Kuang Shi

[misspissed]

KUANG SHI

Bust out the dzang dzi! This scent honors the zombies of Chinese lore. Mandarin orange, white musk, mango, and white sandalwood.

 

Initial Impression: It is a soft, light scent. It smells very "pretty" and the mango and orange are obvious, yet it doesn't smell overly fruity.

 

Initial Application: It is still soft and light upon applying. I like that it is a feminine scent without being floral. (I don't do well with overt florals, especially rose scents)

 

Dry Down: The white musk and sandlewood start peeping out after a while, and the "fruityness" has died down. Mind you, this is NOT a fruity scent, there are just elements of orange and mango that become less noticeable after dry down.

 

Overall, I do like this scent. It's nice and fresh, perfect for a spring day. Not quite sure if I am willing to commit to a whole bottle, though...I don't think I would be using it enough to need anything more than an Imp's Ear.

Edited September 16, 2007 by Shollin

[sarabeegee]

The initial scent, out of the bottle and on my skin was very full-bodied, juicy mango and orange, and I could sense the musk and sandalwood underneath, giving a roundness and fullness to the fruit.

 

Unfortunately, as it dried down, the mango dissipated, and after an hour the mandarin orange very sharp and sour, while the musk and sandalwood were hardly there anymore. It reminded me of Tang (not such a good smell).

 

Too bad! It just does not work with my chemistry.

[Shollin]

First sniff: Kuang Shi is aggressively fruity, with the smoky strength to back it up.

 

Wearing: Wow. YUM. The fruitiness backs off quickly – it’s still there, but slithering around underneath rather than leaping straight up your nose. What’s left is slightly smoky, very warm, very bright and utterly delicious. I don’t know why – the scent isn’t the slightest bit boozey – but I want to find a cocktail that smells like this.

[jj_j]

This is almost biting when I put it on; I wonder if it's representative of that spicy note in mango that's almost peppery to me. White sandalwood, with a light fruitiness, takes the reins, but after a few minutes the white musk warms up and makes this a faint, sweetly citrus, and melted-into-my-skin scent.

 

The final combination is a fantastic one, but it suffers the fate of all citrus scents, which break down and fade quickly. Nice, but too soft, and in the end, a bit too musky, for me.

[darkling]

Kuang Shi was a harsh, white scent on my skin while wet.

 

On drydown, it remained harsh with an edge of grapefruit and I never caught a whiff of mango.

 

The scent faded almost completely in about three hours.

 

It creates an atmosphere of cruelty and bluntness that doesn't fit well with my personality or my career.

[Vaniclion]

I got this as one of my precious extras in my order today, and honestly I'm more than a little surprised by it. Maybe it's the white musk? I dunno. But it's delicious! Go figure for zombie's huh?

 

Wal-Mart sells these little candy sticks which are chocolate covered sticks of orange jelly. SO GOOD. They used to only sell them at Christmas, but now they have em all the time, as well as raspberry and mint. Wet, this smells like the inside of those sticks. Orange Jelly goodness. Also, rather startlingly, it smells like Fruity Pebbles. Which I love!

 

On drydown tho, the fruityness does fall away leaving a smoldering, warm and vaguely smoky scent which is the white musk and sandalwood rising like offerings to gods. The fruit is still there on the altar, but it has served its purpose.

 

I love this scent. It may be too sweet for me to wear, but I'll certainly find some way to use it. I suspect my girls will like it too. Very shocked and pleased.

 

Ugh. Now I'm hungry.

[Mitzy]

This smells like my dead grandmother. seriously. and not in a good way either. I couldnt pick out a single note - but I recognised the scent *immediatly* and it was both shocking and unpleasant.

 

It creates an atmosphere of cruelty and bluntness

 

YES. She was evil, and this scent was her scent.

 

*shivers*

[hypothermya]

Another scent that I've decided to try on my quest to try every white musk scent available. Helps that there's mango in this one, which is one of my favorite fruits...

 

Initial Impression

 

This definitely smells oriental. But I wonder what makes me say that? The first thing I can smell is the sandalwood, followed closely by mango and orange. But there is a scent in here that almost smells peppery to me, just like jj_j mentioned... While I liked the description, the first sniff definitely puts me off....

 

Wearing It

 

Like many BPAL oils, this smells a lot better on the skin than it does in the bottle. When first applied, the white musk becomes apparent, and makes this scent smell smoother, almost like vanillla or honey... But not quite. The mango is also there, reminding me of the sweet mango deserts you can get at Thai restaurants. And the orange, too... But all of this is still underneath the scent of the white sandalwood. It reminds me a little of the smell of the shops in China Town, but sweeter and more elegant. (I think it's the mango and white musk that cause that...)

 

Lasting Power

 

I've tried this one several times, and each time the sandalwood outlasts the fruit notes (which I'm told is common of any fruit based oil...). The gentle smell of the fruit lasts for about 2-3 hours, though, and the sandalwood lasts for about 4-5.

 

 

I just don't really know what to say about this. I *love* the way the mangos and white musk smell, and for once I have found a scent with orange that doesn't smell sickly sweet on me. It's this gentle, exotic fruit perfume that doesn't have the same perk/energy as Katharina... It's more subdued, and glowing with an inner peace. However, I'm always a little bit bothered by how much sandalwood is present in this perfume, and I suspect that the slight peppery scent is due to its presence. Plus, sniffing this in the vial is a definite turn off, so I don't realy ever feel like wearing it in the morning when I'm sniffing around among my imp ears. It's a lovely perfume, and probably a good one to try if sandalwood is a favorite scent of yours.

[pkwench]

Kuang Shi

 

In the vial it was sharp, but pleasant. There was such a bitter, forest twang to it that for a moment, I thought it was juniper. After it was wet for a moment, it morphed into a bright, high powered herbal. If someone had said "this is the scent of healing magic" I'd have nodded and maybe added a "and how!". On the dry down the bright herbs settle and the musk comes out. A citrus, what I now realize must be the mandarin, bursts through, making the entire thing dance between herb, musk, and citrus. Oh, those Chinese Zombies must be happy creatures if this were to be their scent! I deem this a most excellent oil for a sad or unwell feeling day.

[pekeana]

Kuang Shi is a very painful, hurtful, sharp and intense oil. I don't get much fruit at all, just musk and sandalwood with a touch of something sweeter beneath. After a while, it becomes a little floral on me, but it pretty much smells like sandalwood and musk.

 

Strange, I say, but quite nice if your thing would be for an oil that scares the pants off of people.

 

 

ETA: After about 6 hours, I finally got the fruit, over a base of smugly haughty and devious sandalwood. I kind of like the end result, but the journey to get there is painful.

Edited November 8, 2004 by pekeana

[Ishtar]

Ooh I can see a big bottle of Kuang Shi in my future!

 

I didn't get any of the sharpness that several of the above reviews described; instead, Kuang Shi is a very bright, juicy, happy scent on me. White musk combined with fruit is always a winner for me, but the unusual mango note and the presence of sandalwood make it quite a bit less sweet and more elegant than the other fruity/musky oils I have tried so far.

 

The drydown, far from getting cloying or heady, is light and sophisticated, similar in feel to Old Shangai and Endymion.

 

Beautiful; a definite must-have for me

[tempete]

Wet, Kuang Shi is musky and slightly sour on me. I think that the sourness is due to the mandarin orange note, as Katharina also went quite sour on me. Unlike Katharina, however, Kuang Shi dries down to a lovely blend of woody and orange fruity notes, and it is the addition of the sandalwood, I think, that keeps this from being too bright and sweet on me. I'm not fond of the initial phase, but I will keep my imp because the drydown is really lovely.

[TheDarkMother]

In the Bottle: Kuang Shi smells thick of white sandalwood and mandarin orange.

 

On Me: The mandarin orange comes out much more, with the sandalwood being a dusty background note. This is very strong, much stronger than some of the other Asian blends, and I simply adore that! Its a very fruity blend, with a salty background, something that I would see as slightly masculine. I like very much! Slathering now and putting it on the big bottle list.

[phaedrine]

Kuang Shi was a freebie in my last order, and it's definitely an oil I wouldn't have ordered on my own.

 

It smells very nice in the vial, fresh and sweet.

 

On, it's very a very intense, sharp citrus scent. It mades me think of a very powerful version of Bath and Body Works' Tangerine Spice lotion.

 

While I love the gentle smell of the lotion, the intense oil is too much for me. I ended up having to wash it off!

[Splendid Molerat]

This was a "keep me sane" oil I brought with me during the most recent trip to visit my mother.

 

Kuang Shi is like a wide bowl of the brightest, freshest fruit, and the scent from the fruit and the smoke of incense rise invisibly into the air. Behind the wafting perfume I have the image of a white wall, unbroken, impassive, high and wide.

 

Kuang Shi is beautiful, and cold, and no one gets inside. I felt well-defended by it.

[AnnetteL]

In the vial, and wet on the skin, this is kind of gross - a sharp bitter/sour deodoranty citrus kind of smell - but that quickly subsides as it dries and within 5 or 10 minutes it turns into a fabulous fruity blend. Not too sweet (usually my problem with fruits), but still succulent, and beautifully matched by the sandalwood and musk. It doesn't feel at all cruel or painful or any of those kind of associations to me, in fact it's quite bright and welcoming. I'm very pleased with this one!

[Lady_Ell]

I have been wanting to try this for a while, thinking it would be a woody mango version of Katharina, which smells fruity-good on me.

 

I'm not sure what exactly made this happen, but when wet it was an intense bitter herbal, that went through a brief "yuck!" phase, then mellowed out into a nice incense and musk. But for some reason it totally smelled like red musk, not white musk. I didn't really get much fruit at all.

 

And then it just went all musk. And really really strong. For hours. And hours. Eventually it got to the point where walking down the street in the cold with coats and a tiny dab of Kuang Shi on the back of my hand made the entire 4 cubic yards around me smell strongly of red musk (or I guess it's white musk in this case), and I had to wash it off in order to eat dinner.

 

This is nice, but waaaaaaaay too strong on me.

[diabolique]

this is a conflicted scent. kuang shi wants to be juicy because of the orange and mango, but the white sandalwood prevents it. the white musk, as usual, is gorgeous, but there's something about this blend that reminiscent of getting juice concentrate on your hands. it reminds me of summer, when i would eat too many limes and have the potent, strong taste of lime rind in my mouth.

 

overall, i think this would be very pretty if it were on someone with the right chemistry. there's something in this blend that throws my skin off and makes it unwearable for me.

[silverangel]

Musk, oh the musk! Reinforcing my revelation that I ADORE white musk! When I first put this on it was all sandalwood which sucked. I got no fruit though, which is a bit sad. I really like this but I don't think I'd wear it too much, it's almost sweet, in a cavity getting sort of way. It's hard to think of this being a scent to honor zombies, but hey, maybe they are sugar zombies. (so want maple sugar zombies now).

[Penance]

Origin:

 

Lagniappe from the Lab.

 

Preconceived:

 

Ooh, another zombie scent! I'm somewhat amused by how vastly different this one sounds than Zombi. I don't imagine zombies as smelling like fruit, but then I've never met any Chinese zombies, so I could be entirely wrong.

 

First sniff:

 

Wow...I'm not sure how to describe this one. I smell mango and musk mainly, but there's some orange and sandalwood here, too. It's orange and fruity but dry and musky at the same time. I initially didn't think I would like this, but it's growing on me.

 

Wet on skin:

 

Mango! Lots of mango...it's downright pulpy smelling and, while I don't like eating mango, I have to admit it smells damn good on me. The orange is also coming out now, too, and the sandalwood and musk are lurking in the background in true zombie fashion. I don't think I'd wear this every day, but I like it!

 

Dry down:

 

Mango, orange and sandalwood. I know it's weird, but I feel like a Hare Krishna in this! I think it's the orangeness of the smell combining with the sandalwood, but I feel like I ought to be handing out flowers in an airport and wearing a saffron robe. It's not a bad thing at all, it just hit me so strongly and made me laugh. I really do like Kuang Shi. A lot!

 

The bottom line:

 

Bright, sunny orange in feeling and scent. Kuang Shi is a fresh-cut mango and mandarin orange slices next to a burning stick of sandalwood incense. This is a real "cheer me up" kind of scent if I ever smelled one.

[fairywingmaker]

Wow, people got such a range of reactions to this scent. And very different from my vial.

 

Very soft mandarin/mango scent. It's sweet but not overly sweet. The white musk give the sweetness just a little twist, which I'm loving. The sandalwood hasn't come up for me yet. This is such a lovely scent! Another scent I would wear in the spring or summer.

[oatmealneko]

Another one where my skin eats the fruits, but I love this one despite that. The mango & orange I could smell initially, when it was wet. Those smells instantly disappeared - the sandalwood took over immediately. I don't smell the white musk either. It reminds me exactly of the incense at this Buddhist church I've been to. Although, it's not as strong as burning incense, it's lighter.

 

Lovely scent, lasts about 3-4 hours on me.

[surf-tormented]

Mmmm...brains!

 

 

This one is intriguing when first put on. Spicy yet has no spicy notes listed. Almost tea like, but has no tea. Mysterious!

 

It had a ginger like tea smell when first applied, but it was completely different from the usual tea smell, like in Embalming Fluid or Kumiho, etc. It was unique. Like spicy fruit tea. Fab!

 

Then it faded super fast. I can't hardly smell it now. I wish it would have lasted. The combo of notes was wonderful.

Edited February 11, 2005 by Madame Nyx

[summer]

Damn you, sandalwood, damn you. Beth, I love you -- but why must every juicy fruit fragrance that I think I'm going to love contain sandalwood and musk? (Forgive me; I'm still rebounding from Zephyr dissapointment.)

 

Anyway . . . Kuang Shi starts of as bitter, crisp fruit. Yellow and orange fruit. Yum, this is promising. Almost immediately upon contact with my skin, it becomes a sumptuous, juicy, sweeter version of yellow and orange fruit. HEAVENLY. Visions of big bottles of this delicious fruit oil were dancing in my head. Then, as it dried . . . *sniff sniff* . . . hm, it's starting to smell curiously dark and earthy. Wait -- is that . . . NO! NOT SANDALWOOD! The earthiness of the sandalwood cuts right into the sweetness of this oil and dominates it, unfortunately for me. Unlike Zephyr, however, the sandalwood in Kuang Shi does not completely suck the juiciness out of the scent. Bubbling behind the wretched sandalwood, I still can smell thick mango juice . . . how I wish the sandalwood would get out of the way and let me enjoy it!

 

All in all, this is not completely unwearable for me, but the fact that the sandalwood interferes with what otherwise would be an absolute favorite just bugs me too much for me to get a big bottle.

 

However, if your skin doesn't amplify and ick-ify sandalwood like mine does, this will be a real treat.

[UltraViolet]

In the bottle

clean spicy orange

 

On

This is what I would call a masculine energy type of blend. There's very little sweetness in this blend. It smells like the pith part of the orange, more bitter then sweet.

 

30 minutes

As it dries it takes on more of a holiday orange and spice smell.

It's more rounded now and less fierce. I smell more musk and less sandalwood now. It's faded a normal amount.

 

Throw:

Light-Medium

 

Scent category:

Citrus/Spicy

 

Summary

I'm a real orange nut and there are so many great orangey or citrus blends that I think are better on me like Seraglio.

Although Kuang Shi isn't a definitively male scent, I would LOVE my man to wear this.

 

Purchase again?

Probably not.

 

1-5 rating, 5 being best.

3

Edited April 8, 2005 by UltraViolet