Hua Mulan v4

[thekittenkat]

No scent notes given, but are probably similar to the finished product:

 

Pink musk, white ginger, tea leaf, night blooming jasmine, bergamot, and leather.

 

In the bottle: Jasmine, tea leaf, a hint of ginger, and some pink musk deep in the mix.

 

Wet: Now I'm getting a lot of the tea leaf and the pink musk. Very sweet, but in not in a candy way. More like tea with a lot of sugar in it.

 

The dry-down: The ginger and what might be the bergamot (something like a mum) are coming out to play. And, oh yes, there's the saddle leather or is that her leather armour?

 

This prototype is a bit different from the completed product. The perfume oil from the Lab is more delicate, more floral. This is more like the Warrior Queen just rode in, perhaps from practice fighting, and dismounted but didn't change out of her fighting leathers. Now she's being served ginger tea in a garden; that garden is full of bergamot and jasmine. And there might be some lilies and herbs in that garden, with the sun high in the sky, no clouds in sight.

 

This is probably more of what I was expecting with Mulan. I think I might try layering the two oils together later on and see what happens.

 

This version of the Queen is the fighting warrior woman having a cup of tea, but not a tea ceremony; the completed product is the Queen remembering what it was like to be a girl before she disguised herself and rode off to war. And yet, this fighting Queen seems to be staying around for a while.

[Suu4LC]

I love this blend-I loved it from first sniff. It is absolutely gorgeous. And I say this as someone who didn't like the final version and didn't purchase it.

 

The final blend of Hua Mulan had that leather note that just always goes ashtray on me. I do not smell that in this blend at all-not in the wet bottle scent, on my skin, or when it fully dries down. To me, this is probably one of the best bpal jasmine scents ever. I love jasmine, but have found it to be overwhelming in most bpal blends. This is just perfect, soft and sweet and fluttery and lovely. Really, I feel like I get whiffs of all of the other notes listed in the final version, except for the leather. Pink musk, ginger, tea...this is just so lovely.

 

I can definitely see why Beth would not have chosen this blend as the final version-the leather did give it that badass Warrior Queen edge that this blend lacks. This is far more pretty and feminine and delicate. I am so glad I have a bottle!

[devilot]

Hua Mulan v4

In the Bottle: Very subtle floral, almost imperceptible.

 

Wet: Bright! Very bright-- an almost citrusy floral.

 

Drydown: Shifting into a dusty citrine floral.

 

Verdict: It's very nice, but a classic example of nose-fatigue and panic/ impulse buying. I bought this on total impulse at Cobwebs III and I do still feel it's a gorgeous blend. I just know that I won't reach for it at all and so this beauty shall be swapped away! (Plus, I looove leather notes and so really prefer the released version that includes leather.)

[moonstonemama]

 

this is very pretty, girlish, asian floral. there's a light musk and some sweet plum. it's also pretty soapy.

 

I like the released version better.

[zankoku_zen]

Okay, so this one is a very high pitched white floral - personally I think it has some jasmine, maybe some gardenia and I think a touch of pikaki? As it dries I get a white ginger/white tea combination that isn't unpleasant but can't seem to override the white floral --- which has turned ever so slightly soapy on me. I really do think this has a bit of gardenia in it, ad on the drydown there is this ever so slight wet wool sort of smell to it.

 

I am not so big on white florals. There is something like a bright citrus flavoring (and it is possibly bergamot) but very faint. I get no leather, and let me tell you, if there WAS leather, my skin would have found it.

[fairnymph]

This is a very delicate scent which vanished completely after less than an hour the first time I (lightly) applied it. Re-eapplying more heavily, it holds with moderate throw, though it retains an extremely ephemeral feel.

 

It's wispy white florals - with one that stands out most, and is a well-behaved traditional floral that I THINK is magnolia, but COULD be gardenia - but there is some sort of blend here. Though the scent feels simple and is completely unified and seamlessly blended, I can tell there are more notes than I can pick out.

 

On my skin, after it fully dries down a lot of sexy musk comes out. Skin musk and white musk. As said - a very 'white', but light, feminine blend. There could be a bit of white tea and a hint of fresh white ginger in here, too. Overall, this feels like a sheer silky veil or mist. It's lovely and evocative, innocent but a bit coy.

 

Edited March 22, 2010 by fairnymph

[savage_rose]

This is so sweet and pretty! Light, lovely florals and tea. Perfectly balanced (I don't smell any jasmine)

[angelicruin]

This is so delicate. Soft floral, musk and just a little sweet.

[myth]

A soft, damp and pink feeling light floral from the vial, it immediately turns powdery on my skin and begins amping into perfumey floral of doom. Later it backs off and becomes less perfumey, more powdery floral, something a little green... woody stems, perhaps. Final dry-down is floral floral floral... it's lost its delicacy and is dryer and heavier than it was at first.

[Little Bird]

The released Hua Mulan is a clean, slightly soapy white floral + a bit of sugar on my skin, and this is more of a clean, slightly soapy white floral + touch of citrus (kinda lemony). It's slightly less sweet & delicate and more fresh smelling & heavily floral on me.