Fortuna Praecantatrix

[theshapeshifter]

A Witches Luck

The fortune of a nasty woman: patchouli and pomegranate rind with vetiver, red oudh, tonka bean, green cognac, and honey.

Am I first? Fortuna Praecantatrix arrived today (along with a few others, but this was the one I was keenest to try).

In the bottle: Smells like an occult shop. Which feels very on-brand for the scent theme!

Wet: Complicated. I get the patchouli and a hint of the vetiver right away, with something else that's woodsy/musky that I can't quite put my finger on. I'm assuming that's the oudh, as it's not a scent I'm super-familiar with picking out.

Drydown: Even more complicated. It's quite fascinating. It's very rich and dark and not exactly sweet, but sort of (definitely a honey in the background, not sugary), and then the pomegranate comes in as a fruity edge - and at moments the throw almost has a hint of aquatic. Overall, at a quick sniff it's still fairly true to my initial 'occult shop' impression - all the different incenses and other smells melding together into something quite unique - but this is a Fancy Upscale Occult Shop, not your around-the-corner one.

I hesitated over buying this, as I already have a lot of patchouli-vetiver blends, but this is very different from anything else I have. Win!

[VioletChaos]

I blind-bought not one, but two bottles of this, based on not just description, but the idea of a Witch's luck. I am ALL about that concept, and was willing to toss myself into the abyss of this scent, feet first. So here we go!

In The Bottle: I definitely get the occult shop vibe that theshapeshifter mentioned. But more specifically, I am reminded of a magick shop my mom used to take me to when I was very very small. It was the 70s and headshops and magick shops were frequently one and the same. The proprietrix was named Mrs Katz and I adored her, especially the way she'd always let me pick out a bag of seed beads to take home with me. Her shop smelled of candle wax and bags of herbs and a million kinds of incense and that's what this smells like too. As I've mentioned in my other reviews of the Fortuna scents, the thread that appears to run through all -though they are all quite different from each other- is that they all have the uncanny ability to pull one through time, to a lovely reverie of somewhere else that is not the present. It makes my heart ache in all the best ways possible, and this scent is no exception.

Wet On Skin: It is much the same. Pomegranate notes sometimes dominate a scent when mixed with my skin chemistry. Delightedly, I am experiencing no such thing with this scent. It doesn't register as fruity, so much as adding a sweetness that rounds out the heavy nature of both vetiver and patchouli. It's a nice surprise, because I was expecting something in the realm of #OccupyWallStreet and this scent is nothing at all like that.

 

Dry Down: It's sweetly, richly, musky. Like sweat on skin after sexy physical exertion. It has surprisingly low throw given the notes. Honestly, although the scent is complex, it also feels like something I'd want to layer. I might very well charge this scent and use it specifically in magickal workings for fortune and luck boosting, and proceed accordingly.

[lady_pandora]

This is one of those "smells like the BPAL box" scents on me, and it was driving me nuts all night trying to figure out why it seemed so specifically familiar, and I finally pinned it down: it's a close relative of The White Witch. Which kind of makes sense when I look at the note list--4 notes in common--and also makes sense thematically! And it came along at just the right moment for me, when (a) I'm almost out of The White Witch, ( I've been amping red musk too much, and so it's fortuitous to find a "sister" oil without that one note, and © the Women's March is tomorrow, and I shall be nastying up the place. I really like it; it's a little hippie and a little fruity and a little incensey and very comfortable on my skin chemistry.

[fenharel]

a really complex scent. somehow all at once green, fruity, resiny, and sweet. in the bottle and wet on the skin i get a very sharp, green, herbal kick - but backed by something heady and rich. as it wears, the honey and tonka emerge, warm and golden. oudh is a note that always gives scents a 'high end perfume' feeling, to me. this smells like a fancy, sophisticated perfume with a witchy twist. it's distinctly BPAL. my first forum exclusive. yay! <3

[lookingglass]

YAAAAS! THIS is how I like green scents. It reminds me a bit of GC Medea; it has a similar herbs/leaves/dark fruit/incense vibe. Wet on the skin it's fresh green leaves and pomegranate juice, but slightly bitter, too, like pomegranate seeds. The honey is slightly sticky, sweet, and green as well. The cognac, oude, and vetiver dry down is sweet, dark, woody, brooding amazingness. I'm reminded of the way the Hex store smells. Mmmm, hmmmm!

[LizziesLuck]

I normally wouldn't have tried this because pomegranate ruins every scent on me, however my lovely decantress included a tester for me, and I never pass up the opportunity to try something - you just never know!

 

 

Wet: OMG I had totally missed that this had oudh in it....smells like poo. Not as terribly as it sometimes does on me, but it's still a wee bit ripe. Which is too bad, because there is also a gorgeous woody tone that I am loving. The pomegranate is actually not dominant on me, just providing a slight tart fruity aspect. Interesting. If it weren't for that tiny hint of feces lurking underneath, I might actually like this.

 

 

Dry: The oudh settles and stops smelling like feces, and this become a rather pleasant, rich, woody fragrance. I don't dislike it, but I don't really love it either. Glad to have gotten to try it!

Edited February 14, 2018 by LizziesLuck

[Lucchesa]

This goes through a very awkward stage on my skin before settling into something really worthy. Wet, it's head shop patch and stinky oudh, a bit of vetiver, and pomegranate rind, which is not the bright juicy seeds but something bitter and odd. I was getting very little sweetness despite the last three listed notes. I was ready to write it off as a total fail. Very low throw on me (which is normal for my skin).

 

Half an hour later, the notes have stopped duking it out and decided to cooperate, and it's a thing of beauty. The patch has settled down, and the oudh just adds that edge of maturity, and the booze and tonka and honey are grounding it all with some sweetness, and the pomegranate rind? No idea. But if it's still there, the ugly duckling has become a swan. I'm not sure I need a bottle -- after all, there are many many scents that I love to death from start to finish. But if it opens oddly on you, wait it out before scrubbing it off, because it might just morph into stunning.

[zankoku_zen]

Pom, tonka, honey, cognac and a whiff of patchouli. This is a very fruity/complex blend. I am however, amping up the pom and cognac which I didn't expect. Sweeter and fruitier given that it has patchouli. Medium throw and wear length.

[Joyleaf_]

The pomegranate at the beginning overpowers almost everything else, ad for a moment I thought it had rose in it somewhere. But then the patch and vetiver come out to play, which are two of my favorite notes in bpal scents. They are met with the tonka and it sweetens it, along with the honey. I very much love this, it is similar to Mme Moriarty but different enough to earn its place on my shelves.

[milo]

This is so much like Shadows in the Elevator, I can barely tell the difference. Very dark and brooding blend, inky dark red. I really like this, and will probably use up the imp before I used my SITE.

[dramedy65]

I really really love the pomegranate notes in here, it's such an unusual scent. If there was no back note of patch, I'd probably love this. unfortunately, to my nose the oudh and patcholi get stinky all over this, and patchouli gives me a headache if it's overwhelming like this. I am sensitive to it; my skin tends to amp it. however, if you like grounded, fruity, witchy scents, I'd recommend it!