Abhisarika

[AliBabble]

She boldly goes forth to meet her lover, heedless of propriety, intoxicated by love, and radiant with youthful, innocent passion: Damascus rose, African orchid, cream accord, and Kashmir musk.

i've been waiting like crazy for this one..
out of the bottle, it is beautiful, simple and mysterious. i am relieved that it is a very soft rose - a gently creamy rose-vanilla.
on my skin, the other notes pop out much more brightly - the orchid becomes more prominent than the rose, and still this is rather light, and almost requires slathering. it's a little spicy while wet, with a bright, shining quality, and the feel of fresh blossoms. it takes a little bit for the musk to come out, it is subtle, as is the cream...it's like the scent has "blurry edges" from the musk and cream, rather than an obvious "cream" scent...but the longer it wears, the more musk and cream develop, like a subtle sugar-dusting...
this is just beautiful...very natural, light and feminine...without any cream-plasticiness...the rose-type is slightly citrussy, a touch orange-y almost. this scent is fairly bright, but doesn't seem to go soapy, thankfully. it's light and extremely wearable. pretty!!

[whitemyrrh]

In the bottle, this was a bit brighter than I anticipated. Not sharp or intense, just more of a floral kick. I was thinking it'd be a little more muted, perhaps a bit like Alice, because of the cream accord and rose. It really is the orchid that takes the lead, at first, and my feelings on orchid are a bit mixed. Apparently, wow, I amp them orchids good.

 

As it ages in my chemistry, I discover that the rose is actually a component of what I was describing to myself as orchid--the two blend together almost seamlessly, it's quite lovely. The rose has a bright, almost citrus quality to it, as AliBabble described. I love rose and so wish it had a little more prominence in the blend--though I suspect it would on someone who has more reliable chemistry as far as roses are concerned.

 

There is a powdery component to the fragrance that flirts with being soapy, but morphs out of it just in time. A half hour into application, I do find a musky rasp at the bottom of the orchids that builds more and more into the drydown.

 

Kashmir musk, what I can pick out, has a similar texture to white musk--but it is a little more 'ladylike,' if that makes any sense. There's definitely an expensive, 'big ticket' feel to this musk, perhaps why it's only turning up in Salon and Limited blends.

 

As it stands, this is a lovely fragrance, full of spring and blossoming-time associations. "Youthful, innocent passion," yes; profoundly feminine, and maybe a little niave. I reckon this will be finding its way onto my wrist for the equinox and maybe Beltane. Beyond that, as every note of this blend is said to deepen and mellow with time, I am very eager to see how Abhisarika will grow into her own.

[Little Bird]

I think that the Heroines hate me a little. Abhisarika was the one that I had the most hope for, but even this one doesn't hold up well on my skin.

 

In the bottle and on my skin, this is incredibly sharp and off-putting. It's an intensely sharp, bright musk. On my skin, a bit of the rose comes out and quickly goes soapy. Sharp musk and men's creamy shave soap.

 

Soap. Loads of soap. Creamy shave soap that you imagine to be white and fluffy, but still soap. Every once in a while, a bit of rose or a sweeter note pops out to play, then quickly disappears back under the soap.

 

This is headache central for me. Sometimes entire series of scents seem to go off on my skin... and the Heroines are all turning out to be pretty bad on me. Boo.

[HappyLoveJoy]

Abisharika goes on smelling too floral and somewhat like Baby Magic lotion (which I really don't care for) but pretty soon after that it smells like beautiful yellow roses. I say yellow because it's a sunny, sort of buttery sweet rose. The orchid and rose play nicely together and when they step aside, the creamy kashmir musk scent comes out and what I'm left with is a sheer, sweet, powdery musk with a creamy floral edge. It's a warm, sweet floral that's fresh and clean but not overly so. I'm contemplating getting another bottle. (Reminiscent of Tiger Lily.)

[astridclaire]

On Wet: Whoa. This is screaming high-pitched florals. There must be jasmine in this because only jasmine can do such horrible things on my skin. I'll give it a few minutes to dry out and find the cream and musk...

 

5 minutes later: Soapy, soapy, soapy jasmine gone bat-shit.

 

10 minutes later: I can almost barely maybe detect the cream I was so looking forward to but it's overpowered by the soapy florals.

 

I have to go wash this off... it's giving me a headache.

[noumenon]

There are a lot of top-note florals in here. It's the orchid, I'm pretty sure, and the rose is the flightly, volatile kind of rose from Lucy's Kiss more than a deep rose like Rose Red or Parlement of Foules.

 

It has a bit in common with Kindly Moon - very perfumey, but also incredibly feminine and lovely. Kindly Moon has a super-sweetness to it that isn't in Abhisarika, however.

 

I was looking forward to the cream accord, but I don't pick anything like it in here. Fortunately, it isn't going to powder on me. It's staying pure floral.

 

Good perfume, but completely anathema to floral-haters.

[PilotKitten]

Wonderful wonderful gorgeous rose!! There's also a clean water-y accord (much like Black Moon and Kindly Moon) in the background. Just gorgeous... I will definitely be ordering a second bottle of this one. Kindly Moon + Rose = Abhisarika

[hepkitten]

Oh, I love this one. It's creamy rose, with a background of musk and something subtly exotic but unclassifiable.

 

Definitely floral, however...I agree with those who said that if you really dislike florals, this isn't for you. But if you'd like to try one, this might be a good entry point, as it has some other things going on.

Edited February 4, 2007 by hepkitten

[dronzeka]

When I smelled this in the imp, I got honeyed rose (which was wonderful!). I think the honey was coming from the cream accord? Anyway, initially this was a lovely sweet rose scent, but as it dried down, I had the orchid come much more to the fore. I like orchid, but I liked the sweetened rose better. Eventually, this became orchid underlaid by a kind of powdery sweetness, possibly the musk, possibly the cream. I'd have liked the rose to stick around further - but it is a very pretty scent. Like the people say, you have to like florals, but if you do, give it a try.

[olympia301]

 

Abhisarika is a fabulous white floral to my nose. It is as if the assignment was to make the smell of a gardinia out of everything but the essence of gardinia. It is exceptionally fresh and non cloying, which is a real accomplishment for this sort of deeply creamy white flower. I don't get any jasmine here as some do, and the rose is blended into the rest of the flowers so that I can't quite get a grip on it either. But the effect of the whole is indeed floral, and it is beautiful. So, for all the flower lovers out there, this one is a real treasure.

(I love the concept, it's about time that we all got a bit of information on how beautifully Indian culture handles sexuality, so different form the west and entrancing. If we were busy dividing the Annunciation into five parts and panting over each one, the Indians were busy deconstructing the orgasm. *sigh*)

[outofrhyme]

In the bottle:

Rose, but not oppressively so, nor is it necessarily very sweet. I think I can get the orchid and musk, too; I'm not sure about the cream accord.

 

Wet:

Not sweet at all - it's actually almost bitter. Rose and orchid. Very perfumey, possibly in a commercial way.

 

Dry down:

Up close, it smells very commercial and not very good. From a distance, though, I think I like it. Definitely rose and orchid - and only a little bit sweet, but no longer bitter. The other notes make it a bit more exotic, and the musk makes it feel a little bit damp (but not in a bad way).

 

Final thoughts:

I *think* I like it. I need a little bit more wear-time to be certain, though. I don't think I'm completely in love with it, and I have a hard time reconciling the keeping of LE bottles that I'm not in love with, so I may end up passing it along. But it needs more wear time first.

 

A little later...

I'm really warming up to it. I think it's going to be a keeper. But I'm not completely convinced yet.

[Em-]

Very soft creamy rose. Quite lovely and mellow.

[LiberAmoris]

Holy crap, this is so good.

 

As others have said, Abhisarika is a floral living large. I love rose, so this is like my happy place. The rose is so pretty here, and Damascus rose must be the kind that always seems to have a dark halo around it to my nose, like there's the slightest hint of leather or something, which dissipates eventually but leaves a bit of darkness in its wake. The orchid is lovely and doesn't overwhelm as it can in other blends for me, the musk is heavenly, and the cream accord is so subtle---not at all like the milk/cream note I know from other blends. It's much softer here.

 

Beautiful stuff.

[morrigain]

Mmm... this is a lovely scent. On me, the cream came out the strongest with the rose and orchid blending nicely into the background. It's not too strong, but it has a good throw.

[shelldoo]

in the bottle: perfumy florals.

 

wet: roses. orchids. a floral lovers dream

 

as it dries the musk starts twining its tentacles about the flower garden. strong musky scent w/ a rosey -orchid background. not really creamy at all. and way more flowers then i tend to do regularly, *but* my dh is loving it. came in the room and said wow something you have on is gorgeous....so....

[siddal]

In the imp, I detect mainly rose, cream and orchid (this also triggered some kind of scent recognition w/ me, like a memory, and I got so distracted I knocked it over and spilled half the imp on my desk wah! )

On my skin, this is very ligh, and become mostly orchid. bummer. I was hoping the rose and cream would shine through more.

[jesvet]

Soooo pretty.

 

In the bottle: creamy roses, not the wet damp fresh rose note I'm more accustomed to.

 

Wet: mostly rose, with the orchid and musk peeking through. About 10 minutes into wearing it I started sneezing like crazy, and I have no idea which note was the trigger, but thankfully it stopped pretty quickly.

 

Dry: mostly creamy musk with just a touch of florals softening it. Has very good throw and wearlength, especially since my skin really eats up oils. Not getting the aquatic note others have mentioned, but I'm OK with that. It really is quite beautiful and very well blended.

[alliekat13]

At first sniff, this was a very clean, fresh, and femenine scent. The damascus rose is not at all rosey, if you're not a fan of rose scents I reccomend this anyway. The Kashmir musk is light and airy, and the orchid adds an exotic touch to the scent. The cream accord is very light, and never really comes out, but this scent is so beautiful. This was love at first sniff, and I definetely want to get more of this.

[maijasu]

I usually can't wear rose scents, but this sounded so pretty that I had to try a decant--and I'm not disappointed that I did! This is definitely a floral scent, but it doesn't turn into soap, powder, or dryer sheets. It's creamy and feminine and light. It doesn't last as long as most other BPAL fragrances on me, but I may try it in a scent locket because that usually helps. This is one of my favorite florals, and I may have to snag a bottle before it goes away!

[puck_nc]

Origin: decant from eviltemptressdq's circle

 

Initial Thoughts: I'm always willing to try a rose scent. And I have no idea if the Kashmir musk will be a pale musk that works on me or a dark musk that doesn't.

 

In the Bottle: A softly creamy musk. Very warm and inviting.

 

Wet: Musk with floral swirling through it, but not the screaming MUSK!!! of doom that I have gotten in the past.

 

Drydown: It is a true meld for me...I can tell that it's lightly musky, sweetly creamy and daintily floral, but no one note dominates.

 

Verdict: I think I like this. Must play with the imp some more.

[juniperus]

Bottle: orchid and musk

Wet: the same, with rose peeking out gently behind

Dry: oh the creamy musk! oh the orchid! oh this is faaaabulous on me!

Later: Hellyeah am I going to get a big bottle of this, it's gorgeous, seductive, and delicate. breathtaking!

[LadyMedb]

This is plain old gorgeous, creamy rose with a bit of sexy musk. I absolutely adore it - it's everything that I wanted Bearded Lady and Brides of Dracula to be (the former I like, but it does go a little bit powdery, and the latter is pure hand soap to me). I find it takes a LOT for this to show up on me, and that it fades really quickly, so I'm going through it rather quickly, but the balance is so GORGEOUS that it's totally worth it.

 

There's almost a fruity aspect to this, but every time I try to characterise it, it sort of fades. I like this elusive element - it gives the fragrance richness and character, not to mention sexiness.

 

One of my favourite BPALS ever.

Edited February 27, 2007 by LadyMedb

[prettypinkkitty]

In bottle: spicy rose.

Wet: That Johnson and Johnson baby lotion. BOO.

Where is the musk? Where is the cream? Where is anything? I weep at my body chemistry. The traitor!

Drydown: The rose is peeking out from the baby lotion, but that's it. Stupid body chemistry.

[Melenass]

I smell the rose of Whip with the musk and crem of Antique Lace, perfectly united.

Is GORGEOUS

[faifai]

I feel like I am coming down with something, so my sniffer might not be in top working order, but I'll give this a shot.

 

Something about it results in my confusing it with Vasakasajja repeatedly (and Vasakasajja reminds me of Black Moon). I think all three scents share the same floral "vibe", a lush, creamy, glowing feel.

 

Abhisarika is much softer though, and a slightly less sweet rose and orchid blend; the combo of the two floral notes makes me think it is a jasmine-but-not-jasmine scent. Like gardenia but smoother and creamier, and like jasmine but not as bright and clear, with none of the sharp greenness or soapiness that roses generally have on me. The musk ties everything together and is barely, barely there (I amp all musk notes like mad, so for me to not really notice it here is quite amazing!).

 

It's a very beautiful blend, and the lack of too much musk would make it good for wearing anywhere, anytime. It is an intimate fragrance without too much throw; one would have to be very close to you to recognize that you're wearing perfume.

 

Unfortunately, as it is so light, it seems to vanish completely in about an hour. Frequent re-applications are fine by me, though. This is one my floral-lovin SO will truly appreciate.

Edited March 3, 2007 by faifai