Dancing Koi

[Melenass]

Brown musk, leather accord, toasted sandalwood, clove, labdanum, and champaca.

First Test: in theory I love every one of these
notes, but together, they make my skin smells like a pencil
brown wood, not even know if given the opportunity of time ...
Second test (two days later) comes out to play the delightful champaca, leather, and the background ... the pen dry. I do not know if I want to smell like a pencil

[sunshinedaisybliss]

Hmm.. when I first dabbed this on, it smelt like leather + nail polish remover

 

Thankfully, that chemical sharpness died down and the leather came out nicely within about 3 minutes, and the brown musk in here is quite soft and powdery rather than feral/dark at this early stage.

 

15 minutes in, I hit this weird patch when I could swear it had turned into jasmine - I have no idea what that was about, but I swear it developed a really strong and sweet floral-like top note. That actually stuck around for a while, and became quite strong, until it eventually faded away and left me with a dry sandalwood/musk scent on my skin. Alas, one hour later I lean in for another whiff and discover that the leather + nail polish aroma is back.

 

I really feel that there's just too much going on in this blend - to me, it seems like it wants to be all brown musk/leather/sandalwood/clove but the labdanum and champaca come dancing in with their pretty floral and sweet tones and just spoil the whole thing. Bye bye, Dancing Koi.. you are not for me.

[milo]

First off, the label is just . Onto the review. At first I'm getting fresh, citrus something, though it kind of smells dusty at the same time, if that makes sense. After a bit, the freshness disappears, and it becomes very resinous and 'dry', and the sandalwood is definitely making it's presence known. The leather is just blending into the background, and it's a nice leather, not sharp, but 'creamy' with the woods and resins. The pencil description a post or two back kind of nails this on the head. Freshly sharpened pencel. That being said, this blend needs a bit of sweetness, or something, I don't know what. As it stands, it is just a bit too dry for me.

Edited March 23, 2011 by milo

[Gold Dust Kitten]

Imp: Dusty, brown resins

Wet: Sandalwood, like from Anne Bonny and faint leather.

Dry: Same. Champaca is detected.

 

Meh. I was hoping this would be fabulous but it's mostly sandalwood (which I have enough of with Anne Bonny) and leather, which I recently discovered and it hates me. The champaca kind of brings it together a bit...but it's not enough to make me love it.

[CreamyJade]

In the decant: Brown musk (similar to the one in Brown Jenkins), champaca, light leather. No cloves (which is strange because I usually amp that note).

Wet on skin: Sandalwood, musk, champaca.

Dry on skin: Light sandalwood, sweet champaca, a bit of musk and perhaps some vanilla. Pretty!

Final thoughts: This should've been a bottle purchase right when I saw the notes, but the leather made me hesitate and now I'm wanting a bottle instead of a wee decant. The throw is light, but present, and the scent lasts a while. On my skin, the drydown is somewhat similar to Temple Viper, with added toasted sandalwoody goodness.

Try if you like: Temple Viper, Panther Moon, Brown Jenkins

[rfredri2]

Wet on my skin, it reminds me of Hand of Glory, so I think I'm mostly smelling the sandalwood and leather, but just a bit sweeter.

 

A couple of hours in, the incense notes take over and it's a dry, sweet incense, which I don't mind. I like the opening stages a bit better, but I can see the scent growing on me overall.

 

I was relieved that the toasted sandalwood did not have a burnt smell and that I hardly detected any clove at all. I usually really amp clove.

 

 

Overall, Dancing Koi is a warm, dry, and sweet scent on my skin. It's comforting and I can see myself wearing it on a gloomy day.

[Gwydion]

In Bottle: This is unusual. The clove, labdanum, and champaca form a team and climb to prominence over musk, leather, sandalwood team, though all elements are present and fairly easy to pick out. I’m not sure I approve of brown musk, or laddanum, for that matter, but I’m certainly fascinated. Wet: The labdanum moves up to lead its team, as does the sandalwood sandalwood in its own team. It is less powdery on the skin and a touch more boot polish. This is a particularly nice champaca. I rather wish the clove weren’t mostly in hiding and I still find the brown musk a bit dubious with my skin chemistry. Dry: it work out rather better in the long run. The musk is still a bit rough, but it’s playing better with the dominant leather, sandalwood, and the tail ends of the other elements.

[damonkitty]

I am glad I got to try this one in a decant form. I was on the edge about a bottle purchase since sandalwood usually does not work so well on my skin. I was curious about the leather note though. I did not get a strong leather from this scent. The toasted sandalwood seems to be the dominant note. I like it, but I do not think a bottle would have got much use from me. I think is is a really good scent. The sandalwood is sweet and not too overbearing. The other notes compliment the sandalwood while still allowing it to be the star.

[Kamanjah]

I got a decant as a freebie with a purchase from a fellow forumite. In the decant, I can't pick out any individual notes, it's a well blended resinous scent.

 

On, wet, I can smell the clove and resins. This is a brownish scent, yet light, not heavy.

 

Two hours later I can readily smell the leather, it's a warm cozy scent with little throw. No one note steals the show here though. I'll be using up the decant for sure and may decide I need a bottle because DH loves this kind of scent.

[Circaea]

This goes on dry, sharp and woody, recalling the fresh scent of pencil-shavings. I can detect the tang of leather, too for the first thirty or forty minutes. It's too dusty and biting at first, sort of aloof and off-putting. It warms up over time and sweetens and becomes the pefect soft sweet sandalwood. Very comforting and cozy. It's reminding me of Aziraphale, Hand of Glory, The Buggre Alle This Bible. If you liked those, you will most likely love this one. If you find sandalwood calming and soothing, you will be in your element. I'm very happy I acquired my bottle, and can see myself wearing it often, especially at work, and in stressful circumstances. Despite the provocative label, it's not a seductress scent. But if a guy were wearing it, I might find myself sniffing him compulsively.

[starfish327]

dry and sweet and leathery. there's a hint of wood and something my nose is trying to tell me is fruity but that has to be a note interaction. the leather and the brown musk are keeping this from being too sharp and resiny in the way that sandlewood does on me sometimes. i get hints of clove but nothing really forward. i think that this is more what i wanted fledging raptor moon to be.

[ClareN]

This is really, really pretty. It's a soft brown scent, mainly sweet sandalwood and champaca on me. It reminds me of Temple Viper without the Snake Oil. I also recognise the brown musk from some other blend - can't think which one, but it's a beautiful note, wish it were used more often.

 

Dancing Koi is a little lighter and softer than most of the scents I wear but if it stays this nice into the drydown I might have to track down a bottle. (Not gonna lie, I'm extra tempted to get a bottle because of the label, that painting is the greatest thing ever.)

[filigree_shadow]

Well, I like it, it's just very soft. I can barely smell it. I slathered a bunch of oil on my wrist and couldn't smell it very much, so I put more on. Still can't smell it very much. It's a dry musky sandalwood scent, and it's really nice. Just too faint to smell.

[brilliantcat]

Bottle: Creamy, almost fruity. Not what I expected from the notes at all!

 

Wet: Ahh, now I get musky nuttiness. I think the toasted sandalwood is providing the nutty smell I get. Whatever it is, it's fabulously warm and cozy and sensual.

 

Dry: Toasty, fuzzy, warm, woodsy. Very unisex. Glad I picked up a bottle long ago!

[LizziesLuck]

I needed to try this, cuz clove, but also because my Dad has a huge pond full of gorgeous Koi, and I just liked the thought of having a perfume named Dancing Koi (weird, right?)

 

 

Wet: Wow, this is much softer than I expected it to be! The musk is like a creamy skin musk, which I am loving. A bit of syrupy labdanum comes through, which I am also quite enjoying. The clove reads almost more like ginger though? Not really mad about it though, this is really nice. Very soft, low throw, but oh so pretty - which is actually the type of stuff I have been looking for lately since my work went to a "scent-sensitive" policy. I can only wear light scents with low throw. This might be totally perfect.

 

Dry: This is BEAUTIFUL. I think it reminds me a bit of Unicorn and Ram, which I love. It's a lovely soft musky skin scent, with tiny hints of well worn leather and sandalwood. There's something quite vanillic about it as well. It's kind of like sinking into your favourite leather chair with soft cashmere blanket. Gorgeous. Off to find a bottle!