Harikata

[waternight]

Osmanthus, honey, golden musk, vanilla flower, and ginger.

nnnnnngggggghhhhh

That is my reaction to Harikata. It. Is. Amazing. A stunningly gorgeous honey-musk-osmanthus blend, VERY "skin scent". This is crazy sensual, and makes me think of the aftermath of really intense, passionate lovemaking, with sweat and other fluids drying on your skin as you lay there panting in each others' arms. This is what I want to smell like for my lover. I only have a decant, but I will be hunting down a bottle.

[themerrybaker]

Japan's Secret by Gunter Schwartz describes Sokuza-Harikata as a penis from the garden. A.K.A. sort of a garden-variety, field-expedient penis to be used when a "rubbing ox" horn penis was not available or affordable.

 

I would just as soon skip the bull and have my Harikata from the Lab's garden. The initial apricot-fruit phase passes into subtle honey and enough soft flowers to keep the bees happy all year. The way the honey cooperates with the rest of the notes has been really well done.

 

I have been wearing Harikata as a staple since it became available and didn't really think about the concept behind it. Glad I didn't dick around and miss out on a bottle.

[levelek]

I really wanted to love this, and I got an imp of this before I realised that I cannot stand the smell of osmanthus. I have a bag of osmanthus tea, and I can tolerate it on some days, but I really dislike it on others. Well, Harikata is all about the osmanthus, all the way! It is beautifully blended, and I can appreciate the artistry of the oil, so if you like its apricotty, distinctive smell, you will love Harikata. It has a sexy aspect, too.

 

It is also far too sweet for my tastes, but that won't be a problem for many people here

Edited December 16, 2008 by levelek

[ami226]

In the bottle: Hmmmmm, the first time I sniffed the bottle I didn't think this scent was all that special... Now it smells just the right amount of sweet. Kind of makes me think of honey flowers. Soooo good!!

 

On the skin: Oh! Normally honey scents turn sour on me, but this one doesn't! The honey actually smells wonderful with a bit of florals. I am not really sure what osmanthus smells like, but I am sure it is in there somewhere! Either way this scent is wonderful and perfect for those who love honey, but have never had luck with honey scents (at least that is how I feel...).

 

Boyfriend took one whiff of it on me and wouldn't let go! Hee hee! Definitely keeping this one around and using it on special occasions.

[crebbsgirl]

I was a little disappointed by this. I got a non-descript honey floral. It was nice, but it didn't leave me swooning. The musk barely came out. All in all, this was a fairly light skin scent. Pleasant, but it didn't grab me.

[asciident]

Wet: Resin? Maybe that's the osmanthus.

 

First on: Sweet resin, like vanilla incense.

 

Dry: Same. More of a room scent than a perfume really.

[Wwindy]

Wow, a sweet floral I kind of like! This is definitely strong on the honey; at first it was giving me almost an orange blossom impression, but then my husband suggested clover and that struck a chord. I'm not picking up much ginger. Very tasty!

[Gin]

Harikata

 

Sadly, this is all honey-floral-musk on me. It's just too warm and heavy-feeling.

[tragedy]

I love pretty much all the japanese blends Ive tried and this is no exception.

Its so exotic, my uncultured nose just goes "uhmmmm duhhh perrrty!"

so while I cant pull specific notes .. save to say I dont really smell the ginger, i would say harikata smells much like hot sex!

Its sexy to the nth.

[Aredhel]

Rating (on skin): 4/5

Summarised in a few words/smilie: Musky florals.

 

Preconceived notions/pre-review thoughts: I love all the listed notes, but I still can't fathom how they'll smell together.

 

In the imp: Warm, musky honey. Absolutely gorgeous!

 

On skin, wet: Strong osmanthus and vanilla flower, but light on the vanilla bit and heavy on the flower.

 

On skin, dry: Warm, silky, honeyed vanilla flower. The musk gives it a slightly fuzzy quality - which is one of the many things I love about musks. It's a bit more flowery than I normally care for, but for some reason, I can't help but find this beautiful. It has weak throw, but lasts for hours.

 

Conclusion: Warm, slightly fuzzy, flowery musk. Surprisingly lovely. If I can track down a bottle, I'll definitely pick one up.

[fisharescary]

In the bottle-soft florals, maybe a hint of musk-couldn't say anything more specific.

 

Wet on skin, I identify the floral as Jasmine. Since looking up the actual notes reveals no Jasmine, I'm guessing that it's actually osthmanthus. After a few minutes, I detect a small but defined note of ginger at the end. It's generally pretty soft.

 

20 minutes later, it's amped up to borderline too-strong (for me, at my normal dosage- I can just cut back to 3 drops, eh?) and I get the honey now. It's lightly powdery; that might be the vanilla.

 

A couple of hours later, it's still going pretty strong, and hasn't morphed much.

 

It's a feminine smell, fairly sexy, especially rising up in the body heat from cleavage. I'll use it once in a while, and try to get ahold of a little partial 5mL at least so I can enjoy that label art! But honestly if you took out the concept/emotional appeal, the scent itself would be a 'meh' for me. Maybe with a bit of aging?

[HamletsKeeper]

Thanks to Fisharescary I got to try this one for xmas. It's a little vial of surprise is what it is. Logically this perfume should not work on me at all. I mean vanilla (bland, flat, nothing) and ginger (antiseptic) logically do not a great perfume make. But who knows in the land of BPAL anything can happen and it did here.

 

I get a strong musky scent underpinned with oakmoss, or rather ginger doing an impersonation of oakmoss. Now I may never know what this is scent is supposed to smell like on "proper" skin. But the musk\oakmoss thing is working for me anyway... I like it although it is strong and quite masculine on me. Very pheromone-y which I suppose would probably make some man want to jump me. I'll have to find a man first and let you know.

 

Overall very different to what the notes would lead you to believe. Not at all sweet, grounded and earthy and yet in a perfumey way. If you love skin\sex scents then you should try this.

[Schmoozy]

 

Sweet and spicy vanilla musk. It sticks extremely close to the skin, and is sensual and smooth. While the honey is sweet and thick, the ginger is a perfect balance for it. Vanilla flower and Osmanthus seem to amp the musk in a really good way.

[Venneh]

Got this as a BPALentine from fisharescary; thanks again! In the decant, this smells amazing; golden and bright and wonderful. On my skin, thus far, it's that same golden brightness and a far more... raunchier tone, shall we say. Mmmm. I'm liking it so far, but I think I'm going to need a full skin test to determine if I like it enough to seek a bottle. Ends up fading really quickly, sadly, so I don't think I'll be seeking out more of this, but I'll be keeping the imp.

Edited February 9, 2010 by Venneh

[jizatt]

When I first applied this, I thought I wasnt going to like it. It was vague and not very vanilla at all, and... well my immediate reaction was swap. I only keep bottles I love. But leave it on your skin to grow a bit before you decide. Its cooler than I expected, but a very nice smooth cool floral/but not floral light vanilla. The ginger didnt last long on me, which Im okay with since Im not a fan. I definitely get osmanthus and vanilla flower (rather than vanilla). THe golden musk is not heavy, I dont get much musk from this at all. I dont get sticky honey, this is the lighter almost floral/pollen kind. All in All, this ones a keeper!

[Victory]

Harikata is a cool honey scent (rather than a thick honey or a warm honey or a golden honey) backed up by the osmanthus. I suspect that the vanilla flower is contributing to the cool feel and I don't smell either the ginger or the musk, which would have warmed it up. I've discovered I'm not a big fan of osmanthus, unfortunately, and I'd like this better without that note. I'm very glad to have gotten a chance to sniff this though, because I'd always wanted to.

[TulaMontage]

In the imp this is a gentle blend of honey and vanilla flower. The important thing to note it's vanilla flower. It is a floral blend to my nose, which is really not what I expected or wanted

 

Wet, I have now realised that I amp honey to the max! It's a thick and glutonous blend of honey and blossoms. I don't know what osmanthus is... is it a floral? If so, it's making this just that little bit more headachey It smells slightly like spring blossoms, light and powdery.

 

Drying down this is just a big floral mess with a glaze of honey. No giner, no musk.... no beloved vanilla. I need to get this floral haze off me now!

[aquazoo]

Light to start. Too light. The honey and musk are coming through, slowly getting stronger. Not bad once it's allowed to bloom.

[Aredhel]

Rating (on skin): 5/5

Summarised in a few words/smilie: MUSK!

 

Preconceived notions/pre-review thoughts: I love all the listed notes, so how could it go wrong?

 

In the decant: Honey and a beautiful golden musk, with just a hint of something floral underneath.

 

On skin, wet: Vanilla musk and honey, again with a brief floral tinge. I adore this musk, and am hope-hope-hoping this doesn't change too drastically as it dries.

 

On skin, dry: Musk, musk, musk. Gorgeous, warm, slightly fuzzy, glorious musk, with just the slightest hint of honeyed vanilla. I? I am in love.

 

Conclusion: I've had a decant of this sitting around forever (well, for nearly three years now, since it was released in 2008), but have never gotten around to it. Now that I have, well... I need to find a bottle somewhere, ASAP.

[bpalscentsual]

... There was anything else other than osmanthus in this one?

 

What I got from this was a very strong, nearly soporific white flower tone. It was like gardenia-magnolia, but those two actually play nice on my skin, whereas this one was so HI I'M A FLORAL that I was headachey if I got too much of a whiff of it. I'm sorry to say that I didn't get anything else out of this, unless the golden musk is what's vamping the floral up and making it revolt on my skin.

 

Overall: This is The Osmanthus Show, and I'm not its number one fan, so off to sales it goes.

[orata]

...and off bpalscentsual's bottle went, to me, and I am so pleased with it! I wasn't impressed at first but the second time I tested it, I fell in love. It reminds me strongly of The Harp of Cnoc I'Chosgair in feel, even if they don't share any notes but vanilla--a creamy, golden vanilla-musky skin scent with just a touch of florals and greenness. The notes are well blended for me, although osmanthus is slightly more prominent in the mix. So good! I just love it.

[orata]

...and off bpalscentsual's bottle went, to me, and I am so pleased with it! I wasn't impressed at first but the second time I tested it, I fell in love. It reminds me strongly of The Harp of Cnoc I'Chosgair in feel, even if they don't share any notes but vanilla--a creamy, golden vanilla-musky skin scent with just a touch of florals and greenness. The notes are well blended for me, although osmanthus is slightly more prominent in the mix. So good! I just love it.

[orata]

...and off bpalscentsual's bottle went, to me, and I am so pleased with it! I wasn't impressed at first but the second time I tested it, I fell in love. It reminds me strongly of The Harp of Cnoc I'Chosgair in feel, even if they don't share any notes but vanilla--a creamy, golden vanilla-musky skin scent with just a touch of florals and greenness. The notes are well blended for me, although osmanthus is slightly more prominent in the mix. So good! I just love it.

[orata]

...and off bpalscentsual's bottle went, to me, and I am so pleased with it! I wasn't impressed at first but the second time I tested it, I fell in love. It reminds me strongly of The Harp of Cnoc I'Chosgair in feel, even if they don't share any notes but vanilla--a creamy, golden vanilla-musky skin scent with just a touch of florals and greenness. The notes are well blended for me, although osmanthus is slightly more prominent in the mix. So good! I just love it.

[orata]

...and off bpalscentsual's bottle went, to me, and I am so pleased with it! I wasn't impressed at first but the second time I tested it, I fell in love. It reminds me strongly of The Harp of Cnoc I'Chosgair in feel, even if they don't share any notes but vanilla--a creamy, golden vanilla-musky skin scent with just a touch of florals and greenness. The notes are well blended for me, although osmanthus is slightly more prominent in the mix. So good! I just love it.