Kama X-treme (2005)
by Ava Luxe

EDP review:

Is this really meant to be a musk scent?! I couldn’t smell a thing!

[Original submission date: 29 December 2007]

I tested Kama Luxe Edition. Regular Kama is not in the directory as of this writing.

Kama--Exotic musks, Ambergris, Civet, Black Amber, Labdanum
Bulgarian Rose absolute (from the Ava Luxe web site)

Lots and lots of cedar, very woody cedar, and a light musk base. As the cedar calms, a nutty note comes out. Now that I read the notes, the woodyness could also come from the labdanum, and that would also account for the nutty quality. I really don't smell any rose or civet, but this frag is definitely musky and ambery. As the sweetness fades, the cedar note smells rather unbalanced. I wouldn't say hamster cage, but certainly it has a sawdust quality to it that is not well attenuated by any of the other notes. Of the two, I prefer this one, perhaps because it reminds me of Body Shop Woody Sandalwood. The drydown is pleasant--cedar note fades, and a vanilla amber base (with a hint of play doh) remains.

This is now called Kama -- I emailed Ava Luxe. It may be a toned-down version of the original, not sure.

I am not a musk-o-phile -- this is the first musk-centered perfume I appreciate. I own MR, bought to please my husband who likes it, and can't bring myself to wear it. I loathed L'air de rien and MKK, yet enjoy Kama, which recalls aspects of each. Kama seems fresher and suaver than all of these to me; there is something delightfully mentholated that floats above the fragrance when you first apply it, before it dives back down in to keep everything secretly civilized. After a while it takes on an amber-y aspect. I'm still not a musk-person, don't find it bedroomy-comforting or -provacative as many do, but there is something about Kama that makes me think I ought to have a bottle.

I don't think it puts MKK to shame (oh, my dear SL, I love you so!), but this is a wonderful alternative if you cannot afford MKK. It is down and dirty, sexy musk and to me it smells more masculine to me because of it. It dosn't have the complex drydown of MKK, which makes me somewhat less interested. I still give it a thumbs up! It's a great musk.

This is the musk that puts Muscs Koublai Khan to shame. My sister wrinkled her nose and said it reeked of public restroom, while I'd go for the pleasanter barnyard. It does have a feel of manure and unwashed hair, I won't lie about that. But skank-addict as I am I just love it. There's something both comforting and addictive about it, like the familiar scent of human flesh, and the temptation to inhale your own sweat. It has the raw sexuality of Muscs Koublai Khan, but also the "cosy musty apartment"-feel of L'air de rien. Perhaps it's the other notes that peek our through the animalic ones - the rose and the cedarwood - that give a similar feeling of a chic elderly lady's apartment full of exotic scents, rather than the unpleasant smell of the home of some lunatic who never bathes... Kama feels old-fashioned and, yes, elegant. Elegant in a bold way, like a rich eccentric aristocrat who doesn't have to care what anybody thinks. I wouldn't want to smell this on an unkempt stranger with bad breath and ill manners, but on a chic lady with a sense of personal hygiene I wouldn't mind it.