Tamamo-no-Mae

[minnalavender]

Tamamo-no-Mae’s scent is soft skin musk, brushed by white tea leaf, rice flower, black locust flower, white sandalwood kodo soke, dry ginger, benzoin gum, and Amacha.

AAARRGGHHH!!! *bang bang bang* That's the sound of me kicking my own ass for not picking up another bottle of this at the vending booth at the Con. I knew I'd love it unsniffed, and I do! I was so distracted I forgot. (Someone needs to invent Post-Its for the skin. lol If I could write stuff down on my hand like in school I'd remember!)

Probably not. I'm kind of a flake. But I'd at least be trying!

Tamamo-no-Mae is nearly identical to Hungry Ghost Moon on me, which is one of the highest compliments I can give a scent. HGM is my Holy Grail of feel-good scents, the one I turn to when I'm so down and blue that it's hard to muster the courage to soldier on. T-n-M is even brighter and more cheery than the Ghost. It's just pure in a bottle.

Notes? You want notes? Fancy that. Sultry, sweet citrus and tea and Asian spices is as close as my nose and brain will ever get to the actual contents. It just SMELLS REALLY FUCKING GOOD. Trust me.

Well, I'll be searching the secondary market for T-n-M. *squares shoulders* I cannot possibly go on with only one measly bottle of it!

(edited to add Lab's description) Edited December 10, 2007 by Shollin

[dronzeka]

Mmmmmmmm, this is delicious! Man, I completely misjudged the latest update, because this is by far my favorite one, and I didn't even buy it initially - I just got confused by all the notes ("too many notes!"). Anyway, in the bottle this smells like some kind of fruity ginger hard candy. On, it gets smoother and creamier and makes me think completely of rice pudding - an exotic rice pudding, kind of like the Indian kind that has cardamom and spices in it, except that this is an east Asian pudding with citrus and ginger and a little bit of tea. It is a lot like Hungry Ghost Moon, which is also one of my favorite scents (and Mattie, I love lavender too, so we must be scent twins!). I don't get any sandalwood/smoke at all, which is fine by me. Such a lovely scent! (And I realize I've made it sound very foody here, but that's not how it feels on at all - I am sort of the anti-foody, so if you don't like foody scents, you shouldn't worry about this one.)

[hipslike___cinderella]

First of all, I want to say this is one of the most "visual" blends I've tried, and the beautiful label is perfect; when I smell this, I feel that light sky beige color. Mysterious florals, proper and regal women, feelings of luxury.

 

Right off, from the bottle this is ginger and citrus. A surprise punch of citrus. On my skin, this melds into a bright, warm floral. Light, white exotic flowers and sweet, woodsy pale sandalwood. The biting crispness of the citrus I initially smelled in the bottle gave way to the spicy ginger and just meshed. I picture dipping the tip of a paintbrush in bright orange watercolor (ie, the citrus) and touching it to a pool of water on off-white paper and watching it just stream and blend. Perhaps odd and detailed, I know, but that's exactly what comes to mind. All in all, this is very elegant, womanly, and defined. Not feminine; womanly.

 

Tamamo-No-Mae holds up a long time and pretty much stays true. Hours later it is still detectable, as a slightly astringent "perfumey" perfume. While this isn't something totally up my alley, I still appreciate this as an artistic and beautiful blend.

[moontess]

Wet this smelled very floral. As it dried I'd get whiffs up of a creamy floral with incensy undertones. But when I went in for a huff, it has a bizarre rubber note. Argh. I'm pretty sure it's either a chemistry or just shipped issue (I've had a couple bottles that were horrible the day I received them, but after a week or 2 settled into perfect scents). The wafting scent is super lovely and I keep forgetting to enjoy it at a distance... I'll have a little patience and see if this fixes itself.

 

edit after it rested or my chemistry fixed itself:

Wet: asian citrus, incense, there is a citrus scent that still almost turns into rubber

dry: the rubber disappears (thank goodness) something creamy kicks in. The tea and incense are dry undertones with the asian fruit and something creamy rounding it out. Very refined for date nights.

rating: 4/5

Edited June 4, 2007 by moontess

[lyricalwaters]

I was expecting to LOVE this, because I love tea & ginger & Asian scents.

 

In the bottle, I get tea + citrus. Yay!

 

On my skin, it turns to pure... tangerine?! It smells just like something that I love - which are tangerine tea blends from Starbucks.

 

Unfortunately... after a few minutes it turns kind of funky. I can't explain HOW really, but the tangerine becomes a kind of fake citrus smell. Man, that's disappointing. I expect it's just something wonky with my skin chemistry, because I LOVE the way it smells in the bottle.

[stellans]

Imp: I ordered this because the description of it totally enthralled me. When I first sniffed the bottle cap, I knew I'd made a mistake: I only bought one bottle! I wish I'd bought at least one more, because I love this scent so much. The golden sweetness of the fruit just makes me close my eyes and sign in delight.

 

Wet: Still that golden fruit, but on my skin I can now pick up the musky notes, which to my nose give the fruit a depth and anchor. The ginger is a note which does not always work on me (the reason I opted for only one bottle) but in this blend, it does...it does!

 

Dry: I was beginning to think the creaminess others mentioned would pass me by, but upon drydown the creaminess emerged to complement the fruit/muskiness. This is the perfect thing to wear in the summer months, and will be a welcome reminder of summer's warmth during the cold of winter.

 

Verdict: Beautiful blend which makes the most of each ingredient. Beth has a winner with this one, and I will be on the lookout for a back-up bottle.

Edited March 20, 2009 by stellans

[Blood onmy hands]

Hm. Am I the only person who *didn't* like Hungry Ghost Moon? lol. It ended up smelling like musky dryer sheets on me. Tamamo-no-Mae fairs much better on my skin than HGM did.

 

Like everyone else has already mentioned, this does smell rather peachy on my skin, but it's a dried peach or candy peach sort of scent on me rather than a juicy one. Over time, this scent gets very musky on me, but I generally enjoy the skin musk blends. I get that light, dry fruitiness, creamy musk, hints of florals that I can't identify, and swirls of a light, spicy ginger popping up every once in a while.

 

This is a nice, pretty blend... I don't normally wear these fruity-floral type of scents, but I'll keep my decant around.

[rivki8699]

I am loving this blend. This is what I wanted Vasakasajja to smell like (it was all fruit on me).

 

I can't really describe the notes. Wet, it's very fruity. But that dissapears pretty quickly on the drydown. I think I'm smelling a sweet, creamy, smoky musk. And it's lovely. It doesn't have a ton of throw, but sometimes when I turn my head I get these whiffs of something absolutely enchanting.

 

Beautiful.

[copyshopclerk]

When this was live, I wavered for a while and decided to just get a decant after someone guessed that it would be a dry scent. Then I tested it at the C13 booth (about a week before my decant came in) and omg. Hours later I kept sniffing my hand and thinking "I absolutely NEED to go back and get a bottle of Tamamo-no-mae!"

 

In the bottle: Ginger, vaguely fruity, somewhat tea like.

 

On: Strong ginger, a little sharp, almost in cleaning products territory for a few minutes, but that settles and it does take on a fruitiness. Not quite peach but I can see why people would say that. At the booth, I tested this again on my arm while I was carrying my jacket with me, and where it rubbed off on my coat smells a bit like peaches that are not entirely ripe (so they smell peachy but with a little bit of greenness to it). It doesn't really do this on my skin though.

 

Dry: Dry it becomes very creamy (not what I expected from the notes listed!), over a whisper of tea and fruit - not as fruity as HGM is. Someone said "golden fruits" and I agree! It's a very golden and cream colored scent.

 

This is such a lush and rich scent that's absolutely beautiful - I am so glad I was able to get a bottle!

[sookster]

straight sniff from imp is green tea with a twist of something fruity...

 

once applied this gets a touch creamy and the ginger amps up ...

 

a zingy and interesting scent for certain!

[Nidaba]

Oh wow, I love this one. It reminds me a little bit of Vasakasajja which is my all time favorite scent. It must be the skin musk as that is the only note they seem to have in common.

 

On me TnM is a "your skin but better" scent with a hint of tartness. It is very light and lovely with the white sandalwood, skin musk, and a hint of ginger coming to the front. I agree with those that have compared it to the asian moons. It does have a similar vibe.

[mandragora]

In the bottle: Tamamo-no-mae is sweet, juicy fruits with a zing of ginger.

 

On my skin: Oh my word, this is beyond lovely. Bold and juicy fruits, strongly reminiscent of Hungry Ghost Moon. But while HGM went cloying on me, TnM's fruity goodness is tempered by cream and ginger. Also, the skin musk provides a better backdrop (as opposed to the crystalline musk in HGM) to showcase the creamy, fruity, ginger yumminess. TnM also sticks close to the skin.

 

This wily fox woman/demon is absolute on me. I give this 5/5.

 

Now I need to find backup(s) for my single bottle .

Edited June 3, 2007 by mandragora

[Beatrice33]

I can definitely see why this is being compared to Hungry Ghost Moon, but as that one went a bit cloying on my skin, this is the perfect variation of it for me. It's cheerful, smooth, slightly sweet and tart with a creamy muskiness. I think I'm going to enjoy this one.

 

ETA: This is still absolutely lovely upon drydown, but perhaps too lovely for me. It's so delicately feminine that I don't feel like myself when I wear it. LOL.

Edited June 5, 2007 by Beatrice33

[hepkitten]

I'm so glad that I read the other reviews here...because I really thought I was losing my mind. I love this scent, don't get me wrong, but there is a definite peach note in this blend that I couldn't account for, and I'm glad that others have noticed it too.

 

It's light, sweet, but not cloying. I would typically think that a fruity floral couldn't be for me, but this one definitely is. A real keeper!

[AliBabble]

from the first sniff, i love this! and am so glad i got a bottle...

i agree that it is fruity, but can't really say that it is peach that i'm smelling - this is a trick of the notes blending into something fruitlike...it's quite unique - sparkling, effervescent - like a sugared ginger dessert - almost syrupy and refeshing, like a flowery, fruity syrup over ice...this one is very difficult to describe. definitely feels asian - reminds me of a malaysian dessert...i don't know why - incense, tea, dessert and flowers. maybe "peachy" *is* the best description, after all. it's a fantastic, happy smell - rather light, and quite unique.

[lushlovely]

First sniff from the bottle: This is glorious sunshiney cup of lemon tea with just the right touch of milk. Mmmmmmmm.

 

Wet on my skin: more of the same, although there were times when I kind of wondered if it was going to get too lemon perfumey.

 

Dry: Beautiful. Just beautiful. It's exactly as the description says, soft, creamy skin musk with a very slight touch of lemony-ginger tea. I love it!

[waternight]

In the bottle: Light and sweet. I think I’m getting the white tea leaf and benzoin interacting. There’s a hint of dryness from the sandalwood. This definitely has a “white” feel to it.

Wet/Drydown: Like in the bottle, but the appearance of the skin musk warms it up. There’s a very slightly spicy tinge to this, which is possibly the ginger, but it’s mainly lovely and sweet. But not sugary-sweet. The benzoin is a very light, unobtrusive vanilla note. There’s a soft floral undertone. This smells edible, but not foody. It’s hard to classify. But oh, sososo lovely. It does have a creamy feel, despite the lack of a cream note.

Dry: Mainly skin musk, with a gorgeous light, sweet tinge. I adore this blend.

[Lunaratu]

Mm, this is straight fuzzy, creamy peach off the bat…and I happen to be a peach lover. Usually peach scents go a little fake on me, however this is beautiful, ripe, and real peach.

 

As it is drying it’s lightening ever so subtly and there’s a slight tingle of clean ginger coming in which I can detect very very subtly. Wow, this is beautiful. Perfect for warmer months or for the promise of warmer months. I can definitely see how this would seduce an emperor.

 

This is wonderful and beautiful, ripe yet delicate, golden yet refreshing…mmm, Tamamo-no-mae has definitely shot up into my favorites. It’s a gorgeous blend!

 

Rating: 5/5

Edited October 7, 2007 by Lunaratu

[storme]

In the imp: ohh, that's rather pretty. Reminiscent of the Chinese lunacies and Fire Pig, but creamer than most of those.

 

On me, wet: hmm, that's rather sweet and girlyish, and very like a creamy Fire Pig with ginger and peach - or is it apricot?

 

On me, dry: man, this is beautiful. This is kind of what I hoped Milk Moon would smell like, from the reviews - that creaminess over fruit, blending into something delicious. I *swear* I can detect the rice flower in this, since I'm getting an oaty-grainy note too.

 

Verdict: Gee. I may need to hunt down a bottle of this one. Damn my 'pfft, I have lots of vaguely asian-themed scents already' frugality.

[DifferentDances]

Copying my comments from the "What's your OMG BPAL oil?" thread because it works for me.

 

My skin turns this to creamy citrus, and it is to DIE for, since thus far most musks I've tried have been so-so or downright horrible, and BPAL citrus is really, really tricky on my skin. (F5 kind of does a bizarre acrid thing, Bakeneko is overtaken by my skin amping the amber musk, Aizen Myoo is sharp sharp sharp....) So finding one that works beautifully is making me REALLY happy.

 

I'm kind of upset I didn't get more than one bottle of this, but I'm psyched that I wasn't warned away from it despite my lack of experience with skin musk. I kid you not, I spent the entirety of the update going back and forth over whether to get this or not...and while I wish I'd had more, I was thisclose to not having any.

 

My rating: 5/5

[cvelis]

In the vial

Creamy, light ginger and musk.

 

On me

Yup, that's me. I'm in love! This is light, so feathery light it makes me swoon. I'm not sure what benzoin smells like, but maybe that's the sweet scent. This is not overly sugary or too spicy. It's just perfect!

 

Final verdict

MUST LOCATE MORE!

[purplemoonshoes]

Ginger! Tea! Florals! How did I not buy a bottle of this? Oh, that's right- I didn't have any money.

In the imp, it explodes with a soft candy-like floral with a undercoating of ginger.

On my skin, it reminds me of Bath and Body Works' White Tea and Ginger. Unfortunately, it absorbs very quickly. Darn. Maybe it's a good thing I didn't buy that bottle.

[yeahbutnobut]

Tamamo No Mae

 

In the bottle: peach tea with rice wine. It's sharply fruity…it also reminds me of the osmanthus scents.

Wet on skin: white tea with a fruity, peachy, sweet undertone.

Dry on skin: this is beautiful! It does smell very much like Hungry Ghost Moon-probably my favourite Asian themed scent-but this one has a strong tea note, a crisp, tangy white tea over a smooth fruity base. It reminds me of peach, or of osmanthus, or sugar cane, but those aren't listed. I can make out some sandalwood (which smells similar to the ho wood in HGM in here) but no smoke. Maybe the sweet smoothness is caused by the musk? The rice flower reminds me of rice wine. Overall, this is a surprisingly creamy-fruity and smooth and fresh scent, it's enchanting.

After a while: the sharpness of the tea tones down a little, and the creamy-fruity floral base becomes even smoother. It now smells like a peach wine, slightly tangy but very fruity, but there's also a beautiful flowery scent to it, like no other floral I've smelt in BPAL so far. Is this the locust flower? If so, then damn, it smells magnificent (despite having a creepy-crawly name to it!), it doesn't smell like sweet pea but it smells sweet and luscious. The musk adds an almost velvety but pale smoothness, a touch powdery but not overly so, it makes me think of the pale makeup of geishas, and their graceful beauty. The wood adds a nice soft firm base for the other floral-fruity-tea notes to hang on to. It still reminds me of HGM but not as foody-sweet, though there's something here that reminds me of sugar cane, or maybe lychee. The scent seems to move between smelling tart and tea-like with fruit, and sweetly floral with cool musk. It reminds me of Aglaea at times, it has that sparkly feel, but less blatantly peachy, and more subtle and intriguing. It moves through stages of fruity, floral, tea like and skin-scented, sweet and crisp, dewy and lush. The drydown is a soft powdery pearly skin musk with sandalwood and fruity sweetness, but I now get a hint of smoke to it, like a Japanese incense stick burning gently, a subtle woodsy smoke scent.

Verdict: Asian scents are hit or miss on me but some of the recent Japanese scents-specifically the lunacy shapeshifters-have been wowing me. First it was Bakeneko who made my life purr-fect, and now Tamamo has won me over with her foxy charm. I had no idea what this would smell like (other than smelling like Beth's Japanese scents) because I haven't smelt half the notes in here, but now I'm so glad I bought a backup bottle! She smells like a more sophisticated and aloof version of Hungry Ghost Moon. Whilst HGM was more complex and candied and had a feel of festivity to it, this one is less sugary, more grown up, and mysterious. A tang of tea replaces the grapefruit of HGM, but there's a similar fruity-sugar cane scent to it even though no such notes are listed. However, a stronger musk, more flowers, a peachy scent, and a slight hint of incense make this different. I have no idea where the peach comes from, or whether that lovely floral is the locust flower or rice flower, but I love this so much. light, graceful, fresh, enchanting, beautiful for the summer months, and very well blended. So far many of the lunacy shapeshifters (apart from Oborot) have been fantastic on me, and this is a new favourite of mine.

Emoticon rating:

Is it a keeper? yes! This is beautiful and I'm glad I ordered another bottle from a Convergence goer!

If you like this, try: Hungry Ghost Moon, Itaso Kansei, Lantern Ghost of Oiwa, Fire Pig, Fae, Aglaea

[MrsSoup67]

 

Kicking myself for not buying a bottle. Yummy, creamy, gingery, smooth a great summer scent!

[ariosa]

Here is yet another bottle I'm kicking my own ass for not buying. This scent is unbelievable. It's light and fruity and rich and creamy all at the same time. It starts off like a nice cup of tea with lemon, and then just gets... richer. I almost get a peach scent from it as it dries down. It has excellent throw and is going to be another summer scent LE that I'm going to have to hoard like crazy, and track a bottle down when I finally have some money.

 

Beautiful, beautiful.