Chintamani-Dhupa

[sarada]

Pound well together sandal-wood, Kunku, costus, Krishnaguru, Suvasika-puspha, white vala and the bark of the Deodaru pine; and, after reducing them to fine powder, mix it with honey and thoroughly dry. It is now known as Chintamani-Dhupa, the "thought-mastering incense". If a little of this be used according to the ceremonies prescribed, he who employs it will make all the world submissive to him.

A fumigation for fascination! A strangely sensual blend, exotic, compelling, and commanding, adapted from an incense recipe found in the venerable sex manual, the Ananga Ranga.

 

The softest, sweet, pale dusty sandalwood, sprinkled with flower petals and warmed with honey. Powdered incense at first, but it grows in strength in minutes as soon as it hits my skin.

For a little while it reminds me of Lotus Moon without the lotus -- in other words, that faintly sweet dry woody pine and amber with a touch of a sandalwoody rose. But then the powdered honey note kicks in and sends this into the stratosphere.

It becomes a gorgeous, pale woody honey incense, shot through with a hint of incensy floral. Very pure, quiet and calming -- I would think soft incense was burning in the room if I walked past someone wearing this. I don't know what the individual notes are, from reading the description, but I imagine pale and fragrant woods, with sandalwood taking the center stage, and maybe a touch of resin (I thought I smelled something like frankincense for a moment).

With just a few minutes' wear I can already see this heading for my favorites list!

eta: Drydown hours later, sandalwood and resins seem to be lingering beautifully...I would swear one of my favorite resins is in there, maybe frankincense but a little lighter. I keep getting wafts of it and it just keeps getting better!

[erishkigal]

this is THE stuff. for reals!

 

on me this is really really light - its slightly warm and incensey... but still light and not overpowering at all. i have to put my wrist to my nose to smell it.. and the most i get is sandalwood and honey.. its really nice!!

 

 

i think this would be a really fun one to layer things with!!!

[tinyvulture]

i smell incense resin and something grassy and woodsy and slightly astringent…balsam or reeds maybe? i’m just guessing there. there’s maybe a tiny amount of nag champa in there somewhere but it’s definitely not your typical head shop incense. i love incense blends, but i’ve never smelled anything like this. i’d say there’s a bit of sweet flower petals in it too, just lingering in the background. i really love this; it’s unique. the only downside is that it doesn't seem to have a lot of throw.

[shelldoo]

in the bottle: sweet, fresh, and sandalwood

 

wet: fresh...not what i was expexting, much cleaner then i thought it would be almsot laundry detergent like

 

as it dires, that cleanish scent fades somewhat thank goodness, and it becomes an almost asian spice type scent. gorgeous. and one i need more of. which is funny because the "clean" stage was scaring me

[Little Bird]

Chintamani-Dhupa makes me really nauseous.

 

In the bottle it is harmless enough... a bland woods & baby powder fragrance. On my skin, this triggers my gag reflex. It smells like a repulsive man's body order (reminding me of someone maybe).

 

Cold, bland, powdery sandalwood and body odor. I have a really bad reaction to this blend. It's not sweet or incensey to me at all. It's still, quiet, cold, and unchanging in a way that creeps me out. There's definitely a sandalwood here, and it's going powdery on my skin. And there's something funky that makes me want to cry or throwup or something.

 

Er. I don't like this one at all.

[filigree_shadow]

Sandalwood with incense. There's something sweet in it too, like a floral note.

 

Something about it smells very clean, which is weird because sandalwood and incense scents don't usually smell like that to me. Doesn't seem to be very strong at all, and I did a fairly large test.

 

When it's dry, it's back to a nice sweet and dry incense scent. It's not the kind of incense scent I like to wear (I like the darker ones), but it's pretty.

[slave1]

CHINTAMANI-DHUPA

 

In Bottle: Woody incense

 

On Skin: This is earthy and very much incensey. I’s a ligth incense, nothing dark and overwhelming and it is very Indian in feel for sure. The honey sweetens the scent but does not give off the signature BPAL honey SN scent. This scent may be a little too earthy for me, mixed with the woody pine and bark it just seems very outdoorsy to me. The sandalwood offers a nice clean note that makes the scent a little masculine to me. All in all it smells like incense to me. I’d love it as a room scent but I don’t it’s one I’d really wear myself and I don’t think it feels sexy at all so sadly it doesn’t quite fit the description for me. It has a light to medium throw and average wearlength.

[Mountaingrrl00]

Chintamani-Dhupa does not smell good to me in the bottle. It has a similar piercing quality to Sol Invictus. I think they share a frankincense note, and some tropical floral topnote. I agree with what others have said about the clean/detergent smell; it's strong intially.

 

On the skin, though, it's really nice! Very real-smelling woods, sandalwood and just a hint of the wood smells in Golden Priapus. It's outdoorsy-masculine, and I like that. There is a hint of honey, not as much as I expected, but with a soft sweetness that mellows out the deep woody smell. The clean floral thing is gone now. There is still a floral dimension on the drydown, but creamier, like a hint of tuberose or gardenia.

 

I like the soft Indian incense phase. This is a skin scent now, subtle.

 

This hasn't wowed me the way I was hoping it would, but it's nice, and I'll probably keep some of the bottle and imp some out on swaps.

[Heavenlyrabbit]

Chintomani-dhupa is a joyful embrace of a sweet incense perfume.

 

There is a vague "clean" to my nose as well but in a very good way. I believe this to be the Deodar pine and am pleasantly surprised since pine can often be overwhelming on my skin.

 

Love this and had an inkling I would. Wish I knew what floral is in this

[valentina]

I'm a bit of an incense junkie, so when I smelled Chintamani-Dhupa in the bottle, it was like sniffing an unburned stick of very nice Indian incense. Once on my skin, it's most like the very clean, bright incenses, not cloyingly sweet or floral, I think because of the pine in the scent. Because it's very redolent of sandalwood and pine, I think this is a very unisex fragrance. The honey in this blend is not prevalent, and I think it serves to soften the sharpness of pine of sandalwood, which could become exceedingly sharp and bitter without something to smooth things out. Overall, it's a classic Indian incense scent, and I think it would work equally well as a room scent or as a fragrance to be worn on the body.

 

ETA: The second time I wore this scent, I found it had a most amazing morph on the long term (2 hours+) dry-down. It went from having a certain edge to having a really lovely, honeyed, soft sandalwood quality. Gorgeous.

Edited February 1, 2007 by valentina

[em_h]

Wet: Very woody, green and sharp at first, but with a hint of honey underneath. Also, sadly, a touch of soap. This one could go a variety of ways.

 

Drying: Pine, wood, moss, and some laundry soap. Honey and incense notes start to emerge a bit more, but faintly. Very light, not much throw, and the soapiness is bothering me. My husband likes it, though.

 

Dry: A nice light waft develops, honeyed and patchouli-ish -- but there's still that lingering laundry soap. Pretty fast fade.

 

Just not sure about this one yet. I'll let it sit for a while and try it again; it may just need some time to settle, or it may not quite work for me. I haven't had irritating soapiness for a while -- don't know what note is causing that.

[sookster]

straight sniff from imp is completely cedarwood...

once applied....soapy, floral and quite lovely indeed.....

this is a crazy morpher...i get some sandalwood after

awhile with the florals....oh yesss...i think it is a hit for me....

big bottle purchase.....

[Melantha]

Simply put: Wearing this, I feel like I'm in India. Sigh.

[phedre]

In vial: Honey and sandalwood

 

wet: Florals, but I can't identify them. It's sweet honey without the sharpness I usually get in BPAL's honey note. Smooth and sandalwoody. This is complex already.

 

Drydown: The orchid's there, but not as overpowering as it normally gets on me. The honey's lovely, and the sandalwood is just smoothing over the edges. I love this so much.

[Bagfish]

Chintamani-Dhupa is a real morpher. On my skin it starts off smelling very "clean" which is a little disconcerting. I'm assuming the clean smell is the pine resin. After 15 minute or so the clean smell develops a lovely, delicate honeyed sweetness and within an hour this sweetness becomes a little more woody and with a dried petals sort of smell, like a pressed flower.

 

CD is a very subtle scent. It is really very beautiful, understated and decorus. It feels almost stately or perhaps that it should be used in a holy but private ritual.

 

I think this will smell even more amazing when I don't have olfactory fatigue from writing reviews for 8 new scents with them plastered over different bits of my arms

 

Edited to add: I am now wearing this on its own and it is a really very marvellous scent, woody, herbal and with the smell of dried petals. The reason I am updating my review is because this definitely reminds me of the way Luperci smells. It is not the same by any stretch of the imagination, but the way the honey weaves in and out of the woody scent has a great deal of similarity to the way Luperci wears on me. This is a definite winner.

Edited February 4, 2007 by Bagfish

[hepkitten]

Resins, incense, sandalwood, and honey...simply lovely, although it fades very quickly on me. (And it makes me hungry for Indian food, which is a problem when you live in the middle of nowhere and don't cook well!)

[forspecial_plate]

Oh, I just love this! It's a soft scent with sweet woods and resins, and some spiciness. Something smells like frankincense. I think I understand what people mean now when they get a pickle smell from frankincense. This scent almost does that but not quite. It smells spicy and exotic. It's a medium strength scent, not a whole lot of 'throw', and after a while it just stays close to my skin. I really like it, the honey doesn't smell cloying or too-sweet like I thought it might. Honestly, I was wondering if it would be too girly for me, and it's not at all. And nothing is turning into powder, which is always awesome! It kept reminding me of some other scent, and I finally decided it was like a spicy exotic cousin of Carceri D'Invenzione.

[Em-]

Very woody, fresh sandalwood, with an incensy undertone and just enough honey sweetness to keep it from being unbearably dry and overwhelming. This is not an every day sort of blend for me, but definitely a keeper.

[Teggy]

If a little of this be used according to the ceremonies prescribed, he who employs it will make all the world submissive to him.

 

No kidding. This is a very dominating perfume. I really can't describe the notes, only what it evokes within me. It screams, "I am woman, hear me roar!" It's very classy and exotic, but it doesn't go "old lady" on me which I was worried it would do. There's something under it that's a bit floral though, and it's the find of floral (maybe the sandalwood?) that churns my stomach a little (violet does that). I think I can handle it though.

 

This is definately a wear a nice dress/put on my designer shoes/seduce a man on a date kind of special occasion perfume. Not a "lean in and take a deep whiff" kind of scent, but more like a "catch a trail of throw in passing."

 

Later...after a bit of wear, it really transformed into something completely different. It smelled like woody incense which was actually a really nice surprise.

 

A few weeks later: Damn I love this upon drydown! So exotic and sexay!

Edited March 29, 2007 by Teggy

[lapetiteflower]

it starts out sharp woods and resins, in the same vein as cathedral, midnight mass and penitance, though much, much sweeter~though not a cloying sweetness. drydown, it is still the lovely woods and resins, much mellowed, with hints of flowers and indian incense, honey and the ghost of something almost lemony. i picture a room filled with incense smoke, lit by candles. the room is draped with dusky purple and pink satins and brocades, mirrors on the wall. you lie on a large comfy bed strewn with flower petals, eating baklava and turkish delight.......

 

[gingersnapp]

 

This is very exotic spice on me. The base is a gorgeously dry sandalwood, and it anchors every bit of the dry, dusty spices perfectly. It's warm and sensual and I fully intend to try to make all the world submissive to me.

[marietta]

Loverly. This starts out very green, almost like wet grass. In fact, I do believe the clean smell others have mentioned is a grass. This topnote does smell like the sort of thing that might become soapy, but it doesn't on my skin . . . it just stays gloriously green. When it fades a bit it is joined by something that reminded me very much of Marc Jacobs, which is a soliflore gardenia on me. Very creamy! Practically edible.

 

When dry, this is a mildly spicy creamy incense. It's strikingly modern, and appropriate for a variety of situations, I think!

 

Verdict: I thought about getting a bottle of this, but cautiously got a decant. No need for caution, as it turns out! This is definitely worthy of a bottle, and possibly more than one. I think this is a must for lovers of gardenia and of florals in general!

[fiddledragon]

This is a very nice, light incense blend. I agree with the "laundry detergent" description earlier...this is sandalwood laundry detergent. It's faint and soft and has hints of floral sweetness surrounded by powdery sandalwood and resins.

 

I prefer the in-your-face deep bright resin blends, so this isn't entirely for me. I'll keep the imp around and see if it ages well, though. It's certainly a scent I'd wear from time to time. It's an incense blend for people who don't normally like or are scared off by incense blends.

[LiberAmoris]

I wore Chintamani-Dhupa today at work and I kept thinking I smelled incense burning---but it was me! I have no idea what's in this, but it really is a honeyed incense blend, subtle but searching. It's also tremendously relaxing. I can feel my blood pressure drop just smelling it. It's like being somewhere else, somewhere meditative.

 

I loved the Lupercalia series last year, and this year's additions are just as wonderful.

[astridclaire]

This was the one Lupercalia I was most looking forward to. The description sounded right up my alley-- honey and sandalwood and such-- but when I put it on my skin it just vanished!

 

Oh well, I've had good luck with the other Lupercalias though!