Wood Horse

[doomsday_disco]

A new year’s blessing! Peony, China’s national flower, with bamboo for flexibility, plum blossom for perseverance, courage, and hope, tangerine for wealth, orange for happiness, lychee for household peace, pine resin for constancy, golden kumquat and pomelo for prosperity, narcissus and King mandarin for good fortune, cypress for longevity, sticky rice cakes for abundance and hopes for a rich, sweet life, and a splash of blazing red of dragon’s blood… to help you scare away the rampaging Nian.

Thanks to ladymeag for the decant!

In the decant: I honestly thought that I wouldn't like this one due to the fact that it contains so many notes, but it actually smells really nice in the decant! The rice cake note reminds me of Hungry Ghost Moon 2013 (the only Lunacy that has actually worked for me thus far). I'm mainly getting citrus and that rice cake note in the decant. It kind of reminds me of Froot Loops (which is the same thing I thought about Hungry Ghost Moon... the combination of the rice cake note and the fruity notes must be what is giving me that impression).

Wet: Froot Loops! I am just getting the sticky rice cakes and the citrus at the moment. The rice cake note was really strong at first, but the fruity notes are becoming stronger. It still reminds me of fruity cereal, though.

Dry: It pretty much stayed that way the whole time, but with more fruit (and perhaps a hint of a floral and a resin in the background). I'm sorry I can't be more specific in my review, but it is hard to identify specific notes as there are so many notes in this blend.

Verdict: This one was actually better than I had expected it to be (after initially dismissing it due to the amount of notes it contains). While I don't feel like I need a bottle of this, I'm glad that I was able to try it!

Edited February 5, 2019 by doomsday_disco

[Jangzonrice]

Wet: resiney sweetness....something that smells like the mahogany note in other blends. Dry: the dark woodiness lightens up to a fruity smell that is kept in check. I have several CNY blends (metal tiger, earth rat, fire pig, etc) and this is a darker, richer take on the same fruity notes. The deepness from the woody resiney notes makes the fruitiness more sophisticated in my opinion. I also think this would be great for cooler weather. Thank you for the decant lady meag and I now have a bottle as well.

 

Throw is good and I had it on for 5 hours before it started to fade.

Edited March 11, 2014 by Jangzonrice

[Aviatrix]

In the decant and wet on the skin, this is a blast of citrus notes with a prominent undertone of rice cakes. I was looking forward to the rice cake note, and it did not disappoint; it's very yummy and life-like!

As it dries, the citrus fades somewhat and gives way to a more floral feel that I believe is the peony, and the dragon's blood plays along subtly in the background. I am also getting a hint of springtime fresh greenness (probably bamboo) that plays very well with the citrus.

 

I won't be needing a bottle, as it's not the type of scent I would usually wear, but I'm very happy I have a decant, because it's a yummy scent that would also work great on a warmer day!

[Sakura Tsukikage]

I also get mainly citrus and a very foody life-like rice cake note in the bottle, with a softer base of something deeper, which could be the dragon's blood, pine resin, bamboo, or florals, or a combination thereof, deeper and slightly sweet but not in a fruity or foody way. On skin, it's very much rice cakes and citrus, in a way that works surprisingly well to my nose. It's very much RICE CAKES and fruit, specifically juicy citrus fruit that doesn't exactly smell strongly of orange per se but does make me think of oranges, at this point, with a hint of a green, fresh, springtimey scent in and around it. As time goes on, the notes sort of meld together, with the rice cakes stepping back and joining that softer base to support a floral-fruity sort of sweetness, but they're still very noticeable as what they are--sticky rice cakes, not overly sweet, but definitely with some sweetness to them. As time goes on, the foodiness of it fades a bit to become a gentle, springtimey sort of fresh scent, but that rice cake note remains as a grainy, ricey base, for lack of a better term! I agree that this is a deeper, darker in some ways, richer take on the same fruity notes that are in other Chinese New Year's blends like Earth Rat--this is woodier, foodier, and greener, but still very much recognizable as in the same vibe, with just a hint of floral and dragon's blood sweetness behind the juicy fruits and those darker notes. I think it would be good for both cool and warm weather. It's not an immediate favorite, but I'm definitely going to be wearing it--I like it quite a bit! And it lasts quite a long while on me, though after about three or four hours it starts to hug my skin very closely.

[Magycmyste]

I'm a little wary of the new year's blends because of how many notes there are, but I'm giving this a try!

 

In the imp: This is pretty - sweet orange candy right off the bat.

 

Wet on skin: The candyness has faded to a floral, but it's still very orangey

 

Dried down: Er, still orangey, but this is developing something very stinky in the throw.

 

Throw: Something stinks. Narcissus - one of the two notes in Crowned with Calm Leaves She Stands, which is the first BPAL ever I have really felt the need to wash off immediately. I think it's official. Narcissus must hate me. Most of the time, anyway. Funny enough, it does nothing to me in Cleric. It's possible it's something else.

 

Verdict: This went from a *** to a *, unfortunately, and it's starting to give me a headache.

[milo]

Wood Horse starts out as a sweet, fruity wood. Pretty unpleasant. Dries to a sweet, fruity, rice blend. It reminds me of rice pudding with canned mandarin oranges. Get's even sweeter as time goes on, now it's candied oranges. Not my cup of tea, but nice to try. I may have gone more for this if wasn't so sweet, I like the base of the blend.

[theredkilt]

Citrusy rice cakes.

 

Wasn't really expecting that

[tinyvulture]

At first application, a fruit, happy scent. I immediately think of kids' cereals - Captain Crunch, Froot Loops! There's definitely a cereal-esque, grainy note -- probably the rice cakes. Gosh, these fruits are lovely! I can't say I've ever smelled lychee, pomelo, or kumquat, but the tangerine and orange are definitely recognizable. The plum blossom adds depth and complexity by bringing in a floral loveliness, so it's not just a foody blend. Good old lemony peony (peony's always lemony on me, is it like that for everyone?) does the same. Now I can't say I notice any dragon's blood at all. That's a note I can definitely pick out and I'm just not finding it here. But that's okay. I love this cheerful scent. It's a perfect New Year scent because it makes me think of happy new beginnings!

[zankoku_zen]

Citrus, fruity cereal, and wood.

 

This smells like breakfast on a bright sunny morning. It's cheery, sweet, slightly cereal/woody element that keeps it away from the ultra-foodie territory.

 

I have to admit it being a little strange, but still loveable.

[revengeofthepen]

When I first bought the bottle it was way too heavy of a scent for daily wear. Now that it's aged a bit the orange citrus comes out a lot more, and tones out the heavier resin notes. I originally enjoyed wearing it during the summer when outside, the heavy wood and foody scent had a nice throw among the summer smells. But it's proven to be a pretty cozy scent for the snowy winter we've had here so far too.

[ralenth]

Wet: Sweet orange and sticky rice.

 

Drydown: As it dries, it remains a cheerful buoyant citrus, but is underscored by a soft resin.

 

Dry: An hour later, it has morphed into cat pee. How sad!

[ShadowEtienne]

I was fortunate to get a decant of this in my quest to collect the LNY scents. This has been somewhat rice cake heavy but one embedded with dried or candied fruits. This year I made some of my fa gao with dried lychee embedded in them, and this is remarkably reminiscent of that (minus the bit where I didn't get the texture quite right).

 

The citrus and lychee are definitely prominent along with the rice cake element. It's not particularly floral or resinous on me, though those elements are there in the background helping to balance the scent.

 

This, like all the LNY scents, is reminiscent of the little lacquer trays of dried and candied fruits that we'd put out at LNY, but with that lovely kick of the rice cakes in the mix.