Kumiho

[clephan]

Nine-tailed fox demon of Korean lore who transforms into the visage of an irresistible beauty in order to seduce men and lead them to their doom. A sharp, biting blend of crisp white tea and ginger.

On opening the vial, this smells extremely light and gentle: gingery and floral but lightly spicy rather than the darker spices that a lot of scents have.

On first wearing, it wraps the wearer in a sweet cloud of exotic florals. It's the sort of perfume you could wear to a formal work function or an elegant lunch. It's sophisticated and anything but overpowering.

Over time, this one doesn't last as long as a lot of the others, and fades to a pleasantly soft powder scent.

[allamanda]

From Diabolus

 

Stunning!! Beautiful ginger smell and couldn't stop sniffing my wrist. I had to force myself not to use it and try something else. Definite keeper, I adore this smell.

[Tesseljoan]

I find this one straightforward (which isn't a negative thing, by the way). Very fresh blend of citrus and green tea. The ginger adds a bit of a bite to it. Very clean smelling but not at all anti-sceptic. Great for helping you concentrate and focus.

 

edit: after smelling what a real lemon in a blend can smell like (tempest) I've changed my mind about this one. This has a hint of ethereal lemon in it, if that makes sense.

Edited March 20, 2004 by Tesseljoan

[viciousviolet]

Another lovely spring/summer scent. This is similar to Old Shanghai, but isn’t as citrusy. It is like a dry white tea with a slightly spicy tough of ginger. The end result feels like you’re fresh from the shower. I am thinking about trying to mix this one with some water to make a body spray for when the weather warms up.

[any_old_actress]

another of my favourite scents. it's so light and airy and pretty. i can totally see this as being a great spring/summer perfume. it does fade a little fast, at least it did on me, but it's still completely excellent.

[darklorelei]

In the bottle/first on: bitingly fresh/green. I smell the astringency of ginger, but I can't smell ginger, alas.

 

drying: wow, this fades fast! I feel spice in my nose, but I don't smell spice. Make sense? I smell something burning. Which I like, but 'tis odd.

 

Sortof dries into "normal-ish" perfume...Reminds me faintly of Chanel w/o the alcohol. My relatives might like it.

 

Unfortunately, I smell zero ginger; this perfume is not unbearably floral, but lacks the oomph to make me want to keep it.

[Pandorra]

Kumiho

 

This could have been nice but it fades almost instantly on me. I got citrus at first then a floral touch. It reminded me of Old Shanghai, which I love, but then this disappears! I applied again only to have it disappear within 1/2 hour. I decided not to waste anymore and swap it out. Maybe someone else's chemistry will hold the scent better.

[Lady_Ell]

I adore Kumiho, but it fades so quickly on me. I am not getting any florals out of it, just a fresh lemony iced tea scent with a hint of sugar and spike of something bright and biting - the ginger.

 

It reminds me of Old Shanghai with a ginger shoot kick.

 

I will slather more on and see if I can get it to last any longer. It's just so beautiful and makes me happy and cheerful when I wear it.

Edited April 21, 2004 by ladylatemar

[magpiedee]

I also enjoy Kumiho very much and am disappointed it fades so fast. I've worn Calvin Klein Truth since the day it came out for interviews, presentations and other important, "professional" functions, and Kumiho is like Truth with a soul. Definitely a keeper, but will require layering.

 

And, on the synaesthetic review note, Kumiho is clear and green, a cold green, a tourmaline green. It is crystalized. If you grew up in the 80's, most of the cartoons involved a strange group of creatures/robots/mutated fluffballs trying to capture and save some esoteric crystalline object from the sacred cave before the bad guys could steal it to rule the world. Kumiho is that random crystalline object, sitting quietly in the cave to be used for good or evil, depending on how it feels that day. Cold, clear, sharply cut, quiet. If it could talk, it would hiss and speak from shadows, but have an amused and possibly kindly note to its voice. It could even be a bit reptilian, but more of a constricter than a viper.

 

I like it verra verra much.

[rainbow]

On my skin this smells very much of white tea, with a lemon and herbal tone to it. It's sharp and crisp at first, but after a few minutes the herbal bit disappears, the lemon fades away, and more florals come through. In the bottle the scent is very sharp. This is a clean white scent, which I would wear on a spring morning.

[Electra]

I can't believe I haven't reviewed this one yet, as it's the one imp out of my first order that I keep reaching for. It's a lovely summer scent. Usually I get a clear, sharp-fresh citrus-ginger, which sadly doesn't last very long (but smells so good I keep on reapplying). Today for the first time (maybe because it's my time of the month) I'm getting a sugary-tea scent with superb lasting power. I prefer the citrus-ginger scent, but this variation is nice too.

[feline.by.design]

Kumiho is a very sharp scent for me. Upon application, I received a goodly amount of the ginger. It wasn't very long-lasting for me, but it did smell nice, and a couple people from my job who know about my recent "experiments" with BPAL scents (every day I wear something different) said that it smelled "pretty."

 

And it does. Kumiho is a very pretty scent without needing to be overtly feminine. It sort of reminded me of Embalming Fluid; if you like Embalming Fluid, you would enjoy Kumiho. I'm not sure if I will go for the bigger bottle, but I'm going to keep the imp for now to enjoy.

 

-doreen

[hypothermya]

Another obtained in the quest to try all of the Asian themed scents. But honestly, I really enjoy Embalming Fluid, and so I've been trying some of the tea based scents...

 

First Impression

 

Wow. For some reason or another, the combination of white tea and ginger smells reminiscent of crisp, freshly sliced apples. The red variety that are sweet, and not too tart. But there's also a bitter quality...The tea leaf scent, I'll wager. Yummy smelling.

 

Wearing It

 

This is a bright white scent. The tea is sweet, and light, and the ginger gives it the eye opening perk that brings this scent to life. It looses that apple reminiscent scent when it dries down, but doesn't loose any of the beauty. This is exactly the sort of smell that I would love to be woken up to: it's invigorating and clean. It's actually more crisp and clean smelling than Embalming Fluid, and would make a perfect summertime scent... Or even wintertime, because of the ginger...

 

After a little while, this reminds me of the pickled ginger in sushi restaurants...how it's sweet, and gingery, yet not as strong as pure ginger. (Ever tried to eat some of that stuff raw? Let me warn you against it...It's really....something...) This definitely has an ethereal quality to it, and feels like you're watching a breathtakingly beautiful spirit that isn't malevolent towards you...yet; but just in case, you decide to stare from a distance.

 

Lasting Power

 

Well...in terms of lasting, this scent doesn't. The day I was giving it a test run, I had to reapply it every three hours. I'd have applied it more often, but I was too busy to notice when exactly the scent faded. Kinda dissapointing, but the scent really is worth the reapplication.

 

 

A really nice scent. One of my friends who has a fox obsession will be recieving this imp, otherwise I'd keep it and finish it up. I can't say that the ginger was really my cup of tea --it was a bit too strong-- but the white tea was. ...my cup of tea. yeah. It smelled delicious.

[Rheliwen]

I'm a little undecided about whether I like this one or not.

 

In the bottle my nose is definitely hit with the spicy ginger. It smells very citrusy as well.

 

Once I got it on though, the ginger disappeared and I was left with a sickly pine sol scent. It subsided a little after about 5 minutes to a more peaceful scent.

 

I thought this might be an interesting linen spray or summer room scent. I don't think I'd wear it due to the overpowering lemon scent I get from it. I don't tend to like wearing fruity scents so I'm a little biased.

 

This one I think I like better in the bottle than on. Smelling it right now from the bottle gives me a good invigorating rush, so maybe I have found a good purpose for it

[Miggins]

In the vial: Lemon tea - crisp and green.

 

Wet: I can still smell lemon tea - a very tart, crisp smell.

 

The dry-down and beyond: peculiarly, the lemon morphed into a fresh, soapy smell but this only lasted a short while (maybe only 15 minutes).

 

After about an hour, the ginger came through and the tea was pushed to the back. I’m left with a sweeter, spicier tea that’s perfect for a day like today - an August day that’s humid and cloudy with the threat of storms. It’s refreshing, yet comforting.

 

To add: I felt that the scent had faded after around 4 hours disappointingly. However, I still keep getting vague wafts of it when I move around.

[isyche]

My first impression of Kumiho was that it was like Old Shanghai without the lemon (which is odd, considering that so many other people get lemon or citrus from it). I like Old Shanghai, but I'm not a big lemon fan because it reminds me of cleaning products, so I'm quite happy that Kumiho doesn't smell like lemon on me.

 

I love it: bright, sharp white tea and ginger, very refreshing and great for summer. (The ginger does remind me of sushi ginger, which I like to eat by itself.) I might get a big bottle of this next summer.

Edited August 14, 2004 by isyche

[asa805]

When i first smelled this it was pure lemon juice. Slowly it started to smell more like tea and ginger but remained a tart white scent. It slowly powerded up a bit but is definately not me. I had to wash it off and put soemthing darker on. This is a very innocent "good girl" perfume. Too much for me

 

For white scents i prefer emblaming fluid.

[fragrantgrasse]

 

I absolutely adore Kumiho!

 

It is sparklingly sweet, light & uplifting. For some reason I think of bamboo (but I haven't a clue what bamboo smells like) when I smell this.

 

To me this is what a Japanese Tea Ceremony would smell like......gentle & cerebral. That doesn't make any sense but this scent is stimulating a stream of consciousness..

 

I am not really able to distinguish the ginger in this, just a exquisite co-mingling of scents masterfully crafted. It doesn't last too long, but for me that is a good thing. I love reapplying this because it is so incredibly pleasant.

 

If you want something bathed in white light, this is it!

 

I will order VATS of Kumiho!

[tempete]

It's interesting that some reviews describe Kumiho as a relative of Old Shanghai or Embalming Fluid. I can't wear either of those because my body chemistry latches onto lemon big time, but like isyche, I don't get any lemon from Kumiho. Wet, I smell both the clean, slightly sweet white tea and the sharp bite of ginger, perfectly blended. It then dries down on me to a very delicate white floral with hints of the white tea adding some sweetness and the ginger giving it some backbone.

 

My first 5 ml bottle purchase from BPAL will be Kumiho (when it arrives), although I sometimes wonder if I should have bought a 10 ml bottle. As others have noted, Kumiho does not last long. I've found that I can lengthen its stay by layering it over the Bath & Body Works White Tea & Ginger body cream. Although B&BW has discontinued this scent, there are other companies which make white tea & ginger body products (MMU, A Zaftig Woman, Luna Bleu).

[Penance]

This was a generous freebie from the Lab and one I probably wouldn't have picked out on my own.

 

First sniff:

 

Very clean and sharp, almost to the point of being biting. In spite of the fact that there's no lemon listed in the description, it smells very lemony to me. There's also a very clear, sharp ginger component underneath it. This is almost aggressively clean unlike something like, say, Neo-Tokyo which is tranquilly clean. I'll give it a shot, but I don't know that it will work for me since I prefer darker scents and don't care for lemon.

 

Wet on skin:

 

Lemony and very clean. It's actually not an unpleasant lemon even though I don't care for citrus scents as a general rule. The ginger is still there, too, making this scent even more biting and sharp. This isn't a soft, clean scent, it's hard-edged and dangerous; it's almost aggressively bright. I didn't think such a clean scent could smell so aggressive.

 

Dry down:

 

This one fades quite quickly on me, leaving a faint lemon and ginger scent that nevertheless manages to be no-nonsense. It reminds me of a hotshot female lawyer for some reason: perfectly coiffed and hard as nails. While it's not my normal kind of scent (I prefer darker, earthier scents), I think I'm going to keep it because it just screams feminine power to me.

 

The bottom line:

 

Clean, aggressive, hard-edged and biting. This is a no-nonsense, powerful clean scent that makes me feel like I could take on the world if I just put my mind to it. Not my usual cup of tea, but a nice change of pace, to be sure.

[pekeana]

In the vial, Kumiho is a light but biting tea and gingery grapefruit scent.

 

On me, it takes wind and becomes entirely grapefruit for about 5 hours, then relaxes into a very soft ginger and tea scent.

 

It's similar to my bottle of Chaos Theory XIII, but my Chaos Theory has more legs to it and lasts a lot longer with less application.

 

Kumiho is nice enough.

[grrrlennyl]

kumiho

 

at first: i smell rose. maybe with some orange rind. interesting.

on: wow. definitely sharp. i think i smell lemon, but with something a bit warmer.

half an hour later: i smell lots of flowers, but it must just be the white tea and ginger. very light and warm. lovely.

1 hour later: this is just so clean-smelling. this would be great during the summer.

2 hours later: white. clean and fresh. lovely.

5 hours later: still fresh, crisp, and white.

overall: i love this. i probably would never have ordered it, so i'm thrilled that this was included in my order. i may end up getting a bottle of this for the summer.

[stardreamer]

I wanted this because a friend gave me some White Tea & Ginger liquid soap from Bath & Body Works, and I like that a lot. Unfortunately, either there's something else in one or the other of them or this is a significantly different formulation. It's extremely sharp and doesn't seem to react well with my body chemistry, and R. hates it. It's got a lot of staying power; 14 hours after application, I can still smell it fairly distinctly on my wrists. At this dilution, I can trace its kinship to the B&BW formula and it's not obnoxious, but I'm not willing to wait thru the hours-long not-so-pleasant phase to get to that point. I don't think I'll be getting any more of this. I might try it again, after I've gone thru all the others, at a lower starting application and see if that makes any difference.

 

ETA, next morning: man, that stuff REALLY has staying power! It didn't completely go away until I'd washed. And R. woke up with a headache, probably from being in bed with it all night. Looks like this one is just not a keeper.

[Gin]

Oh Kumiho, how I love thee!

In the vial, this smelled very green. Lemony green. On, it's lemony and fresh, but not in that bathroom cleanser way. There's a hint of sweetness, and the tea emerges. I don't think I get much ginger out of this, I smell something like lemongrass and tea.

This disappears all too quickly on me, but it's so gorgeous, I'm willing to reapply frequently.

[TheDarkMother]

Oooh...white tea and ginger....I'm in love already!

 

In the Bottle: Kumiho is extremely crisp, and the white tea really comes out. Purrr.

 

On Me: Mmm...there's the ginger. Oh, another mood for sushi! With the white tea this is gorgeous, so fresh and sharp and tangy that you can practically taste it. I am definately slathering this one!