Velvet Tiger

[AnArtfuldodger]

Spiced Satsuma orange, tangerine, rich amber, black licorice, teak, cinnamon, and vetiver.

In the bottle: AMBER VETIVER orange?

Wet on wrist: this goes all amber and vetiver on me; I get a hint of orange and spices, but mostly it's allllll amber/vetiver (they sort of mingle).

On the drydown: I don't know for sure if it's the amber or the vetiver here, but one of the two will almost always conjure up images of summer camp for me. The buildings we'd do skits and such in really had this scent. Same with the cabins. Slowly, slowly, slowly the amber and vetiver and settling down, and the orange is coming to the front. However, that back-scent of the amber and vetiver is still definitely there, and I think it's a bit too heady for my liking. It's sort of like if I were peeling an orange in one of my camp cabins. Not bad. But not for me.

It was worth a shot! I think I've probably going to steer clear from amber and vetiver from now on; this isn't the first time I've gotten that camp image, so I think they're just no-no notes for me. Alas! Edited August 6, 2009 by Shollin

[caitilarkin]

This was pure heartbreak on me.

 

When the Velvets came out, I read the list of notes for this blend and ordered a bottle unsniffed in a paroxysm of joy. Spiced citrus! Amber! Teak! Licorice! Vetiver! Every one is a verified Note of Win on my skin!

 

But it was not to be. As other reviewers have reported, this was all vetiver all the time on me, with nary a hint of any other note. And I like vetiver, but this is VETIVER.

 

[IronMollyBlack]

When I first put this on, I get about two minutes of OH MY GOD IT'S VETIVER! Then, everything calms down, and it's a wonderful, cinnamon-spiced orange, with the teak and vetiver nice and smoky in the background. Yep, I'm one of the lucky ones whose got the skin chem to pull this one off, apparently. I can see my self reaching for this one quite a bit. It's warm, spicy, and definitely evokes the orange and black stripes of a tiger very well. Rawwwwr!

[Seismogenic]

I'm taking my chances with the orange and mandarin in this one, since citrus has a tendency to disappear quite quickly on me. I'm excited enough about the other notes that this is still absolutely worth a try. Not to mention the whole thing where I own a large stripey cat (though he's brown, gray, and black, not orange and black), and thus needed to try the stripey cat oil.

 

In the imp: Spicy dark citrus with licorice and a touch of vetiver.

 

Wet on skin: Dark citrus with a strong backdrop of licorice and some sharp spiciness. Not so much on the vetiver anymore.

 

Drydown: Freshly dry, the citrus is already fading some. This is typical of me, and at least it's not completely[/u] gone yet. The spices, cinnamon, and licorice are still blending smoothly and darkly. The vetiver is lurking back there, but it's not a major component. Something woody is also starting to come out, which I assume is the teak. At one hour in, the citrus is entirely gone, but what's left is a really nice spiced licorice with a woody backdrop.

 

Five hours later: Similar balance to the one hour mark, though fainter. The dark sweetness of licorice with cinnamon and other sharp spices. Vetiver is gone, wood isn't quite as noticeable, and there still hasn't been any amber.

 

End of the day: Gone.

 

Overall: I can't say I'm surprised about the citrus' disappearing act, though it makes me sad. The orange has to compliment the black with tigers, after all! That said, I still liked how this dried down quite a bit. It actually seems like a scent that would be associated with a cup of dark spiced tea. I would absolutely go for tea with orange, licorice, cinnamon, and spice. The warmth of the scent definitely lends to the tea impression as well. I'm certainly going to hold onto this decant, though I'm probably not going to upgrade it, since the orange gets lost so quickly.

[thekittenkat]

(Not my usual review--I'll come back and edit this later on.)

 

When I first read the notes for the Tiger, I was excited until I came to the dreaded licorice. I ordered a decant anyhow, and now I'm glad I did, because sadly I had to find out that this didn't work on me. The licorice stomped all over everything, and there was no lovely orange or tangerine or amber, or anything else. (I would love to see a reformulation of this concept without the licorice.) This was so bad on me I had to go and wash it off after half an hour--I was so hoping that some other note would come out, but no, the licorice just got old and stale-smelling. And I tried it on the boy last night (who usually has great skin chemistry) and it was just as nasty on him. He went and washed it off in a few minutes, too.

 

Lovely art for the bottle label, but am glad that I didn't order it.

[theseagrows]

got a sniffie of this in a swap with enough to try! sniffing the imp, and when wet on my skin, there is a strong vetiver note, with the tangerine, which is tangy, in the backround. can't sense any of those other notes at first. once the vetiver calms down though, this turns into a slightly metallic(?) spicy-orange scent. i am not getting a strong amber note-this is warm but not in a rich ambery way. am not getting much cinnamon or licorice either. i kind of like this, it's different than anything i've tried in awhile.

 

 

[stellans]

Velvet Tiger marks the last of the Velvet Painting-inspired oils I'm wearing this week, and it's a wowser of an ending! As soon as I open the bottle, the lovely, sexy dark vetiver jumps out and grabs me by the nose with a low rumble that should signify a purr, but as this is a tiger, who knows?

 

Upon application, the vetiver warms up, settles down, and soon I can get a really nice blend of the other notes: the citrus tang of orange and tangerine doesn't overpower the little bit (thank goodness!) of amber I detect. The amber seems to be working nicely in concert with the teak and licorice notes, making a lovely spicy blend with a depth of sexuality from the vetiver (a favorite of mine). This is not the prowling of the panther, the sexy slinking call; this is the staking out of a claim. The Tiger says, "Mine!"

Edited February 19, 2012 by stellans

[tinyvulture]

smoky vetiver and juicy citrus – what an odd, yet fascinating combination! calling this vetiver “earthy” doesn’t do it justice. it is strong, like coffee grounds. the satsuma orange and tangerine are sweet like jellied orange slices. they soak into the vetiver like… like coffee grounds soaking in freshly-squeezed o.j.? that sounds really unappetizing. and yet this scent is not bad. it’s very powerful, particularly the vetiver and citrus notes. i can smell the licorice cowering in the background if i really hunt for it. the teak, cinnamon and amber? forget it. after about 5 minutes, the vetiver has died down considerably and this is a mostly citrus scent with a nice grounding of earthiness. i don’t particularly love citrus scents, so i'm glad i didn't order a whole bottle. but velvet tiger is definitely unique, and appealing in its own weird way.

Edited June 21, 2009 by tinyvulture

[Little Bird]

In the bottle, this is all earthy vetiver and juicy orange. It smells very deep and rich.

 

On my skin, this reminds me of Priala. It has the same warm spice & resinous qualities, but Tiger also has that juicy orange and dark, earthy vetiver. I adore Priala, and this smells like Priala with a twist on my skin.

 

I usually amp up vetiver and figured that Velvet Tiger would be all vetiver all the time on me, but this is fantastic. The vetiver smells nice and earthy; it's not that smoky variety of vetiver that smells like mesquite bbq on me. This is like damp grass and earth with exotic, spicy resins and a squeeze of juicy orange. It makes me think of a tiger stalking through the jungle.

 

I love this. It's such an exotic, awesome smell.

 

I'm insanely glad that I picked up a full bottle of this, because I think that Velvet Tiger just beat out Velvet Unicorn for title of my favorite Velvet scent.

[Schmoozy]

 

 

Vetiver and satsuma. In fact a little too much vetiver at the beginning, but I was pleasantly surprised when it actually calmed down. Vetiver doesn't usually do that for me. I don't mind vetiver, and if people can just get past the initial shock of it yelling when it hits your skin and you love spicy citrus with amber and teak, you are going to love Velvet Tiger. It is so different than anything I have smelt before. It's sweet and sour, earthy yet bright and citrussy, and with the addition of amber and teak this is sexy. Well done Beth. well done!

[mgrazulis]

In the vial~strong dank vetiver and a trickle of orange. On the skin~much more vetiver, a quick shot of licorice that disappears almost instantly. Dry~a huge red blotch where applied on the inside of my wrist that begins to itch. Dry vetiver and nothing else. Never had this reaction with vetiver previously. This one is washed off immediately.

[rayvn1]

Ew. This is one of the few bpal's that smells genuinely bad on me - like those cute satsuma oranges at Christmas that have gone bad I'm going to blame it on the licorice because my skin gets along pretty well with vetiver, but this is a definite no go.

[hlinspjalda]

In the vial: Vetiver, teak, and a sliver of tangerine.

 

Wet: Vetiver, licorice, tannin, and a touch of citrus rind. This needs to blend.

 

Half an hour: The vetiver, teak, and licorice are combining to make this a very strong, dark, tannic sort of experience. I was hoping for the citrus-amber-cinnamon vibe, so it's not working out as I hoped. I'll give it some more time to mature.

 

One hour: Mostly vetiver, teak, and licorice, as before. I don't think this is going to go where I want it to.

 

Three hours: Not much change, and it's simply not for me. I think I know someone this might work on very well, though.

 

Five and a half hours: More teak and licorice than anything else now.

 

[Inventrix]

Finally getting around to reviewing this...

 

This is one of my all-time favourite blends! It's definitely strong on the vetiver, but it has a completely different feel from other vetiver blends. Normally, vetiver gives the whole blend a dark, earthy feel, distinctly green and mossy (although, like everything else on me, any damp feeling in it dries up after a little while). In this, however, it still has that dark earthy feel, but it's much lighter and drier. More like soft fluffy garden beds than the mossy forest earth I normally get. I keep forgetting about the teak, so now I'd hypothesize that it's the combination of vetiver and teak that makes the difference.

 

And then there's the "spiced satsuma orange". I have to admit, I've never encountered a satsuma orange before, specifically, but the spiced orange scent is wonderful. It lies on top of the darker vetiver base in all of its spicy orange goodness, giving it a bright sweetness.

 

I have to really focus to pull out the licorice note. It isn't very strong and my nose tends to mix it into the general spices with the orange.

 

Overall it feels like warm light spicy orange and vetiver, lasts for a while, has decent throw, and makes me very very happy.

[tragedy]

This is all vetiver and orange in the beginning stages stank like A Countenance Forboding Evil was on me.

the vetiver calms down though and turns into what I was hoping A Countenance wouldve been.. a nice smoky orange, quite sexy.

A tad bit of teak peeks thru but mostly smoky orange.

[caffinatedangel]

Wet & wet on skin - Vetiver. vetivervetivervetiveromgwutdidIdo.

 

Drydown - I realize, about now, that I despise vetiver. But one of my totems is a tiger, and I just could NOT pass this up. But when it calmed down? The citrus and spices poked their head out, and completely changed the entire scent. The vetiver turns into a background of dark, hot muskyness that is suiting for a tiger. The citrus gives it a jungle feel, and the spices add it that dangerous touch. I start to almost enjoy it. Almost

 

It's just much too heavy, dark, and deep. It is VERY much spot on for what a tiger should smell like though, so I was pleased. But shew. I now know it's vetiver that scares me off (this was also a test for me, as I wasn't entirely sure if it was vetiver or another scent I disliked. I now know.

 

Could possibly work incredibly on the right skin. Possibly male skin, that eats vetiver and likes the citrus and spice shine. Hm. Could actually be kind of sexy.

[sarajane]

I tried this hoping that vetiver would stop doing its thing so much, but...

 

this blend was all vetiver, all the time.

[het4377]

In the Bottle: Wow, that's some teak! Maybe some dark amber or vetiver poking out from behind ALL THAT TEAK?

 

Wet: TEAK TEAK TEAK. Seriously, that's a lot of wood *snicker*. I'm also catching the faintest of whiffs of the slightly sweet but bitter licorice.

 

Drydown: Besides the overwhelming TEAK, I'm having a heck of a time pulling any other notes out of this blend. All I can say is it's really a dark blend on me.

 

Later On: Ok, after an hour or two the teak fades down, and I can smell the rest of the blend! Yay! The teak is still making up the basenote of the blend, though the spiced orange is clear and present at the forefront, with a bit of still sweet and bitter licorice mixing in. I really rather like the drydown stages of Velvet Tiger, it's very attractive.

 

Overall: I generally shy away from the darker blends (I'm looking at you amber and vetiver), and this one stays true to the rule. If the spiced orange note that makes this blend GORGEOUS came out a little bit earlier, I might consider putting up with the earlier OHAI TEAK stage, but two hours of dark resinous wood? So not my thing.

[aquazoo]

Starts a bit dirty. Somebody dropped a tangerine on the playground. And then stepped on it.

[topazphoenix]

Vetiver is the most noticeable thing in this blend, the other notes sort of temper it into an orange-ish amber cinnamon vetiver, but it's still present in all its herbal smokey I-am-vetiver-hear-me-roar-ness. I'm not particularly in love with Velvet Tiger.

[Diva Urd]

Vial: Something orange... and OMG WHOA VETIVER!

On: Orange citrus fruit, licorice and WHOA VETIVER! Too... much... vetiver... It's not as overwhelmingly horrifying as "Malediction" was on me, but it certainly is very, VERY strong. The cinnamon and licorice notes are probably somewhat to blame for how this turned out on me, too.

Later: Vetiver and a bit of licorice. While I appreciate the clever selection of notes (orange, reddish and black items provide the scent), the scent itself is... less than pleasant on me. Swap.

[Venneh]

Got this as a decant in a BPAL Santa package; thanks, LJer who sent me Milk Chocolate Buttercream!

 

In the decant, this smells like licorice, vetiver, and teak, none of the other notes at all. On my skin, it's pretty much those same three notes. We'll see if the rest of the blend comes out to play. Nope. The wood/vetiver/licorice combo dominates. Swaps/sales.

Edited December 15, 2009 by Venneh

[voodoocatwoman]

I am vetiver. Hear me roar.

[filigree_shadow]

Let me preface this by saying that I often like vetiver. A few types of vetiver are BLECH ARGH on me, but often it smells like a dry, smoky, grassy scent on me. Sort of like tall reedy brown grass that somehow got a bit singed on the edges. It's quite appealing, and nothing at all like the hideous grossness that other people describe.

 

Velvet Tiger smells like that vetiver I just described (dry, smoky tall grass) with tangerine and cinnamon. The cinnamon is not too strong, and the tangerine/orange notes lighten up the scent a lot. It seems like I can smell the licorice in it too, but just a little bit. It gives the tangerine note a little extra twang.

 

This isn't something I'd wear every day, but it's something I most definitely like.

[Ankica]

In the begining, it was like a mix of almond, pumpkin (which i hate) and now, after 4 hours, it is woody and calmer...