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Tuesday, September 20, 2016

The Body Shop Indian Night Jasmine: fragrance review

"Another world is not only possible, she is on her way. On a quiet day, I can hear her breathing." This quote by Indian author Arundhati Roy is one of my favorite ones, shedding light where despair has cast its long, oppressing shadow. Scent also works the same way, transforming the mundane or the forsaken into sparkle and comfort. And when that comes with no requests of owning heaps of cash the size of the Koh-i-Noor jewel from Andhra Padesh, rejoice for all involved! One such case is Indian Night Jasmine by The Body Shop, possibly the nicest fragrance in the company's current rotation.

theberry.com via

Jasmine by its very nature is a precious essence to harvest; the delicate flowers need not see the heat of the day, as they emit their strongest scent during the cloistered shadows of the night. They get picked by hand, they wilt and brown easily, emitting their narcotic scent while they die... literally dying in scent. Modern technology has managed to isolate and replicate the sweetest and freshest elements of this natural wonder and to create fragrances that come at a competitive price point.

Indian Night Jasmine by The Body Shop manages to smell smooth, lush and orientalized, befitting the imagery of wild shrubberies growing out of control somewhere in India, the "moonshine in the garden". The air is dewy, warm and heavy with the promise of romance. Eyes kohl-sooted, glimmer under the canopy of fringed lashes; skin sleek with anticipatory sweat. This could be the night.

3 comments:

  1. Hmmm.......I have an 8 foot high by 12 foot wide stand of night blooming jasmine or "raat ki raani" (translates to queen of the night) as it is called here in my yard in Nepal. Some nights it emits the faintest trace of scent and some nights it BLASTS full throttle to the point you can smell it a half mile away. The tiny flowers are very inconspicuous. I love it. It's not really a true jasmine though it's in the same family as potatoes- Solanaceae. It seems to go through phases as it blooms during the night too- first a honeyed white floral then it gradually takes on a tinge of wintergreen/methyl salicylate which gets a bit reminiscent of toothpaste.
    I'll have to try this, it sounds interesting. I heard the Body Shop is coming out with a fascinating line of scents from endangered plants too!
    Have you tried the Ayurvedic cosmetic company Forest Essentials' Madhurai Jasmine cologne intense? It's a light & lovely jasmine sambac fragrance with a little grandiflorum in the background- great for hot and humid Monsoon weather. I reviewed it on my little blog.

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  2. Oh ... got to see if this scent is here.... interesting!

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  3. Once again, I want the scent you are describing!
    jean xox

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