Khajuraho

[magikalbrownies]

This is a blissful, euphoric blend based on an ancient Indian love potion: honey, date palm, tuberose, davana blossom, amber, white sandalwood, vanilla bean, Damask rose, and champaca flower.

oh man--- i have to say i love all blends with honey but this one is magic.

at first, when i sniffed it in the bottle it was NOT something i liked, it smelled all amber but WOW after it warmed up on my skin...

i smell the delicate honey mix with the amber and sandalwood (which is usually a bad one on me)

this one is a winner...LURV IT and its on my wishlist as of NOW. Edited April 10, 2009 by magikalbrownies

[metaldog32]

2007 version

 

I came into my 2007 bottle quite by accident. My sister had bought a bottle and decided she didn’t like it. She gave it back to me and for quite some time it just stayed in the dark recesses of BPAL stash.

 

I never thought to give it a try at least not initially because from the description it sounded too sweet and flowery to me.

 

I finally did, however, give it a try last year.

 

Whenever I do try a new BPAL my condition is that I cannot go to something else that is new until I do a review of the oil I’ve tried. So.. Khajuraho and I became stuck with each other. I would wear other BPAL’s..ones I’ve tried and reviewed..but I always ended up going back to Khajuraho whether I wanted to or not.

 

I can be a bit rigid sometimes…hehehe

 

Anyway..the whole point of this is the following:

 

When I first tried this on it wasn’t my favorite. I tolerated the fragrance. I mean..I totally got the whole fresh banana smell in the opening and I have to say..I wasn’t really that thrilled. It’s a creamy fruit/floral smothered with honey and I swore…it wasn’t me.

 

But something happened after having Khajuraho on for a couple of minutes. All of this becomes quite intoxicating actually. So you can imagine my surprise that after 5 minutes I’m beginning to realize how great this is. You get the champaca flower with it’s spicy slant melding with the creamy tuberose and damask rose and that creamy fruit settles down..weaving through all of this. The sandalwood gives me a bit of an anchor so this doesn’t become just fruity floral..there’s a bit of backbone here to secure it..ground it a bit.

 

It snuck up on me..and made me realize why so many people go hog wild over it.

 

I had been ready to dismiss it as just another iteration of a fruity floral but quite frankly..it’s just brilliant.

 

You can imagine how surprised I was when I realized I had almost finished the bottle.

 

It’s all gone.

 

I finished it this week.

 

And..I did this without realizing it. I mean..I would wear .. Khajuraho..absentmindedly. It wouldn’t be my favorite pick or my “go-to scent”. I would wear it when I wanted to try something new and then remembered I still need to write a review for it. I’d put it on..sometimes grudgingly but always after the first 30 seconds I would be a bit intrigued..because I couldn’t figure out for the life of me why I would want to wear something that smelled like banana in the opening and then find myself kind of loving it so much after 5 minutes. I couldn’t pinpoint it…and now..well..after going through a 5 ml I finally did.

 

So…this isn’t my normal structure for a review..but since I only have an empty bottle to refer to I figured better this than nothing at all. Khajuraho in my opinion deserves all the hype and hoopla.

 

It’s a sweet/spicy floral tempered with creamy fruit and honey with a bit of amber to give it roundness and sandalwood to give it a bit grounding. I have loved wearing it and think it’s great for anytime..but particularly summer evenings.

 

[GardenCat]

an interesting blend of some of my favorite notes (honey, tuberose, amber, white sandalwood, vanilla bean & Damask rose). Sweet, without being overpowering, floral without too much flower. A true sensual delight!

 

 

[myarmsbendback]

This was somewhat disappointing to me. I'm not sure what vintage my bottle is. I'm not getting any of the notes described by reviewers here. To me it's all synthetic banana.

[crebbsgirl]

07 Version:

 

Wow, I surprisingly really like this! And colour me shocked as it contains two of my notes of doom - Rose, and Champaca Flower. Maybe they just cancel eachother out?

 

This is a really amazing blend of mild flowers, honey, and amber, with the vanilla bean and sandalwood simultaneously sweetening and grounding. This is a wonderfully evocative blend, sexy and enticing. I can smell the champaca faintly - whereas normally it comes screaming to the foreground. Rose is waaaay in the background here, and I can only smell it if I really look for it. Overall the feel is warm and creamy.

[fairnymph]

2007 & 2008 Versions

 

Sniffed: Rich goldenrod coloured oil. Surprisingly floral/perfumey, and not that sweet. Champaca, tuberose, amber and white sandalwood, primarily. Lighter rose and davana. Maybe a little vanilla - not really any honey or date. I definitely get the palm here - not date, not fruit, but palm FRONDS - I know the note from The Hanging Gardens and some of the Luaus.

 

Wet: This becomes a little softer, more floral and feminine, on me - I get less davana than in 2007, and more rose. A little bit of honey, not so much vanilla. Still heavy on the palm, and lots of champaca. Much sweeter - honey and vanilla and more davana and rose. Still very 'perfumey'-floral, as well. I get a soapy-clean edge from the tuberose, and a tiny bit of powder from the amber. This is a little less 'dry' feeling.

 

Dry: Something smells a little slick/plasticky - not in a bad way, necessarily - it's sort of how white tea usually goes on me. I don't really like it from far away, it's too rich/creamy - but it smells good up close. Seeing as I don't go around with my nose to my wrists...I'm not sure this is something I'd enjoy wearing.

 

Summary: Musky, white sandalwood, champaca, vanilla, honey and slightly pwodery amber on drydown. It's a bit more vanilla-y and powdery thn I like, and I wish there were more rose and davana, but it's pretty nice. It's oddly almost spicy, in a way I can't place - maybe like carnation? Feminine, classic, sexy. To retest. Good throw & longevity.

 

[Gin]

Khajuraho 2008

 

Whoa, florals. This is sweet and just too much for me. I don't know which flower is the culprit... it's almost jasmine-like, but it, along with honey is too heavy.

Edited May 27, 2009 by Gin

[Babette]

2008 version: Mmm... this is absolutely heavenly! It smells like milky orange candy on me, which reminds me so much of my childhood (lazy, hot days in school eating chewy orange sweeties). Definitely comforting! I can even detect a faint hint of dates (love!!). It doesn't remind me of anything Indian-like. If you want something truly Indian, try jasmine and coconut for starters.

[djsiberia]

this is very interesting and somehow it reminds me of an entire lush store and this place i buy incense from. it's powdery and floral, yet it's not overpowering and sweet.

 

somehow i don't mind having a bottle of this, but i don't think i'd get a second bottle.

[Muppetk]

Well, this almost works on me. That is, it's gorgeous - smooth sweet complex incense/musks except for one overriding note, which I'd have to label jasmine. I need to look up the florals in this and see if one of them is related to jasmine, because jasmine takes over and dies on my skin and this blend did the exact same thing. Sigh.

[Tess]

In the bottle - I -think- I have the 2007 version of this, since it's spelled right on the label... I'm getting a lot of champaca and rose, with a touch of the incense and a smidge of honey and vanilla. I strangely like it despite it being a floral.

 

Wet - Holy... hello, flower!!!

 

Drying - The rose is heady and overpowering everything else in this. I get the sense of what I was smelling in the bottle underneath, but the rose is popping out to the point where it's extremely difficult to smell anything else except as a slight "aura." Boo.

 

Dry (3 hours) - Well, it's less heady, but it's still FLOWERS with other stuff just lingering in the background.

 

Overall - I didn't expect this to be quite so floral on me. I'm sure on someone else it'll work nicely, as it seems awesome in the bottle.

[unlaced]

2008 version. Received from the lovely Babette in a swap.

 

In the bottle and wet on my skin this is waaaaay floral. The rose is coming out fighting and I'm afraid I'm going to have to swap it because rose and I usually do NOT get along.

 

but, after a few minutes the florals calm down and this scent become a sweet incense-y blend with a slight hint of flowers underneath that's just gorgeous. There is a hin of sweet fruits if I concentrate, but mostly sweet incense... I love i and I forsee this bottle getting lots of use.

[ElectraV]

I've got the 2008 version.

 

In the bottle: Floral. I'm no good at identifying florals beyond jasmine, violet, rose and lotus and it's not any of those. I really need to work on those notes.

 

Wet: Rose and sandalwood. Little bit soapy unfortunatly

 

Dry: The soap disappeared quickly. This dried to a lovely combination of rose, sandalwood and honey. Classy, soft and feminine. I got a few compliments on this one.

[surf-tormented]

I really like the smell of this in the bottle.

I really like the notes in the blend.

 

But this doesn't matter, because the honey doesn't want me to like it.

This goes from beautiful to sickeningly honey sweet on me.

It doesn't let up.

I really wish the honey note wasn't it there.

It gives me headaches.

It makes me feel sick to my stomach.

 

And no, it doesn't make me feel erotic at all!

 

Hey, but if you love honey, be my guest, you'll probably LOVE this!

[cupcakegernade]

2008 Version

I was recently frimped a decant of this, but I don't have high hopes for this working on me, as I tend to have problems with florals becoming to overpowering. But I figured I should give it a go, maybe the other notes will help keep the flowers in check.

 

Right away this smells rather astringent, and the flowers are the only detectable notes. This smells like a floral scented nail polish, and is a bit headache inducing. The nail polish smell does eventually fades, when that happens the honey, amber and sandalwood begin to show up and help ground things just a little. At this point the scent becomes tolerable, but I am still not liking it. In the end this becomes sweet powdery florals, and the nail polish smell still lingers far off in the background.

[cfrancesca]

2011: I find this pretty much the same sensual floral as the previous versions. Mostly champaca flower, sandalwood and date palm, with honey and vanilla, which help sweeten up the blend and give it a slight creaminess. I get soft hints of rose and tuberose after a short while. Heady, lush, a little smokey and sweet with an almost boozy feel.

[Josx77]

I guess my nose is not as sensitive but all i know is that when i smell this it reminds me of walking into the incense's stall at my local flea market. All those floral, musk, and sweet smells swirling around my head.

[thekittenkat]

In the bottle: Florals sprinkled with honey, thrown down across a bed of amber and sandalwood.

 

Wet: A light sweet floral honey, backed by the Damask rose and the champaca flower.

 

The dry-down: The date palm and vanilla bean have made their presence known. This is quite the morpher, but in a subtle fashion. It's very lovely at any stage, and a good spring-time scent for the evening. Could be a little rich for the hotter day-time. The honey makes it smexy.

[Fury]

I was gifted by an amazing Lush customer with a little baggie of Lupers- and this is the one I was most excited to try, though I am thrilled to get to go through so many of the scents I would have otherwise missed out on. Khajuraho I purchased a few years ago and quickly swapped away, as I remember the bottle beginning as a very creamy, rich floral, but turning to something horrific and sickingly sweet. Thus far, this blend is very smooth, all honey and creamy florals, the date palm leaving an edible quality to the blend, but really supporting the champaca and the tuberose. The amber and sandalwood are almost undetectable to my nose, but definitely give the scent a sense of warmth. Very, very yummy and feminine, but sort of cozy too.

[JasminDreams2010]

I was excited to try this because of the florals. Sadly for me, my skin turns nearly everything to soft, dry sandalwood-perhaps it's why I wear brutal Jasmines so well. This is quite nice regardless of being different from my expectations; it's very soft and I agree with the "head-shoppy" reviews- in a nice way. However, I'm getting no florals, no honey, no date palm, it's all sandalwood. Very soft throw, it's a keeper for sure, but it's the kind of scent you wear on a comfort day in pyjamas and not to a date night or job interview.

[diBenjamin94108]

Of the Lupercalia scents, this one jumped out at me first, but I ended up purchasing it last in my 4-order purchasing frenzy. I have to say, I've only been aware of BPAL for a year, and I would have thought the Halloween ones would be my favorite but no. The 'lupers' have been awesome.

 

This one appealed to me immediately because I love tuberose, and all the other notes sounded good, and in fact the whole combination is really gorgeous -- it would be great in summer or in a hot climate. It reminds me of my lost youth in clubs in Miami. Hot nights, sweet flowers perfuming tropical air. Very luscious, languid, sexy. It's definitely floral but rich tropical floral, nothing demure about it.

 

I'd definitely wear it out at night.

[milo]

At first, this is floral honey, mostly rose, but more subdued than other roses. Dry it's more dried fruit foody with honey, very sweet and exotic. It kind of reminds me of when you make date squares and have to cook the dates in water until soft, only there is honey and a vase full of exotic flowers nearby. This is a bit too sweet for me, but I do appreciate how well this is blended. It is indeed very sensual and would smell great on someone else who could pull this one off.

[brilliantcat]

2011 version

 

In the bottle: Florals.

 

Immediately after application: Rose + other florals.

 

Warming up: Florally with a touch of vanilla. The vanilla has a plasticy quality to it.

 

Fading: Soft vanilla and florals.

 

Faded: Average throw, short wear.

 

Overall: Don't think this one is gonna work.

[foxroses]

when i smell this in the bottle, it smells SO woody, just all sandalwood. once i put a bit on, though, it turns maddeningly into ROSES. nasty, yucky, smelly rose. it stays that way for about 15 minutes or so - i thought it was going to be a waste of a bottle. about 10 minutes or so after that, though, there is something sweeter coming out, and the florals are fading. the rosey grandma soap smell is fading, and i dont know if it's vanilla bean, or amber, or date palm, or what, i.e it doesn't smell particularly like any of those, but it's making it tolerable on me. there is quite a bit of throw and its all quite floral, but this might actually grow on me. my first response was that i'd be selling my bottle, but we'll see.

 

hour and a half later: WOW, this is turning REALLY nice. whatever weird rose floral i was getting, its pretty much completely gone, and it's a really delicious honey vanilla. this needs a full test day but i think this may have gone a complete 180 on me, and could be turning into something amazing.

 

So I guess I really wanted to like this but didn't, because I swapped it away. I just got a bottle in a swap though, because it stayed on my wishlist regardless. And this time I love it! I'm attributing the change to a few years worth of skin chemistry change and aging the bottle.

 

In the bottle I get dates and amber, now. I can tell there's sandalwood but it's not overwhelming like in my previous review. When applied and wet, I do still get roses, but amazingly, they're not "nasty, yucky, smelly rose" anymore. It's more floral than I'd like, and a bit honeyish. More sandalwood now, and I think 'white' is appropriate—it's lighter than what I think of sandalwood as being. Has that smooth ambery note too.

 

As it dries it gets date-y! I love that. The floral is still there, and I like that, because most florals I can't stand. I wanted this because of the amber/vanilla/date/sandalwood, and it's very different than I want it to be like, but this time I really like it.

 

Later: mmmm... vanilla. There's almost something incensy coming out, which is just lovely. Actually, maybe it's the honey? It's sweet and creamy, and it's tempering the florals I was getting before.

 

After a few hours: Now I get that creamy, vanilla honey. I can still get the sandalwood/date/incensy note, but not too much. I can see how it could go powdery on some people. It's very close to my skin now. Can I bathe in this? In my previous review when I wrote it had quite a bit of throw, I must have been out of my mind. This is warm and sexy without being sexual. It's more romantic sexy than dirty sexy. Like snuggling.

 

Definite keeper. So good!

[Circaea]

Not sure what year this is. It's spelled "Khajurajo" on the bottle.

 

It's very beautiful when wet. Sweet fruity floral creamy insense. On my skin, after it dries, sometimes a slighlty rotten fruit smell comes out. Heartbreaking, because I love it otherwise.