Kubla Khan

[voodoocatwoman]

Through sunlit caves of ice, roses unfurl amidst dancing waves of serpentine opium smoke and amber tobacco, golden sandalwood, champaca, tea leaf, sugared lily, ginger, rich hay absolute, leather, dark vanilla, mandarin, peru balsam, and Moroccan jasmine.

I am having such good luck with scents lately. Kubla Khan is no exception. In the imp I can smell jasmine mostly. After it dries, the jasmine calms down and it turns into a smoky incense. It is an exotic heady blend- I think I am in love. Definitely a favorite.

(Winter Switch Witch, I LOVE you for allowing me to try this!)

[twilighteyes]

In the imp - vanilla, rose, sandalwood, jasmine

 

Wet on skin - sandalwood, vanilla, leather, tobacco, rose.

 

Dry on skin - Rose and jasmine. And sugar. This is a very nice sweet purple jasmine. Rose is backing off as Jasmine takes over. So far, full of win.

[Banyangirl]

Seriously, where is the Kubla Khan love? It's wonderful! Amber, vanilla and sandalwood all love my skin, and it comes across as a very caramel-colored scent on me. The opium smoke and tobacco also come through a bit, though to other people's noses, not necessarily my own. I adore this, whole heartedly. It's a bit heavy, though, so I wouldn't ever wear too much at once.

[chrystanthem]

in the imp: soft, smoky goodness that makes me warm and fuzzy inside.

 

wet on: A little stronger than in the imp, but still a lovely, smoky scent without too much florals. It is slightly sweet, with a warm, golden (but also slightly dark) vanilla. I think I'm in love!

 

drydown: the vanilla fades slightly, and a warm smell of smoke rises... Reminds me of a desert, but not the dry, iffy kind of desert. rather just the colours and feel of it... It is not very strong, and I could definitely wear this every day!

 

Final thoughts: WONDERFUL! Kubla Khan is my current favourite scent. It is so comforting and warm, and it works perfectly with my skin. Thumbs way up!

 

EDIT: I just want to include how amazing it's staying power is. It lasts all day and night long! <3

Edited February 18, 2009 by chrystanthem

[Bluestocking]

In the imp: Whoa, this is incredibly complex (which is probably obvious from that laundry list of notes). The scent definitely has a sweet (almost sugary), warm feel to it, and it seems appropriately rich. With each sniff, I swear I smell another one of the elements, but what stands out most are the dark vanilla, leather, champaca, amber tobacco, and I think a touch of the ginger, adding a bit of tingle. The flowers seem absent, or else so well blended that they're indistinguishable.

On, wet: A big, hazy plume of opium smoke, complicated with the leather, peru balsam, tea leaf and tobacco. This is more masculine, much less golden and sweet, with something almost minty in the background from the balsam. However, it's the perfect scent for the start of Coleridge's tale: this is the scent of a poet in his study, high on opium and dreaming fantastically.

On, dry: Now it's closer to the way it smelled in the imp: warm, rich, sweet and creamy. I get the dark vanilla, opium and tobacco in the forefront, melded together in a delicious sweet-spicy-smoky haze, but I also get twinges of jasmine and hay absolute, with some sandalwood and buttery-soft leather beneath, grounding the sweeter smells. There's a touch of champaca giving it an incense-y vibe, but the rose and lily are so subtle for me that they're difficult to pick out. On the whole, it smells hedonistic, complicated and intoxicating. So, basically, perfect.

Later: The opium and leather are gone, so it's mostly dark vanilla, tobacco and sandalwood now: smooth, spicy, sweet and woody. It's a little bit like the Antikythera Mechanism now, with the dark, smoky vanilla and tobacco. This still has a very golden feel, although it's darker now and much fainter and less heady than it was—like the trip is winding down, wearing off, leaving just a ghost of itself behind as a memory.

Overall: This really does capture Coleridge's poem astoundingly well. For all those complicated notes, they blend very well into something that, well… sort of smells like the Milk of Paradise. The complexity makes this interesting, the way it unfolds and evolves is fascinating… but really, I just like this one because it smells great: smoky, spicy and complex, yet somehow light and shimmering and golden. It's beautiful.

 

 

[donnatron]

Bottle: The type of tongue curling, buttery sweetness I associate with coconut. I had to check the ingredient list to ensure there wasn't any here.

 

Wet: I definitely get that cold, minty "cave of ice" effect right off the bat. Reminds me of a lot of the yule scents over the years. The other scents are all exceptionally warm by contrast and the drydown to this is really interesting. I get the mandarin primarily and it combines with the opium smoke--I think--to really give me a thick, coconutty quality to the scent. As the scent unfurls I start to get that heady incensey quality I love from champaca, a sweet sugared floral from the lily and a general smoky vanilla quality. This is really complex and heady and I've been sitting on my bottle for almost a year because I just could not figure it out when I first received it.

 

Dry: There is a lingering fruity sweetness to this one on top of a blend of the opium, vanilla, leather, champaca and tobacco. The initially icy cold blast from the drydown has disappeared but there's still a definite chill to this one. It feels decadent, rich and classical--definite an evocation of Coleridge's poem. If you're a fan of deep, complex, ever-morphing scents this is a must try.

 

Throw: Fairly close to the skin, actually.

 

Overall: It took me a long time to come around to Kubla Khan. It's the type of scent where you know it's special and you know there's something really unique about it but you can't place your finger on that uniqueness. It's a beautiful, evocative scent and I am so glad to have something this complex and beautiful in the GC. We can snap this one up any time we like, y'all!

Edited February 16, 2009 by paperrose

[MisterShrapnel]

My review is going to be really biased because both the concept and the note list are made of WIN and I already need to upgrade my imp to a bottle ASAP. HAHA! Sorry! (It's more like trying to prove to myself that everything is compatible with my chemistry rather than to see if I need to wear this. I'm crazy.)

_{I saw "sugared lily" and my eyes went}

Sweet, hazy... really hard for me to read. There's a languid overlay of the opium smoke (I'm just starting to get familiar with the Lab's opium note! It's interesting.) wrapping around everything else. The champaca and sugared flowers gives it a mood reminiscent of Midnight on the Midway, I think, but this feels richer and darker, gold rather than purple in my mind (I don't know why I think this!). Red Lantern? This has something the tone of Red Lantern in it too (sans the caramel); I'm thinking it's the "golden tobacco."

I think the floral party (jasmine!) is starting to turn a leedle "powder/soap/hairspray" on me (nooo! back! BACK!) but the vanilla, hints of citrus, and even leather are delicious. I don't know if I get hay at all, I keep trying to find it! There is something a little chilly about it (for the ice caves), despite the bevy of warm notes.

I should probably wait, uh, a long time to post a more coherent (and intelligent, hah) review but I'm ridiculously excited that I found my imp. I'll come back later...?

This has a little bit of everything--a twinge foody and quite exotic... overall it's generally sweet. This does have some intimidating ingredients, but I'd love to see even more people try it. =)

[Kikkervisje]

Ok. I guess I can sort of see a cave, the idea of exploration--also I can smell rose, amber, tobacco, smoke, sandalwood, tea, lily, vanilla, and jasmine. The others maybe.

 

Wet: Here's the thing... For me, the mix is off. My immediate response is that it's rather unpleasant. But this is holding my wrist to my nose. The lily scent is *strong*, and while I love them visually, they are rather harsh smelling flowers. On the other hand, it smells better from a distance (aka, just wearing it rather than giving it a good whiff) and it actually is a very pleasant, confidant, spicy musk when I don't get an olfactory attack from the lily. I think after it's been on for an hour or so, it will be better as the lily notes dissipate.

 

Dry: After about an hour, the rather putrid lily scent takes a back seat. The result is a nice warm spicy scent (think the incense scent at a Buddhist or Taoist temple--or at least the ones I've been to) with definite lasting power.

 

Might be a bottle in my future. Decisions...

[cinnamonster]

I'll begin by saying it's possible that I have really weird body chemistry.

 

I've seen the reviews comparing this to Khajuraho and Red Lantern, well on me it is nothing like either. Further still, neither Khajuraho or Red Lantern is anything like the other on me.

 

I don't like the initial smell wet, but am unsure what it is like. This quickly fades into a scent I like, a strong vanilla-ey tobacco smell with sweet, soft opium incense.

 

I may be the only person in the world to say this, but on me, and I have my right hand as Kubla Khan, and the left as Black Lace, they are very very similar. The difference being that Black Lace has a gentle waft of men's cologne drifting over it and Kubla Khan has a couple of extra grains of sugar.

 

Please, someone else try them together!

[rayvn1]

What a deep, rich scent! Went on bitter and unpleasant for the first few minutes, but quickly developed into a fabulous scent! No rose on me which is strange, but the opium, amber tobacco, sandalwood and hay absolute are blending nicely. There's the faintest hint of sweetness rounding it out. Wonderful scent and definitely a keeper for me

[fairnymph]

In the bottle: Golden oil. Sweet, rich, heady, complex. A little sour. Jasmine, hay and opium smoke jump out. It has a slightly powdery edge, and it's a little bitter and smoky. Exotic, unisex.

 

Wet: HAY, a bit of sweet mandarin, loads of vanilla and piney-smooth tea. The sugared lily, too, emerges. And tobacco, astringent and a little biting. The leather is the bold, highly polished sort.

 

Dry: Much, much darker and more bitter. Also, more dry and woody. Getting a bit of piney balsam. Mandarin long gone, as are the lily and vanilla. There was a brief glimmer of ginger, but it's gone.

 

Summary: Bitter, smoky opium and tobacco with sour hay and warm sandalwood, touched with heady jasmine. More masculine on final drydown. Low throw.

 

 

[angelicruin]

Wet on my skin, Jasmine, Sandalwood, Vanilla, Smoke, & Mandarin.

 

Not really getting any rose from this...but leather is discernible as it dries further. This is a nice balance of floral, fruit, amber, tobacco, and leather. I like it...very complex.

[Caerphilly]

In the imp: Butter! No, buttercream frosting. That's all I get. Yummy!!

 

Wet: It is a complex scent, as everyone is saying. The rich butter smell fades pretty quickly and I smell something smokey and herby and dry. Not too sure about it now...

 

Dry: BO headache! Have to wash it off! Smells like someone who's eaten only Chinese food for a month, excercised twice a day without using deodorant or showering. I fell dirty, even though I just got out of the shower!

 

Overall: I haven't had to take another shower to wash a scent off since January (Frumious Bandersnatch). And that was just because it burned, not because I didn't like the smell. I guess I don't like the smell of opium, and I know I don' like Jasmine. I think that it just morphed too much on my skin and wasn't the yummy goodness I smelled right out of the imp.

[Veronica]

I get a mix of smoky opium incense and amber from this. It's a cool, dry scent and definitely very interesting. If I sniff hard, I can get just the barest hint of lily, but not much. The leather comes through in this scent as well. The description is apt, but the scent alas, is not for me.

[eatingthesea]

if i had but one quick sentence to say about this oil, it would be "we are soooo damn lucky to have this in the general catalogue!" that's one of the first things i thought, at least, once i got to the drydown and was able to appreciate Kubla Khan's full loveliness. and i'm not surprised to see some other forumites saying something similar. since this scent has like a library of ingredients listed and i'm not the best at picking them out, i'll just say that this scent is classified as "smoky sugar"-like to my nose. lol. i don't know how helpful that is, but... yes, in the drydown it is most definitely smoky, but tinged with sugar. i'm considering a bottle upgrade. lovely.

[miri]

Oh wow - this is not one I'd have picked for me from the list of notes (leather's usually an automatic dealbreaker for me - I don't like the scent of the real stuff, or the notes that mimic it! And I'm not a fan of rose), but I only get ones I like!!!

 

This is a very well blended sweet, slightly smoky, golden vanilla/amber scent. I've caught little whaftlets of sandalwood, maybe a slight hint of ginger... But the florals and leather haven't made an appearance.

[chimera87]

I wanted to try this, but wasn't sure because of the rose note. Roses normally turn into total grandma perfume on me. This was a lovely surprise...for awhile at least.

 

This is a musky and somewhat smoky and warm sweet floral. This is VERY sexy. However, this seems to turn on my skin after about a half hour of wear, and because of that I'm on the fence. While it's still in it's yummy stage, I mainly seem to get some roses (but this isn't an in your face rose, and it blends in perfectly with the other notes) with jasmine intertwined with some other florals that I can't really pinpoint. There's a bit of a sweet musky vanilla and I can sense the peru balsam in with it, lending this a creamy feel...which I love. I think this is what makes the rose work on me. Last but certainly not least is the opium, and it gives this a somewhat dark and brooding feel. The opium smoke swirls all around the other notes. If I concentrate and inhale deeply, I can get a little leather and champaca and a bit of sandalwood. I don't detect any mandarin in this, but that's ok.

 

After half an hour of glorious scent with a moderate throw, this then starts to smell like wet diapers on me. Seriously. I'm hoping it's just my hormones this week, but it honestly smells like a wet diaper...complete with a bit of baby powder. Thank God that it no longer has much throw once it reaches this stage. Overall, this is a gorgeous fragrance, but it doesn't seem to work with my skin. Maybe I'll give it another try in a week to see if there is a change.

 

[devilot]

In the vial: Something deeper-- perhaps the opium smoke or tobacco? Something almost, cologney.

 

Wet: Whoa, yes, cologne. I really don't know what notes I'm smelling, might be the peru balsam (sort of woody) and the jasmine. But somehow it translates to "man cologne" on me. *resniffs* Yup, definitely balsam. Sharp woody smell. Sharp ginger! Yes, ginger.

 

Drydown: It's softening just a tad. Wonder if it's the 'dark vanilla' or even the hay absolute that's helping to soften the blend.

 

Verdict: I was really surprised by how this blend smelled compared to how I read the notes. It didn't manifest at all, how I thought it might. At any point, I'm still a bit disappointed because I'm still on my quest for a tobacco blend to call my own...

[PersephonesChild]

I'm pretty miffed about this one, because it has so many notes of different kinds-- rose, opium, hay, tobacco, ginger, lily... man, by the description, this is all over the place. But to my nose, it's bubblegum. And really, just bubblegum, straight up, not the complex kind. Ordinarily when I ring up bubblegum at the BPAL counter, I wash it off an move on, but I feel like sticking around, out of some kind of dedication to the fact that the description for this is so interesting that it must get better at some point-- right?

 

Ok, it morphs somewhat on late drydown. I can definitely pick out the opium layer on top, a little incense, no rose, no lily, a vague hint of jasmine, and some light, gingery tea. I'm waffling, because I love the opium, but I think I like the note better in Belle Epoque, and Flowering Chrysanthemums.

Edited May 22, 2009 by PersephonesChild

[EdenIris]

In the imp and wet: cake frosting.

 

Drying: still very sweet (vanilla and the sugared lily, I think), but something darker coming out, maybe the balsam of Peru. I occasionally get a waft of hay/tobacco/champaca, too.

 

Several hours later: back to mostly vanilla, maybe a hint of opium.

 

So many components, and happily the ones I was concerned about don't show up (the jasmine and leather), but it all reduces to a vague sweetness. I will finish the imp; it's pleasant, but I'm not sure I need any more.

Edited May 22, 2009 by EdenIrisMae

[liquidtrance]

<3 I think this might be a keeper.

There are so many notes, it's quite difficult to describe anything in particular. It smells very golden, a warm yellow. Not distinguishable as particularly floral, but it has the same candor. As it is drying, it starts losing that floral reminiscence. Maybe it is the leather, hay, vanilla, tea leaf.. There's just a soft, round balance. Very mellow (opium? haha). Not sharp the way that most other BPALs with floral seem to go on me. I really like that it has that softness, and roundness without being vanilla (which seems to be the underlying culprit for most of those 'likes'). As it gets drier and drier, though, it is losing some of it's softness. Nothing sharp.. just, less smooth. An unexpected, very light, floral seems to crop up. Brings back some of the softness. Definitely huffable. Good blend. Still soft, warm, and lovely. A+

[odalisque]

I was ready to come in here and see that this one had red musk in it (red musk, my own personal bogeyman, I "see" it lurking in every shadow). It doesn't, and as others have said it's a very complex scent, so I kind of have to guess what the very sweet, perfumy, overwhelming notes are in this that remind me of Vixen. I'm going to guess it's the champaca, lily, opium and/or jasmine, probably mostly jasmine, followed by vanilla.

 

Sadly, this doesn't dry down complex; I'm beginning to think I amp jasmine, because all I smell is jasmine and vanilla -- no hay, no leather, no ginger, nothing else.

Edited July 3, 2009 by odalisque

[moon_lemming]

I'm not even sure what Kubla Khan smells like in the imp. Spicy like ginger and sweet like vanilla. Maybe hay. It's really well blended, and it's hard to pick apart.

 

On my skin it's like vanilla-coated incense, and it's good! The jasmine is not taking over like jasmine usually does on my skin. Sadly, before it's even dry, the oil takes on that powdery feel that I get with amber. I can't stand that smell. If it weren't for that, this would be an awesome cool-weather scent, but I'd never be able to get past that wet powdery stage.

[revinn]

I don't think I ever reviewed this one! I gave it away a long while ago, but I still have my notes, so let's go.

 

In the Imp: This smelled sour and strange. I know now that that's jasmine, but then it was simply an unnamed stinky smell.

 

Wet: Zohmygod, jasmine. You know, I didn't think I'd be a jasmine hater, but it seems to amp to the high heavens on me. A tinge of something almost mineral-esque sits in the background.

 

Dry: Jasmine soap. My dad did not like this one, and neither did I.

 

Out of 10: 0

[Gin]

Kubla Khan broke my nose! It smells like mint--soft herbal mint, maybe mint tea. If I inhale really deeply, I get vanilla and champaca and the "sugared lily" but for the most part, it smells of mint tea. It's a nice scent, but I wanted more.