Isvaraya

This quirky little sent grabbed my attention when I first started exploring perfumes and became the second bottle I ever bought myself. In trying to describe this, a few images come to mind. One is the leather jacket I wore in college. I liked to keep it on while bar hopping because It was part of my ‘wardrobe’ and I didn’t want to risk having it stolen. The bars, of course, were always warm. My leather jacket was light weight and dusty from wear, and had a silk lining to protect the interior. Over time this lining developed a specific smell: muskiness from my warm body mixed with leather. While neither of these notes is listed in Isvaraya, I do detect them. The second image is from a day spent in the Italian Riviera, when my SO and I found a winding, overgrown path that led from the summit of a medieval town. The uneven path clung to a rocky, windswept hillside that overlooked the sea ahead. Unexpectedly we found ourselves in a grove of gnarled olive and lemon trees, which were providing shade for colorful clusters of wild flowers. In any other setting the grove wouldn’t have caught our eye; but here, with the ancient town above us, the sea ahead of us and medieval homes all around us, it was just magical. I can still smell the fruity, floral tinged air intermixing with the warmth radiating from the rocky path. This is the experience I get with Isvaraya.

I know I've come back to this scent a few times already over the last 6 or 7 years, but nothing has changed, for me... Even to this day, much of the world is still reeling from when Mariah Carey 'plagiarised' her hit 'Dream Lover' later down the track with 'Heartbreaker', and whilst many of us are still confused about this, to this day, I feel the same thing happened here with Mr. Kurkdjian... I feel like he didn't quite work the accord (when Isvaraya came out), and then, a few years down the track, managed to ace it, and as such, we end up with 2 or 3 of the Oud Mood series which heavily reference this accord. Now, I don't think there is anything immoral, illegitimate, illegal or even improper about 'referencing' yourself, and I don't think for a minute that he's dialling it in. What I feel is that MFK has worked and created a signature accord, a Kurkdjianade, if you will, and has called upon it. It's there, it's apparent, and it's DAMN amazing. This is Silk Mood, Cashmere Mood and possibly Velvet Mood, all without the caustic 'oud', resins and woods. Breathtaking stuff here...

i just wanted to post the luckyscent description before they take it down for the discontinued indult line. "In India, patchouli is associated with Vishnu, the god savior of mankind and life and the guardian of universal harmony. Isvaraya means “divine” in Hindi and this perfume is the olfactory fantasy of both modern India and spiritual India, an exotic elixir that blends light patchouli with smooth Indian plum tree and wraps it in jasmine. Although it centers on patchouli, it’s not overly earthy. It’s rich and unusual, slightly sweet and a tad smoky, a fevered evening spent on multi-hued silken sheets while wisps of incense burn sensually in the corners of your mind. The beautiful starkness of jasmine lights the darkness of patchouli and the deep, spiced fruitiness of the plum tree... utterly unique and completely exotic, Isvaraya is not a fluffy little fragrance you wear without thinking. When you smell Isvaraya, you close your eyes and dream and your spirit is at peace." -luckyscent quote

been on my left wrist all day, and i've been thinking about how 'familiar' this feels. something i've smelt elsewhere. then, i read the ingredients, of course, it's the plum, it reminds me of plum perfumes. that's what it must be. nope. this is MFK all over. even years before he established his own label, this smells like an oud mood. might be silk, not so sure. i get the feeling that mfk was in his lab somewhere, thinking "i gotta get this accord, i gotta get this accord...", and then, years later with his oud mood returned to this. i know that you can't rip yourself off or plagiarise yourself, but there is such a nod to this previous work in oud silk mood that it's not even funny. in oud mood, after the jammy rose dissipates, THIS is what this smells like. must be the patchouli or an aromachemical fixative something that creates this scent. my goodness. i'm glad i came online to read about this scent. nothing worse than dejavu that you YOURSELF misattribute to something. wow...

I visited Madrid last week and had a chance to sniff some niche and hard-to-find perfumes at a nice store in Hortaleza street. The Indult perfumes caught my attention because I'd read somewhere that this line had been discontinued; but apparently they're back on market. Among the three Indult scents that I tested (Isvaraya, Manakara and Reve en Cuir), Isvaraya is the most beautiful one. I absolutely love plum, it's my favourite fruity note, and here the juicy plum is combined with enchanting jasmine and fresh patchouli. However, I was a bit disappointed with its longevity, because it doesn't last more than a few hours; and for a hefty price tag, I would expect more. I guess, since Indult products are based on natural ingredients, they lack some of the chemicals that give the scents their longevity. However, if money is no object, then this is worth investing in. P.S. It smells nothing like Black Orchid!