Qandisa

[AmyO'Shields]

The Moroccan Goddess of Carnal Desire. Dwelling in fresh-water springs and rivers, she is doom: her embrace drives men mad with mindless lust. Sacrifices are made to the Lady of Lust on the Summer Solstice in the hopes of placating her passions and driving her red-tinged gaze away. Black musk, blackened saffron, lemon peel, and vetiver draped over thick honey.

I'm a sucker for Black Musk and Lemon and I love Saffron. Vetiver and Honey are both firmly seated against me. I had to get an imp of this to try.

All I could do was sniff the imp wand...at least, so far. Its VETIVER, Honey and a bit of Black Musk.

I will update here if/when I'm brave enough to put this on my skin.

[annemathematics]

I love vetiver, so I was excited to get and try this.

wet and in the imp I get candied dark lemony sweetness.

on my skin the lemon is a supporting player (not as over the top as the lemon was for me in incantation)
the vetiver comes out to play more on my wrist. at the elbow it's all dirty black musk. I know patchouli isn't listed here, but this is reminding me of smells in an indian spice and beauty shop in a way that I am imagining patch/sandalwood/neem/etc where there is black musk.

this is a warm cologne from a warm faraway place, spicy and musky but with a lightness to it as well. I would say that the throw is between light and medium and balanced perfectly with the strength of the notes (leaves me enjoying what I have rather than being overwhelmed by the strength of it). this is a fun one. I won't reach for it everyday, but I will revisit it and will smear it upon willing friends to see how it shifts on different chemistries.

 

eta 8/2016 to say that my initial imps aged divinely and this was upgraded to a beautiful big bottle.

the black musk and honey combo is absolutely stunning. I can't pull off every bpal honey note but whatever is in this one is lovely on me.

Edited August 15, 2016 by annemathematics

[ResinManiac]

I bought it for all the wonderful black musk promised but when I apply I get drowned out by all the intruding saffron, and then said saffron ages into play-doh... :( I'm gonna have to remember that saffron is not my friend no matter how expensive the spice is...

[Monday]

On my skin wet: Smoky saffron reeeeally smoky saffron. I recently bought an upholstered chair from the thrift store which apparently belonged to a female smoker. When the sun shines on it it smells like old cigarette smoke and perfume, the wet stage of Qandisa reminds me of that. The honey is there making is sweet, the black musk is making sure the whole thing stays together.

Drying down: the smoke is receding a bit.

On my skin dry: Vanilla-ish black musk, saffron, smoke and deep dark honey. I just noticed that the lemon peel is nowhere to be found on my skin. Medium throw.

Qandisa is a close relative to Eldritch Dark they both have that dark, sweet, smoky feeling. I like it a lot!

[ReallyZeb]

This most reminds me of Morocco at the start but once it dries down I get no lemon or honey, just smoky vetiver, heavy musk and a beeswaxy scent which I presume is the saffron. I'd like this as an evening room spray but on me it just doesn't quite work.

[lookingglass]

Qandisa gets two eyerolls of ecstasy in this house (from me aaaand my partner! PLUS!). I am NOT a lemon lover, not even a lemon LIKER, but DO go for all things smelling dark and honey dripping. This instantly reminds me of a Variety of Pleasing Amusements, but with a bit more lift. The vetiver is prominent right out of the bottle, but the drydown is all about the saffron honey. Have you ever made yourself the healing syrup with buckwheat or dark wildflower honey and a ton of cinnamon? The heart of the scent is like that, but with saffron instead of cinnamon...dripping on a heaving bosom! Sometimes black musk can be lemony on its own, but truly...I'm not getting ANY lemon (thank the STARS!), just a deep, fresh, animalic, unisex musk. MERCY this is GOOD! It's a sticky, rich, musky oriental, baby ...dark, slightly foody...like the bakery section of the international market, right next to the incense... oh, so divinely SEXY... one of those that just becomes a PART of me. DE-freakin'-LICIOUS! If you know you are my scent twin or love the likes of Snake Oil, Old Demons of the First Class, and the Other Miss Forcible, just getcha self some of THIS! I'm SO glad this is GC. Top o'the BIG BOTTLE list for THIS BPALista!

Edited April 13, 2014 by lookingglass

[zankoku_zen]

Black musk, saffron and tons of honey.

 

This is really a honey blend on me with tinges of saffron and black musk.

 

Sexy, rich, honey.

[Monster]

In the imp this is all honey/black musk. When I first apply it to my skin this very briefly smells like the nag champa/honey incense I burn in my house. Soon after, the honey completley takes over. It's a sticky, beeswax honey over a base of rich black musk and the faintest kiss of vetiver. The final dry down is still honey dominant, it's like scorched and blackened beeswax with incense dancing in the background.

 

Really beautiful! Black Musk and honey fans, come hither!

Edited May 17, 2014 by Monster

[milo]

I love me some black musk, which I'm getting here. After a bit some spices come out. I really like this one, but I wish it was a teeny bit sweeter.

[Balaclava]

It's a very dark, witchy scent. The honey is more of a natural beeswax scent than the sweet confectionery I was expecting, so I'm pleasantly surprised. This is the scent of a haunted forest after a ritual has been completed.

[bulletslc]

Frimp from the lab.

On my skin it is honey swirled around thedarkest musk with a wash of exotic spice over the top. Warm and sexy. Thank you labbies for knowing just what would appeal to me!

[TrailerTrashPrincess]

i hate vetiver - it smells like cigarette ashes in a wet paper bag. and the Lab's honey and i just don't get along at all, no matter how much i love real honey. i don't like lemon, or any bitter citrus peel.

 

i adore saffron - when i lived alone it was one of the four or so spices i owned (i was so happy to not have black pepper in my apartment!), and i've yet to be disappointed in dark musks.

 

 

so... i wouldn't have ever bought this or sought it out, in other words. but i got a bit of it yesterday and i didn't recognise the name on the label so i went ahead and tried it out. and gnaaahh it's good.

 

not as sweet as Smut, not as exotic as Morocco.

 

that is, as long as i don't sniff my skin. the wafts of it are nice, but when i sniff my wrist all i get is the choking smell of cigarette ashes in a wet paper bag.

 

and since i refuse to wear perfume i have to sniff from a distance, that's it for me on this one.

 

 

if you can do vetiver, and enjoy teh Smut, this might be a hidden gem for you.

[lady_pandora]

This starts out honey and vetiver on me, with the two notes kind of at war. Honey works well on me, and its lovely sweetness is competing with the vetiver, which kind of smells like basement.

 

The musk joins the party a little later, and it kind of ties it all together. Like TTP, I was reminded a bit of Smut by the way the musk smelled here, and also like TTP, I found the throw better than the skin scent.

 

It smells like honey and Smut and also kind of like basement. And it's somehow kinda sexy anyway? I'm a little baffled by Qandisa, but I think I'm keeping her for now.

[LizziesLuck]

Wet - this smells like grape. Medicinal grape - like cough syrup. Makes no sense.

 

Dry - burnt honey. This is a huge fail on my skin.

[HighlyBell7]

In Imp: Iodine-amber color. Spicy wood. Dirt. Deep musk.

Wet: Brothel with hint of imitation grape. Sweet, powdery. Color could stain clothes from wrist.

Dry: Strong musk. Intoxicating. Sensual. Like a very expensive brothel – the kind with lots of red velvet.

Later: More powdery. Notes of old perfumes my grandmother wore with I was young. Hint of honey.

Even Later: Lotsa honey. Then that fades and is very powdery. A bit spicy.

Very End: A chocolate note that outlasts everything else.

 

[BoneBone24]

Wet: I was afraid to try this one for fear of amping vetiver, which was silly because the moment it hit my skin all I could smell was a very soft, very light earth note.

 

Drydown: The vetiver is the central note, but it’s very very light. I think it’s actual fusing with the black musk to create this soft, earthy shadow impression. The honey is golden and glowing and brings a sort of dewy sweetness to the smokiness of the other notes. If I hold my wrist to my nose I can detect the lemon peel, but it’s definitely more of a supporting note. This is sort of crazy, but it reminds me so much of O at this stage. Like a complex reinterpretation of O. Or maybe O plus The Dodo. I dunno, it’s very familiar and resinous and sexy in any case.

 

Dry: Musky, resinous, and very sensual. Smokey black musk deepened by vetiver and drizzled with just the right amount of honey. I can’t detect the saffron, but that probably speaks to the fact that I’m not familiar with it as a note. It does smell exotic though, which very well might be the saffron. And the blackenedness I can definitely smell. As a whole it’s very dark and smokey and shadowy. It’s a gorgeous blend, but not for the shy. Part earthy hippy, part domineering seductress, and part shadow lord.

 

In three words: Dark Sex Magic

 

8.5 out of 10 bones

[LexieBlom]

Qandisa imp

 

Wet/Bottle - Vetiver and thick, sticky honey. sweet, musky, incensey and thiiiiiiick bodied.

 

Wet/Skin (5 minutes) - Honey, saffron and vetiver. Sweet, smooth, dark and damn girl you thick. Sexy, feminine and powerful.

 

Dry/Skin (30 minutes) - Honey and saffron, with a touch of vetiver. It's lightened up quite a bit, without losing it's thickness.

 

The name is spot-on, this is exactly how I'd imagine a Moroccan Goddess smelling. However... THIS STAINED MY SKIN YELLOW! I'm super pale, and the super dark, thick viscosity of this oil stained my skin, and the stain wouldn't go away until I scrubbed the oil off entirely. That alone is a huge turn off, and I doubt I'll be getting a bottle which is unfortunate.

[Malaena]

This one is very hard to describe. I can picked up a burnt smell but I am not very familiar with saffron. I swear I can smell a wee bit of red musk!! This one reminds me of one of those fancy soaps that are for looking pretty but not actually using.

[Christina Huizar]

Smelling this instantly transported me to a place I once loved: Old Tibet on Pearl Street in Boulder, Colorado. I used to go there frequently to buy incense, prayer beads, Buddha statues, etc., and whatever is in this blend smells EXACTLY like the incense I used to buy there. I don't know if I really necessarily need to smell like incense, but this is a deeply nostalgic, comforting scent for me. I am going to wear it to bed so I can dream of idyllic summers in the Colorado mountains.

 

Lovers of incense/resin blends, this is a must try.

[kscha2017]

I received this as a frimp in my last order and I'm grateful because somehow I never noticed this one in the catalogue. It's a perfect "me" scent and is quite a bit like my most favorite BPAL scent, Malediction. It has that same bold, dark, eye-watering bitterness that reminds me so much of the forest behind my old house, yet Qandisa is just a touch brighter due to, I think, the lemon. The honey (which I picture dark and opaque with pollen) is for me an afterthought in the background upon drydown, but does lend a touch of sweetness that's not apparent when wet. I immediately ordered a bottle.

[Casablanca]

This was a recent frimp and I'm glad for it, since it was on my curiosity list.

Bottle: Primarily black musk with extra vetiver. A little lemon and honey.

Wet: The dark liquid stains my skin like greenish iodine, and might do the same to clothing. Lemon comes up first, a pale yellow twist of a citrus against a dark background. I like the contrast but, disappointingly, the lemon fades in seconds. Then I mostly get vetiver and musk, but find the softening spice of saffron, too.

Dry: Through the vetiver musk, the honey comes through as dark as Pennsylvania buckwheat. It's almost like molasses.

This is a heavy scent. Since I like black musk, it's a pretty good scent for me for the occasional day when I wear darker colors or just want something a little different. I wish the lemon stayed for a few minutes.

 

I can see how this is a bit like Old Tibet in Boulder!

Edited May 4, 2016 by Casablanca

[methodmaven]

Sweet, dark musk, through and through. Dangerous and sensual.

 

I wasn't able to distinctly pick out vetiver, honey, or lemon peel due to the powerful musk, but that's just fine by me.

 

This is in the same category as Old Demons of the First Class for me, and I just might have to get a bottle of Qandisa as well.

[Blood onmy hands]

Sometimes honey notes can smell like urine to me, and I strongly get that impression from this blend. Black musk and vetiver make for a dark, powdery, slightly smoky, black incense cologne. The honey weaves through and smells sickly.
The drydown starts to smell ashy, sour and sharp, and still has that undertone of urine-honey... I was worried about the lemon, but I don't get any lemon here.
Sickly honey, ashy vetiver, powdery black musk.
I usually love black musk, but it's not working for me here. My man said it smelled like fireplace ashes and rotting flowers.
Ashes, baby powder and pee. Not good at all on my skin.

[LeBateleur]

In bottle: In the bottle it's a dead ringer for Himalayan temple incense. Smoky, musky, and powdery.

 

Wet: Honey and bright lemon poke through the incense. They smell very much like my favorite brand of Japanese bottled red tea.

 

Drydown: All of the above notes persist, and meld with and mellow each other. And for some reason, my nose sometimes thinks it's catching the Lampades cranberry, though I think it's probably actually the lovely thick dark honey note here. Smoky and spicy with a touch of sweetness is how I would describe the drydown.

 

A few hours in: This one has lovely staying power and there's a nice interplay between the two major scent profiles – sometimes I catch the incense, sometimes the honey. It has strong but not overpowering throw. It's pretty much what I'm looking for in a scented oil. Qandisa has become one of my favorites.

[SophieCedar]

Wet and dry, this smells like sweet sugared red musk with a touch of smoke. The vetivert isn't overbearing. So, WIN!