Shanghai

[olympia301]

 

The crisp, clean scent of green tea touched with lemon verbena and honeysuckle.

 

I'm going to make someone very happy about my reaction to Shanghai because it is going into the swap pile!

 

It starts very beautifully, all lemon and tea. Afternoons of lazy summer and white lawn furniture. I loved it and thought I had found a lemon scent which would stay on me, because it did linger for hours and hours.

 

But...after it dried and the fixative was holding it together, it smelled like mildew on my skin! Gah! This is the first blend that I have ever washed off. I am convinced, like my ill-fated tango with Wilde, my chemistry detests whatever is keeping Shanghai going.

 

So...someone who loves it is going to be right happy to get one 5ml bottle and two imps I picked up in various places. This deserves a good home.

 

My answer to the lemon summer scent is Severin in a scent locket, and I am testing Kumiho right now.

[shelldoo]

this is almost all green tea, floating in the background is a light lemon floral but it stays in the background. if you are in to green tae you will want shanghai

[RainyDayGrey]

In the bottle: lemon, except not quite as sharp and acidic.

 

Wet: Mmmm, it smells like lemon tea.

 

Drydown: The honeysuckle comes up and mingles with the tea and lemon verbenna giving Shanghai a hint of femininity. It's a gorgeous summery blend.

 

Overall: This one reminds me strongly of, prepare to be shocked, Embalming fluid. I loved Embalming Fluid, but it came off kind of masculine on me (not that it stopped me from wearing it, but it did stop me from ordering a whole bottle). Shanghai is Embalming Fluids feminine counterpart (while still remaining fairly unisex). If you'd tried Embalmind Fluid and liked it, but found it a tad to manly, give Shanghai a try.

[Malista]

Shanghai

 

Another eBay purchase from Msthrope. I really, really wanted this one and didn’t want to wait for a Lab order.

 

I use a linen and body spray that is a blend of lemon verbena and honeysuckle. It’s very hard to find, and the company doesn’t sell direct. I love it dearly, as I never thought I would love anything with flowers in it, because it is light, fresh, a tiny bit smoky (which is what honeysuckle does on my skin), not too sweet, and perfect for hot weather and the office. I’ve been looking for similar scents because of the near-impossibility of locating the spray, and the difficulty in finding both verbena and honeysuckle essential oils (yes, I was willing to try to blend my own). I also love the scent of green tea, so I figured it wouldn’t detract from, and might even enhance, my favorite light scent blend.

 

This stays true on me all the way down from wet to fade. Lemon verbena, tea, and honeysuckle in that order of prominence. Not an exact match to my spray, but close enough to make me very happy. It’s a clean scent in the best possible meaning of the word, and the tea adds something mellow, warm, and refreshing to the mix. It lasts reasonably well – layered it might last all day without reapplication, but it’s light enough I feel I could reapply at the office without causing anyone distress. It has a light throw.

 

I have 5ML, am shortly going to order another 10ml bottle so I can make body lotion and body spray. I may also try adding a bit to a cocoa butter and shea butter hand cream I have, which is nearly scentless and works well on my hands after a drying day with the papers at the office. I’m nearly out of the verbena hand cream I also can’t get locally at the moment. I am a happy, happy girl!

[Aredhel]

Rating (on skin): 3/5

Summarised in a word or two: Tea!

 

In the imp/bottle: I had to check the label twice to make sure this wasn't another Phantasm; This is like thinner Phantasm, a bit heavier on the green tea.

 

On skin, wet: Weak, sweet green tea, *barely* there.

 

On skin, dry: This is gone in five minutes (less than, I think!). It's a very faint, light scent, and my skin seems to adore it enough to devour it!

 

Conclusion: This would be great for soap, or lotion.

Edited December 24, 2005 by Aredhel

[Blood onmy hands]

Green tea is the only thing that I will drink (besides water)... Shanghai prompted me to go and pour myself a glass. It smells very true to the description and very lovely. Like green tea with a fresh lemon squeezed over it. I can detect a very very faint hint of honeysuckle in the background after several minutes. I wish so much that this fragrance weren't so light. About 10 minutes after applying it, I can only smell it if I put my nose directly on my wrist and concentrate very hard, lol.

ETA: Both Embalming Fluid and Shanghai smell different to me circa 2016. This is really sharp and soapy (like generic white bar soap suds) and sour lemons. Lasts longer, but is unpleasant...

Edited June 14, 2016 by Little Bird

[quikslvr]

Looks like tea just doesn't agree with me: I find it too sharp. This is very clean, very bright, true green tea.

[k00kaburra]

In bottle: Green tea and lemon, with white floral elements. Clean and astringent. This fragrance has the makings of another summer staple.

On me: Faint on the skin, but true to the bottle. Simple yet profound.

[emmacrew]

Where did it go? I had this lovely, fresh, green tea with a hint of lemony goodness scent about me, and now after an hour it is completely gone. :-( I also didn't catch much of the honeysuckle, which is too bad, because it's a favorite scent of mine. It was a perfect hot summer day scent while it lasted, though.

[Aurelius]

Ahhhh....

This is lovely. Citrus and tea. Beautiful and calming. Perfect!

[Celogrl]

Oh, how lovely! This is a scent I never would have picked for myself, but boy, it is exquisite. I cannot detect the tea in it, but an explosion of light, airy florals hits my nose and keeps wafting around beautifully. It has amazing staying power and throw. It is a great hot day scent. I am glad I got this present and I may just acquire more!

[oceangirl]

In the imp: Very faint scent. Mostly tea, with a hint of lemon.

 

Wet: Still tea, but more lemon now.

 

Dry: Quite delicate. Mostly tea, but with a faint lemon undertone. No honeysuckle for me, but I think my skin conquers faint-hearted florals. However, it disappears fast. One, maybe two hours?

 

This scent's perfect for spring and summer. Especially for an outdoor event, where you don't want your scent to heighten with heat and kill everyone. Watch out for the fast rate of disappearance, though. I'm going to keep testing this one and see how long I can make it last. I may add it to a lotion to increase the staying power.

[OdetteOdile]

Shanghai

Pale, clean, pretty, watery lemon. The honeysuckle gives it a realy nice, sweet floral perfume base that keeps it from being washed out or cleaning product-ish.

This eventually turned into a really pretty floral with an edge that kept it far away from the insipidness of some sweet florals.

I like it - I might consider getting more for warm weather.

Another nice Spring fragrance - for a rainy Spring day.

[zankoku_zen]

In the Bottle: Smells clear and crisp and a bit astringent.

 

On Skin: I can smell the green tea. There is a bit of a lemony after sniff and I can catch whiffs of something floral and sweet, which must be the honeysuckle.

 

On Drydown: Still smells like tea. There is also something slightly spicier on me. It smells very Asian.

 

Verdict: I really enjoy this scent. It smells like tea. It's clean and refreshing. This definitely makes me think of Asia, with its green tea smell and its purity. I enjoy this scent. Alot. I think I have a new favorite.

[zenvodunista]

certain scents, my skin devours. Shanghai was one of those scents. to me, it smelled *just* like lemon verbena on my skin, a half hour later i could faintly smell tea, and then it was gone.

 

however, i was not about to let such a lovely scent out of my greedy paws so quick. i used a half of the imp on a cotton ball, stuck it in a silk sachet bag, and hung it from my car mirror. all day today, i was out cataloguing trees (i'm a landscape architect) at a site, and it rained terribly hard on and off, so i was in my car more than usual. and all day, my car was filled with the scent of tea and lemon. it smelled like the tea/lemon/honey mix my mother used to make me as a little girl when i was sick. comforting and refreshing at the same time.

 

if it stuck around on me longer, i would get a bottle. sadly, it doesn't. i'll most definitely use up my imp though, and should any more come my way, i'll find happy uses for them. i could imagine myself using this in lotions, and body scrubs, easily.

 

lovely!

 

n.

[komakino]

Initial Impression: Right after application, it smells very perfumey. A lot of citrus and a hint of grapefruit peel. I can’t say I smell the green tea though, and the honeysuckle is only a faint undertone.

 

After Wearing It: The smell changed very little, it continues being mostly lemon and citrus peel with an undertone I would identify as honeysuckle.

 

Final Impression: It’s a very nice citrusy and fresh smell, but I wish that the dreen tea note would come out more on my skin. I will definately wear it those days when you want a fresh and light scent.

[UltraViolet]

In the bottle

weird astringent orange

 

On

Exactly like dry fresh herby orange tea. "Shanghai" is more perfumey than one would think. Pretty and fresh.

 

30 minutes

It hasn't changed at all, still clean and orangey. If anything it's softer and that makes it even nicer in my opinion.

 

Throw:

average

 

Scent category:

fruity/herby

 

Summary

Nice orangey clean fresh blend.

 

Purchase again?

No. It's a nice one but there's so many nice orangey blends I like better. I tend to like them more resinous or candied peel type orange blends with spice but if you like clean fresh scents this might be what you're looking for.

 

1-5 rating (5 being best)

3.5

[pekeana]

Shanghai is definitely a sister to Embalming Fluid and Tarot: Justice. They're all three different aspects of the clean green tea happy notes.

 

Where Embalming Fluid is the youngest, garish sister, and Justice is the older, wiser sister, Shanghai is the quiet middle sister that likes to sneak off to the attic to read. She's sweeter than the other two, and much more subtle and close to the skin, but she's the one that cries when she drops her ice cream cone on the hot concrete, and she's the one that says "wear me!"

 

So, yeah.

 

MMMMMMMMMMMMM.

[quimerula]

Wet I get a lot of green tea over the other nothes, but the honeysuckle is there too.

Fesh and neat, I find it good but not too special.

[DarcyPennell]

Wet: like embalming fluid but sweeter. like kumiho but with less bite. LOVE it.

 

Drydown: the lemony scent lasts longer that other citrus blends, I guess because it’s verbena rather than actual citrus.

 

Lasting: disappeared fast. I spilled about 1/3 of an imp on myself (I normally apply bpal very lightly) and still I could barely smell it two hours later. I'm still going to buy a bottle, to make linen spray/lotion/anything I can think of for this wonderful scent.

 

Ranking: "love" (when I get my linen spray it will probably be upgraded to "yowza")

[AliBabble]

shanghai the smell somehow doesn't remind me enough of shanghai the city (not that i've actually ever been there). it smells better on skin than it does in the bottle, and i like it for a short while, but then the smell starts to be something i don't relate to. it is too sharp and crisp, and sweet in a way that reminds me...all i can think of is "suburbia". new cars and shopping malls. don't know why i have that association, but it reminds me of a suburban lady that just got her hair "done" and nails "done" and is wearing ugly jeweled high heels. it 's not a dreamy enough smell for me. but, as always, - glad to have tried it.

[QueenFae]

Oooh, very nice. An herbal, fresh, green/yellow scent. The green tea and honeysuckle are the top notes, with just a faint breath of lemon as an undertone. I really like this one, it's so crisp and refreshing, makes me think of drinking some lovely green tea in a just cleaned Japanese kitchen. Very nice, another beautiful smellie!

[Caltha]

Shanghai

 

I don't smell green tea, I smell black tea with lemon (fresh lemon, not lemon tea) and sugar, something like Dorian or White Rabbit without the milk. The lemon also smells a bit like some citrusy cleaning product in the beginning, but then it fades to a vague, fresh, mild and a little sweeter smell of tea with lemon. Very inoffensive and nice, yet not too boring because of the tea note.

Edited September 6, 2005 by Caltha

[eadavenp]

Shanghai smelled a lot like the adagio citrus green tea to me, which was quite nice. i really enjoyed how fresh and clean a scent this is, and i may have to get a big bottle. Another word that comes to mind when sniffing this perfume is "fresh"... maybe because it has comparable notes to my favorite "fresh lemon sugar". it is less sweet and more fresh, and the only downside is that it doesn't last very long at all.

 

I haven't decided if this is big bottle worthy yet, but its close... on the cusp, unless i find another lemon scent i prefer.

[lokelani]

To me this smells exactly like iced green tea with lemon, with flower petals floating on top. It's a perfect summertime scent.

Edited August 17, 2005 by lokelani