Kali

[angelicruin]

... This perfume is a blend of the sacred blooms of cassia, hibiscus, musk rose, Himalayan wild tulip, lotus and osmanthus swirled with offertory dark chocolate, red wine, tobacco, balsam and honey.

In the imp, I smell chocolate and wine. Very rich scent.

Wet on the skin, floral and wine mostly. Dries to a soft floral, chocolate, honeyed wine. I like it.

[crazyredhead17]

In the imp: Sweet, fruity floral

 

Wet: Floral explosion (please calm down, please calm down)

 

As it dries: Very very floral. There's a hint of fruit, but it's mostly tropical blooms.

 

A few minutes later, and it goes a bit soapy. It's fading fast and it's barely been on. There are still some heady florals floating around though. No sign of the wine or dark chocolate or even the honey - the sweet I'm getting is flower sweet.

 

20 or so minutes, it's a sweet floral that'll be perfect for spring. I'm not sure what my skin did to the wine, honey, or tobacco, though, as I tend to amp those. No complaints about the lack of ampage though.

[kjirstiben]

Kali started out strongly in the wine/grape mode. After a few minutes on my skin, however, it tempered and I started to smell spices.

 

Unfortunately, along with the spices, a certain sour/musty smell emerged that I've smelled before in other scents (Jailbait and Eclipse are two examples), and flirted with the notion of ruining Kali entirely.

 

But I stuck it out, and was rewarded by a magical reformulation of the scent... it was sweet wine and spices, and stayed that way for the rest of the day. Quite delightful.

[septima_pica]

A whole bunch of funky sharp stuff burns off first, smelling chaotic. After five minutes it's barely perceptible; after another ten there's actually a rather nice, if faint, smell of honey and wine with a bit of peachiness from the osmanthus. Chocolate never shows up to the party, and neither (alas) does the balsam. I've been curious about this one, so I'm glad I tried it, but it didn't work out.

[djsiberia]

wet: florals, more florals, and more nose burning florals. not getting any dark chocolate, just florals.

 

dry: still sharp and biting florals. none of the other scents are making an appearance.

[smokey188]

When I first opened the bottle of this not remembering any of the notes I got a bliss chocolate blast which made me want to slather it on. Once on the chocolate all but disappears and this becomes a gorgeous honeyed hibiscus and wild tulip scent that I'm quite smitten with, just wish it had better throw as this becomes a skin scent on me.

[levelek]

In the vial, before reading the ingredients list: an unpleasant, grey, rough-textured note jumps out from the left. Definitely the tobacco! Sniffing Kali in the vial put me off so much that I only tried it on my skin days later.

 

Wet: this is a whole lot more pleasant! The tobacco isn't screaming as much, and the blend is much sweeter and complex.

 

Drydown: I like this, I like it a lot more than I thought I would! The honey takes over, but retains a smoky edge that keeps it from becoming cloying, with the florals hiding in the background. There is a hint of acquatic - I think it's the hibiscus that I am warping here; I am not getting any wine.

 

A little later, the chocolate becomes stronger, as do the florals. Thank goodness the osmanthus is behaving. There is a hint of soap but I have yet to find a BPAL perfume that my skin doesn't turn to soap. The aquatic has disappeared, it's all a dry, warm stone now.

[WidgetAlley]

Been a while since I've reviewed.

 

In the Imp: Stale, sweet offertory flowers, with sweet wine, dry cocoa powder and dusty tobacco. It's kind of... tickly. I don't like it all that much, but we'll give it a go.

 

Wet: Incredibly strong flowers, I think the tulip. Smells wet and springy. Rose is coming out to play as well, and threatens to turn the whole thing to soap. No sign of the darker bass notes, which is a pity, since I was hoping this would amp the tobacco, chocolate and wine. Smells a bit like a "clean laundry" candle on me. Overly floral for my tastes, but I'll see what it's like on the drydown.

 

Dry: Not much has changed. I'm getting more of the dry cocoa and honey now, but it's faint and kind of boring and still smells predominantly like one of those "fresh" commercial scents on me. *sigh* If my skin amped cocoa and honey and tobacco, this would be gorgeous, but as it is it's mostly floral and kinda lame.

[Andrea912]

Imp: very flowery with a hint of tobacco and honey; no chocolate or wine

 

Wet: now the balsam is coming through...musk rose as well...no wine or chocolate...tobacco and honey more subtle...

 

Dry: all balsam; tobacco and honey gone; rose is present as well...not a wonderful smell on me

Edited December 19, 2008 by Andrea912

[thewondersmith]

In the imp: Oh God, this is so gorgeous. Definitely one of my favourites so far. I can smell honey and wine, and raspberries, I think.

 

Wet: Mmm, honey and mulled wine. This is so ridiculously delicious. Not getting any smoke, though.

 

Dry: Like anything with florals, this turns a little incensy on me (that might be the tobacco, now that I think about it?), but the honey is still there, which I love. It smells oddly waxy, too, which is surprisingly pleasant. I really wish the wine note had stuck around, since it was absolutely glorious, but all in all, this is a brilliant scent and I'm definitely ordering a bottle.

[thelaurenator]

Wet on skin: WHOA. This is strong. Smells like poisoned wine and chocolate-- probably the combination of sharp florals with low, earthy smells like chocolate. What the hell is up with that gross posion smell? can't figure out for the life of me why some florals do this to me. I've detected the same strange smell in Regan (I'm guessing it's the stephanotis, since orchid works for me just fine in most blends). Perhaps it's the tulip here? I'm not really sure.

 

Drydown: All traces of wine and chocolate dissipate rather quickly, as does the "poison" smell, thank goodness. I tend to amp honey like CRAZY, so I'm left with a faintly floral (mostly rose), faint skin musk, and mostly honey. This is definitely a "skin" scent, doesn't amp very much after a short while. I love the drydown, it's just lovely... but the smell of Kali wet is almost disgusting. Hmm...

Edited December 21, 2008 by thelaurenator

[awesomeoverlord]

I really really wanted to love this. Because it has so many notes that tend to draw me in and because it's Kali. There's something in here that just doesn't agree with me, though. It's a complex, heady floral. The notes flow together beautifully, but there's something in here that throws the blend off for me. It's kind of pungent...maybe the wine?

 

I'm inclined to keep trying with this one

[FallDaze]

This blend sounds interesting blend. I'm expecting it to be rather bold.

 

imp -> I'm getting a swirl of light green florals and chocolates as well as fresh grapes, which I'm going to assume is the wine note.

 

wet -> The chocolate and that fruity/floral scent have faded. The honey is quickly taking over. It seems that the balsam is also starting to make an appearance. The florals are still lightly present, but not overly so.

 

after a while -> It says with a honey/herbal tone. A lot different from what I was expceting. It's much softer and sweeter.

[ouch!]

This is so rich and deep red smelling, and on me is mainly the wine with dark chocolate underneath. The wine is not very boozy like the wine in athens. It's like a very refined dark red thick wine. Almost like jam wine hehe. Very very berry like with the chocolate behind. The chocolate fades quite quite quickly though and this explodes with so many different smells that it's hard to pick any out. It's a floral, but there's this deep redness that is the main note.

 

I don't get any honey but it's probably there mashed in with all the other stuff..

 

There's a whole lot going on with this blend but I would say it's basically a berry wine floral.

 

[SensationalGrendel]

Good Goddess, I love Kali.

 

In the imp, it was unremarkable. Just another floral blend. You can kind of smell a very rich, dark chocolate mixed in.

 

On, each and every note blossoms out. Hibiscus is dominant to me over the other florals, with tulip and lotus coming next. Wine/tobacco is one of my favorite note combinations, and it doesn't fail here. Honey sweetens the dark chocolate and highlights the depth of the wine/tobacco. Balsam is quietly lingering the background, adding a touch of earthiness to combine the floral and foody notes.

 

Overall, it's a sweet, complex floral. On my bottle list!

 

 

[dorothy humbird]

Wow, this is so much more deeply beautiful than I was expecting. With all the florals, I predicted this would be high and bothersome, but on reflection, many of the florals in 'this blend have a sort of foodier component, or a resinousness, that is unlike the ones that cause more trouble (jasmine and magnolia on me). I get a very sweet headiness from this -- the honey, red wine, lotus, and osmanthus are probably all swirling together to create this effect. I expect the cassia is contributing a little bit of spice, and the musk rose a little more fullness. I get no tobacco at all, and couldn't tell you what balsam or hibiscus smell like in the first place, so there's no telling if they're present or not.

 

Only 5 minutes on, though, this is already fading, and turning just a tad soapy. This isn't necessarily bad, because the intensity of application when wet is way too much to maintain.

 

An hour and a half later, this has no throw at all. It was dubious that I'd fall for Kali from the start, but given this turn of events I'm not putting Kali on the keeper list.

[sadtomato]

I get wine, tobacco and chocolate from this scent...and it's gorgeous. I didn't ever try this before 'cause i thought i'd hate it but i'm in a sniffing circle and wow...this is a pleasant surprize. this is being added to my wishlist!

sweet, sexy, fruity, and a good scent to represent kali.

[milica]

sooooo good! but hard to describe... a bit floral, a bit fruity, a bit sweet... a bit of everything.

I love this kind of scent, very well blended, complex, and now that imp is about 1,5 year old I can't smell individual notes, all I get is one solid perfect scent that lives up to it's name and description, in spiriual kind of way, perfect.

Edited May 22, 2009 by milica

[impolight]

Hellooooo CHOCOLATE! Mint, Licorice, Incense and Cherries insinuate themselves into the mix

and harmonize from deep within the folds of a much loved smoking-jacket...

Kali is like an exotic pattern on cloth.

She is purply-black.

She is Taboo.

She is uneasy sleep.

[kunoichi]

A lovely sweet and deeply complex scent of floral with a deeper, deady base of deliciousness; it's too hard to pick out notes, as they are all blended together so well. On my skin, it takes on a slight, sweet powdery note which blends well with the base, turning it into a lighter sweetness swirled with velvety darkness - lovely! After a few hours it is quite a soft scent, settling down to a delicate chocolate sweetness lingering on my skin.

[amritchie]

This is my first review, so I hope it's okay!

 

In the imp, I get the wine really strongly, a very sophisticated red wine. But there's something slightly sour about it - it reminds me a little of sweat. Its not very encouraging, and doesn't make me keen on trying it. But the tobacco comes through a little, which gives it a nice edge.

 

Wet, the tobacco is much stronger. I can still smell the wine, and the florals are starting to come through as well. Definitely an improvement from in the imp.

 

Dry, it's almost all floral. The tobacco and wine notes have disappeared. It reminds me of potpourri! There's a bit of musk too. It's nice, but it's not going to be one of my favourites.

 

[summertimecrime]

In the imp: WHOA this is a very..heavy smell. Sour wine, with an underlying smokey trash scent?

 

Wet: Red wine coupled with crushed, dark & wet roses. Interesting. A few seconds later, I am hit with tobacco.

 

Drydown: The first time I tried this, it dried on me and smelled horrific. Now it's a very mature, dark scent. Mmmm. I cannot stop sniffing my wrist-the rose scent has darkened considerably and smells deliciously musky.

 

Definitely like this, so glad I gave it a second chance!

[Dharklady]

In bottle: Wow. This is a wonderfully complex scent from the first moment you open the bottle. It’s difficult to pick out any of the individual notes other then the chocolate. The tobacco, honey, and balsam are this wonderful layer of insulation that beats the crap out of the florals and plays beautifully with the dark chocolate to keep it from being “foodie”.

 

Wet: This scent is a lot less in your face then I thought it would be from its “in bottle” smell. The chocolate is indeed dark and the blend of florals adds a gentle femininity to it while the tobacco, balsam and honey ground the whole for a very earthy feel. Sadly I get no red wine from the mix, it may be too well blended into the florals for me to distinguish it. It is a lot softer then I had hoped.

 

Dry: A light throw, with florals overlying the chocolate. I really wanted to like this one. I really did. Like Alice the florals keep me from being able to fall in love with it however.

 

Notes: The whole of the parts definitely triumphs here. It is tantalizingly seductive, whispering dark and secret mysteries with a face feminine, yet deep and terrible.

 

[Greenwoodtree]

Really thought this would be wonderful, the complexity seemed to overpower the florals that tend to amp. However, after wearing it for a bit, (15 min+) the florals amped as usual killing all the rest of the wonderfulness. ( another big disappointment.

[FelicityTwitchell]

In the bottle (well imp): berry vinegar

 

Wet: drunken perfume

 

Dry: perfume (or what I always thought perfume should smell like) a classic, complex, feminine in an adult fashion.

 

This is a perfume I could imagine an classic era Hollywood actress wearing (Myrna Loy, perhaps?). I'm not sure it is very me, I like the touch of sophistication though. I also think it is more of a daytime or a sophisticated evening scent then a night-out-looking-for-danger siren scent. It isn't my true love or anything but I think I just might get a bottle of this.

 

Second Try : Overly fruity and sweet with a hint of cocoa, same imp. Blahh

Edited May 31, 2010 by FelicityTwitchell