Kuang Shi

[euterpe414]

Bust out the dzang dzi! This scent honors the zombies of Chinese lore. Mandarin orange, white musk, mango, and white sandalwood.

Hm. Based on the notes, was expecting this one to be a winner for me. However, I smell something musty and almost rotting. I'm thinking that it may be the strawberry, since there are very few blends in which it actually behaves on my skin. Oh well, guess this one goes off to a new home

[ClareN]

Hello, The Olive Branch! Lush fans will be happy to learn that Kuang Shi smells a LOT like Lush's The Olive Branch shower gel. Both scents are based on a lovely combination of citrus and white musk. Kuang Shi is slightly more bitter to me, but it's the pleasant bitterness of tangerine peel, not a bad thing. I love, love, love this for the first few hours. However, in the late drydown the mango note goes a bit funny on my skin; I was dismayed to find that it had started to smell like fruit-scented car air freshener. I'm still definitely keeping the imp; I'll play around with it and see if it works better at a different time of the month, or in a scent locket. I love BPAL's white musk scents!

Edited August 20, 2007 by ClareN

[CrazyPretzel]

In the imp: Delicious fruit and sandalwood.

 

Wet on me: Mmm, smooth and juicy mango! Mandarin too. Fruity but sexy and sophisticated too; probably the musk.

 

After five minutes: Uh-oh...sandalwood starting to get all musty on me. Nooo! This happened with Belle Epoque too. Let's wait and see.... The fruit is still very nice.

 

Oh good, the sandalwood seems to be settling down now. Let's hope it just blends in with the pretty white musk and stays quiet.

 

Drydown: The early stages of the drydown are interesting. This doesn't smell super-duper fruity on me (like the vitamin C tablets and dishwashing liquid that other people have mentioned), it's a silky, subdued tropical fruitiness with sexy white musk and sandalwood. The sandalwod keeps threatening to turn foosty to my nose, but I think it's working out. (Shhh, don't wake it up. )

 

Maybe not a bottle purchase, but I'll hang on to my imp. This is rather what I hoped Tweedledum would be like.

[aquazoo]

This is a subtle spicy scent. Is there really fruit in this? It hasn't appeared yet. Oh, here it comes a little bit! This is such an odd little scent. I'm not sure if I like it yet or not. The orange is coming in kinda sharp, more like lime. Nope, not good for me.

[Lexie]

Wet: Very dry and bitter citrus! It is citrus peel, not juice.

 

Dry: Still very citrus. Now I can smell whiffs of mango too. Just before it disappears on my skin it is getting a little softer and I can detect also a faint smell of sandalwood. The white musk stays almost undetectable to my nose. This scent has very little throw and it disappears quickly.

[mspixieears]

This is a gorgeous blend, a shame I only have enough for a sniff. I’ve not yet been disappointed by any BPAL blend with mandarin. The mango and white sandalwood are barely detectable and extremely alluring. May need to get an imp of this. Will be divine for summertime.

[brit_brat100]

Sharp citrus and a bit herbal. As it dried down I got something a bit like incense.

[ImperatrixMundi]

A very refreshing orange and mango scent, the sandalwood and white musk are not very prominent on me but round it out a bit.

 

It reminds me a lot of the fruity tea smell that I get when I walk into a certain tea shop here, but a lot more pleasant and this is one of the very few fruity blends I really love.

 

Unfortunately this fades extremely fast, like after an hour. But it might make a great refreshing spray for next summer when it gets really hot.

[Bangles]

Wet: Ugh! This is harsh, bitter, and citrusy in a way that's reminding me of bug repellent more than anything else. What on earth is doing that?

 

Dry: Okay, there's fruit, and there's a sweet white powdery scent. Thank you for calming down and smelling pleasant. However, it's faint, there's nothing outstanding about it, and it's certainly not enough to make up for that wet phase (which, looking at the notes now, I'm betting was the mango and orange gone wrong.) Definitely a swap!

[Lethran]

This one isn't too bad. The musk and the sandalwood balance the fruits fairly nicely. Fairly gentle, but I think I'd like it better as a smoothy than a cologne.

[smallvoice]

I sniffed the imp, and promptly put it back. I wrinkled my nose, because it was sharp. SHARP. That didn't seem right at all- so I looked up the notes, swiped it on my skin, and wrinkled my nose again. UGH.

 

Wha-huh? This has all the elements of a scent I could love, except for the sandalwood- citrus, white musk, fruits... yum, right? That must be why it was starred on my wishlist. It's a white musk blend. So I left it on my skin for just a bit.

 

It calmed down into this creamy, orange-y delightful scent. The sandalwood grounds it, and nothing else, thankfully. I'll have to try really wearing it before I leap into a bottle, but I certainly like it more than I thought I would. It isn't similar (on my skin) to any other blend, either.

[YoakeNoKami]

It's a bit airy floral, and a bit Fruit Loop. Uh. Yeah… it's not a bad smell, rather a pretty good one, but there's chemical of some sort under it, like a scrupulously clean nursery school.

[hkhm]

imp: this smells quite bitter in the imp. bitter fruits with bitter flowers.

 

wet: this still has a sharpness to it that doesn't smell sweet at all. i can sorta catch a hint of orange but it's either the musk or the sandalwood (or both) that is turning this all strong and bitter.

 

dry: i'm finally getting a bit more sweetness here. it smells both like orange and mango, sweet and juicy. there is still a bit of the sharpness present but it has faded enough to be enjoyable.

[monsteralice]

This one is very short-lived and doesn't have much throw even when freshly applied.

 

Initially sharp and citrus-y - I never got mango from it, alas. The sharp citrus peel scent disappeared in less than an hour, leaving a vanilla muskiness with just a hint of sandalwood.

 

This one was a disappointment, since from the description I should have loved it, but it was just "meh" for me. It definitely requires reapplication after about 2 hours. It might work for better for someone who slathers, or someone who likes only the lightest touch of perfume.

[Honeygirl]

Bottle: Musk and sandalwood

 

Wet: Musk and sandalwood are primary but a bit of fruitiness in the back.

 

Drydown: Yeah, the musk and sandalwood stay at the forefront, I think I'll try this one on my husband.

3.0 outta 5

[erraticprophet]

Initial Impression: bitter orange (uh oh, keeping fingers crossed that it plays nice on me) and sandalwood

 

On Wet: orange, sandalwood, musk. So far, so good.

 

On Dry: Ugh. Very bitter orange, sandalwood, and musk. Must wash now.

 

Final Impression: I haven't had much luck with orange scents unless they've been made with neroli. The rest all turn bitter on me. This, unfortunately, was no exception.

 

Rating (on a scale of 1-5): 1.5

[TrailerTrashPrincess]

impsniff: those "candy" orange slices that're like gummies but harder... and mangoes

on skin: still with the candy orange, the mango is adding a bitter/sour note (i hate the way they smell), and i do get touches of sandalwood.

overall: meh.

[MaidMirawyn]

I received Kuang Shi as a freebie from a decant circle. I found the description intriguing, but the scent in the imp...

 

In the imp, it smells very sharp. I don't detect any orange or mango, or anything else sweet or fruity. Maybe it's the white sandalwood, or the white musk. Whatever it is, it's really unpleasant. There's a reason I waited until evening to try it: I can go take a shower if it's bad.

 

Wet, I can smell the same thing, but it is a touch milder. Maybe it will improve...

 

Drying, the "nasty" part is fading. I can smell a touch of the fruit; the musk is still strong, though the sandalwood is fading. At least I think it's the sandalwood...

 

Dry: Well, I don't feel I have to rush right to the shower to remove it, but I doubt I'll try it again. Whatever that note is, it's almost gone, but I don't really care for it.

 

I'll probably let some friends or my sis try it. If it works for one of them, I'll pass it on. If not, I can always swap it later.

[ranyart]

This was a lap frimp in an order I received a few months ago. I thought this would be too light and sweet on me, but I was pleasantly surprised!

 

In the imp, the mandarin and white musk are strongest, and I can catch a whiff of mango as well. Once this hits my skin, the mango amps just a bit but overall the blend stays very true to the notes listed. I have some B&BW mango and mandarin lotion I used to wear a lot, and this reminds me of a more sophisticated version of that. The white musk and sandalwood combine to make this much more exciting and sophisticated than just a "fruit smoothie" blend.

 

I've worn this out during the day, but I think I enjoy it best at the end of the day; sometimes the oil I apply in the morning has faded by the time I get home, and when I'm just sitting around on the computer or reading, Kuang Shi is a nice scent to have on. I definitely expected this to be far too light and feminine for me to really enjoy it, but I'm very glad I was proven wrong. I swabbed some on my partner a few weeks ago, and it smelled wonderful on N as well.

I don't know that I'll buy a bottle, but I may need to at least get another imp since this one will be gone before too long.

[fireflower]

Hmm, I didn't get any of the sharpness or bitterness others have gotten, oddly. Usually when someone else gets sharp and/bitter, I do too. I get soft white musk and the citrus elements.. can barely detect the sandalwood in any of the oil's phases. It's sort of a creamy, very soft citrus. It fades pretty quickly on me and always remains light. It's pretty, and I do love citrus fragrances, but it's so soft and faint that I don't think I'll buy a big bottle, but will probably save my imp for the warmer months.

[waternight]

In the imp: White musk with a hint of orange underneath. There's a background of creamy sandalwood.

Wet: Orange! Creamy orange! There's a bit of sweet mango too. This is all fruit, made creamier by the sandalwood. Yup - it's a smoothie. After a few minutes, my beloved white musk shows up, but it's well hidden.

Dry: When this dries, the sandalwood really tempers the fruit smoothie smell and becomed dominant. I can just barely smell the influence of white musk and orange. Just barely. Alas, I love sandalwood, but it tends to dominate any blend it's in. Oh well.

[Electric Maenad]

[frimp from the Lab - thanks!]

 

It starts off really nice, kind of like a really good summer fruit salad or one of the mango-based Jugo Juice smoothies. Unfortunately, the ginger gives it a bit of an astringent, almost raspy "aftersmell". It also fades very quickly on me - after an hour there's only the sandalwood left. Unfortunate, but I'm sure I can find it a good home.

[lisawoj]

Based on the description, I thought this would be a winner for me. Something definitely doesn't agree with my nose--I think its the white musk, but I'm not sure.

[suki]

in the imp: stinky dirty feet!

 

wet on skin: ewwwwwww. add vomit into the equation

 

dry down: ok, less vomitous, more orange-y now, but still, not so good.

 

in all: well, maybe for others, but not for me.

[Czarina]

In the imp: orange and mango.

Wet: dusty orange, mango fades.

Drydown: Sandalwood and musk emerge, and orange and mango melt into them. The sandalwood gives this a spicy scent, almost like coriander, although this isn't listed as a note.

 

A nice take on a fruit scent. Low throw.