Khandita

[ifinena]

She, whose lover has been unfaithful. She lashes out in rage, and her heart is filled with fury: fiery saffron, neroli, severe black musk, rose otto, and a harsh splinter of rosemary.

Khandita smells like moth repellent on me, for the first hour at least
After a couple of hours, whatever it is that hates me so much, goes away and the scent dries down to something peppery/spicy and totally different to any scent I have ever worn. To me, this is an "angry" scent.

I am keeping the bottle I got, because I am collecting the Heroines.

[mspixieears]

Wow, this is exactly what I need to clear my sluggish mind! The saffron is very uplifting and the other notes are very herbaceous. I can’t believe it’s so uplifting and also very summery for some reason. I’m not sure that I would use this as a personal fragrance, but probably more as a room fragrance or in an oil burner. I swear I get the faintest hint of rosemary! Very subtly though.

[maribouquet]

Something in here smells like almonds to me...a deep, well-spiced, boiling, almost peppery scent.

[greymatter]

I don't have much call to be the embodiment of female wrath, but it's good to know I have the option to smell appropriately should the opportunity arise.

 

In the imp: it's strange and spicy. It neither compels nor repulses me. I'm indifferent.

 

Wet: I understand the "root beer" sense that others have gotten, but it's merely a vibe to me. If it were the actual scent, I'd have to scrub it off; root beer makes me urpy. There's a fiery flare of saffron and, I'd swear, cassia. It's the same scent that in Saw Scaled Viper was unwearable, but here, I find it tempered by something. Interesting.

 

Dry: This is a gorgeous, spicy, warm scent. I could see wearing this when I'm pissed and want other to know it - but also want them to know I'm hot. ^_~

[CrazyPretzel]

Wet, neroli is the most pronounced note, followed by black musk. Creamy citrus musk. As it dries the citrus note becomes less bitter and the overall scent becomes more incense-y, which must be the saffron. The rest of the notes are very well-blended; rose otto and rosemary don't dominate but lend sweetness and crispness. This scent is bold, dramatic, black & orange, but I find it much more appealing than the furious Heroine in the description.

[fairnymph]

In the bottle: Light yellow oil. Sweet and sharp, floral and herbal. Neroli, rosemary,and a hint of spicy-warm saffron. A hint of sexy sweet musk.

 

Wet: Much softer, warmer, gentler. Though the neroli's still soapy-sharp, and rosemary is still a bit medicinal-mentholic. The saffron is wonderfully spicy and sort of creamy, and warm-sweet almost like amber. Very light rose.

 

Dry: Slow to dry, and increasingly spicy and warm - very strong saffron note here! Also something a little smoky and incensey, maybe poppy or opium? Other notes hold, except for the musk which is amping sweetly.

 

Later: Arghh, clove has emerged and is taking over! This is going back to sharp again as rosemary and neroli remain strong. Rose totally gone. Only the creamy, fragrant saffron and sweet musk alleviates this blend at all.

 

Summary: Cloyingly sweet, biting, spicy. Sharp neroli and clove, medicinal rosemary, and sweet black musk. Faint hint of warm saffron, but the rose is long gone. Rather masculine. Moderately strong throw, lasts forever.

 

This made me feel quite ill. Man, I'm not having much luck with this line!

[Salsa Shark]

This blend, along with Penthus and London, is one of the big reasons why I really wish I could stomach wearing Rose as a note. Unfortunately I can't, and it breaks my heart.

 

In the bottle and wet, this is very heavily rosemary. In fact it takes a good 15 minutes for the other notes to beat it into submission enough to make an appearance. When it does, it's mostly the bitter, spiky wood of neroli and an almost burning warmth of saffron, tied together by the black musk. It all melds together beautifully, and for about an hour it's a glorious dark floral incense which really does make me feel strong and grounded.

 

But then the rose starts to amp up, all sour and soapy.

[zankoku_zen]

This is definitely one angry lady! I get loads of saffron from this and the black musk with a touch of rose. It smells like a woman scorned.

 

And we all know, hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.

 

This is the blend I'd wear if I were out to get revenge on my SO. The kind where I'd wreck his car, his place, melt CDs in a microwave and in general blow sh!t up.

 

(Since I am fortunately, very much in love and love my husband to bits, this blend isn't ... ah, well, the most appropriate).

[Reedsong]

This is a musky, sensual, dark scent and, as many reviewers have pointed out, it seems to express something of the primal feminine rage. Based on the scent description, and the many notes that usually don't work for me, I'd never intended to try this one - but I received a sniffy recently, gave it a chance, and am intrigued. This works better on me than any of the other Ashtanyikas did.

[surlygurl]

This scent is my very favorite black musk scent so far. It starts off with aged sweetish/powdery black musk with a bit of sharp rosemary and a "shine" from neroli. (I've recently found that neroli is good to me). I do get the rootbeer vibe others mention, but it merely helps ground the scent. This conjures up a picture of a gorgeous, slightly wicked looking woman with a playful smile around her lips & eyes while her mind focuses on revenge. IMO this oil was better - "shinier" and sharper - when it was fresh, but it's much sweeter and less harsh with age. Guess I'd better wear it more often!

[starfish327]

in the imp: i'm not sure what i was thinking of, but this is a lot less floral than what i was expecting. this is quite nice actually- it's musky floral, almost perfumy, i'd almost say mature? it's the type of thing i can myself wearing to a dress up type of event if that makes sense

 

wet: more musky floral, almost herbal-sharp but not quite. i'm assuming that i'm reading the neroli now that i have the note list in front of me.

 

dry: dark musk and florals, but it's a lot more balanced than wet.

 

i actually like this one a lot.

[milo]

This is pretty aged, obviously! I don't find anything harsh at all in this blend. It is a warm, slightly spicy black musk. I love black musk, so you could probably dip it in something vile, and I'd still like it. I love this, though it does fade pretty fast on me.