Kumari Kandam

[GeorgeJr]

The hollow scent of a vast antediluvian civilization, now frozen and buried, smothered by a thick sheet of ice and trapped deep beneath the ocean. Thick incense, clay, stone, and hothouse blooms with a spike of frost, a hint of decay, and heavy, dolorous aquatic notes.

 

I'm afraid all I'm getting from this is the lab's snow note & not much else . Maybe just a tiny bit of some sort of evergreen in there , but the entire scent is fading fast on me as well . I do like the snow note , but I have other bottles with it I like more then this .

[liquidtrance]

Super masculine. Definitely "aquatic". A hint of citrus? Might be the "blooms" because it floats more towards the slightly floral side. Clay and stone, sure. Ok. But very masculine. Maybe a nice scent for the boy…? It's strangely fruity though.. exotic. Sort of like mango, or melon. But ... a little smoother, colder...

[cleske]

Aquatic and very, very cold. I have mixed feelings about it. It's interesting, but I don't think I would ever wear it, so I guess it's just a matter of personal taste. I keep sniffing to try and work it out, but my nose isn't sophisticated enough to make any sense of it. The incense was very fleeting on me.

[reverendsquid]

Wow. I ordered this more out of curiosity than anything else, and I didn't actually expect to like it, but I do. Lots and lots and lots and lots and lots....

 

In the imp - very sweet, with an odd sort of plasticene or play doh smell underneath it, which is vaguely clay like. No incense, no snow, no aquatics. Not that keen.

 

But then....

 

Fresh on - first of all the sweetness increases until it smells almost sticky and the plasticene disappears. At this point it's a slightly unnerving floral because while I like sweet tropical flowers, this is oversweet and very very strong. Then, all of a sudden, over the top of the flowers, I've got the aquatic note I get from Calico Jack..very salty sea spray and wood. It's really really odd, sticky flowers and salt, but amazingly, it works. It reminds me of a bunch of rotting flowers and fruit floating in the ocean, maybe from a shipwreck, and I like it. Then.... SNOW.. Again, it comes out very fast and is suddenly there very strongly, over everything else. And it's proper cold. I'm getting the same cold-in-the-back-of-the-throat feeling that you get with anything menthol, but there's no menthol anywhere.

Right now, as it's drying, it fits the description exactly. I feel like one of those 50's black and white movies where scientists doing something bizarre in the arctic find a hidden entrance to Another World. The smell coming out of the mysterious hole in the ground would be just like this.

 

I love this, and may well be needing a bottle.

 

[Invidiana]

This is a really strange morpher on me. At first, I'm intrigued by the contrast of cold aquatics and memory of tropical flowers and incense. As time passes different notes get their turn to come to the surface; ocean, incense, florals. However, in the end it just turns into an extremely sweet tropical fruit/flower/incense cocktail that gets to the point of being cloying. If it could have stayed in its first stage the whole way through, I would have been a convert.

 

 

 

[Coldfire]

 

 

Imp: Aquatic Flowers

Wet on Me: Still aquatic Flowers. Total Hothouse blooms scent

Drying Down: aaahhh that ozone-y frost note joins the dance with the hothouse blooms.

Dry: No decay, no clay or stone, faint traces of incense if you in hale long and hard, but frosty aquatic hot house white blooms. This is aptly described and lovely.

 

[Greenwoodtree]

I received this as a frimp and was hesitant to wear it since in the imp it smells so strongly of aquatic florals...however, I'm brave about this and know that a scent smells much different on my skin!

 

Thank goodness! It took about 30 minutes to morph from a wet floral that I thought would kill me to a creamy, slightly musky, slightly sweet, warm, inviting scent.

 

There was a stage where I thought I was smelling some popular perfume from Macy's...but thank god that went away! Now its warm, deliscious, and feels like it could be a personal scent.

 

 

[angelicruin]

A definite snow note as soon as I apply to my skin. Plus florals and something bitter.

[ModderRhu]

Origin: frimp!

In vial: Oooh! Happy citrus!! This reminds me a lot of the BPTP spray Down the Rabbit Hole!! With the dirt and the marmalade...*looks at listed notes* Wait, huh?!

Fresh on skin: Smoky, spicy tangerine and incense! I feel a little crazy just about now. I'm liking this A LOT so far, and if I'm wrong I don't wanna be right! This doesn't smell frozen or hollow or dolorous to me at all. It smells pretty damn cheerful! At this point I've taken out my goblin squirt of Down the Rabbit Hole for a side-by-side comparison. Yep, smells very similar to me. Almost the same, with K.K. being a little less candied-smelling and a smidge darker.

Drydown: Same as when it was wet. Spicy citrus. I like!

[Vega]

Kumari Kandam was one of my first BPAL blends. I think I've sampled a reasonable spectrum of BPAL now, but I'm still unable to link this blend to others (at least, not until recently), so I haven't been able to describe it well, even to myself. Kumari Kandam truly smells like no other. But let me try to review it...

 

Sniffed: Like nothing I've ever smelled before -- perhaps incense and aquatics are part of it. Some days it's very deep like deep waters, othher days it's a lighter and airy aquatic.

 

On skin: What an exotic, complex scent. The earth/loam must be giving it the very unique touch. Definitely aquatic, more dark, oceanic waters than river or lake. The incense, florals and frost are all playing in to make a very well-blended scent. I've worn Kumari Kandam numerous times, and it shows different aspects of its character: some days it is mostly earthy and stony, some days more airy and cold with a flash of humid ozone, some days more tangy-watery-sweet (like melon or some other fruit). I keep coming back to an image of an enormous subterranean cavern, the cathedral-like ceiling vaulting over a huge calm lake below, and I'm smelling the scent of the air within the cavern. Cold (yet somehow warm at the same time), hollow, water-laden, stony; somnolent and languid, like it's been waiting and dreaming for a long time.

Colour impression is a mineral-aquamarine edged with dark brown clay.

 

Verdict: The only blend that faintly approximates this is Cloister Graveyard in the Snow, and even then it's a pale imitation of the rich, deep complexity here. Kumari Kandam is unique. It stands on its own. And it's my #1 BPAL blend of all time. Truly, if I could only ever wear one BPAL for the rest of my life, I would be extremely sad... but I would choose this one.

[elinox]

First Sniff: Wet moss covered rocks with some lilies nearby.

 

Wet: I can smell some salty water and the lily smell is stronger now.

 

Dry: As it dried, the salt blended nicely with the lilies and then something smoke-like came through. The lily blends nicely with the smoke and salt.

 

My Reaction: It’s a lovely scent, but being so light and frail it fades quickly on me.

 

Rating 1-5: 2.5

[Helas]

Kumari Kandam was my first heartbreak, because I was hoping so badly to like it, based on the description.

 

I expected an incense and ozone blend with a background of greenery and a mild floral undercurrent. I get FLOWERS, flowers, and then more flowers, heady, hot, cloying tropical florals, with a strong underlying layer of dirt that makes them smell as though they were rotting. (Well, at least the "decaying" part of the description is right.) The ozonic note is very faint and mostly gives the florals that dreaded soapy detergent edge instead of evoking sea and ice. There is no incense and no greenery. This scent has a lot of throw and duration and is guaranteed to give everyone who is sensitive to florals an instant headache. Unfortunately, I can't recommend it.

 

I will have to satisfy my longing for lost cities buried by the sea somewhere else. Two out of five stars.

[Monday]

I had forgotten the notes to this and was amazed when I read them again. It smells so much lighter than the described notes suggest.

It looks like an aged imp. Im actually getting the lemon of Lemon-Scented Sticky Bat but thankfully without the detergent note I got out of that one. There is some ozone lurking underneath and what smells like frankincense.

This turns into a breezy summery lemon blend, who would have guessed.

[mistressfizz]

Sniff: Not very aquatic at all! Light incense and dusty.

 

Wet: Oh, wow! This smells exactly like clay baking in the desert sun. There's definitely something ancient and dry, and the incense is not church incense, but more natural and green, soft and muted. This is actually quite refreshing without being too bright. The aquatic notes are not high pitched, but instead hint at sandy, peaceful, dark depths.

 

Dry: This dries to a beautiful warm and creamy musk, like a light amber, with a swirl of incense and old stone. Definitely evocative and I find myself wanting to reach for it again and again.

[Dani87]

Imp: sharp, and cool very aquatic.

I am having a hard time picking out single notes, it's very well blended. I can't pick out any florals, or inscents, but they seem to be there. It has a minty feel to it, but not mint candy, mint growing in a hot sun. I also get sea spray smell, and a fresh linen. It does smell frozen! I love it, but everytime I smell it, I think "man". Will have to try this on my husband.

[angelamaria]

In imp: whoa, hothouse blooms! Past those almost-overwhelming flowers is a solid aquatic vibe to this, with a minty note. This feels a bit more than a "spike" of frost. The vibrant flowers and the minty-cool aquatic vibe is contrasting with each other beautifully, somehow.

 

Wet on skin: starts out strongly like the imp scent. The hothouse blooms and cold mint blasts first and high, but this quickly softens and smooths out fairly considerably. It's smooth, but there's a spiciness to it that gives it an interesting texture without being actually spicy. At this stage, I immediately thought of this being a general catalogue replacement for Parsifal. I'll have to do a side-by-side comparison soon.

 

Dry: newly dry, this doesn't morph on my skin, just smooths out a bit more, and softens around the edges. The hothouse flowers are front and center, with an undercurrent of aquatic, almost minty note. Visually, this makes me think of a lake frozen over, and you wipe off the frost at the top and see that under that ice, there are fiery vibrant blooms just frozen and waiting for summer. (I know, that's NOT possible, but never mind.) After a short while on my skin, I was suddenly hit with this blend being an "older" Annabel Lee--none of that candy drydown that Annabel Lee had on me, more subdued and "grown up". Now here's the clincher: I tested this for a whole day at work, and after noon, I went to take a good sniff...and I got that same beautiful drydown scent as The Girl has on me.

 

Verdict: I'm supposed to be in the middle of a culling. But I can't help it--this is definitely a bottle purchase. I'll admit the notes describe aren't really that promising, but I'm so glad I gave this a try. The incense, clay, stone, and decay notes which are scary to me provide a wonderful calming and solid backdrop to the vibrant flowers and cool aquatic.

[sunlitgarden]

In the imp: Dryer-sheet aquatic note and flowers...The "hothouse blooms" are reminding me specifically of Angel's Trumpet or Brugmansia which is in the same family as tomatoes and smells kind of like a sweet tomato leaf, at least to me.

 

On me this smells like a Yankee Candle called "Beach Walk" or "Ocean Breeze" or any of many other variations on the theme. Not really my thing....

Edited May 8, 2012 by sunlitgarden

[milo]

I'm getting mostly an icy aquatic here, kind of like a cleaning product. Maybe the other notes will come out later, but for now, just the aquatic.

[Winter_Wanderer]

-

Edited October 7, 2016 by Winter_Wanderer

[fufu_berry]

Wet: Astringent - getting something like eucalyptus and mint. This is kind of what I was hoping for from Dante and Virgil on the Ice of Kocythos.

 

Drydown: Really pungent flowers and candle wax all of a sudden - still very astringent though.

 

Dry: This smells remarkably like Dia de los Muertos on me! Kind of a smoky/candle herbal floral with a little bit of sweetness and just a hint of something acrid (this isn't a complaint, I rather like it).

 

I liked this; the florals weren't high pitched or making me sniffly, but it ends up so similar to DDLM that I don't think I will need more for a while. But I'm always glad to find non-yucky florals!

[BoneBone24]

Wet: Sweet fauna with a hint of ozone and warm incense.

 

Drydown: Green aquatic notes and floral incense. It’s complex but surprisingly gentle. As it dries, the incense becomes spicier and something almost earthy -the clay perhaps- comes forth.

 

Dry: The incense and clay fade a bit and the aquatic notes become brighter and fizzier as a chilly breeze rolls in. All in all, it's a well-balanced aquatic with spicy/incense-y mid notes and a touch of sweetness and coolness in the background.

 

 

 

 

7 out of 10 bones

Edited July 2, 2013 by BoneBone24

[DiesMali]

In the imp: I was expecting incense, with a name like this. But it's...ocean water???

 

Wet on my skin: Definitely ocean water, like a cold tide carrying flowers and tree branches that got blown into it by a hurricane.

 

Dry: I love aquatic-scented candles and colognes, but I never tried wearing one before. Apparently, my skin liiiikes the ice and flowers in this more than anything. I'm turning it into this gorgeous mixture of lotus and unburnt incense, with a hint of what I think is violet, and then frigid seawater and icebergs. It smells exactly like the description - a long-lost civilization swallowed by the cold ocean. It's very unusual, and I love it. I predict more of this being ordered once I use up the imp.

[kajacana]

Received from the Lab as a frimp.

First impression: Oh my God, is this... is this Skadi? That's all I can think as I sit here smelling my wrist.

Okay, I just got out my bottle of Skadi '13 to compare, and they are actually different. Skadi has that sweet berry thing going on, whereas Kumari Kandam has almost a minty undertone that leaves it a bit thinner and lighter than Skadi on drydown. The snow factor is very similar between the two, though.

[agirlnamedfury]

This is very cold and aquatic, sharper than I usually go for. There's also something that smells bitter and chemically on me as it dries down. I think there's a note here that goes wonky with my skin chemistry...

[Veronica]

Interesting! I get a very sweet scent, with floral and aquatic qualities, but predominantly just very sweet and pretty. Will need to test again.

 

EDIT: Second test, is sweet and pretty, a kind of effervescent/champagne note in the background as well.

Edited July 9, 2015 by delighted