Svadhinaopatika

[SultryWolf]

Proud, contented, and aglow with joy, she has conquered her lover with her charms, and she knows with all her soul that he is completely and utterly devoted to her. In bliss, she basks in the blessings of the God of Love: golden amber, oude, red sandalwood, massoia bark, honey, and currant.

I fell hard for this one! I'm already halfway through my first bottle.

in the bottle: The first sense is of an earthy greenness.
on: The honey and amber appear, rich, sweet and seductive, coiling around that greenness, whatever it is. The sandalwood is subtle, but does add a woody warmth to the drydown.
Throw and staying power are good.

[neuilly]

Wow, this is nothing like I was expecting...or the decant was mislabeled!

 

I have incense and bark all the way and absolutely none of the sweetness others have mentioned. I get no honey or amber

 

It reminds me of the occult store, and is not at all my type of scent. Alas!

[asciident]

Wet: Warm amber and honey.

 

First on: Red sandalwood makes its appearance. Mostly honey and sandalwood. Something's a bit spicy; the massoia bark?

 

Dry: The oude and sandalwood are making for a very woodsy blend, sometimes overpowering the honey-and-amber combo, sometimes not. I'm ambivalent. And my boyfriend tells me I smell of his mother's old potpourri. I'll try it again in a few weeks to see what I make of it then.

[slave1]

SVADHINAOPATIKA

 

In Bottle: Honey and amber

 

On Skin: Oh happy day!!! This is gorgeous!!!! Dominant note is my favorite note in the world, honey. Thick beautiful BPAL honey… followed by resins and woods. The amber is so golden and warm and combined with the honey just takes my breath away. The woody notes are soft and not too earthy. And the best part? The currant is super faint so I barely detect it and it doesn’t turn to cat pee on me. This is bottle worthy for sure. It’s like an incensey “O”. I am in love!! Light to medium throw and average wearlength.

[edenssixthday]

Svadhinaopatika - Mmm... this is a wonderful scent! It starts out sweet and has a resin/wood scent. It's very smooth and warm and I get such a feeling of "contentment" from this -- like a kitty-cat squinting its eyes and purring in the sunshine. After about a half hour, I notice that I'm catching wafts of the softest, sweetest honey about me, which really impresses me since I can't typically wear honey notes. But in this blend, it's just lovely. In the end, it's warm, sweet, resinous, and woody. It's gorgeous. Although the honey wafts around me, I don't smell any of the other notes unless I sniff my skin up close, and after two hours, this scent has completely dissipated from my skin.

[grrrlennyl]

at first: a sweet, woody scent.

on: red sandalwood and another wood note with a bit of amber.

1.5 hours later: mostly wood notes.

7 hours later: a lovely, sweet wood scent.

overall: this ends up really nice on me. i love the balance between the sweetness and the wood notes.

[concrescence]

in the bottle it smells like straight up fresh honey.

 

once on it is still predominantly honey while wet.

 

as it dries down, though, the amber comes out and it also becomes a little spicy. i'm not sure what is causing that scent, though. luckily, the "red" sandalwood doesn't turn to pencil shavings like many BPAL sandalwood scents do.

 

overall i really like this. it's sexy, yet light, and though it is sweet, it isn't really foody.

[QueenFae]

My first thought when I tried this one was, "French whore house!" But, I love it, and that is a good thing for me because I love strongly feminine scents. This is a very strong, commanding floral, very "pink" for me. This is a blend with balls, and the sandalwood in this puts a nice spin on a bright amber blend. I was sure there was jasmine or roses in this, because it actually smells very much like a powdery floral on me. The honey gives it a smooth, sexy under current. There is just enough spiciness to make it sexy as hell.

 

This is beautiful, and I have been wearing it constantly since I got my bottle

[gwynethr]

I hadn't planned to buy a bottle until I saw so many rave reviews and it sounded pretty much up my alley, with all the notes listed.

 

Wet: I get rose. What the hell? I can't figure out how any of those notes could be rose, but it is rose. Not as heavy as a lot of rose scents, but still rose. And I don't like rose.

 

On: Still rose, though I do smell some other notes. Just not as much as the rose.

 

Dry for a few hours: Finally! Honey, lovely honey, and the rose smell has moved far to the background. There's a hint of sandalwood, which I love so I wish it was more prominent. I'm liking it more after a few hours, but unfortunately I have to wait till it's almost gone to get there.

 

I guess I'll hang on to it for a while to see if it will age better. At the very least, the lable is stunning, so I definitely don't mind having it on the BPAL shelf.

[moon_lemming]

OH GOD. Excuse me while I go roll around in this scent. Damn. I really wish I had tested my Heroine imps before the scents came down, because this is freaking glorious. Warm honey with a little bit of a dry bite, and a tiny hint of sweet/tart berry underneath it all. There's a lot of currant there in the beginning, but it fades as the scent warms up.

 

Holy weasels, this is splendid. Can't talk, must snuffle my wrist for a bit.

[Miss Lynx]

This one was the Heroine scent I was initially the most enthusiastic about, just from the description, but when I first tried it, I didn't like it nearly as much as I'd thought I would, so the only one I ordered a bottle before the cutoff was Khandita, and I didn't even get around to reviewing this one until now.

 

However, having applied it again, and heavier than the first time, so that I could review it properly, I am now wondering what the hell I was thinking.

 

I do like this. A lot. I don't know if I'd quite call it love, but it's definitely a case of Like Very Much. And I am kicking myself for thinking I didn't need a bottle.

 

It's warm and incensey, but also has a slightly pungent, sort of winey edge to it, presumably from the honey and currant. (I have no idea what oude or massoia bark smell like, but I'm told oude is kind of like sandalwood.) It was that edge that initially put me off, but now I'm finding that a plus rather than a minus. Maybe this is one of those different-times-of-the-month skin chemistry things.

 

There's something about this reminds me just a touch of Fortunato, which also had a sort of winey/woody feel, but of the two this one is lighter, warmer, and more... alive, somehow. Definitely more Eros than Thanatos, and fits well with its description. There really is a kind of glow about it.

 

*sigh* Just when I was trying to curb the BPAL habit... Now I may have to find me some more of this!

 

Grade: B+

[elfmaiden]

From the bottle and with it's initial application to my skin Svadhinopatika is very incensey. However once it dries for about 1 minutes, it is really something lovely! I'm getting much more of the amber and the sweetness. The sillage from the honey is far throwing for me too, but when you get close to my wrist you get the beautiful mix.

 

I am really glad I scored a bottle! I agree with the descriptions that it's warm, incensey, and slightly golden.

 

Jenn

[evilbee]

I'm so glad I bought this one at the last second. I hadn't followed the reviews, then on a whim checked them out. Thank goodness!

 

It does start very incensey, which is almost intoxicating... getting you ready for the next stage. It becomes the honey I was hoping for from O (which was strangely menthol on me) - sweet, smooth honey with just a hint of spice. I don't get much else (sandalwood? currant??). It's just sweet, warm and sensual. Much love!!!

[Dinerdulcinea]

imp: resin and floral

wet: very faint. an evergreen and floral step to the front, but very faintly

dry: a beautiful, sweet floral. honey? Maybe, but very faintly.

 

Whoah! As it goes on, the honey gets amped more and more. It's gorgeous, spiced honey!!

 

Let's hope it says that way and never reaches the dreaded "soapy."

[Laurel the Woodfairy]

Every time I see this name, I read it as "spanakopita". *facepalm* However, the description is gorgeous and I'm thrilled to have a decant. On me, this Heroine is like O crossed with Cathedral, which is just as odd and lovely as it sounds. Sexalicious honey and spice, but then a sort of woody incensey thing. It smells like...getting naughty in a confessional booth. Oh, I am so going to hell for this review. But I'll keep the imp.

[Tal Shachar]

Oh man this one was impulse but I'm so glad I got it. The honey (which I was worried about) is barely there on me, just subtly sweetening the woods and the incense. It shifts back and forth between sweet and powdery to woodsy and slightly sharp. The oude is a mystery note that makes me think of Indian incense and adds the extra touch of exoticism. Very sexy, to my nose.

[Maia]

At first - amber and wood incense sweetened by honey - I can't decide which notes that are most prominent in this blend, they all seem to get along and blend nicely. For a while there is a note in the background that smells slightly off (the currant?) but it's barely noticeable. The honey really amps up after a while, which I'm perfectly happy with, and the amber incense note is still there, giving Svadhinaopatika a sexy creamyness. It's warm and sweet and very sexy, I must say. I like it.

Edited June 2, 2007 by Maia

[fountaingrl]

I love honey, and I love amber. I got this in a swap and thought "can't lose, this is gonna be the sex on me." And for the most part it is, I get honey and warm amber and a little floral...

 

And then maybe 30 mins in, and lasting throughout rest of throw time, there is a slight tang/bitterness that smells all for the world like the juice from a jar of green olives. It is very faint, but it is definitely there. So annoying. The rest of the scent is so good I may keep it, especially if I can figure out if the olive part has throw or if it is only discernable if you huff my wrist. Bah, olives! Good to eat, not to smell.

[AmyAngel]

In the imp, it's very perfumey, which I'm starting to recognize as amber and/or sandalwood maybe. On my skin, there's a perfumey sharpness, with sweetness and a touch of wood. As it's drying the honey is becoming more obvious as honey, and I think the amber may be going just a touch powdery. It's a warm sort of scent but not TOO warm, and I think the perfumeyness is the sandalwood now. It's changing a lot as it dries, and is becoming a nice skin scent. It's either fading fast though, or my nose is getting too used to it.

 

After a few more minutes, there's now a hint of sweet fruitiness in with the honey sweetness. It's sweet and pretty and sexy. After a few more minutes, it's sweet and warm and sexy, with a hint of wood, and I'm getting the scent of toasted coconut somehow in there way in the background. I'm really liking this, but it is very light on my skin. The longer I wear it the more I like it, but I'd have to slather to get much from it. It has a bit of a traditional perfume scent, but its richer and nicer than many perfumes. I like this one, but probably won't track down a bottle. If it comes back next year, though...

[maribouquet]

Honey and currant are iffy notes for me - and here they start of nice and sweet, but something in this...I just don't like it. The elements are all nice, but the way they play with my skin is just meh.

[beachbabealways]

Incensy and warm with a very nice sweet-ish honey smell. The sweetness is not over the top. Very sensual.

 

Wear length on me: 7 hours.

Keeper?: I *think* so.

[CrazyPretzel]

Fresh on, it reminds me of honey dusting powder: there's the sweetness of honey but it's powdery and dry. As the oil dries on my skin a dry, cinnamon-like spice comes out (massoia bark?). Woodsy and spicy, but still quite sweet and feminine, with an occasional whiff of something like fresh jasmine.

[whisperingmachines]

SOAP.

I had high expectations for this one. Both honey and amber can be iffy on me, depending on the blend. I don't know if being ill (allergies/cold) has any to do with this, but all I can smell is soap. Wet, dry, SOAP. In the bottle, I smell a wee bit of the sandalwood, but predominantly soap.

 

*sigh*

[fairnymph]

Sniffed in imp: Pale yellow oil. Woody, warm, soft, golden. Rather dry. Slightly sweet. Surprisingly unisex to masculine. Even a little spicy.

[Tess]

I'm not quite sure what to expect from this one. I love currant and amber tends to be quite yummy on me, but sandalwood? Honey? Neither works with me normally. But.... we'll see.

 

In the vial - This is very... perfumey. The honey is very strong and I think it's the sandalwood that gives it that perfume smell. I can sense the wood lurking in the back, but it's not dry yet. Probably will get that way on me, though.

 

Wet - Honey goes buh-bye.

 

Drying - This is really, really clinging to my skin. It smells almost exactly the same as in the bottle right on my wrist, but there is NO throw. *blinks* Wait, there's a teeny tiny throw of a subtle honey which, well, isn't a bad thing. When I press my nose to my wrist it's awesomely sexy, too.

 

Dry (2 hours) - Well, there's more throw than before, but it's very honey and... well, I just am not that much a fan of honey. There is some sandalwood still with it, but it's very much mostly honey. Very, very sweet.

 

Overall - It's not terrible, but I don't like it nearly as much as it should be liked. It's just very, very honey. This would be fantastic on someone who really loves honey. So off it goes to find one of those people.

Edited September 19, 2008 by Tess