Kunstkammer

[feline.by.design]

A sensory jumble, a true cacophony of odors: black pepper, benzoin, blood orange and olibanum.

Kunstkammer is straight-up KOOL-AID when wet, I don't care what anyone else says. It smells like Kool-Aid still in the packet before it came sugar-free. We are talking the Kool-Aid the kid is allowed to make, with the glass just smelling of sugar and Kool-Aid powder. I was never the kid whose parents didn't put sugar in the Kool-Aid, so that's what I get from Kunstkammer, the first Carnavale Noir scent I've tried: Kool-Aid.

Kool-Aid is very summer, though, I have got to admit, so I'm glad I got my bottle while I'm broiling in the August heat (and will probably continue to have my butt baked by the Florida sun until November). Normally, I don't really like sweet scents, but I mostly have issues when a fragrance is really syrupy or if it smells like it's got gardenia in it. Kunstkammer is like taking an orange and dipping it in sugar. It's fruity and sweet, and I'm ready to bite the skin of my wrist because it smells so good.

Once Kunstkammer begins to dry down, the Kool-Aid effect begins to dilute and turn into a fresh, sweet scent that resembles fruit punch that's been spiked with a little "something" than a mere kid beverage. Also, during the drydown, there begins to be a scent that seems a bit waxy on my skin, like I'm smelling an orange-scented candle, but the period (around the five-minute mark) when this happens doesn't last very long, and the waxiness is probably something only I, with my nose trained on BPAL (ha!), can distinguish.

I really like this. I'm fond of Akuma, which has blood orange in it, but Akuma is nothing like Kunstkammer. It will be hard to convince myself in the next few days not to order another bottle of this, because it's such a fun fragrance that I really don't want to think about not ever having a bottle of this again. This is something I'd love to wear every day when I'm feeling a little whimsical and cheeky. I can't really see anyone with a mature countenance wearing Kunstkammer, but older women who are young at heart would probably revel in the bottled-up giggle that is Kunstkammer.

-doreen

[arabella]

First Impression: Oranges.

 

Dries down to: A lighter orange scent - almost like diluted orange concentrate, or orange jello.

 

Additional Comments: I get nothing but orange. I had hoped for more punch from the black pepper. It does have a richness which I'm guessing comes from the benzoin and/or olibanum, but, unfortunately, this one fades very quickly. I'm hoping that, with age, it develops more of the elusive spiciness and lasts longer.

 

Lasted: Maybe, an hour.

 

Rating: 3 out of 5

[sarada]

A forumite was kind enough to give me a sniff of this before it goes away!

 

I was intrigued by the blood orange, but citrus scents tend to be very light and fleeting on me. I put this on my birthday list but I won't know if I'm getting it until November!

 

Well I like it but I don't think I'll need a bottle, though I won't turn it away if I get one! I concur with the orange Jello/KoolAid comparison, it's very much a sparkling sweet bright orange, and I don't get much of the other ingredients. The pepper is probably what it making it sparkle with life, since otherwise it would probably fade instantly on me.

 

I think Torture King suits me better as I get a much stronger orangey sensation from that, but all the other ingredients help to anchor it and keep it from getting too sweet/powdery.

 

Straight orange isn't really me though, so while I'd like to have an imp around I don't think I'll need a whole bottle if I do get one.

[tesao]

kunstkammer: there is a softdrink in Brasil called Fanta. it is an orange soda. strangely orange but not quite orange, if that makes any sense. intensely fruity, insanely sugary, and fizzy.

 

that describes kunstkammer to me perfectly.

[requieminblack]

First sniff from the bottle- Wow! Now THATS different. At first it is peppered sour grapefruit peels...and Chinese spicy orange chicken! Mmmmm.

 

After 20 minutes- After a few minutes the benzoin comes out and makes this a lot less Chinese orange chicken/grapefruit peels and more of a grapefruit and root beer ice cream float....being served in a Victorian ice cream parlor that is burning frankincense. As it fades the grapefruit/orange smell disappears and this becomes all frankincense.

 

Summery- This is an orange and frankincense lovers dream come true. I enjoyed every phase of it. Another CN winner!

[Nehushtan]

Kunstkammer is very fruit-punchy in the bottle. When I first took a whiff, I smelled orange juice with grenadine so strongly that it made my mouth water! After it hit my skin, a strawberry Hubba-Bubba note began to emerge; after twenty minutes, it has calmed down a bit and now reminds me, of all things, of flavored lip gloss.

 

Sorry, Kunstkammer, but lip gloss just isn't my thing. I'm afraid this is one curiosity that isn't for my collection.

[Little Bird]

Kunstkammer was a surprise love for me out of the CN lineup. I bought it on a whim, even though I hate citrus scents and figured that it would be primarily orange scented. I hate citrus because it is often too sharp and bitter on my skin, but this is sweet and smooth in a powedery/candy sort of way.

 

I agree with previous reviews. Orange Kool-Aid. This takes me straight back to hot summer days, scrambling around my mother's legs and begging her to make some Kool-Aid. It's cool, light, and sweet. In the drydown, I smell strawberry nerds candies mixed in with the orange.

 

This is happy in a bottle. It makes me feel happy in a simple way, like I was able to feel when I was 6 years old. I don't get any pepper here at all (darn it, I'm still looking for a pepper fragrance).

 

Kunstkammer is wonderful. Not as wonderful as Midway, but I'm glad that I listened to that little voice in my head and ordered a bottle. It's an awesome summery scent.

[paperdoll]

Initial Sniff: Holy Orange, Batman!

 

Wearing: Wow, that sure is orange.

 

Final Impressions: Orange.

[leahcat]

Kunsthammer

 

In the bottle: oh how nice! Nothing like what I would have expected, but I also have no clue what benzoin or olibanum is either! Barely sweet, I can ID the orange in there but little else. It’s impossible for me to describe.

Wet: definitely the deeper scent of the blood orange, with something I’d describe as a complicated light musk. Very interesting!

Drying/5 mins: this mellows out considerable, as the layers blend together. It’s almost like the softest of incense with a spicy but light musk... all barely sweet with the blood orange. Rather nice!

Dry/12 mins: A very sophisticated scent, this is one I’m happy to have an imp of!

[darkling]

Ack! Super sweet! It is pure, sugary bubble gum. After a few minutes, Kunstkammer becomes sugary, orange bubble gum.

 

This is way too sweet for me.

[PurringPulsar]

Kunstkammer

 

In the imp: orange! Pure sweet orange with sugar. Candied orange and squeezed orange. All the aspects of orange in one. ORANGE!

Wet on skin: still sweet and orangey, but it calms down and sweetens a bit, softens up.

Dry on skin: mmm! I can now smell something else with the orange-like a sweet, amber-sugar scent, and something faint that reminds me of cherry candy. I can't smell any pepper here, but I think that I can smell the olibanum (which is, I think, a kind of frankincense), and I think that the sweet scent might be benzoin. It's very soft now, it's not the full on ORANGE that it was before, it's now a sweet, gentle, candy like scent, but it's slightly faint.

After a while: now the throw improves once more, and it's so sweet! It reminds me of ice lollies, boiled orange sweets, fruity soft drinks, and the sugary syrup from an orangey fruit salad. It smells sunny and youthful, reminds me of summer and childhood. But when you take a deep sniff, you can make out the individual notes-the bright, resinous olibanum, the juicy orange, the sticky sweet benzoin. No pepper as far as I can tell-though if it is there, it probably is adding a definite sense of warmth to the scent as opposed to full on spiciness. There's also something in here that reminds me of sweet cherry soda and raspberry sorbet! It's truly yummy.

Verdict: this is such a fun scent! It's bright, sweet, and playful. At first it's a full on orange overload, but on the skin, the resins come out to play. The scent overall has a sticky sweet candy like scent, like fruity ice-lollies (not just orange, I swear I can smell cherries and raspberry too) and boiled sweets. This scent makes me feel young inside, like I'm six years old once more, it reminds me of the local playground where there would be an ice cream van that sold ice lollies that smell similar to this. This fragrance makes me smile.

[quimerula]

If you like blood orange and dark scents, go for this one.

Blood orange, olibanum (I love olibanum!)and the sweet comforting touch of benzoin. Stays pretty true even on its dry stage.

Warm and frutal.

[slugbait]

Kunstkammer smells just like Squishy Fish! Not Swedish Fish, SQUISHY FISH. It smells very juicy and red. I only get a trace of black pepper, but it doesn't last long. It smells like tangy red gummy candies while it lasted. The overall scent doesn't hold up very long on me, only sticking around for about 30 minutes to 1 hour.

 

Even though this is nice, I don't think I will be searching for a bottle.

[Nutterfly]

Someone posted how similar this was to Kool-Aid. On that note, I have to agree. When i first applied this, all I got was sugar free "Tropical Punch". (But that and cherry are all I have - you can't get Kool-Aid in England but I was sent some).

 

The link of this scent to Kool-Aid seems to help define the undernote that the scent carries.

 

I really like it, its in my top 3 CN scents.

 

(I didn't think I would, I'm so glad for the decant circle).

[k00kaburra]

In bottle: Blood orange and spicy black pepper; I need to look up the other two listed ingredients because I do not recognize them. Apparently benzoin is a creamy, slightly woody vanilla and olibanum is a more delicate frankincense. This is very, very fruity, but I can detect the elements of a vanilla-like note.

 

On me: Smells strongest of oranges and benzoin, with the spice and incense dusting over the sugary sweetness. At intervals the sweetness receeds and the incense comes forward, but it soon reverses itself again. It is a bit funny on my skin though - terrible shame, I really liked this in the bottle. It looks like it isn't for me.

[QueenFae]

This one is really fruity. I actually can't smell the pepper at all, which I'm glad about. It comes out really more like a deep cherry orange scent on me. Sort of syrupy and very sweet, yet undershadowed by a dark, sinister note. I'm kind of on the fence about this one, on one hand it's kind of sexy and berrylicious, on the other hand it has a bit of a cough syrup effect on me. I'll have to ponder my bottle for awhile...

[Thorne]

Whoa, in the imp, this smells just like orangey bubble gum. Or sweet-tarts. Something bright and candy-esque, but with a twist to it. When I first put it on, I was all, "Uh. I don't think so!" but it kind of grew on me. It's a happy, sunny scent, with a little bit of shadow to it. It's kind of deceptive, as you think it's all sweet candy, but the darkness sneaks up on you.

[ladymissspyder]

When I tried this, I had hoped I would be one of the ones with a spicier drydown, but all I'm getting is a mild orangey scent that's fading fast.

 

It's nice - not too sweet - but I don't think I'll ever need more than an imp of this.

 

BTW, I'm wearing Oneroi on the other wrist to test, and they seem to go well together. They might be layerable.

[Ajila]

In the bottle - fruit pastilles

Wet on me - spicy, jellied fruits

Dry on me - strawberry and red currant jam, very sweet and slightly spicy.

[Koumori]

I got this one in a swap; sadly, it really wasn't to my liking. In the bottle, I smelled something like chamomile and children's aspirin. On, I got the same strong jolt of something fruity but synthetic, like lukewarm Kool-Aid. I was hoping for more of a shot of black pepper to even things up a little, but I'm afraid that didn't come through for me. Much too fruity for my taste.

[laochodia]

Paradise Punch Bubble Yum. While it is my favorite flavor of bubble yum, I don't want to smell like it.

[Monster]

Yum! First sniff is sugared oranges. It's a yummy candy-like citrus scent. This is going to sound weird, but I had this orange-scented eraser as a little girl and this smells just like it. As it dries down something spicy comes out. Kunstkammer is a light, summery scent. It's like rubbing yourself with orange pixi-stix. Sadly, my skin eats this up after a few moments. Such a shame! I really liked this scent while it was there, too bad it doesn't stick around.

 

I ended up giving this bottle to a friend of mine who fell in love with it. it also lasts a lot longer on her.

Edited November 7, 2014 by Monster

[zillah37]

I got this imp about 3 weeks ago and never really got around to testing it. This morning I needed a pick me up to make it to the airport at 8 am to pick up the boy, so I grabbed Kunstkammer thinking that the blood orange would work.

 

And boy did it! This scent surprised me so much. It's rich and full and ORANGE. But not overwhelming. It's what I had hoped Moxie would be. It perked me right up and kept me going until I had run all my errands and came home to shower before work.

 

In the bottle: Blood oranges. So yummy.

 

On the skin: Blood oranges and something a bit spicy - the pepper most likely.

 

Dry down: A slightly softer orange scent that is richer than the beginning, but still has a nice, gentle throw that makes me feel comfortable and alert.

 

I've already snagged a 5ml of this. I sense I'm going to be the girl in a year begging for another bottle of this. Such a great pick me up scent!

[empi girl]

I had high hopes for this one. Unfortunately, it did not like me at all.

 

My experience:

First on, the most delicious fruity sweet scent. Gone in an instant. Replaced by a powdery orange smell, like an orange Tums. Gone in 2 instants. Replaced by the scent of Robitussin. And this stage lasts a long time. Even 1 hour later, when I sniff the wrist and I get a orange-violet pastille scent, the robitussin wafts slightly. I don't know what the note is that hates me, but it does. This is going to swaps, and I hope it finds a happier home!

[summer]

WOW, this is sweet! Sweet, sweet, orangy hard-candies, Kool-Aid mix, and juicy sugared oranges. It immediately shot to the top of my "favorite candy scents" list. It is SO very fun and candy-like that it's almost too . . . young for me to wear to work, but I'll tell you this -- I would have gone APE over this scent when I was 10 years old. That is not a slight to the blend at all -- it's just that I find it hard to pull of scents this OUTRAGEOUSLY fruity and sweet and candy-like and delicious these days!

 

It gets more and more sugary as it dries, and unfortunately, after a couple of hours it was gone without a trace. But I've just reapplied, and I have to say, this is totally YUMMEH. I will have to figure out when and where and how to use this crazy, teenage-sugar-high oil -- but I will fit it in somewhere!