Svadhinaopatika

[Tramp]

Proud, contented, and aglow with joy, she has conquered her lover with her charms, and she knows with all her soul that he is completely and utterly devoted to her. In bliss, she basks in the blessings of the God of Love: golden amber, oude, red sandalwood, massoia bark, honey, and currant.

Ok - you have to try it and let it go through it's mighty morphing stages. It starts out soapy on my skin, no idea why. Then it warms up to a sort of honey soapy feel, and then the fun starts. A sort of butter/coconut/honey vibe comes out after about 15 minutes and then last it settles politely and sensually into honeyed jasmine. Don't know where the jasmine note comes out but it definately isn't a jasmine essential oil, just something that somehow combines to end up smelling like jasmine. Truely lovely.

[zenvodunista]

Bottle: This smells like the patchouli that hates me in Madame Moriarty.

 

On: This is the patchouli that hates me in Mme. Moriarty.

 

15 minutes: this is the patchouli that hates me Mme. Moriarty with lots of sweet fruit.

 

1 hour: this is fruit.

 

I may age this one. Sandalwood and I have a tumultuous relationship and I think that's what is going bad on me in this blend. Khajurajo did something similar to me when I first got it, but now is very lovely.

 

I may swap it though. I can't smell any of the amber or the oude, both of which I adore.

 

We'll see.

 

N.

[tinyvulture]

on me this is all honey and sandalwood, a sexy combination to be sure. i usually describe this sandalwood note as "pencil shavings" and sometimes it's too much, but i think the honey is its perfect companion. the powdery amber is especially lovely here, as well. bpal’s honey has become one of my favorite notes and it really shines in this blend. i like it a lot.

[Blood onmy hands]

The Faces of the Heroine & I are not getting along so well. They've been too classical-perfumey for me and too reminiscent of the drugstore perfumes that I try to stay away from.

 

I was hopeful for Svadhinaopatika because I love red sandalwood and currant. Of course, I can't smell either of those notes in this blend (drat, drat I say!).

 

On me, this is a powdery amber and lashings of a perfumey and slightly metallic honey. Baby powder and perfumey honey. A rather light and unchanging scent on me.

[shelldoo]

in the bottle:light, clean, slight honey scent

 

wet: dusty, sweet, sandalwood and honey. this is stunning!

 

as it dries, this is ever so soft, a breath of honey, hint of sandalwood very dry and susty but not dirty dust just that dry dusty type scent. fabulous sweet, sexy scent

Edited January 27, 2007 by shelldoo

[filigree_shadow]

I was charmed by the description of this scent and decided to try it even though honey is usually a deal-breaker for me.

 

I'm very pleased. Although I can tell this has honey in it, it's not going wonky on me at all. The scent is exotic, sweet, and a little bit spicy. When I first sniffed it on my skin I had no idea what I was smelling. I'm still not sure. It's enticing -- very alluring. At first I thought it smelled golden but now that it's dry I think it smells like a really sexy combination of red and gold.

 

Very nice.

[astridclaire]

Yep, this starts out really, really soapy- but light. I have to huff it to get the soapy smell. But once it dries down this beautiful honeyed wood incense wafts up from my skin. It's familiar in a way I can't place. It has a comforting ancient quality like antique linens stored in a beautiful old wooden chest. Add a layer of honey, sunshine, and the smoothest, lightest incense and you've got something like Svadhinaopatika. There's also a citrus quality to this blend. Am I confusing you yet? That's because this blend is confusing me as well, but in a good way.

 

Also, this blend is very light with little to no throw on me but it's growing on me. I want my entire house to smell like this! Happy, serene, ancient, sweet, grounded, and mystical!

[valentina]

In the bottle, Svadhinaopatika is sandwood incense. When it hits my skin, it retains its strong sandalwood scent, but a sweet incense quality follows on drydown. That rather sharp sandalwood incense quality continues for a half-hour or so, with the edge taken off by a certain powdery untone, which is probably the amber. But then it morphs again and really mellows down into a richer, deeper scent. After I had it on for a couple of hours, I could swear it had a sweet, tobacco-like quality to the scent. Maybe the oude or the massoia bark, sweetened by honey? I don't know, but when it hit that point, oh my hell, it is sexy. Love it to pieces!

Edited January 31, 2007 by valentina

[Heavenlyrabbit]

Slightly sweet sandalwood incense.

 

Well blended so I keep sniffing it in to savor the deepness.

 

Very, very rewarding scent.

[marietta]

When first applied, this is all sandalwood -- if I really, ummm, snort some, a bit of a soapy edge is revealed, but I honestly wouldn't have noticed it if I hadn't been impatient and read the reviews before I got mine.

 

After about 10 minutes, the currant comes out, and like most currant this is reminiscent of some sort of citrus -- at least initially. It becomes a rounder berryish scent after a while, only to fade completely after about half an hour.

 

Once the currant is gone, this is about the loveliest resin-honey blend you could imagine. There is the sort of warm dusty leaf note I normally get from patchouli, but I wouldn't swear that isn't the sandalwood mixing with one of the resins.

 

Really nice, but I do wish it had more throw. I'll let it rest for a while and then try it again, to see if it's more obliging. The lasting power is quite good, though.

[akw]

Wet, this is incensy and warm, slightly sweet with a faint woody background. The currant is also very background. There is something exotic -- possibly the oud.

 

30 minutes later, fading but comforting and lovely. I get the honey more and the currant less.

 

45 minutes later, it's more interesting and complex with a spicey component that I didn't notice before, but it's fading fast.

 

This is a beautiful scent, and I wish it had more oomph and lasting power. It's evocative of something lovely that I haven't yet put my finger on. I want to experiment with successive layers of it and see if I can get it to stick around for awhile.

 

ADDED March 4:

 

Wet, I get incense, warm background woody, slightly sweet with currant in the background. There is something exotic. Oud maybe?

 

Later, it becomes more faint, the comforting honey is stronger and I get less of the currant.

 

Even later, more interesting. Spicy and pretty and complex. I wish it lasted longer because this last phase is really, really nice.

 

Overall, through all the stages, I get an underlying light floral. I usually can't wear florals, but somehow this works.

[Bagfish]

Something went horribly wrong for me with Svaddhinaopatika. In the bottle it smells quite generically perfumey, but when on my skin - eww.

 

The sandalwood or resins just become more and more sharp and sour and almost bitter in the way that Midnight Mass and Cathedral didn't work for me. I've been wearing this for about three hours in the hope it would develop and morph, but it is getting more and more sour. No amber, no honey, not even any currant.

 

I am SO disappointed as I love amber scents and sandalwood usually works on me. This one will go for swaps ASAP I think.

[northatlantic]

In the imp: Wow, yeah...that's some sandalwood, right there. Yep. Right there.

 

Wet: Oooh, golden amber, yes, oude, yes, massoia...

 

and before we can even get to the poor little currant, it all turns to Red Sandalwood O' Doom, just like Anne Bonney, in a slapfight with Killer Honey, gone all dry and powdery. Darn it! Should have known better. Both red sandalwood and honey are like a jealous ex on me: they cling, and stink, and suck the life out of everything else. I wanted this to work, and I should have known better. sigh.

 

off to someone else, little decant. It's not you, it's me.

[dronzeka]

Okay, weird - unlike almost everyone else, in the imp I don't get sandalwood on this one - I get HONEY. Lovely lovely honey. (With something else. How's that for specific! It doesn't scream sandalwood or anything, but it's not clear quite what it is.)

 

On, I do get sandalwood, which isn't the greatest note on me, and less honey. It's sweet in a non-floral kind of way. Anyway, the woods seem to come out and fight with the honey for a while, and then the currant seems to emerge and join the honey, and the sweeter elements override the woody dryness. It's BEAUTIFUL. It's sweet and rich and rounded and shining like a smooth tumbled piece amber. What's interesting is that if I wave my arm in front of my nose, I get beautiful honey and currant. If I stick my nose up against my arm, I get sandalwood (and/or the other woods, which I don't know enough to pick out on my own). And I agree with valentina that I get occasional whiffs of tobacco (which is probably my reading of the woods).

 

This is just beautiful. I'll have to try it a couple more times so I can tell what it's like to wear all day (as opposed to being tested on my arm with a couple other things!), but I could see getting a big bottle of this. So pretty!!

 

(A little later: now the woods seem entirely gone, and the currant dominates. Like someone else has already said, this Heroine is a morpher. But all her faces are beautiful!)

 

ADDED May 6:

 

MMMMMMMMmmmmmmm, I love Svadhinaopatika! (and since I memorized how to spell it, I want to write the name at EVERY opportunity...

 

When I open this, I get HONEY. Which is fine by me, really. And when I put it on, it's almost pure honey. (Again, not a problem!) As it dries down, however, the woods show up to add some complexity - I'm not very good with ordinary sandalwood or other dry woods, but this oude stuff must be marvelous, because the woods here are sweet but still distinctly woody. (The more I write "wood" the more my mind goes into the gutter... I digress!) I get a tiny hint of currant, as a slightly fruity edge to the sweetness, and I don't pick up on the amber specifically, but I think it helps to bridge the honey and the woods - something midway between sweet and dry, with a little spice. Anyway, this ends up a beautiful golden sweet scent on me, with a little resin-y depth. It smells like a carved Indian box made of beautiful sweet woods that was used to hold honey and resins. I don't get anything floral out of this at all. It goes on quite strong, but it fades as it dries down, but overall lasts pretty well.

 

For me, this is a 5 out of 5. It's gorgeous and sexy and comforting at the same time. If you don't do well with honey, this probably won't work for you. However, if you don't normally do well with woods, don't let this scare you, because I find that the woods work much better here than they normally do on me (no pencil shavings at all!). Don't get this one for the currant, because the fruit is definitely way in the background.

Edited May 10, 2007 by Shollin
Merged followup review

[hepkitten]

Beautiful sandalwood, a touch of honey, a wisp of spice...and amber that immediately turns to stale sweat on me. Ah, crap.

[forspecial_plate]

High pitched, heady and sweet incense is what I smell. It smells good but I don't think I can wear it. Even as a room scent I think this would be too sweet for my taste. After a while it becomes cloying on my skin. However....I don't think it's the honey that's disagreeing with me, at least not by itself. I think it's the amber that's causing problems, maybe in combination with the honey.

[tarotgirl99]

I pretty much will buy any scent if the description includes honey. Svadhinaopatika was no exception.

 

In the bottle, this is the most divine scent imaginable--bursting with honey and blackcurrant. On me, it is more mellow, a honey rose with the sandalwood and blackcurrant peeping out whenever they feel like it.

 

Even though I would love it even more if it smelled exactly like it does in the bottle, this is absolutely a keeper.

 

12/28/08 update--maybe I'm crazy, but I put this on on a whim...it had been a long time. And in the later drydown, I swear it smells just like Gluhwein.

Edited December 29, 2008 by tarotgirl

[lapetiteflower]

*squeals* immediately i get sandalwood and hooooooney. oh, yeah. honey, and then as it dries i get hints of powdery amber~ this smells like pale golden dust. glorious stuff! and as i sniff more i get a faint green underneath, hiding and peeking out every now and again. this is a very comforting scent......it brings me a feeling of contentment as i smell my wrist.

[lanablade]

Wow. This goes through so many changes, I hardly know where to start.

 

I agree that it does smell very perfumey, but it has more depth than any generic perfume I've smelled. I can smell sandalwood, definately, and something spicier, something greenish, and the honey and sandalwood throw is just gorgeous. Every time I sniff this smells different, and more fantastic.

 

I didn't think I'd like this, but I really do.

[Brianne]

In the bottle:

vaguely floral smelling

 

On me:

I've tried this scent twice now, trying to get a better hold on how to describe it. The problem is that it ended up being VERY different than I thought it would be based on the notes. When I first apply it, I get a sort of herbal/floral smell. In fact, when it was wet I could have sworn there was lavender in there. I had my Mom smell it and she gets a floral. But there is neither lavender nor floral notes in this blend.

 

When the scent settles on my skin it's different, but still not quite what I had imagined. It is very woody once it's settled - and remarkably light on me for being such a woody scent. The honey eventually creeps in and makes it slightly sweet but aside from that it's mostly just woody. The currant never does factor into this scent for me. I do love sandalwood but this particular blend - though smelling *mostly* of sandalwood - isn't quite doing it for me as a sandalwood blend. It's light and has very little throw, it stays close to my skin and isn't as rich as sandalwood usually is on me. And I swear there is still a sort of floral edge in the background that I just can't figure out.

 

Final note:

It's a nice enough scent, but it isn't what I expected and it sticks too close to my skin. The sandalwood is the only note that really seems to do much "talking" in this blend, though the honey is faintly there off and on and I keep getting a floral background. I don't dislike it, but I don't see myself reaching for it often either.

[sookster]

straight sniff from bottle is amber, honey and currant...

 

once applied this gets pretty resinous and i am getting a lot of myrrh which

i just adore!! after awhile the sandalwood makes an appearance and mixes

with the honey...

 

i am so glad i took a chance and bought a big bottle of this...love it!!

[gingersnapp]

Amber = powder. Damn. This also smells oddly floral, though looking at the list of notes, I'm not quite sure why. I was hoping for more honey and sandalwood, so I guess I'll let this one age for a while and give it another try later. It also doesn't help that the lotion I'm wearing is confusing my nose a little bit.

[sofaking6]

Oh I'm so pleased!

 

I loved all the notes in this but was leery of the sandalwood as it can make me a little headachy, plus I don't like wearing incense as perfume. Luckily, I am getting strong honey and bark, with an exotic spicy bent from the amber.

 

Mmmm. This is really lovely, it make me feel like a different kind of woman, you know? Someone who wears soft, flowy robes and exudes femininity.

[wolfie13]

This has a generic sort of "Indian incense" scent on me.

 

Sandalwood, a bit of honey, a bit floral (i know, I know, I don't know where it's coming from either.)

 

It's fairly light overall, a lot lighter than I would have thought (in both scent and throw) but it goes a bit musty on me, as a lot of the Bpal honey blends do on me (or maybe it's honey in combination with something else, like the amber?)

 

It's very meh on me - and also reminds me a great deal of another Bpal (that I had a similar reaction to) that I can't quite place right now. Will update if I think of it.

[emzebel]

The honey is very strong in this, and it is a very floral, polleny sort of honey, like the honey in Honey Moon, I think, but with wonderful spicy woods instead of the jasmine and other florals that made me so sad about that blend.

 

In fact, this smelled so floral in the bottle, that I thought for sure that it was an orchid/iris heavy blend and just tried a dab, and didn't get enough on my skin to get beyond that initial floral impression.

 

Thank goodness I read the reviews before I added this to my swap page. Because slathered generously and given just a few more minutes to blossom, this blend is a rich incense of spicy, honeyed woody notes that I just adore all to little pieces. Yay!