Kunstkammer

[Miseraya]

A sensory jumble, a true cacophony of odors: black pepper, benzoin, blood orange and olibanum.

In the imp: Yikes, cough medicine. Bleh.

On the wrist: Yep, cough medicine. Not cool. Warming up into something more pleasant. Very orangey. Starting to be not gross. Oh bugger, I just looked up olibanum, it's frankincense! Frankincense is not my friend. Let's see how this works out, so far it's sour orange and something sharp and medicinal.... Still pretty cough syrupy.

Drydown: Sadly this did not improve. Sour cough medicine with little variation. There was a brief period of hope, but it was crushed upon the drydown. Blech. Swapped.

ETA: Lab description. Edited October 2, 2007 by Miseraya

[likie]

I got a decant of Kunstkammer a long time ago in a swap of some kind that I don't remember at all... but well, it's in my box. I hadn't read the description until recently, and I always thought the sweetness was strawberries. I now know it doesn't smell like the Lab's strawberry oil, but it definitely smells like fresh, tart strawberries with a dusting of sugar. <3

 

When I wear it, the fruit overpowers the sweetness for a little while. After 30-60 minutes, it becomes a fresh sweet scent - not candy-sweet, but fruit-sweet (I imagine it as the difference between refined sugar and natural sugar).

[shadesong]

In bottle: Weirdly... *foody*.

On me: Goes from foody to straight black pepper to benzoin... morphs like crazy. Cacophony indeed!

[The_Merf]

Pepper! Whee! This has an awesome kick to it. Orange is usually really dominant on me, but here the pepper turns it into something very interesting (I should also note that the strength is from regular orange, not necessarily blood orange like I have here). There is a bit of staleness on the drydown, but during the long-lasting 'main' stage of this scent, it is an awesome pepper and orange combination. Quite cool.

[TrailerTrashPrincess]

a very generous forumite sent me a bit of this. and it scares me, but as i try to review everything that comes my way (eventually) ... i shall be brave. i hate pepper.

impsniff: old-skewl cherry cough syrup and something that makes me think xmas. probably the olibanum/orange combo.

on skin: to note, i put the oil on a patch of skin that's badly scarred (and has no nerve endings left) in case the pepper started to burn or irritate my skin. dunno if that will affect the scent, but thought i'd mention it.

the cherry cough syrup has become cherry lollipop. and i do mean CHERRY. i guess the orange has mixed with it enough to add some character.

thankfully i don't smell pepper, so i don't have to go scrub my hands with bleach...

i will say this is very surprising, it smells much more like what i expected of Bon Vivant, The Red Queen and Jailbait. especially Jailbait.

i'm glad i got to try it but it is strangely too candhy-sweet for me.

 

 

black pepper, benzoin, blood orange and olibanum.

[alhbooks]

Blood orange is one of my favorite notes, and Kunstkammer uses it to good advantage. I bought a bottle recently on hte Forum and I've been very happy with it...it's aged to a rather thick, golden oil, and the pepper only serves as a grounding note to me (other pepper blends have overwhelmed, so I was grateful to find this didn't).

 

It's rich and warm and quite comforting. A real keeper for me.

[alicia_stardust]

Something about this is so buoyant and uplifting to me. It is orange and red and pink, with a medley of notes that, in the end, meld to make a light, uplifting, juicy, orange bubblegum fragrance. This is another favorite from Carnaval Noir and one that gets me many compliments. I like to wear it whenever I need a mood boost.

[fairnymph]

In the bottle: Very sweet and almost sharp; CHERRIES!

 

Wet: Still cough-syrupy cherries, though less sickly sweet.

 

Yecccccch. Had to wash off.

[Czarina]

In the imp: oh, olibanum. That must be what that smell is (frankincense, but lighter and sweeter).

Wet: honey.

Drydown: honey. Dang. No pepper.

On me this is sweet without being either foody or floral. Intriguing, but not likely to cause me to sell my firstborn in search of more of this.

 

Not much apparent throw or wearlength.

[Dark Alice]

From the bottle to the drydown this smells like Thornton's Fruit Rock Candy. Esp. the orange candy. It smells great....I just don't think this one is for me.

[zankoku_zen]

This one, oddly enough, is a sweet jammy scent.

 

Tasty, but not my cup of tea.

[inkaddict]

In the bottle: Too sweet. Cough syrup indeed.

 

Wet: Still too sweet, the orange seems a bit "fake", more like orange candy than sugared orange. Meh.

 

Dry: Much better! Still sweet orange, but more natural and subdued. The pepper comes out and gives it a bit of a kick. It's still very much an orange candy scent, but not cloying or syrup-like.

 

Verdict: I'll keep my partial, but I won't be looking for more. With more pepper and less sweetness it could have been love.

[lucyintheSkywithDemons]

I bought this one along with an imp pack on ebay,

so I wasn´t really looking to buy it.

 

In the bottle, it smells like orange marmelade.

Not the english bitter kind of marmelade,

but the sweet and delicious one.

 

On skin,

it doesn´t morph.

Its just what it is in the bottle - orange marmelade.

Thats all. All the time.

 

I love the lable, so I will keep the bottle,

but I don´t see myself reaching for this.

 

I can´t even tell if I like it,

I just don´t really care for it.

 

Hoarder, I am.

[tragedy]

I love Kunstkammer!!!

 

Its a smutty cherry bubble gum flavor on me... strong enough that it doesnt burn off too fast...

One of those fun scents I like for casual wear.

 

(cherry?? my chemistry turns everything wacky)

Edited April 18, 2009 by tragedy

[ouch!]

This is so strange. And I don't mean strange smelling. I mean strange in the way that I'm not getting ANY of the notes listed. This smells like sweet plasticy fake fruit. Which I don't mind at all.

It's like a Strawberry Shortcake doll. But not Strawberry. It's like a Berry Shortcake Doll.

 

No morphing, not much throw..I have to reapply lots.

Love the smell but..it's not strong enough.

 

Edited June 2, 2009 by ouch!

[unlaced]

From the first sniff out of the bottle to completely dry on my skin all this is is fruity gum, complete with that powdery gum smell... And even after 30 or 45 minutes or so I could barely smell it anymore, even in my hair where scents usually stick around longer.

 

I really wanted to love this. It sounds so wonderful but it's just not working with my skin chemistry.

[donnatron]

Imp: Blood orange and frankincense.

 

Wet: The orange sort of smoothes out and I get a general spiciness combined with the frankincense and a warming skin sweetness.

 

Dry: Dry, sort of dusty orange, resinous frankincense, a residual spiness and then a warm, skin sweet almost-vanilla. Odd but interesting. Not necessarily the greatest on my chemistry but definitely fun. Loving the benzoin in this.

 

Throw: Mild.

 

Overall: I like it. I will enjoy and use up the imp and may buy a bottle if I see one but won't be stalking the forums or ebay any time soon.

[rayvn1]

Hrm. I was pretty excited for this one, but I only get a warm scent with a touch of spice. A glowing, rich warmth to be sure, but not anything outstanding on my skin. So glad I got to try this! On to a new home, little Kunstkammer.

[totheo]

Fruit tingles!!

 

At first, that's all I can think of. Fruit tingles and sherbet. But once it hits my skin, it becomes more juicy - more real. Less sugar filled, chemically balanced. More mature.

 

It's delicious *licks arm*

[EmpressPixie]

This smelled just like grape soda in the bottle to me.

 

On and dry (it dried like it was in a marathon -- on and dry almost immediately), it reminds me of these little tins of fruit candies we used to get -- both the fruitiness, the sweetness, and the powder scent from rumbling around in a metal tin and grinding up a bit. It isn't a baby-powder scent at all. It's nice, but probably not really an every day scent for me (it's a rare day that I wake up thinking, "I should smell like candy today") but a perfect candy scent.

[GoddesShel]

In the bottle: ORANGE.

 

On me, wet - more orange, a hint of pepper grounding it....this isn't a sweet orange, it's a tart orange with some peel.

 

As it dries, it keeps getting sharper and more tart - not the direction I'd prefer it to go, mind you.... But I think it's going to level off and be mainly tart orange and peel. It's ... interesting.

 

I'm glad I have it, due to the rarity, but I'm not sure how often I'll reach for it.

[LizziesLuck]

I had to rehome my bottle - I remember loving it when I first got it, but sadly over time my skin chemistry changed and I couldn't do orange anymore. It used to smell like orange candy on me with pepper, which was really cool. Years later my skin turned it into orange bathroom cleaner.