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!

Rich, nocturnal Jasmine-centric creation formed by a beautifully balanced fusion of light and dark notes. Jasmine provides the radiance in the dark night of the perfume's patchouli-plum soul, as if a beam of white light is shone into the twilight mystery of a tropical garden just after a deluge. Francis Kurkdjian has infused his perfume with the scents of earth, leaf, flower and fruit, given it glowing shine-in-the-darkness eyes and sent it out prowling streets lined with nightclubs. It's quite a heavy hitter and begins like an olfactory assault, the natural nature of its extracts, absolutes and essential oils evident in its quality. I've fallen in love with it after three wearings but will reserve it for nights. Distillation: quintessential noir velvet-lined cloak of jasmine stalking the dark streets

a delicious, ridiculously curated patch, a refrained, muted plum and a dainty white floral lurking impishly in the background. obviously, there are more than just 3 ingredients in this mix, obviously, but, as far as accords go, these three work well with each other, and in typical MFK style, the jammy sweet nature of this scent is apparent for all. I have already reviewed this scent before, and I stand by what I wrote way back when, but this certainly has the MFK DNA all over it. just like every person has a 'type' with regards to a mate, perfumers also have their DNA; you can notice it with nasomatto/ortoparisi scents, and you can feel it with MFK here. you can detect this DNA in all his Oud Mood series, and it's here on display in this here scent.

Full list of notes are as follows: Patchouli Indian plum Prune jam accord Jasmine Sambac Date Vetiver Oakmoss Labdanum Elemi Amber Leather It's gorgeous stuff. Very French chic. I'd be more prone to class it as a fruity Chypre than anything else. It's dark and mysterious, elegant and refined. The patchouli works so well with the plum, date and prune jam. As @framorena rightly states, its Francis Kurkdjian at his finest before his 'musk and clean' turn. Performance is moderate to long lasting, with silage that leaves a deliciously evocative trail. I'd say it suits a very well put together lady who oozes confidence. Full bottle worthy imho but definitely one to test before buying.

I normally am not a big fan of modern Patchoili fragrances as well as patcouli as an ingredient on its own however Indult's Isvayara truly won me over. It had the classic touch of MFK suaveness and truly won me over with its complexity and longetivity. I tried it in the hot balmy Tuscan weather and it surprisingly lasted beyond 12 hours and it was a pleasure to have on as there was nothing cloying nor overwhelmingly sweet....just this amazingly cozy warm and every so slightly fruity and ambery patchoili with a skilful touch of Jasmine. I hate fruitichulli however this is nothing like fruitichulli one is exposed to normally....It's just pure refined longlasting coziness.

Isvaraya 2024 Fragrance Notes: Indian plum, jasmine Sambac, Patchouli, vetiver, labdanum, prune jam accord. elemi, amber. 2024 reworked version. I am glad Francis Kurkdijan decided to refine this. I did appreciate the old formulation but found it to be polarising. The 2024 rework has made this more appealing. The patchouli isn’t as overwhelming for me. It has the feeling of Silk Mood but with the addition of plum and jasmine. The new formulation is purple for reference.

Gorgeous intense unisex oriental scent! I could only test in Paris. Impressive! p.s. oh, and the name is quite something :-)

This perfume is from my best collection, Unique.

Isvaraya smells like dark purple to me. I imagine round and ripe plums with their dark burgundy bordering on purple skin, hiding the honeyed golden flesh underneath. The taste is thick and almost syrupy. Next to the prominent dark fruit lounges a sweetened and smoky patchouli. I can't smell the jasmine with these two powerhouses plying for centre-stage. There is the "skank" element to Isvaraya and perhaps jasmine has a role to play in it. The scent lingers like smoke after a fire has been put out, persisting beyond eight hours and strong throughout, linear apart from becoming more musky in the later hours. Those who dislike patchouli should not bother with Isvaraya. Those who enjoy fruitchouli scents would probably enjoy this. I can see the similarity as compared to Black Orchid, however side by side, Isvaraya is a smoldering siren whereas Black Orchid dissipates into baby powder on me.

I thought this would be a plum-bomb, but its actually a lot like a fresher, fruitier, lighter Black Orchid. It's definitely got that earthy, chocolatey, dirty-clean patchouli going on, and there's a lot of it. The plum is a lighter plum note, not like the strong plum in Dior Poison, and it only serves to add a fruity nuance to the patchouli. If there's any jasmine, it doesn't stick around for long. The reviewer who said it smells like eating plum jam over a smoke shop nailed it in my opinion. It's nice but doesn't blow me away, maybe because I already have Black Orchid. I see this as, if Black Orchid was Angel, this would be one of the Sunessence flankers.

I so expected to love this based on my tastes and the wonderful experience of Indult's Manakara that I ordered not one, but two samples. Well, I believe I've met my patchouli threshold. The beginning is all patchouli all day, like a San Francisco smoke shop. Then there's a dry plum, not the luscious, juicy fruit I was looking forward to. After a while the patchouli backs off a bit and I get whiffs of the kind of plastic, shellacked jasmine that I get from Alien - Ironic since Alien I enjoy. I see I'm in the minority, but I've finally found a sweet patchouli fragrance I'd be grateful never to smell again. I know. I'm shocked too.

All my favorite perfumes have plum, jasmine, and patchouli so I thought this would be perfect, but oh boy was I wrong. I don't see the fruity in this AT ALL, it just smells like cheap incense with balsamic notes and also something powdery at the same time, if that makes sense? I picture an old lady using this, like 50+. Thank god it was a decant that I bought cuz this is too stinky to be this expensive.

ISVARAYA is a difficult plum fragrance, it opened extremely cloying and sweet, like plum jam with a bit too much sugar. The heart and drydown brings heavy and suffocating patchouli and...cedar! Due to this it's really hard for me to enjoy this, everytime I try to sniff myself I feel like i'm being hit in the face with sledgehammer. Maybe it smells good from afar. Stayed on for 8 hours.

I did not like this creation. The notes did not mesh well, in my opinion, or my body chemistry just rejected it. The nose is my fave perfumier, Francis Kurkdijian so kinda disappointed. I'll forgive this because the other scents in the Indult discovery set, ESPECIALLY Tihota are simply wonderful.

Smells like motor oil and burnt hair. The quality is natural and this is absolutely not synthetic or screechy! But this still smells like motor oil and burnt hair. I guess this is a level of niche that needs a more advanced taste than mine to understand.

Deception! The description seems to put this perfume in the range of perfumes I love; fruit, patchouli, spicy balsamic...I was expecting so much. But on me from the first minute to the last: only sugar like a « barbe à papa » nothing else!