Kuang Shi

[supremegoddessofall]

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

This is strange. I'm getting mostly mango, but it's sharper than I would have expected. It's a bit spicy, too. Little bit of musk. No sandalwood and barely any orange, which is, as Martha would say, a Good Thing. Not sold on it, but I'll give it another chance.

Edited November 15, 2006 by supremegoddessofall

[citharadraconis]

OMG. This is the Akuma-twin without the bitter neroli that I've been searching for...sweet, sweet orange with a fruity undernote, and a tiny hint of musk and sandalwood. LOVE.

[maribouquet]

imp: orange *swoons*

wet: mmm, orange

dry: orange

 

This stays a true orange on me, with a grounding undertone of the white musk coming up in the drydown. I really like it.

[nancybridget]

On my skin Kuang Shi appears as neroli blossom - how lovely! Perhaps with a bit of fresh basil and amayris. I love it!

[Voleuse]

I expected this to be super-sweet, but on first sniff, it's dry and a little bit peppery. Huh. The musk is as expected, light and warm. As the blend dries, I get a hint of the orange, but none of the mango. This reminds me of tea, faintly sweet and thirst-quenching. Interesting, though not as fruity as I'd hoped.

[zankoku_zen]

In the imp: Sharp and fruity

 

On Skin: It's like a sharp citrusy fruit, possibly either a combination of the mandarin and the mango?

 

On Drydown: I sniff deeply and I get a warm base, which I'm suspecting is the sandalwood. I can smell the mango more distinctively.

 

Verdict: It's a pretty scent without being either too fruity or too floral. I'm very torn on how exactly I feel about it. It's not a happy scent... nor is it melancholic. Nor does it really make me think of zombies, despite the ghostly sort of feel that this scent has.

 

I'll give this a whirl another day and see if I can clarify my feelings on this.

[asciident]

Wet: White musk and sandalwood all the way. This is a very white scent. Actually, in the bottle it reminds me of my mom and some of her favorite perfumes.

 

First on: Less mom, more oranges. Still musky, but it's distinctly fruity first and foremost.

 

Dry: Soft mango and orange with just a little woody musk in the background. Gorgeous scent. I want to lick my wrist, actually.

Edited January 14, 2007 by Melissa Della

[ktesedale]

In the vial, this is a bright, sparkling orange scent.

 

Wet, the orange and mango really are prominent.

 

Dry, musk comes out a lot on me, so that was the primary note in this one. But the orange and mango kept it from being too musky, and the sandalwood added a nice bit of grounding.

 

This is a lovely scent, in the same category as Fae (though more fruity than floral), for me. I like them both, but I'm not sure I need bottles of both of them. Hmm. I'll have to determine which one I want to get a bottle of!

[roxyhead]

Sniffing the imp, and when I first put it on, this smells like I expected Bakeneko to smell like, mostly orange with a bit of tea. Quite nice. Then it turns into something I can only describe as reminding me of bubble bath, but it doesn't smell soapy. It might be the scent of something associated with bubble bath, because it's pleasant and comforting, and I can't come up with a specific bubble bath, as I could with a couple other scents that reminded me of it, though those were a bit soapy. In fact, I'd like some of this *as* bubble bath! Think the sandalwood's kicking in a bit here.

 

A few hours later, the yummy-type-bubble-bath fades away to some extent, and out comes the country store votive candle section. Still quite nice. They could have filled my Bakeneko bottle up with this and I'd be blissfully ignorant that it wasn't the real thing, instead of trying to swap it!

 

I'm not sure what this smells like when fresh, I'm guessing the imp's aged a bit, because I got it off eBay and it seems to have a different label on it than my others. I'll probably order another imp my next lab order before I get a bottle.

[CiCi]

This is a very light, soft citrus and musk scent. I also detect a little orange in there but it is so slight as to be an afterthought. I can imagine wearing this if you want a little something to waft around you. It is a nice scent but not distinct enough on my skin to want to purchase a large bottle.

[The_Merf]

This is an odd little scent, and I have to admit that I didn't even recall the name from the GC (i.e., I had to look it up). I smelled like an orange creamsicle when I wore this. It was very light-hearted and zany, for lack of a better word. Of the citruses, orange is probably my least favorite, and I've never liked creamsicles at all, so this one went off to swaps.

[lightgatherer]

Ugh, fake fruit smell. This reminds me a bit of the apricot note from another blend that didn't work well on me, but given that there's no apricot in here, I suppose that's the mango. The smell stays consistently fake fruit until it dies.

[dzurlady]

In the vial: this had an unpleasant dry/papery/peppery sort of note - kind of musty. Happily this vanished almost as soon as I put it on.

 

On: Overall, this is a really balanced scent. When I first apply it, the orange and mango are more prominent, and gradually the musk and sandalwood come out as the orange and mango recede - but the difference is not huge and I can smell them all all the way through. I prefer the latter stage with slightly more sandalwood, as I like it a bit less sweet, but it's pleasant all the way through.

 

I'll definitely hold onto my imp, but at this stage I won't be getting a bottle - I like it, but I don't love it - and I don't know if I'll get another imp once it runs out. I guess I'll have to see how often I end up wearing it!

[neuilly]

I don't even know how to describe this. Nothing like I was expecting!! It's light and soft and yet somehow sharp at the same time. I don't get much fruit out of it at all. Sort of smells like these chewy candies I used to eat as a child...ginger chews, although it isn't gingery. So not helpful was that? *totally puzzled*

[dorothy humbird]

Kuang Shi is very green-smelling, with a sharp edge to it in the imp and on initial application. Green, but notably mango-fruity, with the sandalwood hanging out in the background sopping up the juice.

 

On me it dries down to a mango-y, lightly musky powder sort of scent, with a sweet hint of mandarin. I like it well enough, but it reminds me so much of Belle Epoque in drydown, and furthermore I am not a huge fan of the sharp early stages - so I don't need to keep the imp around.

[n1k1ta]

For the first two hours, Kuang Shi smelled like the Strawberry Shortcake doll from the 80s. You know the one. It's scented and real cute. Yeah, that. It's like Chinese zombie strawberries. It's very interesting.

 

At the five hour mark, I'm still getting sweetly smelling toys, but there's more to it. The musk and sandalwood take the edge off the plastic smell. It's now pleasantly fruity and not RAAAAR, STRAWBERRY SHORTBRAINS!

 

I never got a definite orange note. I think the mango and orange really compete here and become something else altogether. Overall, Kuang Shi is weird, but I kinda like it.

[ribcaged]

First sniff! Citrusy tobbacco smoke. Well, it has the smooth, smothering elements of thick smoke but witha citrust bite.

I don't think I can do a very good review because I just had a Lush bath with oily bath melts and I can still smell it on my skin. Anyway.

I can definitely tell there is Sandalwood in here because my skin really amps that ingredient up; almost all sandalwood scents smell VERY manly on me but there is sweet mouthwatering juicy mango which playfully jumps through the sandalwood every now and again.

 

I have a feeling Sandalwood will be the last note standing but that's the best I can do without Something Wicked confusing my nose.

I think this is one I will do my best to swap with my manbeast for his Jazz Funeral, I bet this would really suit him because his skin doesnt fume sandalwood like mine does and ironically smells more delicate on him Fingers crossed.

[PersephonesChild]

Um... am I the only one getting bubblegum from this?

 

Ok, maybe that's only wet, but... tropical bubblegum, with fruitiness from the mango and orange, and a powdery sort of feel from the musk.

 

Ok, it's drying and I'm getting more sandalwood, which is good.

 

But what an odd scent... I'll try wearing this for a full day sometime, but so far, it's... mm, a reasonable try, but not a keeper.

[LadyCrow]

Count me among those who find this a bit unsettling. I mean, it's not that the mandarin and mango aren't pretty. All the notes are great, if a bit sharp right at the beginning. But... they're zombies. Pretty zombies, but still zombies. It's like Shadow's wife Laura in American Gods: she keeps getting fired from a series of temporary jobs for decomposing. And I don't really get why! I would have expected precisely what happens here: the fruit is most prominent at first, with something almost peppery going on; the musk hangs around behind it, very dark, and then the final stage of the drydown is almost entirely sandalwood. So there's no reason this scent should be disturbing, and I initially thought it wouldn't be at all. But... weird.

[rockchickie]

I'm not even gonna try commenting on this wet or dry because it's confirmed my fears: BPAL citrus never needs to be on my skin ever again. I cannot smell anything except the orange, which smells more blossom like than mandarin to me. Very intense throw.

 

So gone.

[funkmoppet]

Frimp from the lab - I would never have picked this one for myself, and now I know why.

 

Wet, it's sharp, biting orange and sandalwood.

 

On my skin: Okay, where'd that sandalwood go? It's all orange and mango. LOUD orange and mango.

 

Drying down, there's a teeny hint of musk underneath, but its efforts are futile in making this smell like anything other than orange and mango kids' drink on me. Or orange-flavoured chewable vitamin C tablets.

 

[modernsaints]

This is just beautiful - a sweet, fresh orange/mango blend, without any sugar to it (I have enough sugared fruit to last a lifetime!) The sandalwood plays nice, considering its tendency to amp up on my skin; it provides a lovely base for the rest of the notes. I'm really surprised by how much I enjoy this!

[Medici]

In the imp: Dish washing liquid in sunny, soapy lemon.

 

Wet: Orange and lemon zinger, quick to fade. My skin just ate this one up. There's a light waft of sandlewood towards the very end, but not enough to stick around for any length. Woe to the lack of mango.

[stasha]

In the bottle: Juicy, fruity citrus and yumminess. If I could I'd drink it up.

 

Wet: Immediately the sandalwood comes out cutting the tasty fruitiness. It's very harsh and intense. A complete 180 from the almost happy summery scent that wafts from the bottle.

 

Dry: Eeeeek orange cleaning solution. Obviously this is all me since it's so beautiful in the bottle. Oh well, it's off to the swap pile fast!

[Iceblink]

This starts out as an astringent citrus, but the musk and sandalwood kick in after a couple of minutes to cut and warm up that extreme tartness. Most fruit blends are sweet but this one isn't really, and all the notes work together nicely. I don't know why I never tried this before since I love mango and white musk, but I'm glad I did! Great for late summer.