Khalkokorustes

[thekittenkat]

KHALKOKORUSTÊS
Armed With Bronze
Champaca, pear, cedar, black pepper, jasmine, and red sandalwood.

I love pear, and I haven't tried many blends with it as a note, so I was anxious to try Khalkokorustes. Mostly what I got out of this was the pear, the cedar (lovely aroma), and the red sandalwood. There was a hint of pepper, and that was what was probably keeping this oil from being too (not the best word, but I can't think of anything better at the moment) sweet (not foodie sweet) and maybe the champaca as well, so that everything seem to be blended beautifully in the bottle, and stayed that way throughout. I did not detect jasmine, so those of you who amp jasmine might try testing this. For me, I think this will be bottle-worthy.

[surf-tormented]

I got this today, very happy my Luper package got here before VD. The artwork on all three bottles is very nice and reflects what the meaning of the name is by the picture, for example, this one has bronze armor on it.

 

In the bottle: Jasmine with wood and slighter fruity note (probably the pear).

 

On skin: It's very nice and exotic smelling. Normally my skin amps up the jasmine at the expense of all the other notes, but the champaca (white sandalwood), red sandalwood and cedar blend well with it, making it both woody and floral, with neither being the major note. I can also smell a tiny bit of pear and pepper in this too. Those notes give the blend a lot of body.

 

Later on: I didn't think this would have much throw or lasting power, but if you give the perfume some time, it becomes stronger. I was wearing this in public and wondered if I put too much on and I had only put a few drops on. It smells like an ancient temple that happens to have a vendor selling fruit and spice outside of it. I do get a sense of Ares and bronze from this scent too. It works with me on all levels.

 

Verdict: I like it. It has pear in it, but isn't sweet, which I enjoy. It would be a good jasmine scent for those who have a hard time with jasmine becoming the dominant note in most perfume like I do. And if you like sandalwood and cedar, this is a must have. The pepper and jasmine give this one a lot of depth of notes. I am glad I bought a bottle of this.

Edited February 5, 2010 by Madame Nyx

[greenranger]

I almost detected the jasmine for a minute there, and then it blended into the rest of the scent.

 

I amp jasmine in other things, so this is most unusual.

 

It is starting off rather sweet, with just a little sharp pepper edge. As it dries, the woods start to be more apparent.

 

This is interesting. I wasn't at all sure what I'd get from this, as Jasmine usually overpowers everything, but this is...interesting, and not really all that floral. I'll have to try it again.

[edenssixthday]

Khalkokorustes is love. I didn't think I'd like this. Most of the notes in it are "iffy" at best on me. Pear is usually too sweet for me, cedar usually smells like pencil shavings, champaca is usually too dry on me, jasmine usually amps on me. Somehow, the combination of all of them (plus they other notes) equals perfection. This is one of those scents that makes me realize that if I had a full bottle of this, I wouldn't need as many other perfumes as I have and maybe it's time to cull the herd a bit. The champaca and cedar temper the sweetness of the pear, while the sweetness of the pear keeps the champaca and cedar from being too dry and sawdust-like. While I've been able to wear jasmine for the past couple of years, I still have to be careful with it, as jasmine does tend to amp on my skin. For the first two hours I was wearing this, I didn't even know there was any jasmine in it. It was only when I looked at the ingredient list again that I realized there's jasmine in it and know that I know it, I think I can detect it, but barely. The staying power is above average and the throw is perfect -- subtle, but I occasionally catch unexpected wafts, which are just delightful. It's such a beautiful, pretty, gorgeous, wonderful scent that I could see smelling fabulous on a man, too. I really can't say enough about it. I'll be adding a bottle to my next order from the Lab.

[blktauna]

I like this very much.

 

It's rather like being in the orchid house at Longwood in winter. The jasmine is sweetened a lot by the pear but the cedar gives it water, somehow. It's beautifully fresh. I'm actually huffing my arm.

 

Not a lot of throw but more than most of the others of this series has had for me. Doesn't last too long either, I'm losing most of these after only a few minutes, but it's also hanging on more than the rest.

 

It may be a bottle.

Edited February 20, 2010 by BlackTauna

[marared]

This is kind of a cousin to last year's Symmakhia, with pear being the common denominator, and jasmine as its strong floral rather than rose, but this is not quite as girly, and in fact the jasmine behaves very well. It's a fresh, light floral with the sandalwood giving it balance. Very nice. I wish I'd gotten this as my unsniffed bottle instead of Enyalios...

[cuervosueno]

I love pear, so was really excited for this, even though I worried about the jasmine. Now don't get me wrong, I enjoy jasmine, but it tends to go HEY! I"M HERE AND I"M JASMINE! one me, so I was worried it would overwhelm.

 

Which is what happened. It started out gorgeous--sweet and golden without a discernable pear scent--just golden sweet yum. Then I thought, huh what is that white flower in there? (Cuz I'd forgotten about Ms. Jasmine who was getting ready to knock me over the head). Then it went, well, you know. JASMINE is HERE! And it got slightly soapy too. Pleasant, but like, well, jasmine soap.

 

I was sad. Where is my pear? Now some of the pear has come back--it's like pear nectar of over jasmine soap. No wood, and no pepper, sadly. And I forgot that champaca sometimes likes to turn into generic white floral soap on me, so I had two notes going for soap....

 

So it's not really working for me, sadly. I like little whiff of pear I get, and maybe, just maybe, a hint of wood if I can somehow slide around bossy Ms. Jasmine, but that's not easy to do....

 

[Mishinka]

In the imp: Lovely! Pear and cedar jump right out and pop me in the nose first thing. I'd been worried about the jasmine and cedar, but they're very mellow. It's almost all pear with a little bit of heaviness from the cedar and pepper to ground it.

 

Wet: Ah, there's the jasmine. Pretty strong, soapy jasmine, too. This pretty much almost is soap, except I can still smell some pear and pepper. I only had a little dab on at first, but I do smell the cedar more clearly when I put a little more on.

 

Dry: The jasmine mellows as it dries; it's not quite so soapy as it was. The pear makes a pretty strong comeback, and there's another mild flower in there that must be the champaca. Phew, this one's a hanger-on, too. A few hours later and I still get pretty strong whiffs of flowery pear--almost candy sweet, but not in a bad way--when I move my arm. I wasn't planning to buy any bottles since money's short and imps last me a good long time, but this one I'm kind of tempted.

[ralenth]

In the bottle, Khalkorustês is a soft, golden floral. Jasmine and I don't usually get along too well, so I was surprised that this was sweet, juicy dripping pears with delicate jasmine petals once I put it on. As it dried, it became more dominantly jasmine, but it never went to kittybox on me (yay!). I get teensy peeps from the champaca gallery, but Khalkorustês is astonishingly floral on my skin. I was hoping for more cedar and pepper, but it is still lovely.

[Katherynne]

when. when will I learn that everything with pear in it smells the same on me. like walmart juicy pear body spray. you know.

 

hate it.

[Little Bird]

In the bottle, this is perfumey, clean floral and candy-sweet pear.

 

On my skin, it's hard for me to get an impression of this scent, because it only lasts about 15 minutes on my skin, and it's still a light scent for those few minutes.

Red sandalwood and cedar tend to be heavier notes, but I don't smell them at all here. This is mostly clean, dry, incensey floral with a hint of candy pear (smells like the juicy pear jellybelly bean). The floral doesn't even smell the way that jasmine usually does on my skin.

 

Khalkokorustes isn't bad, but it's too light on my skin for me to see myself wearing it again...

[megank4]

this smells nice. Very light pear, champaca, and just a bit of pepper.

 

[musichappens]

This is absolutely beautiful! None of the notes seem to want to push the others out of them way; instead they all come together on my skin to create an exotic, but playful scent. The sweetness from the pear does peek out a little bit towards the end of its wear (which for me is hours!), but its not at all intense. I'm definitely picking up a bottle of this because not only is the scent amazing and the longevity incredible, but the throw is also out of this world!

[papermaker]

In the imp: This is pea. A juicy sweet one.

 

Wet it is sweet juicy pear still. Slowly the jasmine and cedar work together to slow the pear train. The pear still is the main player, but the others work to give it depth.

 

Dry. I only dabbed, but it seems that this has quite a bit of throw. I think this will be a great spring scent.

Edited March 11, 2010 by papermaker

[fairnymph]

Colourless oil. Warm, exotic fruity-floral. I get the champaca and pear most, with some warm wood - but not really any jasmine or spice, thankfully. Nicer, more feminine than expected.

 

Lots of champaca, intense and lush - but then I love champaca, so this is fine by me! The pear is still there, sweet and a little juicy tart - it works WONDERFULLY with the champaca. I get more woody warmth, but not in a very distinct way - I can tell there's red sandalwood, but the cedar is amazingly NOT distinct. A little peppery hint, and a little soapy jasmine, but both tolerable so far.

 

Champaca's still strong, but the jasmine is amping, and it reminds me strongly of an expensive hand wash - it's soapy, but expensively soapy, luxuriously soapy. But still - SOAPY. I get a bit of more of the pepper, which comes across more as a bite or a sharp edge than black pepper distinctly. The red sandalwood has amped further and is really rich and warm and exotic here, and the cedar is equally nice - a little more apparent now, but NOT going to pencil shavings - more subtle sauna.

 

A delicious, slightly soapy fruity-floral and exotic-warm-woody blend - I think it's reminding me of a Molton Brown handwash in particular. Much nicer than I anticipated with a black pepper note that quickly disappears, and a jasmine that turns unfortunately - but tolerably - soapy on my skin. Still, the lovely champaca and pear - which HOLDS on my skin as pear so rarely does - blend surprisingly well with the warm, dry woods - which usually are not my alley, but are working for me here. Good throw and decent longevity.

 

I may actually keep my bottle! A very pleasant surprise.

[ami226]

Huh. I can't really smell any one note. Kinda effervescent with some sweetness... Quite good!! I like it!

[ellebelle]

I weirdly like this. I ordered this because I generally like the pear note and I do like jasmine. On me, this is a slightly earthy, woody pear - sweet (but not in a foody way) and feminine. For once, the sandalwood does not dominate the blend. I never really get much pepper in this. I agree that this smells almost effervescent. A surprise-like, maybe even a bottle.

[surlygurl]

Damn it! They've done it again! Just when I think I've found (& stocked up on) the Ultimate BPAL Champaca scent, they come out with something even better.

 

Fresh on, the champaca sings. (It always does). But unlike my other *ultimate champaca scents*, this has no smokey darkening parts. Exactly the opposite - it's champaca with Natural Sweeteners. I know it's pear, you know it's pear, but my skin just says "naturally sweet". It lifts up the champaca, making it brighter.

 

I know there are other notes in here, but they don't stand out. Jasmine? Nope (thank goodness!). Cedar? Would've been interesting. Pepper? Maybe. Maybe the pepper & cedar are what's keeping the florals from being tooth-achingly sweet.

 

The only question now is: how many bottles do I want? And is something *even better* just around the bend?

[wl552]

This starts out really sweet on me. It must be the jasmine taking the lead. But once it dries, the other notes do an excellent job tamping down that super sweet floral. The pear is there, but not overly so, not like some other pear scents I've tried... nothing like Juliet or Thalia. I believe it must be the pepper and wood notes giving it a darker feel.

 

I really like this. It's unfortunate it all but disappears in nothing flat. I'll test this again during another time and see how it does as far as longevity.

[angelicruin]

Pear, jasmine, and sandalwood on my skin. Jasmine is not as bad as it usually is, as the pear seems to be tempering it.

[Schmoozy]

 

Unfortunately jasmine and champaca are the stars of this blend. They overpower the juicy tart pear, and somehow even the sandalwood is making me gag. This is so not for me.

[ralenth]

Bottle: Juicy pears with swirls of floral.

 

Wet: Sweet pear, not as lush as the bottle sniff, but quite nice. Slightly girlier than I was expecting from the bottle art, but not crazy jasmine.

 

Drydown: Still soft, a tad powdery. Quite pretty.

 

Dry: All traces of the pear have faded and I am left with a sweet, powdery floral.

 

Overall: Not quite what I hoped. I'm a little sad I don't have any more because I liked the initial stages, but not enough to hunt it down.

[zankoku_zen]

Champaca and pear. And then as it dries, jasmine comes out. With a whiff of sandalwood.

 

Oddly enough the entire thing kinda smells like generic dust cleaner.

[nekogrrl]

Jasmine proves itself one of my death notes as it completely takes over with the aid of the champaca and pear. Way too sweet for my taste.

[forspecial_plate]

This scent is totally weird. I had high hopes, because the combination of notes reminded me of a couple of my favorite scents......Dr. John Seward and Quincey Morris. However, when I wear this, it is something different entirely. So of course, at first I didn't like it. It took a few tries for me to get over my expectations and I still can't quite get a grasp on what I'm smelling. It's not floral or woody, not fruity, and not really spicy either. I feel that I'm somewhat familiar with all of the notes listed, and not a single one of them stands out in this blend, although if I use my imagination I can sort of pick out a couple of them.

 

So, what does it smell like? The closest thing I can think of is that it reminds me of some kind of high-class skin product, like if Aveda made a suntan oil (maybe they do). That's really not doing it justice, and makes it sound less interesting than it actually is, but that's all I can come up with to describe it. I like it, but I know I won't wear it very often, maybe due to its oddness. A decant is enough for me.