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Timbuktu is a Puzzler

post #1 of 21
6/5/08 at 4:35am
Thread Starter 
I've tried Timbuktu samples from numerous different places on different occasions over the years. I finally bought a bottle recently (actually after reading the awesome Turin review) and I'm flummoxed.

Many of the samples I tried had a real patchouli feel -- I even visited Aedes (where I bought my recent bottle) and sampled the bottle they had on the shelf there. Again, I got a heavy patchouli vibe.

I bought a 50ml bottle that day and have worn it several times since. From my purchased bottle, I hardly get any patchouli. It's much more of a vetiver fragrance. It's pretty straightforward in its presentation of vetiver. It's really nice, but it's not what I expected and it's not really what Turin describes.

Any other experiences with this one?
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post #2 of 21
6/5/08 at 4:45am
Timbuktu is quite a strange beast indeed, mutating depending on the skin of the wearer above all.
For example I smelled it on others and it was amazing, slightly smoky, with green-fruity hints, floral pollen vibes and in the end again smoky-woody earthness. too bad on me it turns just smoky candyfloss and dust on me. Not bad but not so amazing.
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post #3 of 21
6/5/08 at 5:18am
Timbuktu I recall I only tested on paperstrips and the fragrance didn't evolve at all. Then finally I sprayed on skin and it was a big surprise. I recall I immediately started a thread "Which fragrances need skin to show their true nature" or something like that.

After several full wearings I don't get much differences, maybe it's skin chemistry or maybe even slightly differences from one bottle to another. Storage and age also might boost some basenotes.

I'm quite happy with Timbuktu. Actually I prefer it to Dzogkha and Timbuktu lasts forever it seems. Also one of my favourite bedtime scents.
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post #4 of 21
6/5/08 at 5:24am
I almost regret swapping it to you Daniel. Not quite, since I still got a decant, and people around me doesn't seem to appreciate it like I do. So yeah, bedtime scent for me too... after my girlfriend have fallen asleep, that is .

This is one of the very few fragrances that seem really different from wear to wear. It is so weird. Sometimes it smells like patchouli, sometimes like an exotic cocktail. One association I got from it was that of birch leaves. Other times it is soft and pleasant, sometimes it turns thin and quite sour. A true chameleon I appreciate very very much!
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post #5 of 21
6/5/08 at 7:55am
Quote:
Originally Posted by dr.creed View Post

I'm quite happy with Timbuktu. Actually I prefer it to Dzogkha and Timbuktu lasts forever it seems. Also one of my favourite bedtime scents.

It's so amazing to see how scents act completely different on different skins: I get the opposite effect: Dzogkha on me is simply flawless and lasts ages (i will need to pick a bottle sooner or later hehe) with a stunning drydown while, again Timbuktu turns out pretty flat and not particularly lasting.
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post #6 of 21
6/5/08 at 8:14am
Timbuktu is one of the L'Artisan scents that I almost scrubbed off when I sampled it. Blech! You can imagine how shocked I was then, when I received a compliment from a friend that day when I wore it.

A puzzler indeed.
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post #7 of 21
6/5/08 at 8:16am
I got something very similar to Dzonhka, only less iris. I had the misfortune of knocking over a sample which spilled all over my hands...I now know that when too much is applied, it smells distinctly of vinegar. :-|
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post #8 of 21
6/5/08 at 8:37am
That native African herb note, I forget its name, that is a key ingredient in Timbuktu, makes me gag. It gives it the worst sour/gourmand note I have ever experienced. It brings to mind a bad exotic travel experience, where the toilet makes up most of your adventure. Get Dzohngka(sp?) instead, almost the same without the "trots" note.
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post #9 of 21
6/5/08 at 8:56am
I have a couple of samples of Timbuktu and have tried it once. It's one that will need to be worn a couple of more times.

To me, it combines the best elements of Fou d'Absinthe and Navegar (both sampled only). However, I'm on the fence about it.

Along the same lines, I did buy a bottle of Navegar based on the sample. The bottle seems to be quite different from the sample - yet both are definitely the same frag. The bottle has more pepper/spice to it - it's actually a peppery kind of frag I've been looking for. But it could be the soap I used, too. I'm going to test that theory out some more.

But having bought bottles based on samples quite a bit and getting a noticeably different frag from the bottle, I'm of the opinion that samples should only be viewed as guides. Sample vials just don't perform the same for me as the actual bottle does. 90% of the time anyway.
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post #10 of 21
6/5/08 at 9:05am
Karo karounde flower?
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post #11 of 21
6/5/08 at 10:57am
Sounds a bit like Zino, in that there are different smells wafting around, with no apparent rhyme or reason. Is that what it's like?
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post #12 of 21
6/5/08 at 11:02am
Started out extremely dry on me, remeniscent of TdH and L'Air but without the transparent zing of the former and the sweetness of the latter (I don't find L'Air particularly "dry.")

On me it gets quite fruity and a bit powdery in the middle, and then finally ends on a soft and clean vetiver note. A quite interesting frag and I think the progression is well structured, although on my limited sampling it just doesn't jump out and grab me. I can't imagine anyone hating it though - I don't see anything to hate.
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post #13 of 21
6/5/08 at 3:09pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by mikeperez23 View Post

Karo karounde flower?

From Lucky Scent's description:
"Timbuktu is a modern French spin on an ancient West African perfume rite. Inspired by his travels to Mali, master perfumer Bertrand Duchaufour returned to L'Artisan enchanted by the mystical perfume art, called Wusulan, still handed down from mother to daughter as a magical spell to seduce and secure one's true love. The rind-like green scent of an unripe mango."
That's the note that makes me want to hurl. Perhaps it's acheived with the Karo Karounde flower.
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post #14 of 21
6/5/08 at 7:06pm
Wow. I get something else entirely from Timbuktu. On my skin, it quickly settles down to a very bright transparent spicy oriental which lasts for days. Never overbearing, it fades and blooms over and over again during the day. Really special - one of my top ten.

Teddius
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post #15 of 21
6/5/08 at 7:16pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by UngerWoo View Post

I've tried Timbuktu samples from numerous different places on different occasions over the years. I finally bought a bottle recently (actually after reading the awesome Turin review) and I'm flummoxed.

Many of the samples I tried had a real patchouli feel -- I even visited Aedes (where I bought my recent bottle) and sampled the bottle they had on the shelf there. Again, I got a heavy patchouli vibe.

I bought a 50ml bottle that day and have worn it several times since. From my purchased bottle, I hardly get any patchouli. It's much more of a vetiver fragrance. It's pretty straightforward in its presentation of vetiver. It's really nice, but it's not what I expected and it's not really what Turin describes.

Any other experiences with this one?

I think most basenoter's know that Luca Turin and I agree on 90% of everything perfume. Sorry to say, Timbuktu is a joke. I've had many samples and still can't even smell the stuff. Pure garbage IMO.
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post #16 of 21
6/15/08 at 2:08pm
I also was puzzled by this one at first, that sour note at the opening freaked me out a bit...I must have revisited this one a dozen times....and then it clicked. the expansive wood dry down is like NOTHING else this one is a permanent staple in my collection, I also love Ormonde Jayne Man VERY Green opening, coupled with a Mitsouko like dry down, if u like Timbuktu, U will LOVE this.
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post #17 of 21
6/15/08 at 9:45pm
Yes, this is an enigmatic fragrance, with one of the most complex evolutions from top to bottom. I love every stage of it.
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post #18 of 21
1/24/09 at 10:56am
I'm puzzled big time. I tried this yesterday on paper and loved it. I was expecting to hate it but on paper it was Woods, woods, woods and more woods. Good Wood. I'll have to try skin but it was nice.
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post #19 of 21
1/24/09 at 11:03am
Quote:
Originally Posted by ToughCool View Post

I'm puzzled big time. I tried this yesterday on paper and loved it. I was expecting to hate it but on paper it was Woods, woods, woods and more woods. Good Wood. I'll have to try skin but it was nice.

Based on your past preferences this would have been one I'd have advised you to stay away from. It is interesting how much we differ as we experience every new scent.
I'll be interested to hear what you think once you actually wear it.
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post #20 of 21
1/24/09 at 8:52pm
I have grown to like Timbuktu. The green mango coupled with the Karo Karounde flower is very tart and so very expansive that you just can not smell it well when it goes on for a test. The tartness tends to inhibit the abitlity to smell the fragrance objectively at first. But, if you let it settle down and come back to smell it later on, the incense notes + patchouli override the green tart opening for a very unusual and ethereal fragrance. It is a very fun, lively and elevating incense wood type of scent. You can smell it better on clothing after you have worn it - its fantastic. But it is difficult to wrap your nose around this one when smelling it on yourself at first. It took me about six months and retesting it after Turin's great review before I started to get a good feel for Timbuktu.
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post #21 of 21
1/26/09 at 6:09am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Somerville Metro Man View Post

Based on your past preferences this would have been one I'd have advised you to stay away from. It is interesting how much we differ as we experience every new scent.
I'll be interested to hear what you think once you actually wear it.

When I sprayed it on the tester I got ....nothing..it was hard to tell what was there..and then after a few minutes a got a ton of wood(from the scent). And that is how it stayed..woods. So I really need to do the skin test.
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