Kuang Shi

[voodoocatwoman]

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

Hmmm... sandalwood, sandalwood and more sandalwood with a little bit of musk thrown in for good measure.

[iiinterstate]

I love ALL these notes, so I'm really excited.

 

My first impression of Kuang Shi is a blast of orange. To be quite honest, it reminds me of the orange oil air freshener my dad keeps in his bathroom...

 

After a minute this smells oddly green on me, like maybe the mango isn't quite ripe.

 

Dry, I really like it. Not at all what I imagined, but still nice. I usually get a whole load of sandalwood if there is any in a given blend, but here it is mostly green fruits with maybe a little musk in the background.

 

I'll have to try this out for a whole day before I reach a verdict on its bottleworthiness.

[BuxomM]

It smells like SANDALWOOD, orange peel, and a little white musk in the background. Smells masculine to me.

[sylvanusurban]

In bottle: Bitter and woody.

 

On me, wet: Aftershave?

On me, drying: Still aftershave, pretty much.

 

Verdict: I thought this was going to be fruity! Instead I got a brash aftershavey smell that faded quickly (which I guess was for the best). Couldn’t smell the mango or orange at all. Not a keeper.

 

[Gin]

Kuang Shi

 

This is really pretty, not my idea of zombiescent at all. Mandarin and mango over light musk and sandalwood. I like this combination quite a bit.

[kisha]

Hmmm. This was a random imp I grabbed from my box this morning. I have no idea when I got it or that I even had it. Upon first application, I can smell the orangy fruityness with the white musk in the back. While it doesn't smell like it, it reminds me of Xanthe, the Weeping Clown. Upon drying though, I get a powdery sweetness, and you can tell the sweetness is from the orange. I STILL am not sure what sandalwood smells like, but I'm betting I smell it somehow. It's not masculine, in fact, it's kind of pretty on me. I can't see my husband wearing it, but I can see my 12 year old son wearing it. It's a light scent but has medium throw. I'm in the beginning stage of testing this one, but I'm betting I'll like it in a few hours too!

[HKB]

It smells like tangerine and mango and sweet milk. There's two stages. The initial stage is fruity. The second stage is almost milky. I don't know if it's the white sandalwood or the white musk but it is wonderful. A very foody scent. I would buy a bottle.

[muteddragon]

I wanted to love this, I loved everything but the sandalwood and what do I get: sandalwood. Nothing else. Weep.

[Venneh]

In the imp, I get a bitter sort of fruit and a woody undertone. On my skin, really, really bitter citrus and wood and okay, it's making my nose burn. Ow. Swaps.

[Leopard403]

I like this. The fruity isn't too citrus-y, but it's bright, almost fizzy. Lay that over the clean but somehow creamy scent of the musk and the sandalwood.

 

Every once in a while I get the scent of creamsicle from this, but I think that's my brain more than my nose.

[HamletsKeeper]

In the bottle this smells like most BPALs really herbally generic. But I get it, a bottle sniff tells me nothing about a scent. I acquired this one while on a citrus jag. Since yuzu is like an apendage I lost at birth and brilliant on me I decided to try the range of citrus to see what works.

 

Looks like mandarin and orange are two citrus fruits I cannot wear. They amp on my skin for about 5 secs then head for the hills never to be seen again. It took only about 20 secs for this scent to disappear entirely on me. I get no sandalwood or musk or citrus. In the fleeting seconds of it's life this scent smelt like a glass of Tang. You know that orange powder drink so popular in the 70's? Sweet and like vitamin C tablets.

 

Then it disappeared. And probably just as well because I didn't like it much anyway.

[Invidiana]

Interesting, this smells like lemon and orange candies on my skin. Not sure if it's really a "me" scent though.

[kunoichi]

In the vial, this is an orange and sandalwood combination, with a hint of mango underneath; although it is a fruity scent, it seems to be a masculine scent, thanks to the sandalwood. My skin, however, changes the scent completely to a heavy, musky and sweet flavour - it both hides the sandalwood and mixes the orange and mango to a dark fruity sweetness. After a few hours this becomes a soft and sweet scent on my skin, the sweetness of the fruits joined with the lasting musk making it soft and lovely.

[ami226]

I get orange and something herbally.... Is the mango going strange on me? It is very green.... Huh.

[lavender84]

Kind of on the same note with Catseyes's review on this one.

 

Almost forgot about this scent... Not really for me.

[rinster]

"Laura, if I may call her Laura, must use a wonderful hand cream at night, Signore. Slick, Cold at first then warm", he said. "The scent of orange blossoms. Laura, l'orange. Ummmmm."

 

When I tested Kuang Shi, that passage from the book Hannibal popped into my head. Granted, this particular scene was gruesome as those were Hannibal's parting words before he disembowled Laura's husband, Pazzi. However, the description of Laura’s exclusive, exquisite scent made me dream of going to Italy to find it for myself. Kuang Shi has that same delicate, gorgeous orange blossom scent I had imagined on her.

 

Ironically, had the lab not given me a frimp I would have not considered trying this scent, especially since the reviews have been running a bit lukewarm. This was a lovely surprise and is on my big bottle list.

 

[heywilma]

I'm so torn about this. I don't know what it is (sandalwood is prime suspect), but closely sniffed, it kind of smells like toilet cleaner. It's waaay nicer from a distance, but it has virtually no throw whatsoever. I wanted to like this really badly; maybe it'll be different if it's slathered? Will try again tomorrow, but if it still doesn't work, it's going into swaps.

[Alexanne]

If this oil had a color, it would be a light orange.

The notes I smell while drying is orange blossom! Which is probably the mandarin and mango together, but to me its pure orange blossom.

What I smell after it dried was less mango, and wayyy more musk. The sandalwood works to ground the citrus and does a great job. This isn't sharp in any way, though I wish the mango wouldn't fade as fast. Still smells like orange blossom to me.

This lasts for I'd say an two. Only because of my skin chemistry. After about an hour the mandarin almost completely disappears and I'm stuck with a slightly sweet (thanks mango! (: ) sandalwood/white musk combo for the rest of the hour.

The throw was BAM in your face at first, but quickly became a 6-inch throw in a matter of a minute. My skin tends to eat citrus, but at least this time the mandarin is holding on a bit longer.

Verdict: I love love love this scent, I just wish it would last longer! Will keep around to test and sniff, and maybe try it on the DH although he might find it a little bit too feminine. Who knows?

Edited June 4, 2010 by Alexanne

[Vega]

In imp: Fruity! Definitely mandarin, perhaps mango too.

 

On skin: Sweet juicy fruit. This is mainly a mandarin-mango show. There's no trace of white musk and sandalwood, though they may be doing something behind the scenes. Kuang Shi feels light, buoyant, happy and uplifting -- a lovely scent, though not quite what I was expecting for a Chinese zombie!

 

Verdict: A simple, one-note fruity blend for me, which is a little disappointing since I was hoping to find at least some musk and sandalwood. It's still nice to wear, so I may hang on to my imp.

[musichappens]

The sandalwood is super strong in this blend … I don't get any of the other notes at all. Thankfully it fades super fast on my skin otherwise I was going to have to scrub it off because it was getting to be too much for me.

[mimosa]

Mandarin cologne, with some sandalwood in the background. Doesn't morph on my skin, just fades quickly. I think it's the sandalwood that makes me think this is a masculine scent.

I like this, but I don't need a bottle.

[Helas]

I ordered a sample of this one because I expected a sweet, inoffensive perfume that I could wear at work from the list of ingredients. I was thrown off-kilter once I had tried it on - it is definitely one of those high-concept scents that are more evocative than wearable.

 

The sandalwood is the strongest note here. Sandalwood tends to smell very dry and "dead" to me, compared to the lush greenness of other woods like vetiver or pine. The sandalwood in this blend is particularly dry and brings to mind images of a fossilized Nepalese forest. The mango and mandarin, on the other hand, are vivid and buoyant but much more sour than sweet. The contrast between the lively fruits and the dead woods does evoke life in death to me, and the overall spicy sourness of the blend makes for an aggressive and unusual perfume with a slight Asian atmosphere. It's a striking illustration of the concept of Chinese zombies, but I find it a bit too high-pitched for regular wear.

 

I got more than I bargained for here. Three out of five stars.

[tkannon]

In the bottle: Fruity with a hint of something balancing it out.

 

Wet: Fruit! (I hadn't read the description so I had no idea what fruit I was smelling)

 

Dry: Yummy mango and orange with the musk peeping through (read the description by now)

 

It did fade fast on me but I will just put more on! I am excited to try the Tweedledum I just ordered now!

[Ghost of a Rose]

Interesting how this affected people in such very different ways. Here's my take on it:

 

In the Imp: I instantly loved it! Sharp, bitter, green scent evocative of orange blossoms together with torn orange leaves. Very fresh and lovely. Not at all fruity.

 

On me, wet: Same as above, but softer; and now I'm also getting some sandalwood and maybe a little musk coming out. Not detecting any mango or orange fruit at all. Unfortunately, the wonderful orange blossom scent is fading very quickly.

 

On me, drydown: Mostly sandalwood. The orange blossom/leaf scent is now very faint.

 

On me, after a couple of hours: Soft sandalwood, with barely a hint of orange blossom.

 

 

I especially love this in the imp, for the orange blossom scent. I want to try this in a perfume locket and an oil burner, to see if the orange blossom note will last longer that way.

 

My rating: 4. It would be a 5 if the orange blossom scent lasted longer.

Edited July 30, 2011 by Ghost of a Rose

[Honey]

This review has also taken me quite a while now..

I bought this for the mandarin in it, and I was not disappointed!!

 

 

Bottle: Juicy fresh mandarin orange! Omg, this is so good! I know straight orange oleoresins used in the food industry, and Kuang Shi smells like something that could be put into a beverage of sweets. Very close to reality, so very foody in that sense!

 

Wet: Bittersweet mandarin and orange. Maybe some green fresh mango. Cannot detect any sandalwood or musk, maybe those will come through once the scent has dried down and warmed up.

 

Dry: Maybe I can detect some musk now. But it's mainly fresh and fruity. Slightly tart but not chemical or plastic note at all! LOVE this! Smells like Christmas time to me when there are mandarins everywhere! Yum!