The Trappings of the Tea House

[Aviatrix]

White sandalwood, ti leaf, osmanthus, pink pepper, and white vanilla bark.

This is heavy on the tea and pink pepper! I don't get a lot of osmanthus. The sandalwood sits in the background and makes the scent a little more soft and dusty, although I wouldn't characterize this as powdery at all.

It is a very spring-like and fresh scent with a little kick from the pepper, and it would also work very well for summer, I think.

 

 

[dementia_divine]

In the bottle: Lots of pink pepper, tea, and sandalwood.

 

Wet: The pink pepper in this is very strong, followed by the ti leaf and sandalwood. There's more of a 'kick' to this than most scents I've tried featuring pink pepper (like High-Strung Daisies, Jiggery Pokery, and Some Strangeness in the Proportion). I'm not familiar with osmanthus, so I can't pick that note out, and I'm not getting any vanilla bark from this at the moment.

 

Wow, the pink pepper in this is strong. It tingled my skin for a really long time, and for once, left a slight red area on my arm (but not a huge red welt, like cinnamon). I have sensitive skin, but that's never happened to me with pink pepper before!

 

Dry: The pink pepper still reigns, but it is softer and sweeter now, like the pink pepper with which I'm familiar. The dusty, white sandalwood note is second in prominence. I'm reminded of Some Strangeness in the Proportion, only this is lighter (as there is no oudh), and I can smell more vanilla in that one.

 

Verdict: I am going to let this one settle for a bit. It's nice, but I don't know if it is different enough from Some Strangeness in the Proportion to warrant having both scents.

[Nyx_DevineNight]

In the bottle: … Lots of pink pepper.

Wet: This is a very strong pink pepper scent. I'm not getting the sandalwood or vanilla and I'm not too familiar with osmanthus or ti leaf, so not sure about those.

Dry: This is still very pink pepper on me. It seems to have only toned down just slightly, but has a little something else to it. It has to be either the ti leaf or osmanthus, or both. But I'm still not getting any vanilla or sandalwood. I actually really like this one though. It reminds me of something, but I cant figure it out.

[AmyO'Shields]

Beautiful! Light and springlike pink pepper, vanilla, sandalwood and what my nose says is a touch of white tea.

[sqwook]

First on: Yum! This is woodsy-cinnamony on me, kind of like a tea-house / spa version of the original cinnamony Hamadryad, or a lighter no-musk Oblivion.

 

Dry-down: The woodsy-cinnamony fades away, now skin-close light and soft-green.

Edited March 13, 2016 by sqwook

[roseus]

Oh this is so bright and fun!

 

In the imp: mostly pink pepper, rosy and wonderful.

 

On wet: buoyant, fresh, and green. Bright rosy pink pepper. The osmanthus is sweet and almost apricot like. Definitely getting a whiff of sweet vanilla action as well.

 

Dry: much the same wet, but with a powdery-sweet base of sandalwood.

 

This is so fresh and perfect for spring, and perfect to lift spirits on wet days cold days in the transition from winter!

[Haltija]

Definitely airy and refreshing.

 

Something about this is just addictive. To me it smells like spiced up vanilla tea with a touch of sandalwood and that sounds so simple, but it's so complex in the best way possible. Will be getting a bottle for sure (:

[alterosen]

Lovely! Like Haltija, I'm finding this addictive - my nose keeps returning to my wrist. This is the best possible combination of warmth (pink pepper, sandalwood, vanilla) & freshness (tea, osmanthus). A must try if you like pink pepper - this is reminding me a little of what I liked best about the discontinued Hermia, without the amber.

 

This has turned out to be my favorite of this year's Lupercalia & now I'm bottle-hunting!

[sunlitgarden]

In the decant: I'm mostly smelling a spicy/peppery sandalwood and something that smells almost verbena-like. Is that the ti leaf? I wasn't familiar with this note, but it is apparently a tropical plant from Hawaii, not related to tea.

On my skin: Very spicy right away and then some osmanthus emerges. I'm not getting the usual "apricot" smell from the osmanthus here, but it is adding a sweet floral note to the scent. I'm not really smelling a typical vanilla note in here but it does say vanilla bark and not pod/bean. I think it might be just giving the scent a sort of smoothness and sweetness as it dries down. It doesn't smell dry or dusty to me like sandalwood often can.

I got a bit of this on my upper lip while sniffing my wrist and the pepper burns!

It's surprisingly light on my skin. I like this but I don't think I need to keep more than a decant of it.

[freyasfae]

I was wondering what was lurking in the background that I didn't like and sqwook identified it - there's a cinnamony touch that I just don't like on my skin. It is subtle, but I really don't like cinnamon so it kind of ruins the rest for me. If you don't mind a touch of cinnamon, this is a very pink pepper forward scent with a touch of teaness and dusty sandalwood. The osmanthus wasn't distinct on me.

[zankoku_zen]

Pink pepper, tea and white sandalwood. This one is a soft, almost cozy blend. Definitely smells clean and Asian. Low throw and almost no wearlength on me.

[unxolve]

Wet: So fruity tea! Smells like a little of the sourness of iced tea + sweet pea, with a small melony cucumber green and pretty flower something in the back. Kind of a punchy teenage summer scent, pretty strong and with a lot of kick. I like it, but maybe a bit juvenile for me.

 

Dry: Only a soft zing now, which is nicer! I think the vanilla/sandalwood are starting to come through. MUCH MORE GROWN UP. A subtle bright, intriguingly sour smell!

[theseagrows]

i wanted to try this because of the osmanthus! i am still looking for osmanthus blends that smell amazing on me. we shall see. at first i get tea then some white sandalwood. i think the pink pepper and vanilla comes next. a hint of osmanthus comes through and the pink pepper gets stronger too. it ends up primarily a pink pepper vanilla-tea scent on me. very light and pretty and great for spring.

[annemathematics]

This smells like a whisper of soft cinnamon gum breath on a summer day with lots of breezes rattling the greenery outside.

 

I haven't smelled jailbait or Courtney, which I imagine to be all out pink gum, but this seems like a fun compliment to that idea. Light and slightly sophisticated, but still carefree and youthful.

[Blood onmy hands]

The pink pepper smells sweet on me, kind of like pink bubblegum and cinnamon, mixed with powdery sandalwood and perfumey, dry, floral osmanthus. A very dry, spicy scent. I actually don't get much of a tea impression from it.

[LizziesLuck]

Lately I have been obsessed with pink pepper.

 

Wet: The pink pepper is really spicy! Almost like sweet cinnamon. Kind of like cinnamon hot hearts, actually. Hoping it settles down. I get hints of lovely sandalwood - wishing that would come out more to balance things.

 

 

 

Dry: Even dry, my nose still wants to read this as cinnamon. When I really analyse what I am smelling, I can tell that it isn't actually cinnamon. But close enough to be confusing. This is not quite what I was hoping for, but it's lovely. Reminds me a bit of Pepper from the GC, I think? Has some floral/fruity vibes going on with the spice. If you like spicy sort of floriental smells, I bet you would like this. I am glad to have tried it, but it's not quite for me.

[Lucchesa]

Trappings of the Tea House smells exactly how I imagined it would. No cinnamon, just quiet tea, sandalwood, a little vanilla. I seem to be anosmic to the pink pepper note, so I didn't expect much of that. Unfortunately, tea is one of those notes my greedy, greedy skin eats right up, so many Shungas do not last well on me, and this is no exception. It's lovely while it lasts, though!