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BPAL Madness!
ellebelle

Metal Tiger

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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 quince for prosperity, narcissus and King mandarin for good fortune, cypress for longevity, and peach fruit and hemp to represent the fourth phase of Wu Xing, with a splash of blazing red of dragon's blood... to help you scare away the rampaging Nian.


This smells like bright copper at first, and it reminds me more than a bit of Copper Phoenix. I agree with filigree_shadow that it is fruity and bright and happy, too. The peach and citrus distinguish themselves first. The floral notes are subtle and spring-like. I can't really pick out the cypress or hemp, and I only know the dragon's blood is there because of the metal association. This is a nice mood-booster of a scent.

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In the same vein as BPAL's other Chinese New Year blends: light, fruity, crisp, and a little sweet.

 

I can distinctly smell the pine resin and the cypress, but there is nothing sharp about them. If anything, they reinforce the airiness and the crispness of Metal Tiger, especially when paired with the freshness of the bamboo.

 

If at first the citrus and peach make their presence known, after drydown it is the lychee and the plum that come to the forefront. The dragon's blood warms up the scent while the peach softens it, adding roundness and juiciness to the blend.

 

In my palmares of Asian-inspired BPALs, I rate Metal Tiger a very close second to Fire Pig.

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I had tried this scent because I usually like citrus, and at the time I thought, "eh...bright and clean with the metal scent there too. Nice, but nothing special." I was looking for something to brighten up all this rain we've been getting, so I threw this on this morning. A blend like this is not one that I expect to improve with age. However, either my nose is paying more attention or I just like this better now.

 

Wet, I get peony up front. That combines with something that wants to smell like grapefruit (lychee?) but isn't quite as bitter. I was hoping for the juicy orange in Carnal (I know, I'm the only one almost :)) but that doesn't make much of an appearance on me. I also get a strong hit of the scent I'm associating as metal- it seems like a silver or bright polished steel even. This is bouncy and sharp, great in the morning. Seven and a half hours later I can smell the pine resin and cypress, with some fruit & floral underneath. Very light, close to the skin, but its there. This one is great for work on me.

 

The dragon's blood and peach are non-existent on me, and although I don't particularly amp dragon's blood, I also don't like it so I tend to notice the smell. I tend to go in phases, but I can see this getting a lot of use this summer...

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Source: BPAL etsy shop

Preconception: Honestly, I'm a Tiger. And they don't come along all that often. So I just wanted it :D

 

Bottle: Light, fruity, kumquaty.

Skin: Gentle florals and fruits. Very well blended,I'm not going to give myself a headache trying to unwind this one. If fruit was a floral, this would be that.

Drydown: Fairly faint, low throw lychee and peony. Earlier I got more clutter but it seems to settle into the softest lychee peony blend. It's absolutely uplifting and beautiful.

 

Verdict: No regrets. Light, fruity-floral. Very lovely. Girly and soft.

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Like all of the Lunar New Year scents I've had the chance to try to date, this one has strong associations with the little lacquer trays of dried and candied fruits put out during the Lunar New Year, this is part of what I love about them and why I'm trying to collect them.

 

Hemp was a concern note for me, so I'm very glad I was able to get a decant of this to test! No itching or sneezing, and no noticeable hemp scent to me, so I'm relieved.

 

The citrus is definitely a strong note in this. On me, the blossoms are less forward than they are on some of the other Lunar New Year scents and the resins are a stronger component of the scent. This lends itself to a slightly more sour and woodsy scent, though it's still fresh and floral and brightly fruity.

 

It's not my favorite Lunar New Year scent, but it is lovely!

Edited by ShadowEtienne

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