Water Dragon

[portalkat]

A new year’s blessing! Peony, China’s national flower, with bamboo for flexibility, Buddha’s Hand for introspective spiritual growth, plum blossom for perseverance, courage, and hope, coconut for camaraderie, chrysanthemum for a life free of grief and struggle, tangerine and orchid for wealth, orange for happiness, lychee for household peace, pine resin for constancy, golden kumquat, pussy willow, and quince for prosperity, sesame for sweetness, narcissus and King mandarin for good fortune, and peach blossom for longevity, with a splash of blazing red of dragon’s blood… to help you scare away the rampaging Nian.

This is one that I would have ordered regardless of the notes because I am a water dragon. This is another happy fruity blend like the First Encounter. I find it to be mainly kumquat and quince with some peony and all of the other notes being supporting players. It's quite lovely and something that I will definitely wear in the warmer months. I like fruity blends when I reach outside of my usual woody,smoky, resiny dark scents, but I think that I enjoy the warm weather blends most.

[StinkyPinky]

In the Bottle: Sweet, wet aquatics, peony and citrus! Freshness from (I think) the kumquat.

 

On wet: Oh no, it's starting to make me feel sick. Heady! Blast these aquatics on my skin. Barely any citrus is getting though in this wet stage.

 

Starting to drydown: Salty seafaring aquatics. Thinking this may be a swapper.

 

Drydown after about an hour: Oh, I just smelled something that wasn't an aquatic for the first time. I think it's the peony. Still soapy and strong... Oh right, it has Dragon's Blood in it. I wish I'd get any of the fruit, lychee or mandarin especially. Doesn't seem to be happening; I'm just getting soapy perfumey aquatic with a resiny background. And I love my Water Dragon icon so much, too... But it's not a keeper on me. I think I feel a headache starting.

[Akurarei]

Water Dragon 2012

 

In the Bottle:

VERY ORANGE

 

On My Skin, Wet:

VERY STRONG ORANGE - there's very little else going on, sadly.

 

On My Skin, Dry:

Still predominantly orange, but there is a touch of coconut and sandalwood.

It looses it's overall potency quickly, and the orange fades back somewhat, but yep - still a mostly orange scent on me.

 

Verdict:

I was looking forward to this being a peony with coconut & citrus scent, but it's almost exclusively citrus.

4 of 10 ranking

 

(though I absolutely love the label art)

[violetblue]

First applied there are a million things going on with a weird musty undertone - as it dries I swear I smell a note that's in Red Moon 2004 that made me feel nostalgic. As a whole though, it really reminded me a lot of Agape and Corazon. Need to test again, but may be going to swaps.

[stellamaris]

I was a little afraid of this one just smelling it out of the bottle, the aquaticness of it all was a bit strange, but skin testing it, it's quite wonderful, exotic, very lovely Asian market, rich and gorgeous. It dries down to a nice complex floral. Very different from any other BPAL that I have.

[ellebelle]

This has a different character than the other Chinese new year scents. It is very heavy on the peony and other florals, and lighter on the bright tangy fruits. I agree that it is heady, and probably too much so for me.

[meaganola]

This one is a gloriously heavy citrusy melange (no one single citrus note is more prominent than another) just barely verging on syrupy with a few faint hints of floralness if I concentrate on picking those up. I love it! This is my favorite Lunar New Year oil so far. I just wish the label was available as a t-shirt or poster. That would be *awesome*. It would go wonderfully in my bathroom on the wall where a medicine cabinet was probably supposed to go.

Edited February 19, 2012 by meaganola

[frecklestars]

In the bottle: candied orange peels and a powdery sort of candy. There's also something that reminds me of almonds dipped in vanilla. Perhaps the powdery sweetness stems from the coconut combined with chrysanthemums. Regardless, this is so candy-like in the bottle I'm really afraid to put it on my skin. Things like this rarely end well for me!

 

On my skin: at first, it's just that nightmarish powdery candied orange peel. After a second though, it starts to calm down. Bamboo and kumquat-lychee, so somehow it's both woody and very very citrus-fruity. The bamboo sticks around, and saves it from being too sweet and powdery because without it, that's definitely what would happen. The more it dries, the less citrus comes through for me, though it stays distinctly powdery and woodsy. That powdery something is what makes me unable to make me <3 it. Aquatic notes and peony do come through the longer you wear it, but the interim stage just doesn't do it for me.

 

Last thoughts: this is an unusual one, no doubt about it. If you like woody-citrus, it's definitely for you, but given the name I was expecting far more aquatic notes. Never go by the name, only by the listed notes! heh Learned my lesson, thanks.

Edited February 24, 2012 by frecklestars

[Dark Alice]

This smells like cheap dryer sheets mixed with dollar store detergent on my skin. Must wash off now.

[yuniper]

On me this is an aquatic fresh scent with a slightly musky undertone. Not heady, no strong citrus, the florals are there but not at all overpowering. Pleasant scent.

[Minerva]

I was really surprised by this because I thought it might be more watery or more floral but it was a combination of really strong lemon eucalyptus and bug spray. Not my thing at all.

[csabreo]

I wanted to throw my opinion in here because I love Water Dragon and I feel like it wasn't getting enough love here.

 

Initially in the bottle and wet on my skin it smells terrible. There's something of an aftertaste in the back of my throat which is something almost medicinal and chemical in nature.

 

But once it dries, ooh, it's juicy fruits and exotic flowers on my skin.

[strahlend]

Well.... at first it reminds me a bit of the Chinese Floor Wash I got from the TAL. I can groove on that.

Sadly, as time passes it seems like the flowery parts become more intrusive. I stuck my wrist under my boyfriend's nose and he physically recoiled. We don't always agree on scents, but we do this time.

Since I have an affinity for water (I'm a pisces) and dragons (chinese birth year) I'm going to keep this partial bottle for sentimental reasons, and the label is BEAUTIFUL, but at this point I'm not sure I'll ever wear it.

[Jilara]

Wet makes me think of polywogs. There's a froggy acquatic note, with a bit of pond scum.

 

As it dries down, I get a note that reminds me of Fire Pig, and a floral blend takes precedence over the acquatic, though there's still a bit of polywog in the background. I don't sense any bamboo, it's all floral and citrus, blending.

 

Dry, it balances, and the citrus is stronger, with a floral backbone. No acquatic, now. Soft citrus with a strong floral, very sweet. There are notes that I recognise from Lady of Shalott, but more citrus-y. Quite nice, if one is in a floral mood.

[thekittenkat]

In the decant: Some of the citrus notes and a touch of the quince and the peony.

 

Wet: Something sharp is coming out, probably the mum and narcissus.

 

The dry-down: The fruits are slowly coming back, but the mum and narcissus may be too strong.

[Larinessa]

This one proved to me that sometimes my rules of BPAL are meant to be broken, and pre-conceived notions van be proven wrong. As a floral/aquatic hater by rule I didn't even consider this. But today its 60 sunny degrees in Minnesota, and I wanted something spring like.

 

In the imp, cool aquatic, floral and orange. Bright and clean.

 

Wet on my skin, Whoa citrus! Fresh and vibrant, with something floral (peony?) In the background. The cool tone of the aquatic is still there, but its an impression, rather then a salty note (which doesn't agree with me).

 

Dry- the citrus is toning down and everything is getting more balanced. The floral/citrus/aquatic combo is actually quite nice on me, and my cats are crazy for it on me. I wish I could be more specific on the floral notes, but as I usually avoid them like the plague, I simply don't recognize them. The only reason I recognized peony is because my mom loves that scent.

 

I admit, I like this, and I will probably re-use this on Easter. I don't know if I will ever buy a bottle, but a partial or another decant can home with me.

[Little Bird]

All of bpal's Chinese New Year scents smell similar on me (I think I have bottles of Earth Rat, Fire Pig, Earth Ox, Metal Tiger and Metal Rabbit, but just went with a decant of this one). They're a mishmash of citrussy fruit and floral notes with a heavy undertone of soapy dryer sheets that gives me a headache. They have subtle differences (one more melon-y, one more peach-y, one more soapy), but all smell mostly the same to me. Water Dragon is a similar soapy orange and sharp floral that gives me a headache with the strong soapiness. Glad I just went with a decant this year, as I don't need more of this one.

[hockeysaurus]

When I put this on it immediately smelled like OMG HAWAIIAN PUNCH! which, okay, amazing, it makes me all nostalgic for those little plastic squeezy bottles of liquid sugar. After a while, it settles down and some sweet florals poke through the red citrus. Not really getting any aquatics out of this one but I love love LOVE it. May need to find myself a bottle somewhere, as all I have is a little decant.

[zankoku_zen]

GINGER, peony, quince, plum blossom and a hint of citrus. This smells like ginger candy on floral steroids. Who is trying to mask it with dryer sheets.

 

Sad, since I was very looking forward to Water Dragon.

[Ghost of a Rose]

Wow, with all these things in it, it's anybody's guess what this is going to smell like! My imp is a frimped partial decant from the lovely and generous spiresinthesnow.

 

In the imp: Oil is colorless and the color is a delicate pale beige with a tinge of pink. OK, here goes . . . I smell fruit, lots of it, especially orange and tangerine. With some unidentifiable florals in the background.

 

On me, wet: On me, it's a lot more complex. The citrus still dominates, but there is far more nuance. It's so complicated that it's hard to tell, but I think I can pick up lychee, kumquat, peach, and dragon's blood along with those florals. It's really quite nice, not as obnoxiously foody as it sounds.

 

After 10 minutes: It reminds me of some kind of delicate fruity candy . . . I know, Turkish Delight, the real kind with the floral waters.

 

After 30 minutes: The fruitiness has lightened up a bit, but so have the florals which were never that strong to begin with. It's difficult to describe now, and almost impossible to identify any specific note. There's still some fruit, now more generic. The fragrance is also a little incensey, and and a little powdery.

 

After 2 1/2 hours: Almost gone. A hint of incense and powder is all that remains.

 

Verdict: I'm not a fan of foody perfumes, so I won't need a bottle, but I have to admit this is really intriguing. The sense (scents? haha) of exotic Asian fruits does come across, even with the orange and tangerine dominating. I'm glad I got the chance to try this, and will hang on to my imp.

 

My rating: 4 stars

[Caper]

I love this! it is a fresh spring scent that starts off with a lot of citrus (YUM!) and ends with a delicate light spice and hint of asian florals.

 

I definitely get the blossoms and chrysanthemum and LOVE that it isn't taken over by the dragons blood.

 

I was hesitating because of the coconut and I am so glad I got this, it is a good reminder for me that the reviews are often very different than what I experience. I suspect this will be a favorite during the summer.

 

ETA- I just bought my second bottle of this because out had become my summer go to scent. I love love love it! I normally hate florals, but this never goes too flowery for me. Citrus and juicy exotic fruits that lighten into a sweet spice. Amazing. A really good reminder to look for scent twins in the reviews section.

Edited July 29, 2012 by Caper

[Eemia]

Parts of this remind me of Crow Moon 2007, which is one of my special scents. Must be the pine resin because I can really make it out on my skin. I love pine in all of its forms so I'm really happy that it stands out in this blend. It's the first thing I noticed even though it's not the most dominant note. The rest of it is more like impressions of things. I get honeydew for some reason, and sweet flashes of floral. For a few minutes there's watery bubblegum, which lotus does to me sometimes. Overall its light and doesn't last very long. I had to reapply after a few hours.

 

I knew I wouldn't be able to describe this one well, but I do like it and it smells much more uplifting and pretty than I made it sound. I've put it on a few times when I anticipated a stressful day in the hopes it'd take the edge off.

 

And the label is so beautiful!

[milo]

Fresh, watery citrus at first. There's almost an effervescent quality here, or a glass of fresh pressed citrus juice. However, it's that dratted lab's citrus note that turns dusty on me. I'm still getting a lovely freshness in the background, but this is mostly dust on me, kind of dusty coconut actually.

[whitsunweddings]

In the imp: A sharp, not particularly sweet, cirtus.

Wet: Oh, gorgeous. A tangy and light citrus with hints of pine and resin.

Dry: A lovely mixture of pine and sweet fruity things. Alas! It is naught but a memory after a few hours.

[mymymai]

ITB: Nope, It smells like something rotten has been covered over the citrus and florals.

 

Wet: Still gross. Quince dances on my skin like a dervish while the Buddha's Hand, which smells like lemon, tries to calm it down to no avail. I get some bamboo, chrysanthemum, and more citrus (mandarin and tangerine) with a touch of sesame, but I'm fighting the urge to wash it off immediately. It's taking all of my will power.

 

Dry: It's a bit better once dried - the quince is still there and still makes me cringe, but I can pick up more floral and more citrus, including the lychee and the plum. If there wasn't any quince in it, I'd like this much, much better.