Kali

[sunlitgarden]

… This perfume is a blend of the sacred blooms of cassia, hibiscus, musk rose, Himalayan wild tulip, lotus and osmanthus swirled with offertory dark chocolate, red wine, tobacco, balsam and honey.

Kali

Yum! This was a lot lighter than I was expecting. The first impression I get is chocolate and a sweet floral wine. A little later I get rose. I love the wet stage, but it seems to disappear fast on me as it dries. I do get whiffs of honey after it's dry, which is nice, but this seems more like a candidate for a room scent than a perfume for me. Edited May 30, 2010 by Shollin

[KakashiMorph]

I stayed behind in my everyday reviews of my shiny imps because of the forum upgrade. So, I just wrote them down in a notepad in case I would forget them or confuse them with other scents. So, here goes Kali.

This scent just kept morphing on me.

In the bottle: There is so much going on I can't distinguish a single note, it is well blended. That aside, it gives a sweet (but not candy sweet) and powerful impression.

On my skin: For the first couple of minutes I get the bottle scent. Then, it changes and I get sweet buttery chocolate goodness with red wine. Mmm, chocolate and red wine, what more can a woman ask for? After another few minutes, it changes yet again. I get the chocolate with... a feeling of freshness and cleanness? Strange, I have no idea where that came from.

Cooldown: After only half an hour or so, Kali almost fades away on my skin, leaving behind only a faint chocolate trail (the wine is gone by now) that will linger for another couple of hours. It is barely there, though. I guess my skin must really love this scent because it absorbed most of it, but I would have liked to smell it a bit more, too...

[CitizenBree]

In the imp, it smells like strong cherry cough syrup. But when i put it on, it turns into baby powder. and fades fast. Wish I could write a longer review but that's really all i got.

[talula_fairie]

When I first sniffed the imp, I smelled something floral and was worried. But I also smelled something else, something darker and almost musky. I really wasn't sure if it was going to be a love it or hate it sort of thing.

 

When I first put it on, I smelled juicy blackberries and maybe even a melon scent, with a dark musk and some creamy floral notes. Kali is definitely a dark, sexy decadent scent..like the first review this does remind me of wearing perfume at a nightclub and dancing all night long.

 

Unfortunately, it morphs majorly once dry and gets a bit too floral, and turns soapy. Still it's not a horrible scent on me.

Edited August 9, 2010 by talula_fairie

[undream]

i tried this oil on two consecutive days, the first without reading the description and the second after. on the first it seemed a round fruity scent in the vial and pretty much just a really nice floral perfume on the skin. after reading the description (&getting excited about it all over again!), i was able to pick out the wine & chocolate notes in the vial, but it pretty much stays just a really nice floral perfume on the skin, with the exception of being able to smell a little honey sweetening it all up the second time around.

 

all in all, i really like this one. not so much that it's a keeper, necessarily, but enough so that i'm undecided about it. it contains some beautiful notes that i without fail always want to try (the wine, chocolate & tobacco, in particular), and although my experience was nothing like Hallows_Eve's or jj_j's (envy!), it was lovely enough that it's stayed with me thus far(!).

 

i'll give it a little time to see where this relationship goes.

[starfish327]

i think that it would be too harsh to say that i'm disappointed in kali, because that's not exactly true. however, what i get out of kali is about 180 from what i was hoping to get.

 

in the imp: chocolate and something i'm reading as cherry. it's dark and rich, and i'm hoping it stays like this.

 

wet:...wait, what? now it's traditional perfumey, white musk and florals. as it is, the florals are behaving and the white musk isn't getting sour.

 

dry: all i get is the honey, rose, and tulip. it's very light and feminine, and very springlike. it reads to me as similar to queen mab- it doesn't smell like queen mab, but it has the same feel.

 

i'm hanging on to my imp to see what another skin test does, but i have a feeling that i'm going to end up putting this on the swap pile as just not being 'me'.

[meredevachon]

Frimp from the Lab

 

In the imp: Dark dark dark chocolate, honey. Hint of tobacco. I'm not usually big on chocolate notes in my scents (I prefer to keep it in my chocolates), but this I could get used to, if it stayed like it is in the imp.

 

Wet: Softer, very sensual and sensuous, and it's hard for me to pick out specific notes it's blended so well.

 

Dry down: I've been wondering if I've finally found a BPAL red wine note I can wear. About twenty minutes in, I have my answer. Nope. It's not as strong as usual, but I'm getting the unmistakable aroma of grape Bubble Yum. Honey and chocolate seem to be taming it some, but not enough.

 

Dry: And by the time I reached an hour, it's nothing but grape gum.

 

Overall: I live in hope. One day I'll find a BPAL blend with a red wine note, and I'll be able to wear it. For now, Kali goes into my pile to swap.

[Lorna Brigid]

My interpretation of Kali:

Sitting in a mossy European garden eating chocolate and sipping burgundy.

This is a very unique scent, and very pretty. I am loving it. It beautifully phases through tobacco flower, honey, wine, chocolate, hibiscus, lotus, and back through.

[Incendiare]

Whoa, dark berryish wine in the imp. It almost reminds me of a cross between Villainess' Blush and Bathory soaps, which are two of my favourites. Freshly applied to the skin, the tobacco comes out along with a parade of flowers. A couple minutes in, I can finally detect a hint of chocolate. I think what's happening is the chocolate is blending in with the tobacco. I love the way it smells when I wave my hand in front of my nose. As it's drying, the berry wine is coming out a bit more again and the tobacco is softening up. I don't get any honey from this at all. Kali is a pleasant surprise. I received this from the lab as a frimp and so glad that I did because I would have never have ordered this one on my own.

[Gold Dust Kitten]

I'm shocked I haven't reviewed this! It's one of my most favorite GC blends. It's all dark chocolate, hibiscus and honey...sex syrup. This has red wine in it, but it doesn't turn into awful grape juice. I keep telling myself I need a backup bottle.

[frecklestars]

In the bottle: dirty socks and vinegar, yech! it might be the red wine(?). there's definitely chocolate and a dark honey, and maybe hints of the cassia's tartness/bitterness, but largely it's just unpleasant. as I sniff more (begrudgingly), I start to catch the osmanthus and hibiscus. but it's mostly tart, which I suppose explains the vinegar I first noticed.

 

On my skin: thankfully, it smells significantly better on my skin! it's the watery lotus and musk rose and perhaps the wild tulip that is mixed with a very rich very dark chocolate, all drizzled with a dark amber honey. as someone else mentioned, it's a very "adult" scent. reminds me of bars and booze and cigarettes, almost 1920s-esque. there's a little bit of something spicy, almost like cinnamon but not quite. gets darker and ever more mysterious as it dries.

 

Last thoughts: I like the way it ends but I do NOT like the way it begins (especially in the bottle). it's just too tart. on the skin, it fades to a dark altar of late-summer blossoms, and that's nice, but it doesn't make up for the beginning (at least for me). of course, this may also just be my very strange skin chemistry doing funny and horrible things with otherwise-good scents.

[Marina]

For me, Kali held the same scent wet and dry, immediately and after several hours, though it also faded quickly and didn't have as much staying power as some of the other imps we (my daughter, her friend and I) got in our first imp orders. I love osmanthus and have some osmanthus pure essential oil, so I know what it smells like and never smelled it in Kali (though maybe blended it smells different). Mostly what I smell is a warm, very faintly spicy smell with just the hint of floral. Since I don't know what Himalayan wild tulip or lotus smell like, perhaps it is those. There is also just the faintest hint of tobacco. Overall, I like it and will use the imp, but won't be buying it. So many more to try!

[TheFrenchWaffle]

damn it skin, why do you have to ruin everything for me?!

In the imp: amazing! chocolate and tobacco (yes please!) with a slight floral angle. wonderful!

Wet: Tobacco downplayed perfectly by the chocolate. The wine lurks in the background hiding behind a smoky floral.

Dry: As soon as it dries everything disappears and I am left with lotus. Don't get me wrong, I love lotus it smells lovely on me. However at this point it smells exactly like Paris leaving me with "what was the point? I could have just put on Paris".

 

Final verdict: This breaks my heart. I fell in love with Kali in the imp and loved it at first on my skin. When I first smelled it I wanted to bathe in it. But it just turns into Paris which rules out getting a bottle. Sigh.

[Diva Urd]

In the vial: Chocolate, wine, and the distinct tang of hibiscus. Despite these notes, it doesn't feel foody - rich, yes, but I don't feel as though I need to lick the vial.

 

On: The chocolate says "good bye" almost immediately - this is floral with a swirl of deep red wine. Balsam is one of my notes of DOOM in some blends, but here, I can't detect it at all. As it dries, there's a hint of slightly sweet smokiness, which may either be the balsam behaving itself, or the tobacco. I don't get any overt honey note, but the blend is sweet enough for me as it is - more honey might have been overwhelming. This is surprisingly nice, and I can't believe I tossed it off my wishlist without having tried it months ago (I have recently received it as a frimp from a wonderful seller here on the forum). It reminds me a lot of my beloved "The Black Tower", but TBT is colder in feel and more unisex/masculine, whereas this is warm and very much a feminine scent to my nose.

 

Later: The rich wine fades a bit after the first hour and lets the florals more into the foreground. At this point, it's not quite as lovely as it was in the beginning. I still enjoy it, but right now, I'm not sure that I need a bottle. I will keep the imp, though.

[chimera87]

Gorgeous in the imp. Chocolate disappears right away on my skin. The wine is the dominant note. It's nice, but I'm not sure if it's for me. The wine fades and I'm left with a bit of a generic floral perfume. Nice, but not my style. Think this will find a new home.

[lilyliza]

In the bottle: Assaulted by way too many strong scents all at once. Chocolate, tobacco, wine, honey...apparently I can handle these two at a time and no more.

 

Wet: Mostly the same. I'm barely dabbing the stuff on, but I smell like a spill in someone's wine cooler which happened to be right next to their candy stash- extremely rich and sticky-sweet all at the same time. It's almost like I spilled molasses on myself. Eventually the chocolate warms up and finally begins to make things a little more cohesive. The hibiscus comes out too, along with just a little bit of lotus. The honey is what takes center stage in the end, warmed slightly by the chocolate and tobacco, with the flowers behind it.

 

Drydown: Honeyed florals with the other notes in the background. I'm not liking this combination. Eventually there's mostly hibiscus.

 

 

Yeah, definitely not for me. This is way too cloyingly sweet, and all the notes I'm picking up make a in-your-face jumble of scent.

[DeCuvieri]

Pretty much what the last few reviews said: In the bottle there's a lot of red wine and chocolate, but the chocolate vanishes so fast on the skin that you'd never know it was there. Once it dries Kali is a generic honeyed floral perfume, a little soapy and a lot department-store label. I get no hints at all of the deity behind the blend, and it's pretty disappointing.

[yakiguri]

Unfortunately on me Kali comes off as a generic soft honey floral, to the extent that I honestly can't tell what notes are in it. I was afraid of the chocolate and red wine ruining it, as those are both death notes, but I can't even smell those. Odd. Off to the swap pile.

[Dominique]

In the vial: Wine. Rich wine, with a trace of florals. It’s a strong scent.

 

Wet: On me, the florals come to the front. The deep, wine note is still there, but it’s not as blatant as it was in the vial.

 

Dry: After a while, the florals fade some, replaced by a slightly gentler wine note, and what might be the cassia and honey. I’m not getting any chocolate at all, but the scent is still lovely.

 

Verdict: Kali is wine, flowers and a faint whisper of cassia and honey. I *really* like it – it’s the perfect scent for late night dancing, or a red and black dress.

[Autumnsky]

Wet, this was overwhelmingly weird. The fruits are right up front with that creamy pipe-tobacco and a splash of red wine. Definitely not the kind of thing that usually works for me.

 

Once it dried, it was all round soft fruity floral...still not my usual, but the musk and balsam made it work.

 

At the end of the day, the honey and chocolate have popped forward with the florals and musk, it's a very "me" scent. Sexy. Sophisticated and clever, and just a little dark around the edges....candlelight and a wine buzz.

 

(At the end, now, it seems like it must be a distant cousin to Mugler's Angel....foody, floral, musky, but not really any of those things...)

[Balame]

In the Imp: Well, I'm a little scared. The last five notes sound utterly amazing and yet all the florals beforehand sound terrifying. We'll have to see what amps. On sniff it's not at all what I was expecting. No rich honey and chocolate, no cloying florals, but LOTUS. Wet, watery, and delicately sweet lotus. It's nice, but a surprise.

 

Wet: The florals aren't horrible. Mainly getting fruity osmanthus and hibiscus. Still very wet smelling.

 

Dry: What is going on? This is barely noticeable and still smells largely the same, except for being lighter. For all the notes I'm barely getting anything above a fruity floral whisper.

 

Overall: Not at all what I imagined. No hint of any of the darker notes, and it had almost faded into nothingness within 15 minutes. I actually think I might have even liked this despite the florals, but there's nothing left to sniff! Got a bit soapy as well. Very odd.

[Eliyetres]

From bottle: I smell spicy wine in the bottle, drying I can feel the tobacco lingering on my skin... then it gets more and more soapy. And then back to red wine and tobacco. Still gets a bit soapy from time to time. So sad, I really wanted to get more chocolate!

Drydown: mostly smoke wich i love

I have a really hard time telling the notes apart, it gets very potpurri

I think it's the honey and balsam that makes it warm, and it also makes me kinda sleepy (really hard to describe) I can only smell chocolate if I get really close to my wrist and that's a real shame!

Edited November 23, 2011 by Eliyetres

[Lanolin]

Wet, it reminds me of Centzon Totochtin, as the only notes I can pick out are cocoa and wine. I don't remember much about the drydown, except that it was still very boozey.

 

Not my thing.

[hexnut]

KALI

 

In Vitro From my notecard: "Spice? can't describe, but sweet and nice. Maybe chocolate." I should mention that I don't review the lab description before testing.

 

Wet As above, but richer and deeper. Like Tombstone, for the first few minutes this wafted up some distance from my wrist; I presume that's the "throw". I kept thinking I should recognize the notes but I am a total noob regarding perfume. The best I can describe it is as a slightly spicy non-cloying floral-ish smell.

 

Drying Unlike the previous three oils I tested, this didn't change much at all. My skin didn't amp any one note at the expense of the others, so I'd call that a success. It was fading in less than an hour and gone in two, but like the others I had applied only a tiny bit in case it reacted.

 

This definitely works on my skin. Keeper!

 

4

[bergamot_bliss]

In the imp: Something overpowering that I can’t identify, something fruity; is it the red wine? Hoping it’s less intense on my skin.

 

Wet: Red wine’s calmed down a bit. Smelling a hint of the chocolate and what I think is the musk rose.

 

Drying: Tobacco! A note that loves my skin. I can still smell the musk rose and some of the other florals. Whoa does this blend’s scent change quickly as it dries.

 

Dry: It’s settling down to smell like a blend instead of just a couple notes sticking out. I can’t really tell what notes I’m getting, but the blend is smooth, dark, and a little musky, with just a touch of booze; exactly how I’d expect a Goddess of Destruction scent to smell! I approve, but unfortunately it gets very faint (if still lovely) after about half an hour. If it had more staying power, I would definitely get a bottle...eh, I'll enjoy the imp very much.

Edited May 14, 2012 by bergamot_bliss