The Island Of The Dolls is part of Sixteen92's Legacy Collection. It was originally released with the Halloween 2016 collection inspired by ghosts and hauntings. This is the first time this fragrance has been offered as a Legacy Release. Located two hours by boat from Xochimilco Mexico City is Isla de las Muñecas (the Island of the Dolls). According to legend the island's caretaker, Julián Santana Barrera was haunted by the spirit of a young girl who drowned near the island. To appease the wayward spirit he hung porcelain dolls from the trees, and continued to do so regularly until his death in 2001. The dolls remain displayed to this day, and many visitors have reported various paranormal phenomena along the island and waterways. The Island Of The Dolls is a dry and dusty Fall floral with a softly musky and sweet drydown. Despite the chocolate note, this is not a particularly chocolate-forward fragrance; it is more of a dark and spooky woody/floral gourmand. It features notes of Mexican vanilla, dry bergamot, somber rose, dark chocolate, black plum, dense woods and porcelain musk. The Island Of The Dolls is a parfum extrait.
Sixteen92 produces small-batch fine fragrance inspired by history, literature, lore and magic.
Indie Scent Library: Dry windswept lonely house in a desolate place, it really is spooky somehow. Floral with acerbic fruit and maybe the porcelain musk makes it spooky.
Indie Scent Library: Perfumed tootsie rolls. The chocolate note is a little artificial. A review I read described it as a chocolate orange and like, yeah. That’s pretty accurate, but it’s not gourmand if that makes sense. On the skin it’s still kind of tootsie-roll-ish but the roses come out on the dry down, and I like it better than in the vial. Powdery, floral tootsie rolls. Resting did not change this at all.
Smell All Things: There is a deep chocolate scent in the vial as well as on my skin. At first that’s about all I can smell (which is why I don’t wear chocolate – it overwhelms everything else on me). After a few minutes I get some of that slightly spicy dry bergamot. I’ve concluded dry is not how I like my bergamot. The rose is also coming across as being a dried rose instead of fresh. I’m having a hard time smelling around the chocolate. Thankfully after letting it sit for about 20 minutes or so, most of the chocolate scent is gone. Now I am getting a sense of that dark plum and some deep dark woods. The porcelain musk is soft and powdery.
