Earth Ox

[jehrichardson]

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, peach blossom for longevity, oakmoss, plum, and tobacco for stability, and a splash of blazing red of dragon's blood... to help you scare away the rampaging Nian.

Wet this is melon/cucumber, and fairly enthusiastic about it.

Freshly applied, it is much the same, with a sweet fruitiness surfacing, must be the lychee.

Smells like a bag of Jelly Belly jelly beans.

So far, no likey, but I might be getting a hint of some of the deeper notes appearing. Hoping they take center stage soon. With ETA with an update.

[Schmoozy]

Another juicy, fruity news year blend. Bamboo, lychee, pine resin and peach blossom really stand out. For some reason they all blend together and the delicious melon scent appears.

Oakmoss, tobacco and dragons blood help to keep the fruit from exploding out of the bottle.

I always think of spring when it comes to Chinese New Year Blends. This one does not disappoint.

[Coldfire]

 

 

 

Bottle: melon

Wet on Me: Melon.

Drying Down: Floral Melon now.

Dry: mostly floral with melon. Never got any citrus, or anything else.

I think this will go on the re-home pile.

 

[Nia]

Bottle: melon

Wet on Me: Melon.

Drying Down: Floral Melon now.

Dry: mostly floral with melon. Never got any citrus, or anything else.

I think this will go on the re-home pile.

 

I agree with everything except the last line That is: this blend smells very strongly of melon. Up to now, I have tried many BPAL blends with a note that I classified as "melon-candy". Earth Rat, Fairy Market, Dian's Bud... this is the first time that a blend smells of real, fresh melons. To me, that's not a bad thing as it is fresh enough to use in summer.

 

This is the OX:

Peony, bamboo, plum blossom, tangerine, orange, lychee, pine resin, kumquat, quince, narcissus, King mandarin, peach blossom, oakmoss, plum, tobacco, dragon's blood.

 

And the RAT:

Peony, bamboo, plum blossom, tangerine, lychee, orange, pine resin, golden kumquat and quince, narcissus and King mandarin, coconut, candied melon, dragon's blood.

 

There isn't a lot of difference, so I guess that unless you're a collector, or the greatest fan of fruity scents, you're not going to really appreciate the differences. To me, the ox is simply fresher than the rat, and the rat is just a bit sweeter. I'm glad to have a bottle of each, but then, I haven't tried a fruity BPAL I didn't love.

[sprocket21]

Earth Ox is a wonderfully realistic, very fresh juicy honeydew melon. I'm surprised it's not more popular, as this seems like the perfect warm weather scent. I want to take a bite out of my arm, and I usually don't react that way to fruity scents!

 

I still have 1.5 bottles of Earth Rat to work through, and the similarity between the Rat and the Ox has already been pointed out by others. Given the choice though, I think I'd slightly prefer the Ox to the Rat in retrospect. Also like the Rat, it's very light and fades quickly.

[milo]

Candylike honeydew melon (even though it is not on the notes) with a bit of something musky. I really wanted some of the other notes to come through, but sadly it's just sweet honeydew. Blech, I do NOT like anything melon unless I'm eating or drinking it!

[devilot]

I'd sniffed someone else's bottle of Earth Ox and so knew that I probably wouldn't want a full bottle; so I wound up snagging a partial bottle, mainly for the art. Like so many others have noted-- it's all about the melon/ honey dew. That's all I can ever detect-- is in-your-face melon. And I'm not a big fan of such pure fruity scents.

[GardenCat]

OK - I was having a hard time pinning down what I smelled - not too great in the bottle (to me, of course). Now, applied, it smells a bit more like Necco Waffers & melon. Being that I don't really like melons, I think this one is a no-go for me.

[surf-tormented]

In vial and on skin: Melon!

 

Drying: Citrusy sweet melon with a breath of floral. I have no idea where the other notes are! It's natural honeydew with some orange and cherry blossom flowers in the breeze.

 

Overall: It's quite nice. Don't know if I would seek a bottle out, but it is good.

[edenssixthday]

Earth Ox - This is predominantly the scent of super-ripe and sweet honeydew and peaches. The dragon's blood is the next most dominant note and provides a lovely resin base for the cacophony of fruity notes in this blend, the citrus notes in particular. I love this scent. It's similar to Earth Rat in its fruitiness, but different in that this scent seems more grounded. I love them both and would be hard-pressed to choose a favorite. Thank dog no one's making me choose. This is really lovely...and delishus.

[Gin]

Earth Ox is amazingly melony, even though there's no melon listed in the notes. Similar to Yemaya, but Ox goes more floral and is short-lived.

[V294]

Oh so Melon! It's quite strong and it has great throw too. This is going to be awesome for the rest of summer I think.

Edited August 5, 2011 by V294

[theseagrows]

i am not sure what possessed me to try this, since it is a scent full of fruit and some florals that don't work on me! however, i am pleasantly surprised by this one, at least at first. it is very fruity, and fruity and i are not friends, but it's a nice fruity. it's too sweet for me, but not as sweet/cloying as some other fruity scents i've tried.

 

in the beginning it's a bright, shining melony-citrus scent with a hint of florals in the background. it smells very light and clear to me. once it dries however, the plum comes out much stronger. i think this may be the first time that a scent with heavy plum has not turned plasticky on me! i feel that the oakmoss and tobacco give this a nice base, which keeps it from being too fruity, and i like that. still, i think this is too fruity for my tastes overall, so i will probably swap it. however, it was nice to try a scent with all these notes, and be able to pick out quite a few of them.

[gloame]

Tropical fruit, like something you'd get at a Boba Tea shop. Loads of melon; lychee, mandarin, and peach. Candy-like and very pink. I was born in the Year of the Ox, so I was really happy to get my hands on this. It's not my typical type of scent (I wish it had a bit more dragon's blood), but it does cheer me up!

 

Where I'd wear it: New Years in South America

[bellumed]

So many notes, yet such a light and simple fruity scent! The primary note I’m getting is lychee. Mmm, that melon candyish goodness. On my skin, though, the oakmoss comes out and suddenly that lovely fruitiness is gone! Well, it’s drifted into the background. But lo, on drydown it returns, yay. It’s playing nicely with the oakmoss now. This is a soft, fruity smell with a touch of effervescence. Truly beautiful.

[Okupsidedown]

Earth Ox

 

In the bottle: Sweet and juicy. I love BPAL'S peony, and can always pick it out, but that may be unique to me. There's a cool, almost aquatic vein cutting through the sweet juice. It's an impressive balance.

 

Wet: That aquatic suggestion I'm getting must be a combination of the lychee, pine resin, and oakmoss. The sweet juiciness has really dialed it back to allow the pine, oakmoss, and tobacco I so adore to take center stage. Upon immediate application, I got the citrus burst of orange and mandarin, but that's already fading, and plum, peony, and lychee are coming forward.

 

Dry down: This is a busy, complex blend, but let me tell you, it is lovely! It's fresh, sharp, sweet, and juicy all at once. The oakmoss has gone a little dusty, as is its wont, but everything else in the blend keeps it from going full powder thus far. Lychee already tastes and smells like perfume in its raw state, and lends itself perfectly to the application of scent. The three citruses and plum keep it from smelling too commercial. I'm not getting any more of that lovely pine, which saddens me a bit. We'll see what happens a bit later.

 

A bit later: Aaaaaaah, that's nice. Earth Ox is quite a delightful morpher, but appears to have settled into a lovely, peony and oakmoss forward juicy fruity blend with a little punch from pine and tobacco. Hot damn, this is lovely!