Metal Tiger

[ellebelle]

METAL TIGER
A new year's blessing! Peony, China's national flower, with bamboo for flexibility, plum blossom for perseverance, courage, and hope, tangerine for wealth, orange for happiness, lychee for household peace, pine resin for constancy, golden kumquat and quince for prosperity, narcissus and King mandarin for good fortune, cypress for longevity, and peach fruit and hemp to represent the fourth phase of Wu Xing, with a splash of blazing red of dragon's blood... to help you scare away the rampaging Nian.

In the bottle: Smells like a slightly woody grapefruit with a little floral tossed in there. Since there is no grapefruit in this, I have to assume that is the melding of all of the fruit scents - or perhaps the lychee?

Wet: Lychee, lychee and more lychee. Maybe some orange and tangerine tossed in there. Wet, this is a very bright citrus scent. No sign of the florals, the woods, or the dragon's blood resin.

drydown: I start to smell the peach a little more, but this is a still predominantly a light, fruity scent. The grapefruity sharpness wears off on the original drydown and Some of the more floral notes ground it a bit. I do not get any dragon's blood resin, so for those scared of this note, it might still be worth trying this.

verdict: If you liked Hungry Ghost Moon, I think you'd like this. They are definitely in the same scent family. Also reminds me a bit of Boabhan Sith (with the grapefruit sharpness).

[fairnymph]

Super fruity; very citrusy, slightly tropical, nicely tart. The tangerine, mandarin, and peach leap out most with quince and kumquat just blow. I get the plum blossom, quite sweet, a little peony and a little fresh bamboo...fortunately no hemp or dragon's blood. It smells more peach and orange-citrus forward the previous Chinese near year scents.

 

Tarter, and still citrus above all, which I love! more kumquat, lychee, and quince too, and the peach is a little syrupy, but not too cloying. This also goes a teensy bit soapy, which unfortunately I think is the dash of dragon's blood - not something that's ever been identifiable in prior CNY scents. I also get a bit of of a green-earthy hemp, but lightly, and a little of the lovely grounding pine resin, which is similarly a little earthy and musky (and it reminds me a bit of oakmoss), but not really 'piney'. The bamboo's a little aquatic, luminous.

 

The scent blends together more, but otherwise doesn't morph much. That hint of DB is annoying, but not quite a dealbreaker, especially since the citrus in this blend is so fantastic. I am getting more peony as it dries, typical with florals for me and fortunate as I love peony. This is gives it a more balanced, rounded, airy feel. I can't pick out the hemp anymore - it's faded. Bamboo and pine resin remain light and grounding.

 

Final drydown (musky, lightly floral-fruity pine resin and bamboo) after multiple hours is very similar to all the CNY scents, but the citrus is still brighter here than in the others, and that unfortunate faint hint of soapy dragon's blood remains. I'll keep my bottle - which btw has the best label art of all the CNYs! - but I won't need a back up.

[prunesnprisms]

I am going to start out by saying that Fire Pig is my #1 BPAL of all time, and that I have 6 bottles of it, and I keep hoping a replacement will come along because I will never find more Fire Pig. Earth Rat was delicious melon but not quite my thing, Earth Ox was unwearable.

 

In the vial, it smelled very much like Earth Rat, which I liked, but no, on me, whatever qualifies as 'metal' was very floral and I could not wear it. Probably the narcissus. I'll have to look and see if Earth Rat or Fire Pig had that. I'm sure this will be lovely on someone but I probably won't even keep the decant, since I had to scrub to get it off me.

[greenranger]

I like the tiger on the label.

 

Citrus, lychee and cypress to start. It does smell metallic in some way.

 

As it dries it smooths out just a little, but it still smells very ...energetic? It is energetic and upbeat.

[pandorasmuse]

In the bottle: Sweet candy and flowers. It smells like an exotic fruit orchard! I smell a bit of dragon’s blood, which makes me wary. I recently discovered that I do not like dragon’s blood.

 

Wet: Quince and tangerine at first, then lots of lychee and a little narcissus.

 

Drydown: Muted fruit, stronger florals, and grounding elements like resin, cypress, and bamboo.

 

Later: Uh-oh. Here comes dragon’s blood. It takes over everything else, and it’s sickly on me. Swaps.

[Blood onmy hands]

These new year's scents rarely work on me. They have a tendency to go soapy-clean on my skin, and I don't care for soapy scents (I'm more into patchouli, earth, resins, incense, leather, vanillas, and foodie scents). Earth Ox is total soapy-blah on me, Earth Rat has a promising melon-y startup and then turns to sharp, citrussy soap, and Fire Pig (the best on me) is a light, clean, peachy-citrus that fades away within an hour.

 

Metal Tiger continues the soapy trend by smelling like sharp, tart, bitter citrus and soapy, floral dryer sheets. I like sweet citrus smells, but I can't handle sharp, bitter citrus notes. And Metal Tiger is strong, soapy, awful mishmash on my skin. I had to scrub it off after about an hour. The label is lovely, though...

[edenssixthday]

Metal Tiger – When I sniff this in the bottle, the amazing scent that comes out makes me want to drink it. It smells kind of like a fuzzy naval. Mmmm! When I put it on my skin, I definitely still smell fuzzy naval, but I also get a very strong and sweet floral scent. The citrus and florals are very bright and make a really lovely first impression. As it dries down, the woodier notes start to become discernible, and while they stay in the background, they blend beautifully with the other notes and do a wonderful job of grounding them, and in particular, bringing the bright citruses down to earth. Even though I know there’s dragon blood in here, I can barely find it – I keep catching a whiff of something I think may be the dragon’s blood, but just when I think I’ve pinned it down, it’s gone (pesky dragons!). I really, really love this scent. I can’t put into words how gorgeous it is. It’s such a beautiful fruity-floriental, and yes, I’d be delighted if someone offered me a (preferably spiked) fruit punch that smells like this! After drydown, it doesn’t have the best throw, but it has reasonable staying power, particularly for a scent with lots of citrus notes, since those usually fade more quickly on me than they do in this blend.

 

[thekittenkat]

Another well-blended oil, so it's a little difficult to pick out individual notes on my skin. It's mostly these light florals with a touch of the fruits. However, the metallic note is the dominant one as it goes along. I like this wet, but not as it dries down. Might be best in a scent locket. I really wish that I had gotten more of the fruit notes, as they are all favorites.

[wl552]

Okay, I don't know what the heck I'm smelling here, but it's a light, sweet almost fruity scent. I can definitely catch the dragon's blood, which always stands out to me; maybe because I love it.

 

The metal aspect of this almost scared me away, but I was "what the heck" and I'm glad I didn't let it scare me off. Any kind of metal that might be in there is barely detectable. If anything, it gives it a steely backbone upon which the sweetness can hold to. It almost has a cool feel to it, but a lurking warmness staves it off.

 

Overall, this probably isn't something I'll turn to very often, but I definitely am glad to have it. For some reason, I always seem to miss the CNY scents; I'm very glad to have Metal Tiger. It'll probably get more wear in warmer weather.

[surlygurl]

When I first tried this on (along with a bunch of other scents) I thought "Hey! I really like this!" and thoufght about getting a bottle. Today I tried it on its own and the verdict was different.

 

Fresh on, I get fruits & the pine resin. It's the only time I smell the pine resin. All the fruits come out to play at once - a veritable fruit riot. But it's different from the other Chinese New Year scents in that it's a bit heavier. The dragon's blood - which translates into florals here - bolsters the fruit, and the bit of pine resin provides a heaviness. This is a pretty good take on Metal Tiger. Unfortunately, it goes soapy on me. I was hoping this would be my summer fruit blend, but I don't think it will be.

 

 

[Iceblink]

Mmm...bright fruits with a hint of flowers; again, there's really too much here to pick out individual notes but this is a cheerful blend indeed. I pick up the dragon's blood giving it a sweet, smooth background. This is fading fast on me but it's perky and fruity while it lasts.

[marcielynnt]

Alas, this proves to me that dragon's blood and I should not mix. I like the other notes, the fruits and florals sweetly blending, but the dragon's blood seeps through it all and corrupts all the other scents.

[angelicruin]

I usually can't do the Chinese New Year scents, so this year I just bought a decant instead of a bottle. They always seem to go cantaloupe on my skin. This year's is better. I'm getting mostly the mandarin and cypress notes on my skin, but I do smell wafts of peach from time to time as well and something else like citrus. Not bad overall, but I am content with a decant.

[caffinatedangel]

I received this as a decant from Salixnoir.

 

It's a really bright, happy, energetic scent. There are these pops of fruit at the start, and then it gets very, very "clean". It smells like what I'd love my laundry to always smell like. It's not powdery, it's not overtly soapy- it's just got that clean laundry smell to it. One of the newer, scented laundry-smells with fruits and florals. It smells good. Just, not what I had hoped for from an essential oil .

 

It didn't last really long on me. And there were so many different notes it was hard to try to get my inexperienced nose to pick out what was what- and then I decided MEH who cares. The overall vibe is what matters, right?

 

The best way to describe this is clean and happy. The lychee is mostly responsible. The "metallic" note I only really got from the imp, not so much on skin. It's vibrant and fun, and a scent i think I may keep around, just to perk myself up on dreary days. Otherwise, it isn't a scent I'm insane for. Would love dryer sheets that smell like this though o_O

[Schmoozy]

 

I adore the Chinese New Year blends and Metal Tiger is a wonderful addition. It makes me think of Spring, hope, freshness and all the possiblities the New Year brings. Metal Tiger is bright fruits, bamboo and dragon's blood. They blend together seamlessly and are energetic, uplifting notes.

[azurephoenix]

When I sniff this from the vial I get a bright grapefruit and peach/nectarine scent.

 

Initial dry down gives me a grapefruit top note with a candy sweet bottom, sorta like a sweet tart/candy powder scent. With a little bit of time it all smoothly melds into a very pretty fruity sweet floral.. I quite like this! I was afraid of the dragon's blood because it tends to turn sickly sweet on me and though I can definitely smell it in there anchoring the scent, it doesn't overwhelm all the fruity floral notes. This is a happy bright carefree scent, definitely spring/summer in nature. It's lighter and more floral than Earth Ox and Fire Pig, which both reminded me of too strong fruit punch.

 

Wear length is on the shorter side, after about 4 hours I was having a hard time catching whiffs of it off of my wrist and I had to hunt down the scent a tad.

 

I'm iffy on the bottle, I want one, but don't know if I'll wear it often enough to warrant it... perhaps another decant.

[ralenth]

Wet: Beautiful bright grapefruit and papaya. Super fruity and fun!

 

Drydown: Tinges of floral, but still predominantly fruity and citrus.

 

Dry: This scent is like a celebration in the fruit market. Sadly, after about an hour, it's pretty much gone.

 

Overall: Nice while it lasted. I'm glad the dreaded dragon's blood is muted here.

[steelgossamer]

OMNOMNOM!

 

In the decant: FRUIT! Juicy delicious fruit!

 

Wet: FRUIT! Juicy delicious fruit!

 

Drydown: Juicy tropical fruit and some soft floral coming through.

 

Dry: FRUIT! But slightly more mellow than it was when wet.

 

I love fruit, and I have had good luck with fruity florals in general. This reminds me of a more citrusy Titania. I really really like it, but I will probably be happy with a decant. It's tasty and makes me want to eat my arm, but I don't wear fruity scents *that* often. Still, I will happily slather myself in this on rainy days to lift my mood.

[zankoku_zen]

Mmmm. Fruit. This one is a fruitier citrus version of Fire Pig to me. I get the kumquat and the lychee the most on wet. However, my skin eats this puppy up. Like 2 hours later and its GONE GONE GONE.

 

While it last though - bright, cheery fruit. I wish the wet stage with the citrus last longer than 30 minutes, but that's just me.

[sunlitgarden]

Metal Tiger

 

In the bottle: Fruity-floral. The dominant note is orange/mandarin, with a slight hint of something aquatic underneath.

 

On, it's a strong bubbly orange with a bit of salt/metal. I like it, it's sweet and fruity. I can smell the lychee if I think about it. My SO thinks it smells like "orange soda and artificial cherry" (the dragon's blood?) She doesn't really like it at this stage, though I think my skin amps citrus and brings out the sweetness (lemon = Lemon Drops candy, orange = orange soda).

 

The salty/metallic note fades as it dries and the orange finally backs off. It becomes a melding of florals and fruit, but it's difficult to pick out individual notes. I keep getting whiffs of a sweet flower which smells really nice! SO likes it better at this stage too, yay.

[Coldfire]

 

 

 

Decant: Oriental fruity floral. Breathing deep I can get the peach and plum blossom and some of the narcissus

Wet on Me: Still getting more of the same. So far so good.

Drying down: this is a fruity floral. A sweet one. I get peach and plum and the orange which balance the floral nicely and keep it from becoming too heady.

Dry: very nice blend. Soft and perfect for a summer evening.

 

[mxtine]

Fruit punch! I love fruity-sweet scents so this is perfect. It reminds me of Loli.Goth without the musk.

 

ETA: I sniffed this again today and I noticed a distinct orange note. It still smells like fruit-punch, but with thick, syrupy orange juice...or is that a big splash of Grand Marnier?

Edited August 28, 2010 by mxtine

[milo]

This is very orangey in the imp, not surprisingly. On, it is still a beautifuly, citrussy orange. It kind of reminds me of Tang, though not in a bad way, as I like the smell of that fake orange drink. After a bit, it threatens to go to powder for a few minutes, but then reverts back to it's sweet, orangey self. I don't get really any other notes but the orange here, though that is perfectly fine with me. There may be a bit of musk, now that I think of it. It kind of reminds me of Spinning Metallic Pinwheel, too, though without the fizz. This is nice, and I'll certainly use up the imp when it's warm out, which are getting more and more scarce.

[sprocket21]

Chalk me up as another person whose skin translates "metal" to "floral doom." I was hoping for Earth Rat with just a bit less melon, but you can't win 'em all .

[filigree_shadow]

I usually like the Chinese New Year scents, and I definitely like this one. It smells fruity and bright and happy. Not much wood or dryness in there -- just a little bit. And the ctirus scents don't smell acidic at all -- they're nice and juicy-smelling.

 

I always try these New Year scents and I always like them, but Fire Pig is still my favorite. I always wind up comparing them to Fire Pig and thinking the new one just doesn't smell quite right because I keep wanting to smell Fire Pig.