The Initiation

[Pyretta]

Red wine and vanilla pod infused with caramel, peach, tobacco flower, and coconut.

Woohoo! Can't believe I'm first, as this scent is abso-freaking-lutely mind-blowing!!

Bottle: Bold, exquisite red wine hits me at first. I seriously love this note (it's very similar to the wine note in all of my all-time favorites, Blood Sangria), and it's exactly what I was hoping to get when I decided to blind-bottle. It's backed up by something fruity-floral, which I'm assuming is the peach and tobacco flower. I can lightly detect some caramel, too.

Wet: Now this is just pure, unadulterated romance. I really wish it came in time for Valentine's day, but something tells me that this will be my go-to scent for fancy, lovey-dovey dates with my man. The caramel note is very prominent, with a little vanilla that is giving it a box-of-chocolates feel - but this is an expensive, artisanal box, meant for pairing with strong, dark wine. The fruity-booze note fades to the background during this stage. I can detect a little coconut, though, which is a little worrying as it sometimes goes bugspray on me later on in the dry stage.

Dry: VERY happy to report that the dark, fruity wine that I was picking up straight from the bottle is back and better than ever!! I'm getting even more of the peach, too! The caramel fades to balance out the other notes, but still lends a delicious, warm quality to the scent. Thankfully I'm not getting the slightest bit of bugspray - just a gorgeous, toasty hint of coconut. I'm completely blown away. Everything in here is magical. This is a classy, romantic, sexy love potion that just lasts for hours on me.

Verdict: I NEED to order a backup bottle (or two, or three!) of this. Seriously. It's that good, and I can't wait to wear it for my boyfriend!! In truth, it's definitely more of a colder-month oil, and I can see myself swapping this out for Blood Sangria in the warmer months. All in all, though, I could sing The Initiation's praises all day long. I'm so, so, so happy I blind-bought this one - all my intuitions checked out, and then some!

[Laurel the Woodfairy]

Wet, I got a flash of...bubblegum?! Not sure what that was; lotus does that on me, but it isn't listed in the note, so who knows. Then I got the red wine note from Lady Macbeth, mixed with foody and sweet notes. This is turning into more of a grape candy scent on me, which isn't what I was expecting although I can see how the notes could do that. A decant will be sufficient, as my skin doesn't seem to want to amp the richer notes here.

[SophieCedar]

This scent is just *uunnnghhhh!!!*

 

Like really. If you got along well with Peach I, then this will be your new bff. Its Peach I minus peach, add that great sweet wine note from Horror Sympathique and a bit more sex. This is my hoarding scent of the 2016 lupers.

[emanomaly]

Whew lawdie.

 

I got a decant in a bottle from Mystery213, who is awesome. Opening the bottle this is BOOZEY. Red wine, HELLO. Wet on my skin it smells like wine soaked cherry cordials and I double check the notes for chocolate and some sort of cassis/cherry, but nope they aren't listed. I'm guessing my nose is twisting the wine into a sweet dried cherry smell.

 

The smell of booze makes me a bit nauseous so for the first 15 minutes or so it's almost unbearably strong.

 

However that disappears into this lovely dark rich sweet smell. I can't pick out the caramel and peach, or coconut, but the vanilla, tobacco, and a hint of the red wine are there after it dries down. To my nose this smells leathery and rich, with a vaugely chocolatey/rich-sweetness howevering in the background (I'm guessing that is the caramel, peach, and coconut playing together though I can't pick them out individually). It reminds me of a more sophisticated version of Perversion, which is one of my favourite GC scents.

 

I'm not sure if I'll need a bottle or not but I sure can't stop smelling myself. If it weren't for the suuuuuuper strong booze note at the start, I'd be totally in love.

Edited March 14, 2016 by emanomaly

[agirlnamedfury]

In bottle, this is all sweet, fruity red wine. But that note drops to the background pretty quickly once applied, and it becomes more about the caramel, vanilla, and a suntan-lotion-y coconut. But wait, then the red wine comes back! It's very sweet though, more grape juice -- or maybe it's Manischewitz.

 

This one seems to morph a lot, and is super complex. But it's absolutely delicious in all of its phases. LOVE. So glad I blind bought a bottle of this.

[LizziesLuck]

I love these notes soooo much - except for the wine which tends to amp and ruin everything it's in for me. Still, I had to try this based on the other notes, and who knows, maybe it will be the one wine blend I can wear?

 

 

Wet: Lots of wine, for sure, but it's like peach wine, and it's quickly overtaken by the most amazing, almost nutty (from the coconut?) caramel with hints of tobacco. This. Is. So. Good.

 

 

Dry: The wine comes back, in full force, and turns into plastic. Makes me really sad, because there is a phase as it dries that it absolutely beautiful on me, all caramel and coconut and tobacco (but in a totally different way than Red Lantern). But I knew the wine could ruin it for me, and it did - it just doesn't work on my skin! But for others that don't have that issue, I bet this is absolutely gorgeous.

[freyasfae]

Oh, this is a rich, foody scent, and one where the peach is working for me, probably because the sweetness is countered by the other notes. Decadent is the best way to describe this!

[quintessentially]

In the decant, this smells pretty boozy. I don't mind a good boozy scent but it isn't something I'd be able to wear on the day-to-day and it probably wouldn't be my first choice on a special kind of night, either.

 

But that isn't what I get when I applied this. It was richly caramel and vanilla, with faint whiffs of a floral. Which one, I'm not sure. On dry-down, I'm getting less caramel and more of an adult floral and a sweetened tobacco scent. I can't easily identify the coconut in this but peach definitely comes out to say hi from time to time. This is BEAUTIFULLY blended and I absolutely love it. This is a keeper for me

[Dormouse]

Oh, it's Red Lantern's little sister but she's growing up fast. Very similar caramel, coconut and booze thing going on but the peach makes it lighter and less cloying.

 

This is just gorgeous, warm, boozy, foody and very, very sexy. It's a keeper for sure and I might have to look for a bottle.

[Kay Torres]

I tried this one this morning and I have to say - O. M. G! This is absolutely divine! Bold, rich, red wine is what hits your nose first - and it's absolutely magnificent!! The peach quickly comes out to play, adding a little flirtation to the wine. As it dries down, the coconut gets its moment to shine too and smoothes over both notes with a mellow, rich and delicious nuttiness. It's just so smooth. So sexy... And the tobacco flower... Unnhhh! Adds a spicy floral that makes me want to eat my own wrist. Just yum!! I want to tackle myself, or go tackle the man and make him sniff me... I smell divine!! So very glad I bought this...

 

I need another. I can't ever run out of this. Bad things will happen if I do.

Edited April 16, 2016 by SunsetKay

[Elspethdixon]

In the bottle/wet: sweet/fruity grape juice rather than the boozey wine note I'd expected/half-feared. Agirlnamedfury is right about this being a Manischewitz-type wine. (If this stage stuck around longer I'd be wearing the heck out of this Friday night at my in-laws Seder, to fill the sweet-cloying gap left by the fact that my father-in-law is a wine snob who refuses to serve Manischewitz at his table, Passover or not)

On the dry-down: The wine note fades almost immediately on contact with my skin, and after a few minutes and a brief, slightly worrying moment when it seemed like some note in it was threatening to go sour, it morphs into a soft/sweet slightly-foody/slightly-fruity amber (possibly from the interaction of the tobacco flower and vanilla) with light hints of something floral. I can't pick any individual note out, but the whole effect is delicious smelling. More feminine than most of the blends I usually wear, but a lush, orientalish kind of feminine rather than the heavily floral kind.

A hour or so later: Amber isn't listed as a note, but my skin has said "amber, omnomnom" and proceeded to devour it until only a soft, powdery-warm.sweet "your skin but better" scent is left close to my skin, the scent-ghost that's usually what's left at the end of the day any time I wear a blend with amber in it. Reapplying it more heavily at lunch brought the rich, sweet well-blended scent from before back, and I got a good two-three hours of it this time instead of only one. Clearly, the Initiation is a scent I'm going to have to slather and reapply throughout the day, so I'm glad I sprung for a blind bottle.

[zankoku_zen]

Peachy red wine with a hint of coconut. On the drydown I get more of the amber breaking through. Honestly, if anyone asked me this reminds me alot of the recent Peach from Dragon*Con with red musk in it.

 

If you're fond of peach blends, like red wine and/or red musk, I'd give this a whirl. Decent throw and wear length.

 

Peachy, red, sultry.

[unxolve]

Wine and vanilla! Mainly this is a dark, red, fruit smell. The tobacco is very faint, but gives this a rich, satisfying bitter edge that keeps it from being too sweet. The peach makes it warm and light. Really, a very nice blend.

[Auspicious Q]

I bought this as a bottle this spring. This is amazing in cool weather. It is Glace peaches with wine and tobacco. Sweet, chewy, but deep and not too much. Very sexy.

[Lucchesa]

So I usually have to check to understand what I’m smelling, but I tried this without looking at the notes. I got caramel and vanilla and I thought some amber. I did not get red wine. Once I checked the notes it was obvious that there was coconut in there and I could make out the peach but I still got no red wine. Since that was the only note I was worried about here, I’m loving The Initiation for its caramel vanilla coconut goodness. Not sure where the wine went, but I don’t miss it.

[Suspiria]

It reminds me of Creepy but with peaches instead of apples. Sweet, caramelly and yummy, delicate and romantic.  

[Missanneshirleyofgg]

I definitely got deep purple fruits smelling this.  I know, because it was sent to me as Purple Snails and I was surprised that the violets smelled purple and  fruity. Then I slathered it, to see what else the odd “violets” would do and smelled coconut. At this point I ignored cap label and looked at bottle and saw friend had sent me The Initiation. She is blaming “old eyes” and small cursive. This is Something I would have never bought or tried because I hate coconut and now I have slathered it because I needed to know what else those violets were gonna do.

 

Anyhow, Its actually quite  pretty, Smells like summer fading into fall.  That coconut summer sun regressing into the warmth of late summer peaches and early fall wines. This was a luper, but I feel it could of made it way into other seasonal releases,  Its very inviting and I wish the coconut would just Go Away but as summer fights the passing of seasons, so doth this Cocos nucifera. Ahem. Its present all the way through dry down. Balanced presentation and its not amping, but meh,  Its going to my swap list but I enjoyed getting to test it and it was a fun puzzle. 

[CitrusFiend]

Oooooh. I think I actually said “ooh” out loud when I first applied this. It’s smooth, sweet, beautiful. The notes all blend together so well. I don't have any words to describe or define this scent because my brain has been totally discombobulated by how gorgeous it is. Would love to know if there are any dupes or similar scents in the general catalog.