Kurukulla

[LadyCrow]

The Tibetan goddess of love and wealth. Her scent is a harmonious, sweet, enchanting blend of three lotus blooms and three roses.

Unfortunately, the rose in this amps up after the oil dries on my skin. I say "unfortunately" because... well, this is part of the saga of Me and the Wrong Rose Note. Kurukulla smelled very rosey in the imp; it was sweet and winey when wet; and now that the lotus has backed off, I just get a really unpleasant chemical smell. I keep seeking the approval of BPAL rose, and it keeps rejecting me! Too bad, because I liked the name and the lotus part.

[valentina]

I received this scent as a frimp and was exceedingly thankful, because while this scent is not my style, Kurukulla is one of my favorite Tibetan dieties. She's also known as the Red Tara, and this fragrance is certainly in keeping with the red floral imagery associated with her.

 

On me, the initial drydown is roses and lots of lotus, and lotus tends to turn into a herbal, dry, almost wintergreenish smell on my skin. It makes me think of pink wintergreen lozenges that my grandma used to have around her house; not a bad association whatsoever, but sort of incongruent when I'm thinking of a lotus and a Tibetian diety. Anyway, since rose tends to be a thundering scent of doom on my skin, the lotus actually serves an excellent purpose in toning down the scent and making it not so heady and traditionally floral. After a time, the lotus mellows out a bit and the rose takes center stage, but again, it's spicier and more herbal rose. It makes me think of wild roses growing in a herb garden with bees buzzing around, which again is very evocative of Kurukulla.

 

I think this scent is an utterly perfect evocation of Kurukulla, and I'll keep it and use it to scent some dried flower petals from my garden, and maybe put it on my meditation altar. And for anyone who adores florals, especially a spicy, wilder rose, this scent is a must-try.

[FallDaze]

In the imp it's very sweet and tangy. Almost like a fresh bubblegum scent.

 

On it goes a little sour but keeps the tang. The lotus is kind of taking over with just the tiniest of tiny smidges of rose.

 

After a while it just turns to ick on me. I guess the lotus and roses didn't mesh well on my skin. A sickeningly sweet scent

[Kimiko]

in the imp this is AMAZING! It's sweet and reminds me of a shop that I used to go to with my Grandmother. On my skin it stays much the same, though more lotus than rose. I looooove it!

[dreadeddragon]

In the bottle: Sweet bubblegum rose

 

First on: The lotus is overpowering and making he blend really sweet, like cotton candy. The roses are fighting though, so I'm reminded of the rose flavored candies.

 

Drydown: Rose has taken over the lotus thankfully and has managed to not go sour on me due to the sweetness of the lotus.

 

Overall: A rose blend that works on me because of the sweetness to balance it out. I'm not a huge fan of rose anymore, so with my huge pile of imps I'll probably give it a new home, but it is nice.

[Czarina]

How can I not like a scent of Red Tara?

 

In the imp: deliciously sweet.

Wet: sweet floral without being able to identify specific notes.

Drydown: marvelous sweet blended floral. I had to look it up to find out it was roses and lotus (I don't know what lotus smells like--I was guessing calla lily).

 

Below average wearlength, medium throw.

[sadtomato]

i thought i'd love this one because i really am a fan of a lot of the rose scents, maybe it's the other florals in it that ruin this for me.

in the bottle and on my skin it's just sickeningly sweet, and i'm not a fan of sweet, sweet smells.

[zankoku_zen]

This is bubblegum and roses. And now I know that in the cage death match between lotus and roses, roses will win. In the drydown stage, I get more of a soapy rose. But it oscillates between rose bubblegum and a soapy rose.

 

Not for me.

[Coldfire]

Got a frimp of this from my last order:

 

Imp: Rose but not too heavy on it

 

Wet on me: Rose goes u nder and lotus blooms

 

Drydown: lotus now goes sweet

 

Dry: Sweet floral with hint of rose that went powdery on me

 

Throw: not so much

 

 

Edit: powder has now turned to soap. Soap is okay...

but I'm not wanting to smell like soap. At least not today

 

Rating: nice for an imp. Probably will not get a bottle....

Edited May 8, 2008 by Coldfire

[savage_rose]

A light, sweet, watery rose. The lotus adds almost a fruity touch to this, so it's a lovely floral blend that's complex and not cloying. Beautiful.

[tinyvulture]

here is lotus at its boldest and fruitiest, perfectly balanced by a soft, true rose note. an enchanting combination. i think i smell cherries, too. like cherry cough syrup. in a good way. perhaps it’s just the fruitiness of the lotus. this is the ultimate in femininity. super sweet without being childlike or cloying. it’s definitely a grown-up woman’s perfume, perfect for a romantic date.

[Mishinka]

I think this must be the lotus I smell so strongly in the bottle. It's a floral that isn't rose, with almost a melon smell to it.

 

Once I put it on, though, whoof. There those roses are. It's strong, but not cloying or overpowering. It calms down after a little while and the lotus comes back. It stays mostly rose, but there's still a bit of that fruity sweetness to it that must be the lotus. It's interesting--up close I get either lotus or a nice blend of them, but from a distance it's the same strong rose. Also, the way this blends with Bakeneko is fantastic--spicy, earthy rose.

[taramarie]

In the imp, Kurukulla is a sour tea rose. On my skin, it's lotus-turned-bubblegum over the rose. Not horrid, but definitely not worth keeping.

[Suusje]

I'm a sucker at picking out notes so I won't even bother. But this smells good! It starts of as a very candy-like floral. Extremely sweet. Perhaps a bit too sweet. But then the sweet part tones down a bit and you're left with a very pretty and still a sweet floral. Lovely! I think I'll be buying a bottle of this.

 

But I do have to be careful with this one. It can be very overwhelming when I use to much. But it's gorgeous if I just use a tiny bit

Edited July 20, 2008 by Suusje

[Reaver]

Fairly straightforward sweet rose. Quite weak and you have to REALLY sniff to get a gist of what this blend is about and for that reason, I'm not that worried about it. There are other roses. Ones that I can actually smell!

[Indigo78]

As others have said, in the imp this is a half-half mixture ofRose blooms and Lotus. Not being entirely familiar with the vast number of roses and their scents, all I can say is that Rose is definitely there. The lotus is sweet and candy-like. I adore those kinds of scents, so hopefully this works out on my skin.

 

On the skin it gets much more stemmy and green, losing much of the sweetness that I liked in the imp. The roses overpower, leaving little of the Lotus. Finally I get dusting powder. Even though I like roses in certain doses, this isn't as good on me as I hoped it would be.

Edited August 9, 2008 by Indig0

[likie]

In bottle: Classic BPAL floral. These aren't wispy, light flowers, nor are they musky and sensual. They are full, rich, and beautiful. I smell a ton of fruity roses, though I don't really know what lotus smells like. It's quite strong.

 

Wet: ROSE. Not rosewater, but rose - almost like if rose bushes had a fruit. It is the sweet, strong center of the flower, rather than the delicate petals. A woman who wears light, sandalwoody florals during the day wears this as her intimate evening perfume.

 

Dry: Hmm. I'm happy to say it never went powdery on me. It hasn't changed much at all - it has a hint of spice, like it's developed a slight edge. But it's still a beautiful bouquet of red, peach, and pink roses.

[batsy]

In the vial: Yeah, that's lotus blossom there!

 

On the skin: Well, my skin ate it. But what little is left is a soft mix of roses and lotus. Not my cup of tea but a very nice, feminine scent.

[Delirium1009]

In bottle/imp: Sweet, fruity lotus and rose.

 

Immediately on skin: Yeah. Lotus and rose. This actually seems like a nice combo. Lotus by itself tends to go medicinal on me, but here the rose keeps it in check. What results from this mix is bright, fruity lotus with the smooth rounded rose scent to balance it out.

 

After a little while: This gets a little more syrupy sweet as it dries, but that’s the only change I really get. It’s still a bright, sweet, and fruity mix of fresh rose and lotus.

 

Overall Impressions: This is very pretty and well balanced, and the lotus and rose go surprisingly well together. The medicinal quality I sometimes get from lotus isn’t present here, and the smooth, fresh rose is a nice accent. This is a thick scent, but not overpowering.

[hkhm]

imp: i don't care for rose and lotus is iffy but this imp smells divine! so beautiful and feminine.

 

wet: the rose just wants to go all soapy on me... but it can't and for once, a rose blend has made me smile. well-done!

 

dry: this never went soapy, not even a little! i'm impressed! a very pretty floral, i would wear this to a wedding.

[Mckerr]

I received this as a "treat" with my last order. (Great Googledymoogledy, I *do* love those BPAL treats!) It's not something I typically would've chosen, especially since it's rose-based and I am NOT a rose person -- not at all. Fortunately, It tried it without looking up the description first, so I was able to test it without pre-judging. To my happy surprise, I actually kinda like it.

 

Out of the bottle: Oooo! It's so sweet! I'd go so far as to say candy-sweet.

 

On me: Goes floral immediately. I get flashes of "traditional" perfumes. I know that scent, what is it? Oh, duh! It's roses. The rose is strong, but... it's not sickly rose. And it doesn't make me smell like somebody's great-grandma, like rose usually does. This is different. More complex. Obviously the lotus is working some kind of magick on the rose.

 

Later: I can still pick out the rose, but the blend is even more harmonious now. Just a gentle but uncommon floral that I actually would wear, particularly if I was in an especially feminine mood.

 

Is there no end to the ways that those geniuses in the lab can surprise me?? Kudos on creating a rose that even rose-haters can warm up to.

[willowtreeling]

wet, it smelled okay--sort of fruity and dusty--I think that's the rose.

 

On me, it smells so pretty! Like juicy candy--I guess the lotus? I love it! It kind of reminds me of Lady of Shalott.

[sqwook]

Wet: Sweet like candy

 

Dry: Rose. Pretty but not me; I'm generally anti-rose. (Though Beth has managed some exceptions somehow!)

[obsidienne]

I was a little bit wary of this blend, because lotus can be much too sweet for me and can also mildly remind me of soap. In the imp, Kurukulla smells extremely sweet, juicy, wet and floral.

 

On me, it becomes a complex mixture of different lotuses and roses. And I get a fruity smell out of it, almost like really ripe peaches. The blend is bright pink, sweet, girlish and wet, but not watered down (if that makes sense). It's very lovely, but I think it's more of a spring/summer scent than for fall. A keeper for sure, but not necessarily something I'd buy in a bottle.

[crebbsgirl]

I should have known better. I got frimped with this in a recent lab order and it contains the two notes I can say that my skin hates: Lotus and Rose. My skin amps the crap out of rose and can occasionally make them smell like pickles. (I'm not kidding) and lotus almost always goes towards sickly bubblegum smell. Unfortunately this blend was no exception. The rose started going pickle-y while the lotus took on a sickly sweet smell making the overall blend sickly sweet pickles. I had to wash it off after an hour so I couldn't even tell you where this developed from that point. Damn skin chemistry.