Khajuraho

[LittleGreyKitten]

... 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.

Hi. I'm rewriting my whole review. I hated the blend, while it was brand new. It smelled like old, rancid perfume on my skin, sadly- just like that scum in 20 year old bottles of commercial perfume. So I traded the bottle, but kept an imp.

Months later, it's become absolutely different. The wet scent still has a wee trace of the icky old-commercial-perfume note I got when it was new. Dry, though, its a whole new ball game. The notes have melded, the rancid/perfume-gone-bad smell is gone, and it is a beautiful perfume now. I had the exact same experience with Luperci, and even Red Lantern became more wearable. (Not Night's Pavilion, though!) The Lupercalia series really needed time to calm down, for the notes to mellow. I'm definitely hunting down a bottle of this. It's much nicer. I can smell the honey, amber and vanilla now- before, it was pure floral hell. The throw is especially nice.

I'm glad. Out of all the blends that I couldn't wear, this one especially broke my heart since it really should have worked on me, looking at the notes. Glad it finally does!

4 out of 5, after aging. I'd definitely recommend others who had a hard time with this scent when it was lab-fresh, to try an older imp. It has changed to the better, at least in my opinion. Edited November 18, 2007 by Shollin

[bellis]

I have trouble describing this scent, as I seem to smell all the notes at one point or another. This is complex and gorgeously blended, and as it dries down it changes several times. Luckily, I love all the stages of this. I get a sweet spiciness, then tuberose, then a more traditionally rosy vanilla. Finally, it settles into a floral/amber with a hint of musky vanilla. It's a powdery smell, but in a really good way. This is a very sophisticated sexiness. And I loooove it!

[sh1mm3r]

I knew I was risking it with this oil, but I absolutely adore the honey note in Honey Moon and SN Honey and others, so I couldn't pass up trying.

 

And although Khajuraho didn't work out for me, it wasn't for the reasons I expected. I was expecting the amber to take over and turn rancid, and for the date palm to be the strongest note, since trees are typically very strong on me.

 

Instead, I had the following experience:

 

In the bottle, it smelled very spicy and floral to me. Not me at all, but I know better than to leave it at the bottle scent.

 

At first, when it was wet, I really smelled the flowers, very jungly and moist. As it dried, it got sweeter, but still really focused on the flowers. I don't get sandalwood which I adore. I don't get vanilla which I'm also fond of. I don't get honey, instead, the sweet smell is something like what you find in those little valentines day heart candies - pure preservative sugar with a tangy bite.

 

This is really going to sound weird, but it ends up smelling like the bpal oils I have tried with tulip notes in them. That could be one of the flowers, since I'm not familiar with the exact smell of tuberose, davana blossom, or tampaca. But definitely sweeter than I expected.

[Penance]

Origin:

 

Imp from my Imp Pimp, Diana.

 

Preconceived notions:

 

My Imp Pimp tells me this might be a surprise winner, so I'm looking forward to trying it!

 

First sniff:

 

Hmm, this definitely isn't what I was expecting! I smell sandalwood first and foremost, and then the amber and champaca flower. This is a bit like Hellion only sweeter and more complex. This definitely could work!

 

Wet on skin:

 

This is interesting. It's a dry resin scent, but there's also date, honey and florals in here that're really making themselves known and I'm not sure if they're working on my skin. I had a feeling they might come out and ruin this for me since I often have problems with date and honey (and my skin amping up florals).

 

Dry down:

 

Phooey, this isn't going to work on me. I wanted to love it and even expected to really like this, but the date, honey and florals are ruining it for me. My skin just doesn't do well with any of them and all together they're creating a synergistic effect in each other.

 

The bottom line:

 

I wanted to love it, but my skin has other ideas, apparently.

[faifai]

Aaaah finally one of the recent LEs I bought actually works for me! Dreamland, which I'd been hoping would be my everyday "pretty" scent, ended up being kind of nondescript. Spirits of the Dead is more of a summer, not spring scent, Smut was all-out nastiness, and Red Lantern got lost in the post or some such.

 

But anyways.

 

Khajuraho reminds me of incense and sweetness--maybe it's because I'm Indian or whatever, but it reminds me definitely of something "blissful, euphoric" and all-out wonderful, like a chaste yet completely romantic "love scene" from a Bollywood flick. Very different and yet not as heavy as other similar, "exotic" scents. Most resins/incense blends go too heavy on me, and become totally unwearable as soon as the weather heats up.

 

Not so with this! My Khajuraho and I will be very happy together.

[PurringPulsar]

Khajuraho

 

In the imp: a sweet, slightly heady, incense-y floral scent. I think the rose is most obvious here, maybe tuberose as well.

Wet on skin: once it hits skin, a dry, slightly tart scent comes out, almost like nag champa incense. I also think I can smell the sandalwood? There's something a bit fruity here which I can't recognise.

Dry on skin: mmm, this is truly gorgeous! The tart scent I got when wet has toned down and the scent is very smooth now. This is lovely-it's like floral incense wafting through a lush garden, like the smoke from a good quality joss stick mingled with the scent of fragrant blooms. Very exotic. Sandalwood and champaca (nag champa?) create the lovely incense effect, with floral notes like crisp rose and tuberose adding their lush richness to the scent. I also get a wonderful sweetness here thanks to the honey, amber and vanilla, and possibly the date (that's probably what the fruit like note is). What a delightful, sumptuous scent!

After a while: it's odd, but there's an incredible fruitiness to the scent, sweet and very ripe-it reminds me of the ripe lush fruity scent of Hanging Gardens but in here it's more of a ripe fruit with heady floral notes and a background of incense and fragrant sandalwood. I'm guessing this is the date?

Then after about two hours, the scent softens up and becomes predominantly sweet sandalwood.

Verdict: this is a lush, rich, extremely exotic scent reminiscent of incense wafting through a tropical garden filled with flowers and fruit. Sandalwood and nag champa with full bodied rose and tuberose, with sweet amber, vanilla and subtle honey and fruity date make for a gorgeous scent. it's warm, mysterious, decadent and sumptuous. It's the kind of scent I'd expect to waft from a spice/perfume/incense stall in an Indian market-it has something 'joss stick' about it without being 'headshop', this is good quality and sophisticated incense. The scent gets fruitier and 'riper' upon drydown. Another hit from the Lupercalia update.

Edited February 17, 2006 by yeahbutnobut

[SeaMonkey]

This is very light and sweet. Honey and palm with an undertone of sandalwood and the spiciness of tuberose. Sweet and incensey. Beautiful. This smells great on me, but it would also make a great room scent

[GemmaCat]

In the bottle: light, spicy wood

 

On my skin, initial: spice! definitely sandalwood

 

drydown: nothing but sandalwood. It sweetens ever so slightly, but then it's just SWEET sandalwood and nothing else.

 

Overall: my biggest disappointment to date. I was so looking forward to this scent (honey? vanilla? amber? I'm there!) but my skin just amped up the sandalwood to yucky proportions. I've already sold this.

[hologhost]

In the bottle: Fruit, floral (tuberose?) A really nice inviting scent.

 

But not on me.

 

When I put this on it fades fairly quickly. the strongest lasting note (yes I know there isn't any - but it's what I smell) is what I associate with kind of a faded civet.

 

 

I really wanted to like this one. I love tuberose and all the other notes this is supposed to have. So far I'm one for four Lupercalia scents.

[bicyclette]

Ah, I LOVE this. It goes on sweet and sexy and doesn't really morph much at all on me. The honey and tuberose predominate at first, drying down to a sweet, spiced amber base with the sandalwood coming out a teeny bit. I'm still new to BPAL and not great at differentiating notes, but this has great throw (always a tossup for me; my skin likes to eat oils apparently) and staying power. I put it on at 6:45, it's 12:45 now and I'm still getting whiffs of it. Amazingly good. This was the standout Lupercalia blend for me and ironically the one I thought I'd like least.

[Voleuse]

This is honey and sandalwood on first application, with a strong floral note behind it. It's pretty and musky, but quite strong.

 

As it dries, I get more of a creamy floral note, though the honey and rose stays dominant in the blend. It's warm and golden, overall, and the sweetness isn't cloying so much as intriguing. I didn't expect to like this blend so much, but it's definitely a keeper.

[niter]

Imp

Musk is the first thought I have when sniffing this decant. Surrounding the musk is a thick, creamy perfume. There is also a spicy element.

 

Wet

Now I know what I was smelling! Hah! English Leather. This smells like my father. It is a great smell--perhaps manly for me.

 

Mmm...wow. Thankfully the Daddy smell (I love him but don't want me or my husband, particularly, to smell like him!) went down and was replaced by the most gorgeous creamy, spicey scent I have tried. WOW.

 

Dry

This remains a soft spice. It is gorgeous. It has a sweet cream note to it as well and I keep thinking of a spiced milk drink. I love it.

[jewelbug]

Imp: Perfumey floral with a sweet honey aftertaste. I must admit that I don't really like this in the imp. The florals are screaming, and have ever so slightly a tinge of what is usually bad floral on me (ahem….jasmine). Plus incense.

 

Wet: This is really complex. On my skin, it's much milder on than in the imp (a very good thing). The florals are not assaulting me like I'd feared. I smell the sweetness of honey, and a somewhat sharp rose/jasmine. Under that, there is a smooth spicy incense smell. There is something almost medicinal, but it’s a sweet kinda medicinal, if that makes any sense.

 

Drying: The sweet honey is tantamount. There is a bit of spicyish sandalwood and a kinda creamy floral smell. Rose is not taking over (often rose is a monster on me). The florals in this almost smell like jasmine (good jasmine, not typical jasmine, which usually takes on a urinal tinge with my skin chem). Something in this seems fruity, too, though I can't figure out what that would be.

 

Dry: This is a syrupy sweet, almost fruity smell. I get hints of distant incense. It’s a lovely creamy, fruity (think bananaish), incensual blend, and just a tad spicy. Perfectly balanced. Over time/hours, the incense note becomes more prominent, but not so much as to overpower the sweeter notes. Great throw, as I keep getting wafts of it from my arms, and good staying power--about 6 hrs, which is moderate for me.

 

Overall: Lovely complex blend. I need a bottle, and I just finished setting up a swap for one. When I tried this, I couldn’t' help but think about hellion. So I put the two on side by side. They share some similarities (to my nose, at least). Khajuraho is Hellions, gentler, sweeter, quietly sexy little sister. She less flagrantly spicy, but no less full of sexy mischief.

Edited February 20, 2006 by jewelbug

[Naamah_Darling]

Hmm. On one hand: honey, amber, sandalwood, vanilla. On the other: flowers. This could go either way on me, really. I brace myself for the worst.

 

In the bottle, this is sandalwood and flowers.

 

On, it becomes a floral medley in which no one note dominates. I don't smell the roses as roses. There's a flower here, though, that is so beautiful I can't even describe it. Either the champaca or the davana; whichever it is, it's just lovely. This is the scent of warm half-wild gardens with a breath of sweet incense. Radiant sunlight lances down through the foliage. The honey hasn't come out to rasp at me; it's usually a very forward note.

 

So far, I'm liking this one the best of all the Lupercalia blends. I don't know if it's my favorite, but this is maybe the most beautifully-constructed BPAL scent I've tried yet.

 

The vanilla mixes with the flowers and the amber to give this a white-gold warmth unlike anything I have ever smelled. It is truly heartbreakingly beautiful. Delicate and lyrical, perfect. I'd go on about it, but really, I'm beggared for words. A scent so beautiful it will haunt my dreams.

[tsarina]

The description was so beautiful and intriguing I had to tr Khajuraho.

 

In the bottle I can smell sandalwood and flowers. The sandalwood is very strong. (I've come to the conclusion that while I like the smell of sandalwood, wearing it is a bad idea for me.) For about thirty minutes, all I can smell on my skin is the combination of sandalwood and honey. It's pretty, but strange to my nose. It dries down to a more mellow scent, with some of the other notes dancing around the edges.

 

In short, if you like sandalwood and honey, this is the scent for you!

[Laurel the Woodfairy]

These notes sound good enough to eat; let's hope they like me!

 

Wow, this is complex! Sandalwood is very prominent, but so is honey and some sort of sweet floral. However...it's a bit too sweet for me. Reminds me of Delight, with its cloying frangipani. I can see it being beautiful on the right person, but--as I've said in many reviews--I tend to like "cold" florals, ideally rose with something non-floral to complement it. Khajurajo smells like a super-exotic candy, but it's just not "me".

[Muppetk]

Wet: Dry and sharp, probably mostly the white sandalwood, then a moment or two of roses,

 

Drying and dry: it goes all "perfumey" on me the way most jasmine blends do. I'm really surprised. There's no jasmine listed in the notes. And honey blends usually go so nicely on me. One of the florals in this goes all generic perfume like jasmine does. Sad.

 

Dry about an hour, to an hour and a half: the honey is starting to come up a bit and mellow out the "perfumey" scent. Still not crazy about it though.

Edited February 22, 2006 by Muppetk

[Babylon]

Hmm, this is really perfumey on me. It's almost a pure "perfume" floral smell for a few hours, and then I can detect the faintest whiff of honey.

 

Good throw, and lasts hours and hours. Unfortunately, it never loses that department store perfume smell for me.

 

ETA: This is the first and only BPAL oil to smell this way on me, so it must be one of the rarer flowers or something that's doing it, not something that I've experienced in any other oil.

Edited February 22, 2006 by Babylon

[tinyvulture]

The exotic tuberose and champaca (to me, smells like jasmine) are the stars here, but I think the davana is what gives it such a sweet, tropical, fruity note. The honey and vanilla add additional sweetness as well. The amber lays its soft veil over everything and the result is like a more floral, sexier version of Manila. This is for hot climates, for days spent lounging by the pool. Luxurious, yet playful.

Edited February 23, 2006 by tinyvulture

[Sheila]

Huh. This smells like single-note black currant on me. Strange, since there's not black currant listed as an ingredient.

 

It's definitely fruity and sweet. I get some florals at first, and then nothing but black currant, which smells like sharp-and-sweet berries to me. No resins, no sandalwood. I've tried this twice, and both times it's the same!

 

It's pretty, but not what I expected.

[urraca]

My reaction to this is just the same as Heavenly rabbit's --- I open the bottle and I smell patchouli. I put it on and I smell patchouli. And patchouli is not my friend. But this patchouli dupe seems to work. I suspect it is the mix of honey and date palm, and perhaps some of the less familiar notes that gives me that effect. I also get yummy tuberose and a sandalwood that reminds me of Belle Epoque. On me this is more incensey and resiny than floral. I like it!

[VenusFlyTrap]

There is something very, very sexy and subtle about this scent.

 

On drydown, quite soft and beautiful.

 

Beth is amazing and wonderful to be able to bring us such a gorgeous fragrance.

 

Definitely euphoric and intoxicating.

 

One of my 3 from the VD '06 that I have multiple bottles!

 

Edited February 25, 2006 by VenusFlyTrap

[candygirl]

I am with LittleGreyKitten's description of this scent. I don't smell any of the honey, tuberose, amber, white sandalwood, vanilla bean, or Damask rose from the description, so I guess that means I smell the date palm, davana blossom, and champaca flower (even though I have no idea what those three elements actually smell like). Wet on my skin, it smelled like a strong drugstore kind of perfume. It dried down to a powdery musk that I thought was okay, but as soon as I came within five feet of Mr. CG he made a face and said I'd just given him a headache. After three washings with Coalface and a cleaning with rubbing alcohol, he could still smell it on me. I love the label but apparently I won't be taking the top off the bottle ever.

[abberlaine]

Khajuraho smells of watery honey, date palm (wet, sweet, and coupled with the olfactory equivalent of that spurting sensation at the back of your mouth when you're nibbling on anise seeds), incense, and the Indian equivalent of potpourri. It's smells very natural and decidedly un-Western.

 

On me, it's not as nice as some people have claimed it to be, but it is sunny, warm and comforting. It brings to mind acres of weed-like wildflowers growing in a hot climate.

Edited March 30, 2006 by Abberlaine Arrol

[MistressTera]

Fresh From The Imp: Floral, no outstanding notes.

 

Wet On My Flesh: Hint of sweet, with rose & a familiar floral I can't pin down but reminds me of my time in Panama.

 

Drying Down: The sweet is drawing out into notes I can detect. There's the date, and there's the honey, and the flowers top it all off nicely.

 

Hour To Integrate: The florals and the fruits have all blended together into a wonderful melody, layered with just a drizzle of honey.

 

End Of Day/Final Report: See, this is why I try *not* to get LEs. This was a frimp, so it came to me without my consent, and now... I WANT MORE. BLAST YOU.

 

ETA: I just wrote this over in the "What BPALs move you?" thread, and I felt like I needed to add it. It just sums up so clearly why I like this blend so much, since my review has been bugging me as it hadn't really explained it.

 

It reminds me of the three years my family spent in Panama, with all the exotic florals that constantly sprung up around our house. I was so young then, emotionally, and spent more time outdoors and with people there than I ever have, before and after. Khajuraho reminds me of being a child, carefree and happy.

Edited April 22, 2006 by Mistress Tera