Spirit of the Komachi Cherry Tree

[orata]

Cherry blossom, blue lilac, lavender monofloral honey, white sandalwood, and Asian pear.

 

Fruity! Crisp green pear with soapy-floral lilacs and cherry blossoms. It's not too strong on the honey. Clean, delicate, and pretty, if leaning slightly towards the generic-perfumey or body wash type of scent. The drydown is especially clean and nice in this hot weather. I like it, but somehow it doesn't have a distinct identity to me--like I'd enjoy smelling it but wouldn't remember at all how it smelled once it wasn't under my nose anymore.

[girbot]

Imp

In the imp it smells like a sweet cool refreshing floral

 

Wet

I get the cherry blossom and Asian pear notes strongly. It's very sweet and juicy right off.

 

Dry

It's still mostly cherry blossom and pear but it's being mellowed out and smoothed by the sandalwood

 

After a couple of hours

The floral honey has come to the front with lingering hints of the sandalwood and fruit.

 

A great scent all in all. I love the floral honey at the end.

[puck_nc]

Origin: Straight from the Lab

 

Initial Thoughts: Several of the Lab's Asian-floral blends have worked nicely for me in the past. I think I would have gotten around to this one eventually (Salons being more expensive) but the retirement of the line prompted me to action.

 

In the Bottle: This is possibly the closest I've ever come to thinking of a BPAL blend like a commercial perfume spray. My first impression is of all things, astringent alcohol, which I know isn't in here. The second sniff is strongly sandalwood with a fresh edge to it.

 

Wet: Light and breezy pear and honey with a floral backdrop.

 

Drydown: The sandalwood develops, but since it's white sandalwood it's not devouring everything in its path. The honey note is still prominent and the pear and florals are balancing into a spring-like sweetness.

 

Verdict: I think I like it. The throw is low enough that I can wear it to work.

[reconditarmonia]

I thought I'd reviewed this before but I guess I hadn't. I had an imp of it, and while it was nice, it wasn't anything that I'd buy more of - the fruit was more prominent and the lavender and honey less prominent than I liked. I'm very glad I got more as a "just in case" when the Salon came down, because it's great on me now.

[Drae]

Spirit of the Komachi Cherry Tree, Yoshitoshi.

Cherry blossom, blue lilac, lavender monofloral honey, white sandalwood, and Asian pear.

 

In the decant: A very intriguing, slightly spicy floral. If it were a colour, it would be pale blue. It's quite dry smelling, and oddly very sexy.

Wet on skin: The dry saltiness of the lilac hits my nose first. I can only handle lilac if it's paired with something sweet, and it's working very nicely here with the sweeter notes. Also, I'm getting a very distinctive sunscreen lotion smell, which I ADORE! Honey and pear are also suspicious notes for me as far as amping or going plastic, but neither are too loud or artificial so far.

 

Drydown: Things are sweetening up and the lilac is fading fast, but I am still getting sunscreen, and oddly some cocoa butter.

 

Conclusion: A very odd and unexpected scent this turned out to be, given the notes. I'll definitely be pulling this out in the dead of winter when I get nostalgic for lazy beachy summer days.

[filigree_shadow]

I only have a tiny amount of oil left of this, and it's very old at this point so all the top notes probably aged out of it long ago. Which is probably why I'm left with a powdery lilac wood scent. Two drops of oil in a clear glass vial = ages very fast. I think this poor oil is past its day. Should have reviewed it a long time ago. I remember liking it.

[claudia6913]

Sweet, soft, pink in color (scent color). I love cherry blossom in just about every form I've seen but this is the first time I've had a chance to try the labs cherry blossom and I am most definitely not disappointed. This is bordering on being powdery. Very feminine, very soft, very pretty.

Edited June 16, 2013 by claudia6913

[celestia]

♔ Spirit of the Komachi Cherry Tree

 

Whoah! no review since 2013? Either this blend has become ridiculously scarce, or is being silently hoarded and kept as a well guarded secret! This is easily one of my top scents, so I had to make sure I was doing it justice when it came to finally reviewing it.

In the Bottle: Sweet, fruity cherry blossom nectar

 

Wet: I feel like cherry blossom in this blend is enhanced immensely by what smells to me like floral sugar cane and white grape. Although I can tell it’s the pear aspect of the blend turning it fruity, I have to admit that the pear really lends itself to the lilac and cherry blossom, so much that it loses its profile as a fruity pear and takes on the profile of a rather floral pear. it actually reminds me of the somewhat sweet, sugared iris note in Pip and is almost identical to the peony note in Lady in Pink Speckled Kimono. The honey isn’t distinctly present- it blends in so well with the cherry blossom and blue lilac that it smells more like a floral nectar- and consequently smells like it improves the olfactory profile of the florals, much like the role honey has in There is a Garden in her Face. Together it kind of smells like sugar cane nectar. The honey here, barely powdery, definitely floral and super faint but detectable like dewy droplets forming over a petal… I don’t get lavender from it at all. Though, this honey is blended so well I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s had a major part in making this blend smell like some juicy floral nectar. If it does, then holy it might just be the best honey I have come across.

 

Drydown: Seriously though, even well into the drydown stage, the cherry blossom in this is so fragrant and juicy, and so goooood.. Little to no morphing. Of course, full disclosure- it's not a simple cherry blossom scent- it's an enhanced-with-bells-and-whistles kind of cherry blossom scent. It’s like they mashed all the other notes together to recreate an expertly blended, well-executed capture of cherry blossom trees- that is, how delicate, dainty and fragrant they are- rather than how they actually smell. It may not be my perfect cherry blossom scent, but it’s so absolutely divine that even when I do, this will still remain one of my top scents. It’s an absolute, divine masterpiece. I don't get much sandalwood during any of the phases, it's mostly pear, cherry blossom, and lilac all the way, all the time.

 

TL;DR: Sugar cane nectar, almost-sugary lilac, and rich, sweet, flowering cherry blossoms at the height of a warm, spring season

Edited April 26, 2017 by celestia