After seeing the Buddhist temple Borobudur at the beginning of our Indonesian getaway, the next day my husband and I went a few miles away to visit the ancient Hindu site of Prambanan, also located near Yogyakarta. This temple complex was built as the Hindu religion moved into Java, overtaking and forcing out the practice of Buddhism. It is a large complex with three major temples dedicated to Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva; the Creator, the Preserver and the Destroyer. There are hundreds of smaller temples in the surrounding park, many reduced to rubble as this area is home to earthquakes as well as volcanic eruptions.
Prambahan is a UNESCO World Heritage Site today but for centuries it lay in ruins, virtually destroyed by an earthquake in the 16th century. The Dutch partially rebuilt it in the 1800s and more recently it was damaged in a 2006 earthquake. Today it is still an awe inspiring sight and during the six months of the dry season the Ramayana ballet is performed in front of the temples in an outdoor setting. The Ramayana is an ancient epic story of the divine Hindu prince Rama's struggle to rescue his wife Sita from the demon king. In ancient Javanese court the verses were set to dance. I had carefully planned our timing to be well into dry season and this is what I hoped to see:
We were seated, I was waiting with anticipation, then the heavens opened up and we were soaked with rain. The whole affair got moved inside, and while it was still a stunning performance it just wasn't as evocative as it should have been in front of the trio of lighted temples.
I may have been in Java, but I was seeing a Hindu play at a Hindu temple so I chose to wear perfumes that reminded me of India, one during the day and the other during the night performance. Yes, I am that crazy serious about matching my perfumes with experiences. I wore Lisa Hoffman's Kerala Ashok Garden first. I have owned the convenient 15 ml travel size of this perfume for some time but it had gotten lost in the depths of my drawer full of perfume decants and samples and I hadn't sprayed it in ages. I was blown away by its beautiful and realistic jasmine scent. The copy at the Lisa Hoffman (Dustin's wife) website talks about a mixture of florals with ripe sweet fruits, and also mentions the sacred Kerala ashok bloom, but nah! This is straight up beautiful jasmine and evidently the fine folks at Fragrantica agree with me. Click the link and on the left are the perfumer's notes: apricot, pear, green apple, violet, jasmine, amber, musk, and so on. On the right where people like you and I say what we smell there is only one note, jasmine. And that's perfectly okay when it's a beautiful jasmine like this one.
The initial burst of jasmine is joyful and ebullient. It smells very realistic as if you've passed through a grove of jasmine bushes at dusk when their scent is radiating out most strongly. This is a green effervescent jasmine; no indolic scent or skank to be found. The floral is sweet and dances on the edge of being indolent but never quite goes there. Kerala Ashok Garden portrays all the best aspects of jasmine; a swoony floral, bright and effervescent, uplifting. It is a mood altering jasmine. Jasmine is used in aromatherapy as mood lifter and is said to bring joy and happiness. That is the feeling I get with Kerala Ashok, it makes me feel joyful and I believe this is because it smells so much like the real scent of the flowers.
It doesn't change much over the hours of wear but that's not a negative for me because I love it. It is also very reasonably priced. Ms. Hoffman sells off her own website as well as other sites like Dermstore.com. She also sells fragrance jewelry where scented beads are worn inside lockets on bracelets or necklaces. Now that I have reminded myself how much I like this I'll be reaching for it often this summer.
Hindu Honeysuckle by Providence Perfume Company is a very different sort of scent from Kerala Ashok Garden. Whereas the Kerala Ashok Garden is green and floaty, Hindu Honeysuckle is a deeper, duskier perfume. I've seen some people review it as a very realistic honeysuckle but to me it is an abstract version of that flower. Some reviewers talk about the radiant jasmine note but I'm not getting that. I've had my bottle for a few years and it is a natural perfume so possibly could have lost some of the notes but this is pretty much how I remember it. The floral is muddled and honeyed. Evidently is is difficult and extremely expensive to attain pure honeysuckle oil so perfumers use other notes to replicate the scent. Charna Ethier, perfumer and owner at Providence Perfumes, used jasmine, rose, and bergamot among other notes to give a honeysuckle accord. There is a very honeyed floral at first spray but there is also a piquant note that gives it the slightly Eastern vibe. There is a coriander note which may provide this tang, but I can really smell the ambrette. If you've ever smelled Red Flower Ambrette, the note is similar. This perfume wears quietly and longevity is about three hours. I enjoy the far east spin on a common floral.
Top photo www.timetravelturtle.com. Ramayana photo: www.safira'sjourney.com. Perfumes my own.
No comments :
Post a Comment