Diwali

[filigree_shadow]

Lotus root, mogra, mango, tamarind, cardamom, clove, almond milk, cashew, rice flower, coconut, supari, raisins, and incense crafted from aloeswood, red sandalwood, cedar, and spikenard.

When the Yules came out I was reading through the notes for this one and mostly thinking Hm, well, possibly, but probably not, but maybe I -- OMG SPIKENARD.

Dudes, spikenard is my nemesis. I do not just steer clear of it, I steer straight off the damn highway and take the route that goes through a different state in order to avoid it. It smells unbelievably foul on me in every blend I've ever tried that contained it.

But a decant of Diwali showed up at my house, and by the time I got it I had completely forgotten what the notes were, so I put some on. I liked it. It smelled a little sweet, a little creamy, and a little spicy. Not too much of any one thing, just a very pretty, light blend. At first I can smell the mango pretty well, but when it's dry I think I'd probably try to briefly describe it as mostly almond milk with cardamom and some very pleasant earthy/woodines from the wood notes. It's an extremely likable scent to me. Soft and lovely.

So imagine my shock when I was reading through the notes later and found out that THIS is the one that has SPIKENARD! And I actually like it. I would even like *gasp* a BOTTLE of it. And see, this is why I always have to try everything BPAL makes. Because really. You never know. Edited May 17, 2008 by filigree_shadow

[Pookstrell]

I am confused by Diwali! So many notes, although I have trouble picking them out! I can smell woods at one moment, then a whiff of almond milk, then fruit, but I can't identify which fruit. This is really interesting and well put together. I don't think it's me, but I will certainly keep trying it out. Since it smells like a 'top shelf' perfume to me, I may try it out on my Mum, who prefers designer scents!

[Lamia]

This is SO involved, SO complex.

 

Regretfully, the coconut keeps popping out (which I don't like grrrr) but there are enough flowers and spices dancing around with cymbals and drums and rattles and bright colors and singing and sequins that the coconut can be mostly ignored.

 

It's a very *fun* scent, just not me.

[bookofblues]

How could I have forgotten to review Diwali? This is such a wonderful goodie!

In the bottle: very rich but not foody, unsweet almond and a faint but not unpleasant incensy floral backround.

On the skin: I love how this warms up. It may just be the power of suggestion, but this scent brings back memories of the 1/2 year I spent in southern India. Cashews and incense! A hint of tartness from the tamarind. Sandalwood keeps this scent light on me. There's almost a honeyed sweetness under it too. I'm not sure where that comes from. Very complex and evocative.

As it fades: Cashew butter and nag champa (even though it's not listed as a note).

Definitely a keeper!

[kakiphony]

In the imp: High, light and sweet. Reminds me of sweet tarts mixed with coconut candy. The lotus root is definitely prominent to my nose.

 

Wet on skin: The incense notes immediately bloom on my skin along-side the already noted high, sweet smell.

 

Early dry down (10 minutes): On my right wrist (the no watch side) this is strong incense notes, but I can also smell sweet nut butter at the very front of my sniffs and a slight syrup/honey note. On the left wrist (with the watch) it incense mixed with Dial soap.

 

Half hour mark: The right wrist has turned into a delicate, sweet blend that doesn't have intense individual notes. It is sweet, a bit thick/syrupy, and a bit like how my house smells a DAY after burning Fred Soll's Honey/Amber incense. It's delicate, yet distinctive. The left wrist is now all deodorant soap. It's not unpleasant (on a boy it might even smell clean and nice), it's just not terribly interesting. Neither wrist is a strong scent or amping much at all.

 

I can now be reassured that I did not miss my holy grail by not getting a bottle.

[diamondstars]

There are so many notes in this one that it's difficult to distinguish

 

It definitely smells fruity though, so unfortunately this one's not for me.

 

Glad I got to try it though, as I've been wanting to for a while now.

[Suu4LC]

Whoa! This is a lot of notes! Very hard to pick them out in the bottle! Seems like this will be an interesting mix between sweet creamy foody notes, and rich smokey incense notes.

 

Yes, somewhat of a note overload on the skin @_@ Not bad, just...complex. I definitely get the cadamom and clove...mmm, I'm glad those are the strongest notes, because those are notes I love. Just the right amount of spicy! I also get whiffs of fruit and something sweet and creamy...mmmm!!! Warm and cozy, with just the right amount of incense. This is one of those blends that shows off Beth's amazing skill at blending-you look at that list of notes and wonder how it can all come together. It does, and quite well at that!

 

The only bummer about this blend is that it's such a cold weather blend and it's way too hot here in Los Angeles, so I don't see myself wearing it for a while!

 

ETA: I can see this as one I'd need to slather and reslather, because the incense and clove kind of overtake all of the sweet notes on full drydown. That's fine, I like slathering

[milo]

I think I've discovered that lotus is not one of my scents. Everything I've tried with lotus in it I haven't liked. This blend is way too perfumey on me, sadly.

[Heeroluva]

In the bottle I get cloves, coconut, and sandalwood. Wet it goes a bit floral. Dry I get a sweet rum. Not what I expected, but still good.

[tartchef]

Diwali had been on my NO WAY list when the Yules came out - all that foody stuff? Bleh. But then cranberry had the sense to include a decant in a swap package, and I was very pleasantly surprised - yes, mango & sweet stuff, but not too thick & cloying... kind of festive, really Then, when I pushed a bottle on Wwindy, it occured to me that I should probably wear it more often... and oh my, what a few more months of aging has done! The cashew is the leading note, rich & toasty without being in the least bit "nutty", and the mango underscores it with a lovely heady fruitiness. The tamarind cuts through any chance of cloying sweetness, and the incenses waft through & ground the lot. There's a trace of floral, just enough to pretty things up a bit - don't fear the mogra, aka sambac jasmine... it's incredibly well-blended & delicate. A lovely scent, long-lasting & really interesting - absolutely worth tracking down a bottle!

[QueenFae]

This is lovely, fruity, sweet and unique. It reminds me of a soft marzipan mixed with a variety of Christmas fruits like oranges and berries. There is a certain "X factor" to this blend that makes it divine; it's an amber-y, powdery sweetness that is hard to put your finger on. I would imagine this is just what a Diwali celebration would smell like, however does Beth do it??

 

I love this, it's so unique, I'll definitely enjoy using my bottle.

[stillalive]

A nice scent... incensey and a little fruity. I was hoping for something more foody (I remember Diwali most for the food!) so it was a little disappointing, but it's not a terrible smell. I'd keep it if my former roommate/still good friend wasn't hounding me to sell it to her!

[windbourne]

Diwali has a lot of notes I like and a few I apparently cannot wear -- mango is good for me, and the scent certainly starts out a bit mango-rrific. Cardamom, clove, almond, rice flower -- good, good, good (though I really wish the rice flower was stronger. I have developed a strong liking for it, but there's not much that really showcases it because it's usually so light.)

 

Tamarind, raisin, and cashew I don't think I've ever met in a perfume format before, so it's hard to say if they are creating more than a dull background hum. There's a certain orangey-but-not-orange quality to it that I do associate with tamarind, so I suppose that's noticeable.

 

There's jasmine (that'd be the mogra) whispering out from the sides, but it's not too strong and a curious bitterness that might be the supari? Both of those are okay.

 

Then there's the incense. CEDAR. MY BANE.

 

That's the thing. This one is lovely and sweet and mellow and creamy and vaguely -- but not overly -- fruity for about fifteen minutes. And then it's cedar. A lot of cedar. And that's it. So Diwali is not my friend. It's really pretty for a short while, and then pencil shavings and sadness. Boo. *shrug* Ah, well. More for thems what loves it.

[GalaxyLei]

At first I get mostly soft fruit, slightly creamy--I get just a hint of artificial fruit from it, unfortunately, kind of like a slurpee...then most of the scent disappears and all I get is a sweet, slightly floral cream leftover. That scent is good, if I stick my nose on my skin and breathe really deeply, but mostly I can't tell it's there. I think it could work, but mostly my problem is the lack of throw.

[catattack]

I am finally reviewing this over a year after I ordered it...

 

When I first received it from the lab, I wasn't crazy about it. After a few months, I decided to sell/swap it away. Well, luckily for me, I had no takers and decided to try it out last night for kicks. I am soooooo glad that I still have it! It has aged really nicely.

I remember initially thinking that this was too woody/earthy. I remember thinking it lacked sweetness.

Well, for me, the ageing has allowed some of the other notes to come out.

 

Bottle: Tart and fruity.

Wet: First I smell the tartness of mango and tamarind. A faint scent of coconut meat is in there. A couple of minutes later, a floral scent is blending in. I'm not getting much spice or wood at this stage. The fruitiness is becoming slightly creamy.

Drydown: The cloves begin to make an appearance, as do the woods. I smell a sharp sandalwood. It's becoming a fresh-cut-wood-and floral incense. After about 20 minutes, it is all settling down and blending. This is fruity/fresh wood/floral. It's fruity without screaming "CANDY"!

Further drydown: This fades after a couple of hours into a faint floral incense.

Overall: The throw is not very strong. And the scent unfortunately doesn't last on my skin, so I will be slathering and reapplying often. I'm so keeping this bottle.

[asciident]

Wet: Fruit!

 

First on: Spicy fruit and a background of incense.

 

Dry: Same, really nice.

[cinnamonster]

I'm surprised this has been mentioned as a winter scent, as it has a summery feel to me.

 

Wet: there's a heavy incense smell, combine with coconut and mango

 

Dry: The incense remains but the fruit amps right up, fresh mango, a really juicy one, and coconut milk poured right out of the shell.

 

Dry after an hour: eek! There's a really bad hint of something that might be turning into honey sweat smell (very scared of this since the sweaty hand of glory fiasco!), but it fades back into mango and cashew nuts. The incense wafts away into the background and is almost gone.

 

The throw isn't great on me for some reason, but I keep sniffing my inner elbow. This is a foody/fruity scent for those people who don't necessarily like the buttery/cakey/chocolatey/cherry/rum type scents normally classed as "foodie" (the ones I don't like)

 

Yum! The smell of the first hot evenings of summer.

[Andrea912]

I love everything in this except for the sandalwoods; and, unfortunately that is a note that really amps on me; I'll let it lay down and see what happens...

[BuxomM]

At first it's all wood and nut. I smell sandalwood and cedar with cashew. Then it sweetens up a bit and gets floral too. I don't know what the sweetness or floral is. It's not spicy. It's a soft scent.

[CreamyJade]

In the vial: Creamy fruits and florals.

Wet on skin: Creamy fruits and florals, but I can now smell the spices and the dry woods.

Dry on skin: Woah! This is beyond lovely! All the notes are well blended and give a sweet, spicy, woodsy and slightly fruity and floral scent on me.

Final thoughts: I was scared of trying this blend because the lotus root usually ruins everything for me, but the scent is lovely on my skin. The spices and the woods come out and really offer a nice base to all of the fruit and floral notes. Despite it being a winter themed blend, I think it'll be great for spring and summer.

[aquazoo]

Not bad, it's a little spicy, a little sweet, and a whole lot of exotic. the milky/rice component is there, enhancing everything.

[donnatron]

Imp: Almost nonexistant. A bit of fruity sweetness.

 

Wet: And then my chemistry goes completely insane. Caramel. None of the other notes. Nothing at all. Straight up caramel. Like Red Lantern but slightly less overwhelming.

 

Dry: Caramel. And maybe a bit of... oh... yeah. Clove. Clove smells like dried blood on my skin. This is somewhere between repulsive and fascinating.

 

Throw: Mercifully mild.

 

Overall: Is it weird that I liked it more once it started to smell like blood? Probably. The clove added an interesting, savoury note to this that was just... needed. I am not searching for any more than the imp I already have but I can see pulling this out around Hallowe'en time. It kind of smells like a Michael Myers (the scary one, not the one who used to be funny) film. Gooey candy and gore. Whee!

[ouch!]

I absolutlely adore this! Nothing like I expected and so beautifully blended. I'm getting all the sweet things from this blend and I'm reminded of things like.. Hungry Ghost Moon, Vassakasaja...Hunter Moon 2008. It's that sort of overwhelming blend that smells of alot of things at once and it's hard to pick things out.

 

I'm softened fruits, a bit of fizz....a gorgoeous note that I can't put my finger on that's making me want to eat my arm. This is a young bouncy blend. Would be lovely for everyday wear because it lasts a long time but isn't headache inducing. Yummy. So impressed with this! It's only slightly incencey.

It's creamy too...but..just enough cream to whirl all the other notes together, like it's holding them in place.

 

Any kind of incensey feel this blend had in the wet stage dissapears in the dry stage and this gets sweeter and softer and more smooth. I think I'm going to have to swap a bottle of this with someone... hmmm!!!

 

Very hard to describe overall..but definately a winning blend.

 

 

 

[Schmoozy]

 

Diwali is so many things at once. Upon initial application it is rich, creamy and really spicy. I am greeted by the cardamom, clove, almond milk, nuts and rice flower. So far so good. After it begins to drdown the unmistakeable scent of coconut appears and slightly sweetens the blend. After awhile the sandalwood and cedar arrive and incense follows closely behind. I can't quite smelling myself. There is soft incensed woods, dry dusty sandalwood and spice, spice, spice.

An absolutely breathtaking blend. I always forget how beautiful it is.

[kisha]

I got this from a decant circle back in 2007. I remember sniffing it and not really liking it. Well, I was going through my imp boxes and found this one. Upon opening it, I didn't really smell anything but upon application, it turned very incensey and sweet. Sicne I was testing it, I only applied a touch to my neck (like ONE tiny spot) and to my wrist. Within minutes, it was jumping off of me. It has quite a throw, man!! I really do love it, but I'm going to have to dilute it with something. Way stronger than I'm used to.