Kumiho

[Faerykin]

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.

Kumiho

Swiped across wrists and along collarbone.

Initial Wet (8-8:30am): Lemon? Very potent lemon … how odd.

Initial Dry (8:30-10am): The prominent lemon scent fades to a background of citrus. It is still quite sharp – a definite eye-opener.

Throughout the Day (10am-1pm): This really calms down quick. I only catch faint whiffs of citrus. I would definitely place this as a spring or summer scent – as I could certainly see myself slathering it on for days spent in the sunshine. So, I’ll keep the imp, but no bigger bottle for me.

[Ina Garten Davita]

First Impression: Very much white tea and ginger.

 

Second Impression: If you like BBW white tea and ginger, you'll LOVE this. It's a much better rendition.

 

Final Analysis: While I like this scent, it's not me.

[inkstone]

In the vial: Lemony, white tea with a bite that can only be coming from the ginger.

 

Wet: Wet, hard lemon candies. Eh?

 

Drydown: I can feel the tea trying to sweeten the blend. It's trying very hard. I can totally feel it, but the citrus is taking over and I do think it is lemon because I can taste it in the back of my throat. Yes, it's trying to go to insect repellent on me like all blends with lemon in them do. And with the ginger spiking it, it's an edged repellent too. :D

 

Final thoughts: This is similar to Shanghai, but it has an edge and isn't quite as soft. This also doesn't last that long. It's starting to fade already and I haven't even reached an hour yet.

[malanna]

Like Baobhan Sith, which I had just tried yesterday, this smells like Embalming Fluid. it makes sense that this smells like Baobhan Sith, because of the ginger and white tea. There isn't much to add to this review, except that it lasts slightly longer than Baobhan Sith, but is still gone after three hours.

[fairywingmaker]

This starts out smelling of Lemon Verbena to me. As time passes I can pick up the white tea, and the ginger. It's very soft, not sharp to me at all. Just a clean white scent. Very pretty!

[glampyre]

Kumiho

 

WOW! Unlike June gloom, the citrus in Kumiho is really deicate and natural...and combined with the tea and ginger...is just gorgeous. The overall effect is very pure, calming, and relaxing.

 

This is now on my Must Have Big Bottle list.

[surf-tormented]

It's a lot like B. Sith or E. Fluid. I don't know if tea based oils all end up smelling the same on me or what. I got Embalming Fluid first, so I suppose I like it best.

 

B&BW has a soap called White Tea and Ginger that smells a lot like this. If you like that, you will like this oil.

[Jessica]

I got Kumiho in a swap and I'm glad I picked it up. In the bottle it smells light and sweet and tea-y. I already had decided I liked it, and prayed it wouldn't turn funky on my skin.

 

I slathered a little on after the shower and was very pleased. I sat down to read and was rewarded with whiffs of sweet tea and eventually faint lemon. Kumiho is excellent in every regard except it doesn't last long. I thought it just might be me, but after reading the other reviews its obvious that Kumiho just doesn't have the staying power that is required to make it perfect.

 

I'm definatly going to order a bottle, though, in my next order. It reminds me of Pledge (but without the chemical smell, obviously!). I always did want to spray a little Pledge on my wrists - just didn't seem very healthy.

[Aurelius]

Oh wow. This is gorgeous. This is like Embalming Fluid but with a bite, thanks to the ginger. I LOVE this, but it doesn't last long on my skin. This is one of my favorites.

[mandalyn]

I was hoping this would be a nice, light airy scent that's able to deal with the Florida humidity, but all I got was Lemon Pledge, Lemon Pledge, then...it disappeared altogether. Hm.

 

 

I still want to try Embalming Fluid, though--I hope I have better luck with that!

[darkling]

Wet: Kumiho was lemon tea. It was light and sweet.

 

Dry: This is definitely white tea and I sense a faint undertone of white musk. The lemon is still present although it is a bit muted. Kumiho is a very light scent; it could almost float away.

 

I recall a hint of ginger the first time I tried this scent but I could not detect any this time. Kumiho vanished quickly. It was gone within half an hour.

 

This is a lovely, light scent but it doesn't last on my skin.

[anmorata]

Kumiho:

 

Wet: just like the description, it's very sharp and biting white tea and ginger. There's an undercurrent of something sweet that I can't quite put my finger on. It's almost lemon-like. I daresay Lemon Pledge but that's not quite it.

Drydown: Still sharp, but not as sharp as it was upon application. The Lemon Pledge smell is replaced by a gentle ginger.

Longterm wear: Stays strongly ginger, to a point of being overwhelming. Into the swap pile.

[yellowrose]

Very much a fresh citrus scent in the bottle.

 

Wet: Clean and bracing gingery-lemon-lime.

 

Drying: As it dries, teeters close to eau de Lemon Pledge/cleaning products. This becomes more dangerous as time elapses. The scent also becomes more herbal with time. Like pressing the leaves of lemon geranium. This stage passes. The green tea scent is very much implied and found only when wet.

 

Conclusion: Will probably use up the imp this summer, depending on how much I really want to smell like the aforementioned cleaning products, but will not pursue a bigger order. Whether the imp is used also depends on public comment. None as of yet.

[Donnababe]

Kumiho

 

A short and sweet review.

 

I've finally come to the conclusion that the majority of scents which contain tea will turn to a sharp lemon on me. The ginger never really makes an appearance and whilst Sudha Segara if fast becoming a new sweet and gentle favourite, Kumiho is far too harsh and astringent.

[oatmealneko]

Vial: Lightly tea, slightly lemony?

Wet: Ginger smells like sour lemon, white tea is very strong, almost like a floral.

Dry: Same as above. Ginger still smells like lemon.

 

Ginger behaves oddly in this one - lemon? Sharp & biting as usual. Ginger always smells like that, never softens at all. I might need to let the bottle settle for a week though, I bought this unsniffed, & it's a tad headache inducing on me.

[Ancientgirl]

This came as a freebie in my last order. I hope I can do it justice with the allergies I've been having lately.

Wet: Crisp and lemony. The white tea is perceptible, but barely.

Dry: Lemony, but not sour. There is something about this scent that reminds me of a food from my childhood, but I can't remember what. Lemon drops, maybe? I'm not sure I'm getting any ginger---just sweetened lemon.

The nostalgia factor really adds to my appreciation of this scent. Unfortunately, it really doesn't last on me; by my bus ride to school, it was already fading. I probably won't get a big bottle, but the imp brings back sweet memories of my younger days.

Ancientgirl

[SyringaVulgaris]

 

Oh yes.

 

Green and bright -- though it states tea and ginger, there's DEFINITELY a citrus lurker -- in a good way.

 

I wore this last night -- applied it on my neck around my hairline, and when my head moved I could smell it...and wished I had more on.

 

It's invigorating and joyous, and it screams "SPRING!" to me.

 

And to me there was some similarity to Embalming Fluid...

 

I believe this will be gone by the end of the summer, just in time for autumn scents to take over....

[misfitroxy]

In the imp, the blend strikes me as very sharply citrus. It’s fresh and “zing”-y. Quite the eye-opener.

 

On my skin, it goes very warm rather quickly. However, that warmth is reminiscent of Lemon Pledge (as others have mentioned) on me mixed with a super sour lemon candy.

 

I’m not really getting any ginger from this, at least not in a spicy sense. A bit of a white-blossom floral does emerge after a while. It’s pretty, but not something I’d gravitate towards.

 

I think “clean” and “white” (with just a hint of pastel "yellow") describe Kumiho very well. But even after it’s dried down a bit, it’s giving me flashbacks to having to meticulously dust my family’s many polished wooden tables as a child performing her weekly chores.

 

It’s simply not meant as the oil for me.

[leahcat]

Kumiho

 

in bottle: crisp! awake! tangy!

wet: gingery tea without being warm, it's almost cool - crisp then if you read the description. very nice!

drying/5 minutes: softer, less of a dryer sheet in my nose feeling, still bright and tangy. I like this! Both white tea and ginger are light scents, but this isn't fading yet.

dry/25 minutes: still crisp and delightful! I'll keep testing this to see how much lasting power it has, but looks good so far. Definitely a keeper for those hard to wake up early mornings

[Shollin]

First sniff: Oh HELL yeah. Why on earth didn’t I order this sooner? It’s been on my wishlist for ages. Ahem. It’s white tea and ginger, plain and simple… but a grillion times better than the B&BW handsoap I used to have in my bathroom (and I LOVED that soap).

 

Wearing: I don’t know what makes ginger work so damn well on me, but it SO does. The tea gives it a freshness that makes it more than just a spice scent. Ah, Kumiho… you were worth the wait.

[olympia301]

Lemony and reminds me of: Severin and Shanghai at first, that is what I refer to as The Holy Trinity of Lemon. Putting them up against each other was a real eye-opener.

 

Kumiho had the ginger sting to it at first which I found a natural friend to lemon, but the drydown did make me think of furniture polish, not exactly but close enough to some household product that it is not my cup of tea at all.

 

I really prefer the fugitive lemon and leather that Severin offers you (on his hands and knees no less), so I will capture him in my scent locket and let Kumiho go.

[sarada]

I love Kumiho.

 

This is one of my favorite after-bath, or bedtime scents -- it's too light for me to wear much during the day because it fades very quickly but it is a wonderful, refreshing splash of a very sunny and energizing scent. I might carry some with me in the summer when I need something invigorating and fresh -- if a tall glass of iced tea isn't available, this should keep me alive until I can find one.

 

This is also my current favorite of the tea/citrus scents -- the white tea is very smooth and calming, the ginger is crisp and citrusy (ginger always comes across lemony to me, but without the sharp tang of lemon). I like a lot of the other tea and citrusy blends but this really stands out to me. There's no jasmine in it first of all, which is a big plus for me. It strikes me as more glowing, warm and golden than biting and green like some of the other scents in this family.

 

Simple perfection...almost aromatherapy-like, it just brightens my day to smell it. Although it's not in my overall top 10 it would be in my top 5 "after bath" scents, which is a category unto itself!

[mmcfa2]

Ginger and tea galore, for 20 minutes. Then sadly it becomes grapefruits and I hate when that happens. It's me and my skin I give up. I busted badly on this order

[Muppetk]

Light and pretty, and ginger/tea as described, but fades in less than 5 min on me.

[Northernminx]

While this is spicey ginger with a nice undetone in the bottle my skin makes it smell very citrusy for some reason and I have the same problem I have with several lemon-grass blends in that nothing else ever comes out other than lemon. I wanted a little more ginger and tea from this but my chemistry said no. Stupid chemistry.

 

Ah well!