Velvet Panther

[Lamia]

Dark musk, star anise, agarwood, styrax, vetiver, gaiacwood, King mandarin, violet leaf, and black vanilla.

Tried approximately 06/10/08. Was already wearing Queen of Sheba but HAD to test the freshly arrived imp Smelled a bit like bloody skin, and got none of the ingredient notess listed. No musk, no vetiver, no anise, no vanilla and no orange. OK weirrrrrrd, better put this aside and let it AND me settle a while!

06/18/09 Retest. Still not working. The throw is nummy, the musk and vetiver and vanilla all combining in a contented growl, with a tiny hint at the back of the throat of the mandarin. But sniffing my wrist is still like smelling bloody skin. Ah well.

HOWEVER! This and Queen of Sheba are awfully nice layered together Whatever is working in the Velvet Panther on my skin really ramps Queen of Sheba up to a delicious honeyed sensual aroma.

[rayvn1]

Mmm, my personal favorite of the velvets Dark and sweet. This is a very subtle scent that just slinks around throwing out whiffs of musk and wood sweetened with a hint of vanilla. Mouth watering. I need to get pro-active about finding more of this!

[Schmoozy]

 

Dark, sinister, sexy and creamy. This has to be one of my favorites. Velvet panther is spicy & slightly smoky from the vetiver, barely sweetened with black vanilla. Violet leaf and king mandarin add just a little more sweetness, and unlike Velvet Tiger, vetiver is in the background from beginning to finish. OMG, I can't stop huffing my wrists. This is sleek and sensual, woodsy and incrediably sexy.

[mgrazulis]

In the vial~citrusy mandarin and spicy star anise. Wet~Mmmmmmmm! Rich black vanilla, green violet leaf. Soothing stryrax over dry vetiver. Drydown~the vanilla enriches, stretching over the dark musk and aromatic woods. Purrrrrrrrrfectly dark, sweet and sleek. Sillage is relatively low and huffable. Edited June 27, 2009 by mineralfairy

[Seismogenic]

As the owner of a large black cat (even though he's kind of more chicken than panther), it was only right that I try any panther-inspired oils! The combination of notes is also intriguing, particularly since a test run at Will Call assured me that the vetiver isn't going to drown everything else out.

 

In the imp: Anise, musk, and vanilla with some indistinct dry stuff.

 

Wet on skin: Vanilla, anise, musk, a little bit of mandarin, and continued dry stuff.

 

Drydown: Freshly dry, it's a smooth mix of vanilla, musk, and anise with a bit of a woody backdrop. The sharp note sticking out could be vetiver, though it doesn't necessarily have to be. Doesn't really smell like vetiver. At one hour in, any sharpness has faded out, and the dry notes have also melded into the mix. It's very much a smooth creamy vanilla with a touch of anise and a backdrop of musk.

 

Five hours later: Smooth musk and vanilla, with maybe a bit of anise left.

 

End of the day: Little bit of musk and vanilla, but faint.

 

Overall: I can definitely see how this combination of notes describes the smooth sleekness of a panther, even though I don't get a black color association from it at all. Rather, it's kind of like the ambery brown of vanilla extract, framed against something cream colored. Not light, but not really dark, either. I barely got any of the wood notes, which actually kind of surprised me, but I still think it was a nice blend overall. Will be keeping the decant, but I didn't upgrade.

[mhickle]

Thanks to the lovely stellans, I got a chance to try this. And, oh man, I like it....If you could smell a velvet painting, I do indeed imagine this is what a painting of a panther would smell like. You can almost feel velvet beneath your fingers - the scent is so warm and dense. And the musk gives it that sexy RWAR. I would put this on with my slinkiest dress and hit the town.

[caffinatedangel]

Shew. This scent was generally vetiver free. It's a note that scares me, I admit. And in Tiger, completely blew me away, in a bad way.

 

This scent was soft, dark, but somehow cool where tiger was warm. There was a floral tinge to it that got slightly "powdery" (I'm biased and not a fan of florals, generally) however it worked well with the concept. When I sniffed my wrist, I felt like I was hugging a big cuddly panther, and inhaling pure panther. Dander and all.

 

It wasn't as manly as I thought it would be either. It's very soft, subtle, and perfect for a panther (animals I'm in love with, by the way). Some floral (I couldn't tell one note from another) made it slightly feminine in a perfect naturey way. By the end of the day, this scent won my respect. It'll be swapped, though. Because I just can't imagine wanting to smell like a wild panther, dander and all. But it was actually kind of lovely in a way. I feel like there are a few personalities out there this scent would complement perfectly.

 

Much much later, when almost all the notes fell asleep, vanilla and a dark muskiness lingered. If the scent were just these notes the entire time, I'd be in love.

[cinnamonster]

I was looking forward to this initially before I found I didn't like vetiver (which turns out to be not exactly true since in some blends it burns off fast), so dismissed it, then eventually I got a decant and mmmmmm. I love it.

 

The mandarin was there, a tiny hint but very faint, I just eat citrus up.

It reminds me of...Wulric. It smells almost lavendery in it's initial 20 mins or so and then begins to dry down into a fantastic smooth musky vanilla with almost a chocolate tone. It reminds me of Angel too, which is fab as I have been looking for something in the same vein for a while and all the usual ones don't do it on me, I clearly smell different in Angel to other people!

 

I like the smell of this on me, I'd be equally happy to smell it on a man. A lovely surprise.

[aquazoo]

Mmmmmn, Aftershave! I want to rub this on some random guy and... Um, no guys are reading this, right? It's masculine and alluring.

[jizatt]

I was a little worried about the dark musk, and very worried about the anise. When I first opened it and even wet, I smelled a lot of anise and heavy musky-ness - immediate thought was - nope, not a keeper. But its settling on my skin now, and I keep catching whiffs of it -- very intriguing. This is the reason I risked it =) Its very dark, sweet, and woody on my skin. I dont smell vanilla, but it does have a sweet touch to the darkness. I don't really get anise now, but I'm sure its the edge I smell. Against all odds, I think I'm keeping this as a sexy, night-out scent =) Curious what hubby will think of this one -- ooo I wonder if I can get him to try it?

 

 

[filigree_shadow]

This is sweeter and bolder than I expected, and it also smells a bit sportier than I would have imagined. Sort of like cologne, but without any kind of twang. It's smoother than cologne smells to me. It's actually kind of fresh scent, but usually when I think of fresh I think "green," and this isn't green at all.

 

Personally, I'm not really getting musky or sexy from this like other people did. It's one of those scents that I like and I find entirely pleasant, but it's not enough of a standout to make me want a bottle of it. It's what I think of as an everyday scent, not something for a special occasion, but something you could wear all the time.

[empi girl]

Not what I was expecting...I was hoping for more of the star anise, but on me, it is mainly black musk, vetiver and perhaps the king mandarin. Very cologne-like, actually. I'm going to re-test later, and then have my husband try it out. It seems like it should work better on him!

[TulaMontage]

In the imp - Absolute Vetiver with a slighty piney pitch. It's feral, it's slinky... it's a velvet panther in essence.

 

Wet - Buh buy my dreaded vetiver. I am soooo glad thats gone, along with the headache top tope. Vanilla and star anise blended together perfectly. I am liking this, but not loving it yet.

 

Dry down - Oh Yuckles. This mysterius creature has a heck of a throw! Once minute I hate it, then I love it. Unfortunatley this is a headache scent on me dry. It's the vetiver. It came back to haunt me... it's prowling around in this one and has no intention of leaving.

 

Verdict - I wanted to love you pretty black cat, but unfortunatley, you are just a bit too stinky for me

[voorishsign]

Just in time for Panther Moon, rawgirl75 gifted me a sniffie of this; which is good because I need to see how well the star anise behaves on me in spite of all the other win notes

 

In the imp - Yep, the anise is there, as is the agarwood, vetiver and mandarin . . .

 

On wet - A surprisingly complex scent. It's weird, very far away, I smell Chinese takeaway, where did that come from? Mandarin, vanilla, vetiver, anise, definitely.

 

Drydown - This is really amazing, and is making me wonder if I shouldn't pick up Panther Moon after all. I wouldn't have thought for a million years that this would work on me. I mean the musk and the vetiver, sure, maybe the vanilla - but usually citrus fruits (mandarin) and anise are pure death. But this, I can't even put a finger of what works about this, it just does. It's amazing. Purely and utterly amazing. You can detect basically every single note of this blend individually with one whiff, and it's practically overwhelming in its complexity, but in the good way - profoundly impressive. Wow!

[milica]

This really is a wild animal hidden in darkness, lurking. Mostly musk and anise, with vanilla coming out later and mandarin popping out from time to time, just like cat's eyes glowing from the dark, making it's presence known. Vetiver mellowed out a lot since I got this bottle, now the scent is sleek and dark instead of smoky and harsh like in the beginning.

 

I'm not a big fan of anise on my skin (I prefer it in my stomach in an absinthe form), but this is really nice sweet, dark, mellow musk/vanila/anise combination, with a touch of smoke and cytrus and it works for me really well.

Edited November 3, 2012 by milica

[mxtine]

Rrrawrr! I wanted a bottle of this since I tried this in a decant a few months ago. I usually stay away from vetiver, because it's so offensive to my nose, but Velvet Panther has so much more going on with the woods, black musk, mandarin, and deep, sexy vanilla. I'm sad that I can't smell the star anise. This is very cologney for a few minutes but it mellows into a lovely sweet musky vanilla.

[mymymai]

ITB: It's styrax, agarwood, and star anise that first jump out on me. After that, I get very faint musk and just an impression of the King mandarin.

 

Wet: It's musky and sweet at the same time from the black vanilla, King mandarin, star anise, musk, and violet leaf. There is a note in here that is a little sour, but I'm not sure what it is.

 

Dry: It's not as long-lasting as I would have expected. After only a few hours, the scent has settled down to a very faint combination of vanilla, musk, styrax, and anise.

[LizziesLuck]

Wet: Black musk and...orange? Seriously? All those strong dark notes, and my chemistry has to amp the one note that I can't wear. Super. Annndd there is goes, orange turning to powdered citrus bathroom cleaner. *sigh* Maybe it's for the best....

 

 

 

Dry: The orange kicks around for a long time, making things all powdery and icky. This eventually fades down to sweet black musk, which is nice, but I have lots of black musk in my collection. Glad to have tried it! Also kind of glad I don't need more! Lol.