gangstaknitta

The fabled Khajuraho temples of India are shrines of love in all its myriad forms. They are a celebration of love itself -- transcendental, spiritual and erotic. This is a rejection of sorrow, spiritual ennui and despair. The sexual motifs that adorn the temples, and the temples themselves, are monuments to ecstasy and to passion, and through that, they are also monuments to spiritual fulfillment. It is believed that the realization of moksha by dedicating oneself to adhyatma and dharma can be attained only by first experiencing sexual satisfaction. In the midst of the drudgery and struggle that we sometimes endure during the course of our Earthly lives, it is vitally important that we remember the joy found in kama, and that in kama we can achieve transformation of the body and soul. This is a blissful, euphoric blend based on an ancient Indian love potion: honey, date palm, tuberose, davana blossom, amber, white sandalwood, vanilla bean, Damask rose, and champaca flower. I'm the first to review this one! Before we begin, I would like to note that on the forum, it's spelled "Khajuraho" but it says "Khajurajo" on my bottle. In the bottle it smells very woodsy--more sandalwood than anything else. Same goes for initial application, but then the rose starts to come out. Something about it smells a little bit tropical to me--it may be the tuberose (which does funny things on me) but I don't know what some of the other notes even smell like. As it starts to dry, the sandalwood fades to a more comfortable "throw" and the earthy sweetness of honey comes out. This blend is very complex. I'm going to keep testing it but so far I like it!

My father was kind enough to schlep to Harry's for will call and snag me some ORC. This is exactly what I was expecting it to be...magnolias and dirt, springtime in Georgia. Definitely the same dirt as Graveyard Dirt (another of my faves) to my nose. Wet, it smells like moist, freshly overturned dirt, with a slightly sweet/slightly musky floral in the background. When it dries, it is the perfect balance of earth and floral. I normally don't like florals, but this one doesn't make my nose tingle (also has great staying power!). I used to blend GD and Kindly Moon together for a similar effect...for comparison, ORC is similar, but the florals aren't as sweet. I really hope that ORC becomes available again, because I will snatch it UP.

This round of 13 was very different from the last one! In the bottle, I get sweet oranges...almost like an orange sponge cake. To my nose, this is a very foody blend. On my skin, the orange is very much a bakery-type orange, rather than a tart citrusy orange. Definitely orange sponge cake. It's very warm. As it dries, the yummy vanilla comes out. I can't smell the cocoa distinctly, but I do think that it "darkens" the blend a good bit. It's very lovely, but it's a bit too orangey on me and doesn't feel very, well, me.

In the bottle, it's very floral. Floral, floral, floral. On my skin, the "lemon flower" takes over and I get a pledge-y kind of scent, backed up by florals. It's very clean, but not nose-tickling-ly so. The scent morphs over the next few hours, with the apricot coming out, settling into a nice mild vanilla with a hint of apricot at the end. This last stage lasts for a good amount of time (3-4 hours on my skin) with absolutely no hint of florals.

Wow, this one is complex. In the bottle, it's very floral to my nose...but then, in the background, sugar...cotton candy? Not so much with the incense. Once on my skin, some dryer-sheety note comes out and overwhelms everything else for about 10-20 min. It then fades to a very-close-to-the-skin scent. Ahhh....there's the incense...and a touch of sugar, but not syrupy sweet. It's very mellow and comforting on the dry-down. I love it towards the end, but the dryer sheet thing kinda gets my nose a-twitchin'.

Tasty!! In the bottle, I don't get so much of the cocoa. It's a very warm sweetness, foody and slightly candyish, but not very sugary. It's a very warm and comforting scent, with an dark edge to it. On my skin, the cocoa comes out more, but not a sweet milk chocolate...more like a luscious dark cocoa, with maybe a touch of sweetness...somewhere in between honey and sugar. It lasts a long time (6+ hours on my "pms-skin" which tends to swallow most blends--ha ha, sorry for the overshare) and stays somewhat close to the skin--very sultry. I'm really diggin' this one. I can't stop wearing it long enough to try the other CD blends!

CCVI (56): A very sunny, kind of sweet floral...maybe mimosa in there? I'm not sure. I keep thinking I'm getting something of a bubble gum note, but not really. I don't really smell anything but flowers in this bottle. On my skin, it goes very sweet and very floral, but dries down a bit more mellow. And it lasts for hours on my skin. It's very nice, but not for me. Previously reviewed by Arylkin.

CCCXVI (316) In bottle: OMG!! Sugar Cookie and Sugar Skull combined! Wet: yummy, carmel, sugar...something a bit nutty, not as boozy as Sugar Skull is (to my nose, at least) Dry: What is that? It smells like cassia/cinnamon, but I know Beth left those out. It's very subtly nutty/spicy. The sugary note goes plasticky on me (as per usual--I can only use stuff w/sugar notes in oil burners), but then a nice warm musk emerges. It's lovely...but better in the bottle than on my skin.

CCCVII (307) In bottle: a soapy floral blend Wet: usually soapy=lily, but I'm not getting any lily out of this. It smells squeaky-clean in a feminine way, kind of like dove soap with some sort of heady flower Dry: wow, it had good throw at first, then stayed close to the skin. Very soapy smelling, but still nice. It's fresh without being cloying.

CCCVI In bottle: dryer sheets + Water of Notre Dame. Interesting combo--very clean and aquatic. I'm pretty sure there are some lilies in there. Wet: pure Bounce on my skin, very strong with lots of throw Dry: the blend calms down a lot after an hour or two and it smells like clean fresh white sheets. It's a lovely scent, I just don't know if I would like to smell like it. CCCIII In bottle: soapy floral--but then, there's a sweet floral in there. To my nose, it smells like plumeria and lily, normally a bit too much, but this floral is very soft. Wet: okay, this is definitely a floral, it's a mixture of "clean" flowers with sweeter/tropical flowers, all very light. Perhpas there is magnolia or gardenia in there? Dry: this one sticks close to your skin and is very mild, but my skin tends to swallow florals (but not lily oddly, so I don't know). It didn't last very long on me and I'm not hooked enough to re-apply.

CTIII: CCCIV (304) In the bottle: just like cola! It even smells..."fizzy"! Wet: fizzy, fizzy cola Dry: how odd...the cola has toned down and a lovely warm vanilla note has emerged. Basically it smells like vanilla coke, but the cola scent is not that strong. It doesn't have much throw, but it lasts for hours and hours, even after I bathe. CCCVIII (308) In the bottle: Straight up sandalwood...with something else in the background which keeps it from getting too woodsy Wet: maybe this is white sandalwood? It's lovely and mild. There's a light note that smells very clean, but not cloying. Dry: Sandalwood, with an undercurrent of zest--or a clean, very light soapy smell underneath.

In the bottle, the grapefruit/lime combo smells like melon to my nose. It doesn't smell as "woodsy" as I thought it would. I think that the sandalwood tones down the fruitiness of the other notes. On my skin, it smells like melon--not sweet, though. It's very mild and has little throw, but it lasted all day on me (6+ hours). Normally my skin amps up fruit notes, but this one stayed pretty mellow and mild. It's a lovely scent, just not one that I think I'll wear a lot.

I heart Mandrake. It's very rooty, earthy and sweet. The oil itself is really thick and viscous. It stays close to the skin, but lasts a several hours. This is one that I need to reapply once or twice (for the long days), but I love it. It reminds me of playing in the dirt when I was little.

Death Cap is amazing. A mildy sweet earthiness greets the nostrils, with a note that smells similar to almond to me in the bottle. On my skin, it turns into lovely sweet, sweet earth with a touch of...that almondy note, but almond normally turns to play doh on me, so I dont' know. It's very warm and earthy, yet light.

Woah, plum and spicy carnations...all the way through. On my skin, I get nothing but cloying carnations with the plums lurking beneath. Much too floral to me, but anyone who likes carnations should check this one out.

This blend was very clean and watery, with a touch of a darker, almost smoky note--almost like a darker version of City in the Sea. On my skin, it turns into fresh laundry and antiseptic. Yech.

I have had actual absinthe, and this smells just like it. I'm not a big fan of wormwood or anise, but I was so curious about it. It smells like an herbal pile of licorice on my skin and lasts a pretty long time.

Scarecrow was odd. It actually smelled like slightly-earthy hot wind in the vial--very nice, in fact. There was a dry spiciness about it. I can't pinpoint one note in particular. On my skin, it smelled faintly musky, but then faded. I don't know if my skin swallowed the blend or what! So I slathered some more on, to the same effect. Hmmm. Just a faint musk and then *poof*.

Woah Nelly! That's some mint! But not overbearing, sting-your-nostrils mint. On my skin, it smelled like a peppermint stick w/o the sugar. The oakmoss came out more on the dry-down and the mint fades a bit. I'm not too wild about any of the notes, but maybe this would be a good wake-up shower getl scent? Either way, I'll have to pass on Cathode.

Dragon Moon is sensation. That was an intentional typo. I didn't get any of the traditional "lunar scents" out of the bottle or on my skin. I detect it as a milky, slightly clean/slightly minty note, but none on this. Also--and very pleased about this--no dragon's blood. It started off a bit clean but mostly sweetly green. It dried down nicely--light lasting a moderate amount of time. It's almost like grass, clover, and very light, early summer blossoms. I love it. It's a good early morning scent.

This smelled a lot like Tamora on me. The peach is very juicy. On the dry down, the other notes temper the sweetness of the peach, but I guess my skin just amps it up so much that I can't really tell the difference between Fae and Tamora. This scent lasted after I SCRUBBED myself in the bathroom AND put lotion on. Woah. So if you like strong peach scents, this is the blend for you.

This Bait was a little too foody for me--cassia tends to do that on my skin. It's very cocoa, but not sweet chocolate--yummy, earthy unsweetened cocoa. The cassia sweetens it. It's not overwhelmingly coconutty until the dry-down on me. I'm not that wild about coconut, but it's a lovely blend for those food-scent lovers. It's got considerable throw for me and lasts a long time--after bathing, even.

God dammit...why is it that I only love the le's that I DON'T get a chance to order. Lucky for me, ABrokenAngel is my pal. This review goes out to you, homey. Underpants is so yummy. It smells like light light musk, smothered with sugary, caramel-y vanilla. It's so soft and sweet--no florals out of this one for me. It lasts a relatively long time and there's no real need for me to slather--a little goes a long way, like snake oil. If you like foody scents, you'll lurve this. I love it. I need more.

I can't remember the super-awesome individual who slipped this in as a freebie in a swap...but thank you anyway if you ever stumble upon this! CCCXXVII: In the imp: it smells like coconuts and some type of actual nut--very warm and tropical smelling Wet: creamy coconut--almost like hawaiian tropic sunblock, but without the chemically sunblock smell. It smells like there may some lotus hanging around there somewhere...it's a sweet flower, whatever it is. Dry: is that honey? or just a foody floral? and then might there be almond? it fades rather quickly and goes a little play-doh on me, but overall I like the blend. If there is a next time, I'm definitely partaking in the chaos theory madness. I can't believe I passed it up last time. So stupid. Last reviewed by cuervosueno.

Oh yay, I got to try this! In the bottle, it smells like honeyed sandalwood--very warm and a little musky. On my skin, the rose took over, and along with the sandalwood and amber, turned powdery on me. The honey starts coming through more when dry, but the powdery bit just isn't cutting it.