Malkuth

[akw]

The Kingdom, Olam Yesodoth, Shekhinah, God’s Presence in the World, the Throne of Glory.

Starts out amazing, fruity, spicy, earthy and exotic. There is something exciting about it. Patchouli underneath, not overpowering. Fades to something less forward and exotic, but still spicy and wonderful.

On drydown, the fruit becomes more predominant than the spice, and it settles into something a bit more conventional, but still really lovely. Well blended, well integrated, strong throw.

I love this!

[Trish]

In the imp: Spicy plum. Reminds me a lot of Hellion except spicier.

 

Wet: Woah this is almost identical to Hellion, except not as sweet. The spice has disappeared and it's all plum. Not surprising - plum loves me.

 

Drydown: The spices re-emerge, so now it's like Hellion but with spices instead of incense. The plum is throwing like crazy!

 

Dry: Ah the spice is cinnamon! Until now the plum was so dominant I couldn't even identify what spice it was! But the plum has decided to calm down a bit now, although it's still very much present and still throwing like crazy. Another similiarity to Hellion. However it doesn't smell nearly so much like it now, it's darker and not nearly as sweet.

 

This is warm and lovely, combining two of my favourite notes. I'm glad I got to try it before it disappears.

[shadesong]

In bottle: Foody! Spicyberry.

 

On me: Very cinnamon! Me: "People were picking up stuff like strawberry and blackberry on this - on me it's nothing but cinnamon." Adam: "Good!" Me: "I like berries!" Adam: "Yeah, but I like cinnamon." This smells quite like the cinnamon brooms I buy in the autumn...

 

 

...

 

 

And now there's some fruit beneath the spices. Nice.

[Brianne]

In the bottle:

Ugh Cassis

 

On me:

People kept saying cinnamon in their reviews so I bought this one with high hopes of getting a nice cinnamon blend. Unfortunately, this is cassis, not cinnamon. And I HATE how cassis smells on me (like burnt gingerbread cookies). It's similar to cinnamon, but distinctly different also. The difference for ME is that cinnamon is a wonderful spice that can be sweet and hot at the same time, and cassis smells odd and burnt. This is pretty earthy smelling too - grounded smelling, husky even.

 

There does seem to be a slight berry note, but it's very mellow and only slightly sweet - it's quite possible that it's strawberry, but it could be plum too. I'm not really sure, it's pretty secondary to the earthy spice going on in this one.

 

Final note:

I want to love this one, but I just only like it. The cassis is really not for me, and it's unfortunately the strongest note in here. I'm going to hold on to my bottle though and try it again a few more times and see what happens! It does have a very Autumn-y feel to it with it's warmth and spice though.

 

ETA: It's been on me a while now and it's starting to grow on me. It's definitely an Autumn scent in my opinion, but that's always a good thing - it's very warm and comforting

Edited July 3, 2007 by Brianne

[indicolite]

Cassia, cassia, cassia, cassia, cassia goes to town.

 

Now, I already have two bottles of Red Phoenix, which Malkuth is reminding me quite strongly of, so I may not keep Malkuth. But I will see how this goes.

[alicia_stardust]

As above, so below...

 

Malkuth smells like patchouli and spice in the bottle. I feared the inevitable: that it would stink and give me a headache as most patchouli/earth scents do. I was so wrong.

 

On my skin, Malkuth warms into a golden, russet, and olive "colored" resin/earth scent with a fair amount of sweetness. It creates an overall blanket of radiant, glowing energy and grounded comfort. There might be something dark or plum-like underneath that. The cassia/spice sits on top of everything else, melding with the other notes to create a euphoric scent full of earthly comfort and warmth.

[zankoku_zen]

This has got to have patchouli in it. Because at the beginning, that's what I can smell the most. After a while, it sort of settles into an amber/resiny scent, the patchouli is still there but not quite as overpowering.

 

Definitely not for me.

[agnusdei]

With all the mentions of fruit & berries in other reviews I thought Malkuth would have an obvious fruitiness, but it doesn’t for me. In the bottle & wet Malkuth is a little bit of spice over a grounded and earthy base that I can’t quite identify, though I keep thinking I can smell a hint of patchouli or possibly vetiver. There’s a touch of something that reads as ‘nutty’ to me, though I’m not sure what it could be because it doesn’t actually smell like any sort of nut I’m familiar with. Given a few minutes though, and the odd nutty tone disappears and allows the spice to dominate. I’m pretty sure what I’m smelling is cassia, as it feels more robust and raw than just cinnamon. This is a unique spiciness because it reads as earthy and a little gritty, not at all the same kind of spice you’d use in cooking. The fruit that was so elusive in the wet stage has finally started to show itself, though it’s different fruitiness than I’m used to for sure. It feels deep and thick like a mixed berry preserve, its sweetness mostly neutralized by the other darker notes in the blend but still present enough to add the slightest edible quality. The nut scent has emerged again at this point, but this time it’s a lot more understated and integrates itself better instead of resting above the other notes. It might even be some sort of bark and not a nut, I picked up a similar scent from the walnut bark in Leo 07.

 

I agree with the mentions that Malkuth reads as a fall scent rather than spring; to me most fruit blends have a level of liveliness and seem crisp and fresh to a degree befitting of the start of a new year, while Malkuth is more muted, complex, and mature. It recalls the dried leaves and earth of autumn to me, but seen through the window of a toasty bedroom. If I had to sum up my experience with this blend I’d say it was wonderfully evocative of the earth without necessarily being ‘dirty’, mixed with concentrated berries (possibly strawberry or cherry?), and a heavy dose of cassia/cinnamon. Malkuth was one of the first of the Sephiroth/Qliphoth I tried & it still remains one of my favorites.

[nightbiscuit]

Honestly, I have no idea where y'all are getting the fruitiness you speak of. I was all excited for some blackberry sweetness, but when I opened the bottle I was absolutely bowled over by what smells like red patchouli to me. Not my fave note.

As the blend dries I get some woodsy note, I think it is cedar, as someone mentioned.

Then after the drydown is complete the spicy cinnamon emerges, which is nice enough to make this one a keeper for me...I think! We'll see if it smells good at this party I am going to tonight.

[hlinspjalda]

In the vial: This smells familiar. It's dark, and sharp, with something like vetiver in it, but maybe patchouli too. Underneath that there's something sweet, fruity.

 

Wet: Fruit, musk, maybe patchouli. There's still something sweet that's not the fruit, and there's still something sharp that smells less like vetiver now. And I think there's spice in it too.

 

Twenty minutes: Oh, I like this. It smells just the slightest bit like dirt, but there's fruit and patchouli and a floral (maybe even honey?) in it too. It reminds me of Mme Moriarty only with dirt instead of smoke.

 

One hour: Still loving this. Patchouli, fruit, musk, something sweet, and still that endearing touch of dirt.

 

Two and a half hours: Still going strong. This is going on my wish list.

 

Four hours: Nomm nomm nomm nomm nomm! But it has changed some. The fruit is less; that vetiver note is back again. It's still delicious, though.

 

Five hours: Wow, I love this. All the changes it has gone through are still wonderful on me. Now there's not too much left except spice, something herby-sharp (the vetiver still?), and a bit of patchouli.

 

Top five; I have about 10ml of this one now and am hoarding it. It's very grounding, which is appropriate for Malkuth.

 

[Lamia]

Hlinspjalda has been waxing poetic about this for ages, and she finally gave me a testable sniffie, which I have been holding in reserve for a while.

 

I should have known better, since we have exactly the opposite chemistry 99.6% of the time.

 

"Malkuth" smelled of pasty warm cinnanon gum, like Dentine with flour? Which was fine, since I don't mind smelling like warm cinnamon.

 

However, glancing down at my wrists shortly after application, I noticed red splotches where "Malkuth" had been applied and spread. Okaaaaay, THAT has never happened before! I think I have had a stinging reaction to a BPAL scent once previously, but this is the first time I have suffered an actual reaction.

 

Washed off with soap and water, then wiped down with rubbing alcohol, and rinsed with clear water again. About an hour after original application, the red blotches are mostly gone.

 

I will be returning that testable sniffie to it's mommy

[stellans]

I wish I were better at picking out notes, especially when there is no official note listing to guide me. However, this blend is amazing in its resin-y goodness! There is definitely patchouli there, which alone would seal this bottle as a keeper, but there are other subtle components which only add to the deliciousness. The spice which enriches the patchouli is lovely, and doesn’t burn my skin as blends which have cinnamon or cassis usually do. There is a sweetness under the spice and patchouli which I can’t identify, but it is nicely balancing, and welcome to my nose. Others have mentioned a fruitiness and I wouldn't rule that out; I just don't have the expertise to name it.

Bottom line: I have a big bottle of this, and I will enjoy it to the last drop. Edited March 12, 2009 by stellans

[crebbsgirl]

Alright, Malkuth on me started with a bang of patchouli and vetiver. It softened a little as time went on and there was a distinct cherry note underneath. I think there may be a hint of pine in here as well? The cassia was fairly predominant as others have mentioned.. This went a little cloying on me to tell the truth, and there was something that reminded me of Blood Kiss or Voodoo.

[sunlitgarden]

I've been lusting after this one for quite a while and finally got to try it! On me, it's a warm, spicy-ish blend. It reminds me a lot of Blood Moon 2010, which is a favorite of mine. I do like this quite a bit, but I'm glad to know that my Blood Moon is quite similar on me, as I already have a bottle.