get along with florals, but the fruity and incense notes in this one seem to balance it out. It definitely reminds me of some commercial perfume I can't remember (I never really wore them, so I'm not familiar with many names), but without the alcoholic sharpness. The florals (plumeria, I guess) make their presence known first, then mellow out to a very sunny creaminess. This is a scent I would wear to dine al fresco, at a mother's day brunch or a hot summer date. It's sophisticated and subtle, yet long wearing. Might end up being a big bottle.

Ancientgirl

[Ahania]

Mmmmm. I just keep smelling myself and don't want to do anything else. Wet, it smelled a lot like Aizen-myoo, enough that I thought it was grapefruit or yuzu in there. After a couple minutes, when that first burst of fresh sharpness mellowed out, it turned into mild lovely orange and jungle. Not floral at all. It makes me picture a rainforest with thick green leaves dripping water, but it's not an aquatic note, either. It's also very mildly creamy. I think this may be the summer scent for me. Straight to the bottle list.

[tinyvulture]

i can’t get past how much this smells like department store cologne. astringent and grassy. i smell the sweet citrus of the orange, and some assorted florals, but i can’t smell the incense or the copal -- which i was really looking forward to, since i have some copal resin sticks that i adore. i definitely can’t wear it, and i don’t really like it on my husband either. although, he loves it! to each his own!

[willowtreeling]

First review, first Bpal scent:

 

At first, it smelled like clove-y oranges to me, which bummed me out as I was hoping it would, indeed, smell like Thierry Mugler's Angel...though it didn't smell like it, there was something that sort of reminded me of it--maybe the copal? I think Angel has that in it, as well. As it dried, it smelled like orange blossoms and vanilla with a tiny tinge of smokiness. My skin, as usual, sucked it all up (I do that with makeup too--gone in an hour, sucked into my face) and now I am left with a faint vanilla-y smell. Overall, it reminds me of vanilla ice cream and bonnie belle's Orange Blossom Toner, but a little more full and earthy.

(I didn't get any plumeria out of it.)

 

edited to add--today when I wore it, I asked my niece's opinion and she told me it smelled like Angel...also, today I noticed a slightly aquatic note that reminded me vaguely of my first bottle of nice perfume, Escape, that I could never wear because it exploded on my skin and overwhelmed me. Needless to say, this is just the tiniest bit of ocean-y goodness without going overboard. It is stronger in the bowl of sea glass I put some drops into to keep my bed.

 

This will be my first bottle purchase!

Edited May 27, 2007 by willowtreeling

[Saffamer]

This was a freebie in the order I got today and I had to try it.....It's Angel. But only, not. Better. So many years ago a boyfriend bought me a bottle of Angel. A big damn bottle of Angel. And I discovered that Angel was a migraine in a bottle if I wore it. But Xiuhtecutli? I can wear! No migraines, and it's not as overpowering as Angel. Creamier, Xiuhetecuthli is missing that *sharp* note.

 

And it's reminding me of that long ago boyfriend. I wonder what happened to him....

 

Definite big bottle.