Rakshasa

[somethingducky]

This haunting, exotic scent is named in honor of the shapeshifting demons from Hindu mythology. Sandalwood with rose and patchouli.

This scent was heavy on the sandalwood and patchouli for me, light on the rose. I agree with another reviewer that this almost smelled ceder-ish on me, very woody. I was hoping for a scent that was a lot like Bath and Body Works now discontinued Sandalwood Rose collection and it was very close, in fact I love it more!

[mistressfizz]

The bottle I have is a 10 mL cobalt, aged about 2 years. I first smelled this via an empty imp, and though I couldn’t do a skin test, I had to grab a bottle when it was offered for cheap! This review is for the bottle, not the empty imp.

 

Sniff: Wood and earth notes, and whoa, spicy!

 

Wet: Sandalwood is prominent. Just a hint of rose. The initial spicy spike has calmed down.

 

Dry: Soft, warm sandalwood and a rose whisper. There’s just enough spice to smell exotic, in a tasteful, subtle way. The patchouli has matured wonderfully, grounding the scent so it doesn’t become too soapy. Long lasting and medium throw, definitely a keeper!

[Ella LaRose]

I got an imp of this free with another purchase from a forum member.

I like this, I smell the rose right away and the the patchouli. it stays close to the skin on me and fades to a soft powdery earth. it is a nice girl scent, or a good gay man scent, I tend to avoid florals and like dark scents but the patchouli in this makes me like the floral rose.

[DeCuvieri]

Sandalwood completely thwarts Rakshasa for me. It smells strongly of patchouli-laced incense sticks, and even if I had been able to smell the rose it wouldn't have helped. It was strong and had great throw that probably would have lasted all day had I not washed it off, so for somebody who likes sandalwood this blend is probably worth a try. For me though it didn't work at all.

[borealis]

The prior reviews for Rakshasa confuse me as some people say they get almost all rose out of it, and others get almost all sandalwood/patchouli. I was hoping for the latter, but it's straight-up rose on me. Even the next day, pressing my nose to my wrist, all I get is rose. But it's a really beautiful rose with a lot of depth. I like it very much. Maybe with aging, I'll get more of the sandalwood and patchouli out of it. Meanwhile, I'll enjoy it as it is, and I might even get a bottle of it.

[mari4212]

This is a soft dusty rose, with the light warm wood smell of sandalwood. The patchouli never really takes off, much to my pleasure here.

 

It's a very gentle scent, and I wasn't expecting to enjoy it nearly so much as I am.

 

Edited to add:

It's twelve hours later, and I still have a trace of rose and sandalwood on my wrist. This doesn't have the strongest throw, but it's the longest a rose blend has lasted on me and still had a rose note discernable. I'm loving this blend a lot now.

Edited August 13, 2011 by mari4212

[whataboutprom]

While wet this smells like soft, dried roses and the dirt (patchouli) they grow in. While I like rose and patchouli, I rarely wear either, and I am curious how they will react on my skin.

 

As it dries, the rose becomes just a tad spiced. I think it's the sandalwood peaking out.

 

Dry, the sandalwood is coming to the forefront and keeping the rose and patchouli from dominating. This is quite an unusual blend. I'm not sure if I need a bottle, but I will keep the imp for use on days I am feeling not my usual self.

[missrini]

This is really beautiful. It has 3 of my favourite ingredients: sandlewood, rose and patchouli...so I just knew I'd love this Unfortunately, there is something in this that is causing some skin irritation when I apply it. Very annoying as I would wear this more often if it agreed with my skin.

[MonkeysInk]

This reminds me of one of Aveda's scents in a very pleasing way - earthy and reddish-brown and makes me want to keep sniffing myself.

 

This was a gift imp from a sweet forumite and I'm so glad she sent it along as I would never have ordered it. I usually amp patchouli like crazy, to the point of wishing I could avoid myself, but in this blend it plays nicely and grounds the sandalwood and rose.

 

I have very few big bottles, as I prefer to get lots of imps so I can try as many things as possible, so when I say that I'd like a big bottle of this one, I mean that I really really really like it.

[milo]

This is pretty much overbearing heady rose on me. I could have sworn there was jasmine here as well, but this is pretty much floral, no sandalwood or patch.

 

This is pretty much overbearing heady rose on me. I could have sworn there was jasmine here as well, but this is pretty much floral, no sandalwood or patch.

[bibzerneth]

I received this as a frimp in my last order. I was hesitant to try it because I don't usually get along with the bpal patchouli note. Fortunately my imp doesn't have even the slightest trace of patchouli! It's got a nice fresh rose, that doesn't go soapy like some roses do, sandalwood and something that smells almost lemony on me, maybe that's part of the sandalwood? For me it smells a lot like Namaste with a hint of rose. I love it!

[stellamaris]

???? There's rose in this? This smells like Imp to me, but on steroids. Very fruity. I think I am losing my mind after I read the notes. That said, I really liked this.

[boomtownrat]

Rakshasa smelled almost identical to my imp of Baghdad when I first applied it, which is a scent I can only dab on in a tiny amount on a good day. I thought I'd need to wash it off. Fortunately the throw died down a fair amount as it dried and the sandalwood started to tone down the overpowering spicy rose scent. After about 15 minutes, Rakshasa smelled like an antique wooden chest that had once held a rose sachet.

 

This would be a lovely scent for days that are not too hot, probably when I'm at home or not in close quarters with people. I can see it being a headache inducer, although it didn't give me one. It's probably enough for me to keep the imp.

[hexnut]

RAKSHASA

 

In Vitro Yellow oil, tested blind. The first whiff from the vial was resinous and slightly sharp, followed by sweetness.

 

Wet Freshly applied, a mild floral of weak intensity. At three minutes I got something like citrus. Sillage noted after nine minutes; citrusy, or maybe ginger.

 

Drying A slight scare when I thought I was getting a skin reaction, but it turned out to be a false alarm. The scent was now mild and slightly soapy, with a bit of pseudo-citrus, and fading rapidly.

 

After looking up the scent name that evening I applied a bit more to the same wrist and this time I detected a bit of patchouli, which vanished in the drydown leaving soapy rose -> rosy soap. Since I get a citrus-like note from smelling certain actual roses (and from my imp of Zombi), that part wasn't a big surprise. Rakshasa is pleasant enough and I'll use up the imp but probably nothing else.

 

44

[Foodie]

When I sniffed Rakshasa in the imp, I got excited. I am a big rose fan and it smelled very rosy and I could definitely smell the patchouli (which I also love).

 

When I put Rakshasa on, however, I immediately knew it was a NO. Soap, soap soap! Soap is all I could smell, nothing else. Not rose, not patchouli, not sandalwood, nothing but strong sharp soap.

 

The soap smell stayed around, too. I mean it lasted hours and hours. Although I will say that after about 6 hours it smelled more spicy and a little less like soap. It is the next morning and I can still smell Rakshasa on my wrists, so it has staying power for sure! Which is a good thing if this scent works for you, not so good for me.

[yakiguri]

Rakshasa is all sandalwood and patchouli on me, with the tiniest whiff of rose. Honestly if I wasn't looking for the rose specifically, and didn't already know there was supposed to be rose in the blend, I wouldn't have been able to pick it out. I agree Rakshasa is quite similar to Baghdad, but the rose is more prominent there and the sandalwood doesn't go nearly as bone dry. Rakshasa is almost like a cedar chest, the sandalwood is so dry. Pass.

 

EDIT 4/16: Maybe my imp just need some aging, but FINALLY the rose comes out big and strong with the patch. It's lovely and I'll enjoy my imp but I think I'm good with just that.

Edited April 3, 2016 by thatbrownelf

[mymymai]

ITI: I like the simplicity of the scent in the bottle: rose and patchouli.

 

Wet: It's earthy from the patchouli, but almost subtly candy-like from the rose and sandalwood. It's really a gorgeous scent.

 

Dry: The scent doesn't change much once on the skin, which I'm thankful for. The combination of the three notes is just the right balance of resinous, earthy, and floraly sweet.

[scarywhitegirl]

I can understand why people like this one--it's a great blend of scents. But I have a strong aversion to patchouli, and I'm not that into floral scents either. Ah well, it's something to trade!

[Veronica]

All patchouli and sandalwood--smoky and spicy and fresh, maybe a good men's scent but not for me.

[ziggystardust13]

I think someone referred to this as spiced Indian rose. Yep, pretty much!

It's nice for what it is, but not for me. I'm very picky when it comes to my rose scents!

Edited April 18, 2015 by ziggystardust13

[DiesMali]

In the imp: Sandalwood.

 

Wet on my skin: Spicy sandalwood and lush rose.

 

Dry: This blend has dried into a beautiful, soft, spicy sandalwood-rose. It's perfectly balanced and oh so lovely. If I stick my nose right up to my wrist, I can smell earthy patchouli, but the throw of this is entirely the wood and rose. Gorgeous!

[Roogna]

oddly spicy, warm, almost cinnamony. then the rose comes out (which I amp)

[LizziesLuck]

Wet: Soap. Plain white bar soap.

 

Dry: This teetered on the edge of awesome, but just never quite got there. The rose went a wee bit powdery. I wish I could smell more the sandalwood.

[Christina Huizar]

Mostly rose on me, but with enough sandalwood peeking through to keep it from being sickly sweet. It's a lovely feminine perfume that makes me think of ballgowns and rose corsages and tea roses tucked behind your ear or woven through your hair, but the sandalwood gives it a bit of a spicy kick, so it's not all sweetness and light. I'm not really one for florals or roses, so I probably wouldn't wear this on a daily basis, but I could see dabbing some behind my ears for a wedding, or a ball or some other special fairy tale occasion. :-)

[freyasfae]

Nope, not even rose once again can save my dislike of patchouli. I feel at one point in my life I liked patchouli. I'm not sure what happened. However, I did enjoy that at first, the rose, patchouli, and sandalwood are all very distinguishable from one another. I can tell the rose is the classical BPAL rose, but not even my love of BPAL rose can save patchouli for me.