La Mano Del Destino

[angelicruin]

Powerful Sumatran patchouli and enigmatic Brazilian copaiba with pao d’arco, cacao absolute, bourbon vanilla, Ceylon cinnamon, and tobacco.

This scent is strong patchouli on my skin while wet. As it dries, the patchouli note settles somewhat and I begin to smell the tobacco note more strongly. Fully dry, the patchouli and tobacco notes are well-balanced with wafts of vanilla and spice.

[sfsassy]

Patchouli is one of my favorites and am a big fan of this scent. It's very dark and sexy. Wet it's mostly a rich patchouli and as it dries you get more of the tobacco. I do not detect any cinnamon (which is good since it's my death note). Vanilla comes out at the very end. Very nice!

 

This will be a nice go-to scent for the colder months.

[fetish911]

Patchouli! strong and almost sour at first but settles down until to a nice dark patch scent. I like it! I don't get any cinnamon on this one either. Makes me happy as I don't really care to wear cinnamon scents. I think i will keep my Banshee Beat for my goto patchouli scent (cause that is heaven!), but I will certainly enjoy the imp of this one.

[calivianya]

I sometimes love patchouli, and sometimes don't. I think this may be more of a case of a don't than a do. This scent is very strongly patchouli in the opening, with nothing else immediately present to temper it. It starts to smell warmer a few minutes in, which is likely the cinnamon and tobacco. On the drydown, the cinnamon and tobacco disappear on my skin, leaving just the patchouli. I never do get any of the cacao or bourbon vanilla, both of which I was looking forward to. This blend is overall just a little too dirty for me, with none of the sweeteners I need to really make patchouli work.

Edited August 12, 2011 by calivianya

[cfrancesca]

It starts of strong patchouli (I find it very similar to the kind in Banshee Beat and PRC12), the blend is dry with no sweetness at this stage. The other notes are very-well blended but I do get some smokey tobacco and dry woods peeking through. It settles into a warm, smokey, dark and earthy patchouli blend with soft wood and tobacco in the background. If you like your patchouli extra dark and earthy, I think you should give this a try.

[Penance]

Origin:

 

5mL bought on LJ.

 

Preconceived notions:

 

I'm beyond excited about La Mano del Destino. I adore patchouli, love tobacco and like virtually every other note here. The only things I'm unsure about are the unknowns that I've never smelled before: copaiba and pao d'arco. I did a little bit of reading online and it looks like both of those should work for me, though, so I've got very high hopes for this one.

 

First sniff:

 

Dark, earthy patchouli and something that smells almost like redwood mixed with cedar, which must be the copaiba. There's a faint hint of chocolate here, too, but it's not foody. It just adds a little mode depth to the scent. So far, so good!

 

Wet on skin:

 

Pretty much the same as in the bottle, only now I get a tiny touch of cinnamon in addition to the patchouli, wood and cacao. It's a dark, gender neutral scent.

 

Dry down:

 

Love!

 

Earthy patchouli, rich wood, tobacco (it smells like a cigar box with the combination of wood and tobacco) and hints of cinnamon, chocolate and vanilla. It's not foody in the slightest, but the chocolate, cinnamon and vanilla add some depth and complexity to the patchouli, wood and tobacco.

 

The bottom line:

 

I absolutely love this, although I can see patchouli-haters...well...hating this. It's definitely heavy on the patchouli (and on the copaiba). Luckily, that's very much my sort of thing, so I'm thrilled with this one and I'll definitely be getting backups before La Mano del Destino disappears.

 

This is what I think of as an "old school BPAL" scent because it makes me think of the scents I tried when I was first getting into BPAL in 2004. It's got that "BPAL Smell™" to it, which I love.

[Dark Alice]

Alas...this may not be meant to be. This starts off with a light cocoa and leather scent. (The leather from Western Diamondback so it works for me) however as it dries...the tobacco takes hold and strangles the other notes. I am hoping some aging will lessen the tobacco and increase the bourbon vanilla and leather as this scent has alot of potential.

Edited August 20, 2011 by Dark Alice

[Gwydion]

In bottle: I don’t know two of the elements, so my review will be below average. Apologies. The Patchouli is extremely strong, and not of the type I like as it turns out. The scent is a little chalky as a whole, and I think at least one element is making the patchouli more herbal than it might normally be. The cacao is next strongest, followed by tobacco. The other elements are very subtle. I think this will be better aged than fresh. Wet: Mostly dirty, earthy patchouli with some tobacco, and hint of the other things. Eau du hippy really. The thing that smells like roots comes out as it warms. Dry: It’s better as it wears, the patchouli finally allowing the other elements to show through to the benefit of everyone. If this had oak and much less patchouli, I’d probably love it. As it is, I can’t really endorse it, even with the more interesting dry down.

[virusq]

This scent is so weird. I get pencil shavings and potting soil from it. It's not a bad scent, but I really don't want to smell like a class room or a garden.

 

My sister, on the other hand, says I smell like cinnamon and campfires. I'm assuming she's picking up on the tobacco, there.

 

My boyfriend, on yet another hand, says I smell sweet and spicy, like cinnamon and vanilla.

 

But, even knowing those scents are there, all I'm getting is a healthy whiff of pencil shavings.

 

I just. I don't even know where to go with that one.

[yakiguri]

*sigh*

 

On me La Mano Del Destino is all patch and woods, like pencil/wood shavings in an old cigar box. I'm reminded of when I visited a Japanese wood carver's shop, as to me Destino is quite reminescent of just-sanded-down sandalwood. A scent I like to smell, but not necessarily smell like. I'll have to revisit in a few more months to see if there's any change, but as of now I'll keep my decant but won't need a bottle.

[zankoku_zen]

Strong patchouli/woods, softened by vanilla and spice. It reminds me alot to the original Capricorn, although softened by the other components.

 

It's dark, gritty, masculine. I bet it smells amazing aged, and if I had the patience, I would bottle it for two years and then see what its like.

[CrazyPretzel]

Hmmmm. My heart tells me to side with the power of free speech against 'the wicked wrath of moral panic,' yet I think I love El Nuevo Puritano a whole lot more than La Mano del Destino.

 

When it's wet the patchouli is dirty and strong, almost offensively so to me. After it dries for a few minutes the patchouli is still going strong but it's joined by another note, the copaiba I think, which reminds me of dry grass, hay, or hemp rope. Sadly I don't detect any of the gourmand notes like cacao, vanilla, or cinnamon, which is what I was really hoping for.

 

I can get some tobacco if I huff really deeply. It's like sticking my nose into a packet of loose tobacco.

 

La Mano and I are not meant to be.

[mrsveteran]

Okay, I gotta tell ya: I once went to a bullfight in Tijuana, Mexico many years ago.

 

(It was my ex-husband's idea. Long story.)

 

This scent, somehow, smells EXACTLY like that bullfight ring. It's somehow the smell of sweat and sawdust and many people sitting in the heat and smoking and eating various snacks and overall, just melting in the sun, because even if you pay extra to sit in the "sombra" (shade) section, you are still smack dab in the bright summer sunshine for most of the fight until you can feel everything getting just a bit surreal and the bull starts to look eerily like your pet dog and you start crying and cheering when the bull really WHACKS one of those guys out of the ring because, dammit, it looks so tired of everything as it staggers around the field with its tongue kind of hanging out...

 

Yes.

 

It smells EXACTLY like that.

 

Now, what exactly "that" is -- well, that's a bit harder to articulate. Yes, patchouli, but it's blended really well with the tobacco, so I think those two scents twining about each other is the main experience here. It feels like a boxing ring in Mexico might smell, since I imagine it's probably very similar to that bullfighting ring. As a piece of art inspired by a Mexican wrestler character, I think it absolutely succeeds in presenting an overall feeling in scent of that character and his experiences in the ring.

 

Notes? To me, there aren't individual notes so much as there is an entire experience, encapsulated in scent.

[angelamaria]

In tester: patchouli, chocolate, and tobacco. Patchouli is definitely the most prominent note, but the chocolate makes it quite interesting for me.

 

Wet on skin: a little bit of a mix-up in the note prominence, on my skin: chocolate, cinnamon, and tobacco, with patchouli not as prominent but still encompassing everything. This isn't too bad--better than the decant for me--I wouldn't have been surprised if this was an instant no. There is also a significant woody/resin note--if my quick research is correct, that would be the copaiba. As it dries, the tobacco is getting more and more pervasive, moving towards a chocolate and tobacco note, cinnamon moving to the back with the patchouli and resins.

 

Dry: well! Dry, this is patchouli and chocolate, with a persistent and prominent tobacco note and some warm resins. Very smooth and rich, almost-creamy blend.

 

Verdict: interesting, and quite nice, but this isn't my kind of scent.

[Little Bird]

I usually love patchouli, but this seems to have the same thin, sour smelling patchouli that's in #occupywallstreet. I don't care for it, as it smells soured on me, not rich and earthy. I didn't get any chocolate from the occupy scent, but this has a light whiff of chocolate as it dries down, and maybe a hint of warmth from the spices. I was hoping that this would get better and more complex with age, but my bottle is heavier on the patchouli and turning more sour. There are definitely patchouli scents that I like a lot more, and my go-to patchoulis lately are from Reminiscence Paris and Smell Bent. La Mano winds up smelling like a very cheap patchouli on me...

Edited January 30, 2012 by Little Bird

[sunshinedaisybliss]

Oh HELLO THERE powerful Sumatran patchouli! I love the way you have filled the air around me with deep, dark patchouliness! (that is so a word )

 

Once I get over the intense blast of patchouli, which quite literally almost made my eyes water, I find the lovely woodsy-ness of the copaiba and pao d’arco are in there too - together, the woods and the patchouli create the atmosphere of a deep, dank, dark forest. The kind of forest you have to cut your way through with a machete to get through to daylight

 

Further on into the drydown, the lovely cacao and bourbon vanilla come out - a good thing, too, because without them I think La Mano would be just a little too much of a good thing.. I mean, I like my patchouli and woodsy smells - but this one goes to eleven. It's reminding me a lot of Banshee Beat - not that they smell the same at all.. but they both have that gnarly oomph to them. Ooh - and also Lucy, Kissed with that snarly dark lush patchouli it has. I'm also reminded of Panther Moon - although not a patchouli blend, it has that lovely enveloping darkness to it. I like a bit of oomph and enveloping darkness

 

I think the cinnamon is just lost in here - I can't really pick it up on its own, but what I do smell seems more like a sweet kind of cinnamon than an obviously spicy one. And the tobacco only really comes out on my skin after I've had La Mano on for almost an hour - it took that long for the patch/woods to mellow out enough! I'm liking the tobacco here - it's pretty soft and.. slightly damp smelling, but it adds a nice warm glow. This is going to be even more awesome a year from now after it's aged a bit.

 

If you're scared of patchouli.. then walk away now my friend, for this one will frighten little children and almost certainly make babies cry. But if you like your patchouli to be all gnarly and pulsing, and you don't particularly care about scaring people.. then this one's for you.

 

 

edited for spelling fail.

.

Edited September 20, 2011 by sunshinedaisybliss

[alhbooks]

My bottle came from the CBDL booth at Comic-Con and for me, the scent is well-blended...spicy, a little butch, but uni-sex enough that I don't feel like I'm dressed in HIS garb. There's enough else going on that it isn't all patchouli. After a few minutes I can almost pick out a touch of cocoa, but not an overpowering chocolate, happily.

[Balame]

In the Imp: Not much new to add here. Very strong, powerful patchouli. I can pick up a yummy background of cacao, though.

 

Wet: This surprisingly tones down almost immediately on my skin. Maybe my chemistry is working to my benefit. The patchouli is still very prominent, but the cacao amps up a lot and makes this softer. It's almost exactly like what you'd imagine a chocolate bar crushed over a wooden box to smell like.

 

Dry: This was an interesting progression. Within about 15 minutes, the cacao disappeared and the tobacco arrived. It was fantastic at this stage. The creamy, smooth tobacco rounding out the patchouli made me think of a Spanish gangster. Not the greasy kind, but an intensely romanticized version of a kingpin in an immaculately tailored suit and silky black hair. A little dangerous and sexy! Very sadly, by the time I reached 30 minutes, the tobacco poofed and I was left with straight up patchouli again.

 

Overall: The final stage's patch is very nice, don't get me wrong - warm, woodsy, and soothing in its own right. But I'm not into single notes (well, unless it's vanilla), because there's not much keeping me interested. The tobacco/patch stage was gorgeous, however, so I'm going to need to test this on my hubby to see if it will stay that way on him. If so, I'm getting him a bottle. Those who love patchouli should definitely get this for the potential single note drydown, and those willing to test their chemistry for the ultra hotness stage should at least find a decant.

[milo]

Lots and lots of patch at first. It's pretty strong, and the tobacco is poking through here, quite a masculine and aggressive blend. For a strong blend, it fades pretty fast and we're left with soft wood/vanilla/cacao, which is beautiful, but I can hardly smell it. Maybe age will weaken the beginning stages and strengthen the end, but for now, I'll just keep the imp and try it again at a later date.

[Celtic Goddess]

Unfortunately, this one went all wrong on me. I get no spice and no sweet vanilla. Wet and in the bottle there's a hint of cocoa but it vanishes the moment it hits my skin. Though I don't usually have problems with patchouli this time it went whonky...whonky in the sense it smells like potting soil. It never changed so potting soil it is (not being a plant, this will work for me). Too bad, I had high hopes for this blend.

[brilliantcat]

I love patchouli so this was high on my list to test. In the bottle, it's all patch all the time. On me, it's dirty, dirty patchouli and I love it! As it starts to warm up, though, it starts to get this odd cologne-y feel. Noooooo! Sadly, I have to pass.

[filigree_shadow]

I'm trying to whittle down my collection, and I'm trying to decide whether to keep La Mano Del Destino or #occupywallstreet. I have both of them on right now, and I'm doing a side-by-side comparison. I like BPAL's patchouli notes, but I really don't need more than a couple of patch scents.

 

This one is a drier, more woodsy style of patchouli. Not earthy in the sense that it smells like dirt, but more of a woodsy earthy. I think the tobacco is giving it that dry feel. The cacao comes out more when it's dry.

 

#occupywallstreet smells like pretty much the same patchouli, but it also smells like it has Johnson & Johnson's baby shampoo poured over the top of it. Not kidding -- that's exactly what it smells like. It's not bad at all, but honestly it really does smells like patchouli and shampoo.

 

Of the two, I like La Mano better, personally.

Edited April 29, 2012 by filigree_shadow

[Ella LaRose]

I had la Mano on my list and happened to find it at the will call, as a leftover:) SCORE!

I like patchouli but am very picky about it. I don't like sharp super hippie patch, I like deep, sweet, smooth patch. And la Mano is perfect!

The initial scent is a strong patch, very occupy styled, but where occupy stayed dirty hippie, la Mano settles very quickly! The patch immediately quiets down and smooths out. I can smell the cocoa and tabacco when I try but, really they blend together so seamlessly I am just wafting a dark sweet mellow patch. Like an exoctic hippie lounging in a beatnick jazz club, letting the smooth music make her sweeter as time goes on.

This is a GREAT scent! It's what I was wanting from feed me and fill me, it's a stronger more edgy banshee beat, and a scent that will layer wonderfully with vanilla and honey scents!

So happy I found it!

Edited August 28, 2013 by Ella LaRose

[tinyvulture]

Dark, dirty patchouli! I'm always up for new patchouli blends. This one's got a strong cocoa note, a nice amount of tobacco, and a bit of leather. Compared to another patchouli/cocoa blend, Tezcatlipoca, this is stronger, less powdery. Bold, strong, as the hand of destiny ought to be! I'm not sure what pau d'arco smells like, and I don't get any cinnamon or vanilla. I love the way the patchouli, cocoa, leather and tobacco blend together. A unique, powerful, awesome scent!

[porcelina]

La Mano del Destino is mostly super strong, dirty patchouli. I smell what I think of as a black leather note in the background, with the barest touch of cinnamon (it doesn't make my skin burn, either, so I don't think there is a ton in here). I get no cocoa whatsoever, which is too bad, really. I love heavy patchouli blends so this is for sure something I could see myself wearing, although it doesn't exactly stand out among all the bottles I own.