Kathmandu

[edenssixthday]

The scent of sacred incense swirling up the steep slopes to Swayambhunath Stupa. Saffron, blessed sandalwood, Himalayan cedar and the miraculous lotus of the Buddha with chiuri bark and Nepalese spices.

Kathmandu - wet in the vial and when first applied, it smells exactly like Compound W wart remover. In fact, it smells so much like it that I was a bit concerned about applying it initially. After the dry-down, the wart remover medicine smell goes away and leaves a spicy scent with a soft sandalwood base. It’s not a fiery red spice scent, but more of the scent you’d smell when shopping in a Tibetan/Buddhist/Nepalese boutique. It’s really nice in the end, but that initially wet phase odor makes it not worth trying again.

[urbanruralferal]

Well, this went on wintergreen to the extreme! When my daughter tried it I had thought root beer, but I decided the smell was definitely wintergreen. It even cooled my wrist, which makes a lot of sense. As it dried, that high aromatic dissipated gradually and the sandalwood and cedar started swelling up, to take the place of the "wintergreen" and it was a very nice transition. Or shall I say it would have been a nice transition if sandalwood did not INSIST on doing what it does on my skin. It forever smells like a snuffed out candle and it is beginning to a bit tiresome. It does not destroy a blend, but dominates and so this did not work for me.

[Dinerdulcinea]

In the bottle:

I smell incense and spices, but the incense is sort of sweet...The top note of the oil is something I can't quite place...it is almost like candy/menthol combo, but not unpleasant. Perhaps it is the chiuri bark...I am unsure what that smells like, or maybe some of the Nepalese spices? Hard to say since I have no way to compare since I don't know what those ingredients smell like. It could also be the cedar.

 

On wet:

I smell the lotus now, but there is still the same spicy sweet scent that is sort of candy/menthol smell.

 

Drydown:

A few minutes: It is starting to become much more woody on me and more spicy and mysterious-smelling. I like that. I put this oil in 2 places to test...on inside of one wrist and then in the crook of one elbow...and the wrist smells more like that sweet smell and the elbow more woody. Weird!

 

20 minutes:

Now the wrist is saffron and wood and other spices (which I LOVE). The elbow has more of the candy/sweet smell.

 

Over 1 hour:

Interestingly, that menthol/candy smell has dried to a wonderfully spicy WILDFLOWER HONEY smell on me!!! I am guessing that perhaps not a lot of other folks got honey, but I am now getting a very rich honey spice. There is saffron and the scent has become much softer, but not powdery like old-lady smell...a soft powdered spices, sandalwood and honey. MMMMMM!!!!

 

After 5 hours:

Sadly, no more honey. The honey stage only lasted about an hour on me. But now it has faded to a very soft woody fragrance. I can smell the cedar, the sandalwood, and the spices (esp. saffron). Very nice.

 

Summary: though I am not crazy about the unidentifiable candy/menthol note, which was the dominant note with my chemistry for quite a while, I liked it a lot when it finally settled and even when it had become faded and soft. I think this would be a FABULOUS scent for Fall.

 

I might consider buying this, but as this is my very first review and fist sniff ever, I think I will wait until I have tried several more.

[ouch!]

Ok, Kathmandu for me was a bit of a dissapointment.

 

When first applied, as many have said it defiantely smells like Vicks Vapo Rub. But this quickly fades away completely on me and morphs into a very light woodsey smell reminiscent of Cathedral and Midnight Mass.

 

It doesn't really change much after that for me unfortunatley, it just stays smelling like a gently wood. No incense at all, but this happened with Cathedral too, maybe incense doesn't like me which is a shame because I want it to .

 

 

Shame, glad I got to try it though!

[euterpe414]

Wow. I got the strongest whiff of wintergreen when I smelled this! Then, eventually, on second sniff, I detected the cedar. On my skin it is pretty much the same. Starts out "wintergreen", ends up cedar & incense. Not sure if I'd like a bottle of this,but the imp is nice.

[TrailerTrashPrincess]

impsniff: cedar, mystery wood, mint

i'm frightened, but this was sent to me for a reason, so i try it...

 

skinsniff, wet: so faint! the mint isn't mint anymore... it has become cypress? some sort of tree or woody-stemmed critter that i'm not familiar with. the cedar is gone, too.

 

this makes my sinuses tingle like cold air or menthol does... but this is neither.

there's also a "green" note... like the foliage is lush, wherever this tree grows.

 

oh! *lightbulb* duh. i get it now! Kathmandu was supposedly set atop a mountain, somewhere in the middle of the woods where it couldn't be seen unless you knew exactly where to look, wasn't it? but once inside, the sun was warmer, the air was clearer and riches abounded. (unless i've gotten my legends disputed facts foreign places all mixed up)

 

sniffing this reminds me of the way i'd feel up in the mountains, where the air is thin and the wind is cold and trees are very green...surrounded by beauty but on the verge of a panic attack.

 

i guess i'm not supposed to find the entrance to Kathmandu, or else i can't see the forest for the trees?

[aestien]

Bottle: a cool blast of wintergreen over a wood base

Wet: wintergreen, cedar, sandalwood, incense

Dry: the wintergreen fades to warm dark brown spicy wood, cedar, sandalwood, incense, the sweetness of lotus, golden

 

I got this to use with my yoga practice and completely fell in love. The wood notes in this blend are perfect, so rich and dark, like a beautifully carved cedar chest filled with incense and spices and surrounded by lotus flowers. There is a sense of mystery, ritual, and the sacred to this blend.

 

On the skin, this is exactly what I wanted it to be, but be warned, burned in an oil burner, the wintergreen takes over and it starts to smell like Comet cleaner.

[fairy]

Sadly, this went on smelling like Vicks Vapor Rub and has remained that way :/

[gypsybaby1]

I didn't even stop and sniff this wet in the vial... I applied it while driving. yeah, I know, not safe.

 

what wasn't safe was this scent. I lifted my wrist to my nose and about drove off of the road. holy hanna barbara!

 

I don't know what did it, I was expecting spicy and mysterious... what I got was mint slathered Goodyear tire... one good thing to say is that the scent didn't change at all. I still smell mint tire.

 

Off to the swaps it goes

[ND¢]

My bottle is Old Kathmandu, just for thoroughness' sake.

 

In the bottle: Spices and a hint of a vague herbal cleaning solution.

 

On me: Spiciness and sassafras. There is a cedar smell, but it's not as strong as all that. Depraved turns more strongly cedar on me for a while than even this, right now. I feel like whatever made Yggdrasil smell like Icy Hot to me is in this, too, or else the cedar smell doesn't seem as fresh-cut cedar as I'm thinking. The Icy Hot smell fades pretty quickly, and I'm left with a sharply wood-scented wrist with spices. Bit of sandalwood, too, yeah. Then the wood fades and the spices become more prominent (though this is a gentle perfume.) Then it's almost entirely a light, crisp cedar. No, there's the spice. It is an 'atmospheric' perfume.

[Meg]

In the bottle: Oh my goodness. Kerozene.

 

Wet: Woody turpentine and camphor. It smells very much like an Asian liniment I use.

 

Drydown: Oy oyyy I can taste this! I only dabbed a tiny dot on my wrist and I can still taste the camphor fumes. This is extremely volatile, I hardly dare to sniff it. Finally the fumes die down and I get cedar, very pleasant, subdued. There's still a bit of this camphory smell, there's a bit of a tarry feel to it. And then I get buttery lotus. Ick.

 

Overall: Well, it smells like a mix of Vicks Vapo-Rub, cedar and lotus. It makes me cough when I breath it too much and I think my nose is efficiently unblocked, but, um, I wouldn't wear it. I think it smells very medicinal, and I don't have trouble associating it to something I'd smell in Kathmandu. I just wouldn't like to smell like that.

[Musamea]

Wet: cedar, spiced with sandalwood -- very cool and refreshing… nearly minty!

 

Dry: this blend has turned a bit darker and wetter; the cedar and sandalwood still stand out most, but the lotus adds a sweet note and the spices form a lovely, complex background -- this blend keeps turning sweeter and more feminine on me (the lotus, perhaps?) but the spices and the sandalwood allow it to keep its mysterious, exotic allure. The longer I wear it, the warmer it gets… and I've decided that's a good thing.

 

Overall: this oil has a lot of components that I usually avoid (sandalwood, cedar, saffron), but the blend morphs into a lovely scent that I am really enjoying. It's a very sacred-smelling fragrance, if that makes sense -- evocative of hidden, gold-covered Buddhist temples beside the banks of ancient rivers. I think I'll hang onto the imp, even though I don't see myself wearing this oil often… it's a little too exotic to be an everyday scent for me.

[Luhtarian]

On me it's mostly ceder, but the ceder is softened by a sweet floral - the lotus, I guess - and the overall effect is very nice! I really like this one. I didn't seem to get much of the incense/spicy notes, or any wintergreen. The ceder is definitely dominant, but I don't mind. (Am I the only person who really likes wood notes?)

 

I might just have to buy a bottle, and this was a frimp! Thank you Beth!

[Diva Urd]

In the imp, I smell a wood base with saffron and something sweet (though not super-sweet as lotus sometimes goes on me).

 

On me, the woods smell like they might share some notes with Sri Lanka, but where Sri Lanka is all dry, woody goodness, this has the spices as top notes. At first, Kathmandu smelled almost a bit of anise to me (which might be due to the combination of saffron with the woody notes), then the saffron won out the fight and warmed up the woods, with the lotus providing just a hint of sweetness.

 

I do quite like this, but since it doesn't last nearly as long as my beloved Sri Lanka, I think I'll stick with that, instead.

[buzz23666]

wint-o-green lifesavers in the bottle and wet.

 

Also when wet a gentle sandalwood and cedar.

 

When dry this is quite a calming scent. The cedar take top place and there is a slight anise note there and also a very vague floral (is that the lotus?)

 

If I could get the initial wintergreen to go away I would really like this, but I can still smell it. Don't get me wrong - I love wintergreen - just not as a body scent.

 

Boooooo! Because I really like what is going on with everything else here.

[space girl lost]

this one was actually on my wishlist as i was intrigued by saffron and spices.

 

WET: some sort of foody spice and wood shavings. I'm guessing the cedar. I almost get that sort of vicks menthol feel to it. It opens up my breathing passages almost.

DRY: not much different. More cedar and less spice. no thank you. i guess i missed this one on my wishlist. ah well. at least i didn't have to buy it. this will definately be a swap.

 

ooh. yeah. this is one of the first i've actually had to go wash off as it was bothering me that much.

Edited October 5, 2006 by space girl lost

[aquazoo]

Starts medicine. Eucalyptus, which is of course Vicks Vapor Rub. Thankfully that’s fading fast, so lets see what the next hour brings... Mild, not bad, but not exciting.

[supremegoddessofall]

Sandalwood with a touch of spice. I'm not sure where the cedar went, but I wish it would come back.

[maijasu]

Sweet candy and cedar--what a weird combo! But I kind of like it. I'm not really smelling much spice, nor the wintergreen that others are talking about. It's unusual, but it works. I don't think I'll get a bottle, but I'm glad to have gotten the chance to try this one.

[sofiaviolet]

I don't know what it is, but something in here smells like sliced turkey. It's minty on my skin, though. With some cedar, but the kind of cedar that smells like "forest fresh" cleaner. Or whatever it was they used at my elementary school. Teh weird.

[steffanina]

Kathmandu-

 

In Bottle: Ooh, something very sharp like acetone in this. That's the dominant note.

 

Wet: This is WILD. It's menthol-y and sweet and...there's clearly something in this I'm completely unfamiliar with. I smell almost no cedar yet.

 

Dry: Oh, my, this fades so fast, and I'm left with just the tiniest amount of cedarish wood. Like a #2 pencil.

 

Overall: Started interesting but such a fast fader.

[theseagrows]

the description is so lovely, i just had to try this. however, i vow to never get a scent with cedar again! it never fails, i smell like pencil shavings. kathmandu happens to be pencil shavings mixed with root beer. :/

[Briar]

Scent: Kathmandu

Bottle: I smell incense, almost like Nag Champa - kind of earthy sweet smoke. Patchouli. Oakmoss. If Florence was a Turkish rug shop, Kathmandu is a vacation to Tibet. It's incredibly lovely in the bottle.

Wet on Skin: It gets sweeter, a dusty (as opposed to powdery) floral. A very faint citrusy note hovers under it, keeping the floral from being unbearably sweet. So far, I could just sit here and huff my own wrists all day.

Lunch Time: Now it smells like a yellow sandalwood box that's been used to store Nag Champa incense for 30 years. It's a very bohemian hippie scent, but in a good way - refined sort of. I still want to nibble my own wrists.

Dinner Time: Okay, by now it's fairly well gone. So far, all of these seem to have about a six to eight hour time frame, except Misk U. Perhaps I should shorten my evaluation times accordingly... But the final verdict for Kathmandu is OMFGYUM, so I'm happy. ^.^

 

(I completely didn't get any wintergreen/mint notes from this one. Weird!)

[Spastik_Kitty]

In the imp: Like mint Listerine or Cepacol.

 

First on: Very fresh and yet smokey at the same time. There is a sweet mintiness, as well as a woody/smokey cedar.

 

After a bit: The saffron is coming out a bit, making it similar in form to laudanum.. ooh, like labdanum mixed with benzoine and a slight under belly of oakmoss.... far too many similarities to this trio of bases for me to even consider it slightly feminine.

 

A bit more: The same as above with more butteriness from the saffron.

 

Meh, not my thing, maybe the husband will like it.

[Alchemy21599]

I received an imp of this oil in a swap with a lovely Forumite

 

In the imp: saffron and lotus. Pretty. I was expecting more spice.

 

Wet: gee, this reminds me of linment that was used at the stable where I used to rice.

 

Dry: smoky, but not the spicy incense that I was expecting. The wintergreen note is still here in the background. I am going to try this in my oil burner because the scent is wonderful in the vial, but it did not work on my skin.