Kaidan

[freneticfloetry]

KAIDAN
Youngest of The Paradigm, when Kaidan recites the ghost stories of Japanese legend, she brings their spectral warriors to life.

Rosehip, plum blossom, white sandalwood, jonquil, and amber-laden incense.

I was so overwhelmed by the bottle spread at the booth yesterday that I didn't test anything I had a tester of, so I'm just getting around to testing those. And man, my credit card is incredibly relieved that I didn't test this one yesterday.

In the imp: Smells a little department store perfume, which would be a concern if I didn't know that most blends don't stay that way.

Wet: Plum! My beloved plum note. There's a soft rose in there, too, and something sweetly smoky that's probably the incense, but the plum is perfection - not overwhelming, not overly-candied, just deep and perfect. I love this one already.

Drydown: As it warms, the sandalwood starts to peek out if I huff, but it's still the rosey plum show.

Dry: Gah, this is gorgeous. It's well-rounded, with medium throw, and the sandalwood gets richer the closer my nose gets to my skin. For anyone afraid of plum, this might be a good happy medium - the incense and sandalwood ground it and keep it from being too sweet. Definite bottle of Kaiden in my future.

[whisperstilled]

At the con, Beth described this as a "pretty traditional oriental," which is accurate as far as I'm concerned. This is a well-blended scent in which the individual notes are hard to pick out. I picked this one up from the samples available at the booth, so I figured I might as well review it for the folks waiting on their C2E2 decant circles and the like.

 

Imp: Some rosehip, a dash of plum blossom, which I personally quite like. The sandalwood is laid back, with the incense coming in stronger. The scent together has a tangy, almost lemony smell.

 

Wet: The sort of lemon backdrop persists, but as it dries the plum comes in really strong and amps off of me.

 

Dry: It becomes basically plum and incense with a little sandalwood.

 

All in all, a nice scent but nothing I desperately need a bottle of. 3/5

[PersephonesChild]

HEART.

 

I got a sample of this yesterday from C2E2, and just stuck it in my bag with all the other freebies to sniff later, not thinking anything of it.

Today, I tried it on and am in LOVE.

 

It reminds me of a less grimy Belle Epoque-- the sandalwood and amber combine very similarly to create a gorgeous incense background, and the jonquil and plum are fresh on top of that. Also similar to Flowering Chrysanthemum, though slightly more polite, I think. It's soft and sweet and fresh, and I want more of it.

[fairnymph]

Only heavy incense in the late drydown (i.e. all the 'amber-laded incense' notes that are listedlast); otherwise it's all the gorgeous bright notes. The first three sweet-tart fruity, creamy and feminine notes dominate in the bottle and on my skin for the first hour or so, so much that I got a bottle of it post-haste for myself. The lovely sweet-tart bright fruit & fruity blossom over a base of creamy sandalwood is as fantastic as it hopes, though sadly it turns to incense rather rapidly on me (as those former top notes are so volatile and evanescent) - so I will wear it in my clocket, unless I don't intend to wear it for long.

 

:\ mixed with

 

I shall update this review as I properly test all the new releases over the next 7-10 days, just an FYI.

[angelicruin]

Rosehip, plum, sandalwood, & amber. It's soft & delicate and just amazing!

[ralenth]

Starts out a lovely, sophisticated floral with undercurrents of white sandalwood. Unfortunately, it turns green and powdery after a few minutes. Dratted roses.

[hlemonds]

Hmm....I think that some combination of the rosehip/jonquil/sandalwood are causing this to seem a bit soapy to me. The fruity quality when wet, in combination with the florals, reminds me a bit of Prunella, only with a white sandalwood base rather than cream. Once the bright fruit quality fades (which happened pretty quickly) I'm left with a somewhat rosey, slightly creamy, soap. I'm not really getting the amber-laden incense as of yet, but it has only been about half an hour. Will come back to this one once i've had another opportunity to test (when my nose isn't so worn out).

 

ETA: Later in the drydown this reminded me very much of Morocco, perhaps with a hint of plum rather than carnation. It's very nice, but I'll have to test again to see if i need a whole bottle. I might be fine with my lovely Morocco, i can always add a dab of Prunella if i need the plum.

 

And thanks to Invidiana for sending this lovely carded imp to me! Such a nice surprise!

Edited April 26, 2010 by Hillary

[ami226]

Oooh! A beautiful sweet floral! I believe I can definitely smell the plum blossom which I think turns bubblegum-ish on me. This scent smells slightly like bubblegum with hints of a creamy sandalwood amber base. Very oriental. Not really my thing, but it smells quite good!!

 

-ETA- Wow! This has an amazing throw and has lasted quite a bit. Still slightly bubblegum-ish. Sadly the SO doesn't like this one.

Edited April 24, 2010 by Catseyes

[Antoinette]

I also picked up a sample of this at C2E2 and didn't try it until just today. Why did I wait?!?!?! This is gorgeous!

 

First impression: A sweet floral. The rosehip and plum blossom jump out at me first. This is really soft and pretty.

 

Dry: Still floral, but I'm getting the incense now. It's not overpowering, very subtle and light to me. Maybe a teeny tiny bit powdery, but I like it.

 

Overall impression: An enveloping soft floral that is sweet, but not demanding. Makes me feel warm and very feminine. I want a bottle.

 

p.s. this was my first ever review. Hope it made sense, my nose is still in BPAL training.

[papermaker]

This is from one of the imps the lab had out @ C2E2. I'm a dope for not trying this before today. This goes on my list for a bottle when I order next. It begins as plum blossom and rose. Drying there peeks in a little incense. Dry there is an equal blending of rose, plum, and incense with just a hint of amber to stop it from becoming floral doom

[benthic]

I got this as a carded frimp from someone! (The card spells it Kaiden, but the imp itself has it right.)

 

I get honey out of this, oddly. I am not sure if my nose is just interpreting another note as honey or what. I amp honey a lot, and this smells how most honey blends smell on me, with some rose, and a bit of fruit that I'm guessing is plum. It's really, really lovely. It does smell pretty typical of a lot of other BPAL stuff on me--the honey issue again, and if it's not honey, there's something else in this that my skin makes honey-ish--but it's also just very nice. I don't get amber (which I also amp), and the incense is just a slight smokiness. Overall it's a sweet rosy honey floral with a touch of plum smoke. I don't think I'll be picking up a bottle, but I will be using this imp! (As much as it pains me to have taken it off the cool card.)

[amberite]

This is so, so lovely. Someone sent me a sample of this. I'm new to BPAL, but I'm going to have to try other plummy things if I can get my hands on them -- although I suspect the sharp bright thing may be the rosehip.

 

Whatever it is, it comes on and smells unbelievably wonderful -- tart and delicious and makes me alert. A bit of the fruit/flower scent stays around, but leaves me mostly with something that smells mostly like vanilla after a few hours - some synergy of the underlying notes probably, I don't know. I must have the bottle. It is soooooo good.

Edited May 10, 2010 by Amberite

[Venneh]

I tried a carded imp of this before passing this onto someone, remember not being quite sure what to think of it. In the bottle, I get plum, rose, and what's either the sandalwood or incense, not sure there. On my skin, this is mostly plum and rose and reminiscent of Kitsune-Tsuki and Blood Countess. Hmm. Ends up being Blood Countess/Kitsune-Tsuki lite on me, going to pass on this.

Edited May 20, 2010 by Venneh

[veronicafranco]

ohhhhhhh yeah... i always go for plum scents and incense scents. wasn't sure about the jonquil, but it's fine - just blends into the landscape. the rosehip really smells like what you get in rosehip tea - a hint floral, but tangy and almost a touch earthy. it's great with the plum and sandalwood. on my skin, the sandalwood + amber incense + soft plum is the story here. almost like an expensive candle. i don't know anything about kaidan, but her scent is asian, ladylike and yet bad@$$ in my book.

 

on a random and amusing note, my preschooler is wearing her kai-lan underpants today as i am trying this scent. i wonder if i could get mom-sized kaidan underoos?

Edited May 22, 2010 by veronicafranco

[Ishianti]

Plumy and rosehips, very nice while wet.

 

On the dry down, the spice suddenly jumps out at me, very incensy too, but still a bit floral.

 

After a while, the floral remains, the spice backs off a bit thankfully, but over all this is a fairly strong, almost sharp scent.

[tailoredshirt]

Wet, this is definitely sweet, floral berry/plum. As it dries, I get some smoky incense. I feel like I've smelled this before, but to my unsophisticated nose, the only thing I can really think to compare it to is Lady Una, which is...totally off. I guess all fruity blends smell the same to me, since I don't usually like fruit. All I know if that I'm getting some red fruit, some floral and incense, a lot of sweetness, and something that almost smells like wine. It's pretty, but it's really too sweet for me.

[saralaughs]

Weird.

 

The first thing I think of when putting this on is Vasilissa. It's got the same star jasmine note. That *pink* floral that is almost fruity.

 

It's darker than V is though, and not as pink. The amber/incense drags it deep and gives it a bit of rougher sort of character. The florals though...after a bit into the drydown, they turn sharp and high-pitched, turning this scent away from a pink fruity thing, into something that I'm just not grooving on.

 

Started out promising but ended up a dud. For me, at least.

[reynardine]

Got a couple of imps at C2E2 and am just now getting around to trying this one out. Kaidan starts off as very sweet incense. Usually incense blends make my eyes water, but so far this one is not doing that. As it dries down, a lovely plum scent comes to the forefront, very pretty. Still quite strong on the incense, though. Not sure if the sandalwood is irritating me or not, as my allergies were acting up earlier today. Will have to retest before deciding whether to get a bottle.

[Little Bird]

I was hoping that this would be a floral incense scent, but I don't get any of the incense. The amber & sandalwood go creamy and powdery on my skin, and the other notes blend together in a way that reminds me of fruity-floral, perfumey, department store fragrances.

 

Kaidan is fruity-floral perfume, a bit sharp, and baby powdery... too floral, perfumey, and powdery for me.

[devilot]

Kaidan

In the vial: Pretty! That's my first thought. Then, "Smells sooooo familiar." I finally got it-- I'm pretty sure it reminds me of Jingu. I no longer have the BPTP Warrior Queen Jingu to test out or smell, even, but I'm' fairly certain that's what this is reminding me of. Must be the plum blossom as that is the only listed note they have in common.

 

Wet: Plum blossom, but sweeter than I recall it being in other blends. Brightly fruity. My issue w/ plum blossom, however, isn't when it's wet, but that it tends to go very sour and/ or soapy on my skin as it dries down, guess we'll see!

 

Drydown: I think the rosehip is coming forward, not sure as I'm not familiar w/ this note. But if it is true to its namesake and reminiscent at all of rose? Then yes, this is another note that is dooming this blend for me since the lab's rose notes almost inevitably turn sour on me. Still that bright bright plum blossom but with the white sandalwood, it's reaching fever pitch in the sharp and powdery perfumey smell. Just a whisper of incense.

 

Verdict: I love this in the vial, but it just doesn't seem to wanna work on my skin. Yes, this could work in a scent locket, but I think my nose would tire of it. I think I would love this blend the most if it were like an atmo spray! Still, am v glad I got to try it. BIG THANK YOU to the C2E2 sniff circle started by GypsyRoseRed!

[MCS4096]

This goes on sweet, juicy and slightly spicy. I used to eat wild rosehips occasionally as a kid, and this does indeed remind me of their sour yet flat earthiness. Once heated on the skin the sweetness in this blend amps and it because an ultra-feminine blend that dries out a bit with the sandalwood tempering the juicier notes. Unfortunately it winds up being a little simple for my tastes.. but it is my favorite of the Boom blends anyway.

[milo]

This ends up being a candylike floral, along the likes of High Strung Daisies. The incense, though saves this blend for me. It adds some dimension so that it is not so syrupy sweet. There is a bit of sharpness here as well, kind of citrussy, along with the incensey sweet kind of giving it that 'drugstore' perfume spray feel. This is OK, I like it enough, but not enough for a decant, let alone a bottle.

Edited June 22, 2010 by milo

[bluerose]

In the bottle: It smells like spring! A clean and slightly sweet scent. I can smell the plum blossom and rosehip.

 

On the skin: Huh. There's something about this that reminds me of a slightly tamer version of Bathsheba. Faint sweet fruity floral. Getting just the tiniest bits of amber incense.

[edenssixthday]

Kaidan - This is a really pretty scent. The rose and plum blossom remind me a bit of Snooty Rose, but adding the resins and a bit of smokiness to it makes it a completely different scent. It's soft and pretty and heavy in a dark, deep, but highly feminine way. I really love how these notes blend together. Great fragrance!

[raisin]

Was hoping to get something a bit more Asian with this one, but it's mostly kind of an old lady floral on me. I really can't work the florals.

 

This one is very sweet, almost fruity, and I'm just getting the vaguest hint of the sandalwood and incense.

 

Sadly, I really don't love it, or even like it much for that matter, and I was really hoping to.