Tanuki No Yudachi

[Lycanthrope]

Seeking shelter from an evening rainstorm.

Lilium speciosum, rice wine, white grapefruit, lotus root, bourbon vanilla, and vanilla orchid.

Wet and bottle, grapefruit, grapefruit, grapefruit, rinds, and even the pulp, smash a pip between your fingers, grapefruit. Given time to calm down, the grapefruit segues and mixes with the topnote of the lily, which is a heady, casablanca type, reminds me of LUSH's Lily Savon/Ghost, touch of dry from the wine, dry burnt sugar, and then the other supporting agents are probably there but very quietly in the background.

Citrus Lily, with good throw. Fairly complex.

[ami226]

Definitely a lovely scent. I get loads of grapefruit with a bit of sweet florals and another sweetness underneath (vanilla?). This is a fruity/tart grapefruit that really stands out!

 

Really, the grapefruit takes over the entire blend. Tart fruit with tiny hints of sweet florals.

 

Not for me, but definitely an interesting blend.

[hlemonds]

On intial test I like this very much. The citrus is lost very quickly on my skin, leaving a soft lily, lotus root, and vanilla orchid scent. It actually has very good throw for the tiny amount I tested. I'm wondering if the citrus might stick around a bit more with a more generous application. We shall see. I like this very much as a spring scent. Lily is one of the florals that tends to work nicely on me, it seems to be the waxy sorts of flowers that cooperate on my skin. And of course vanilla orchid and bourbon vanilla are win, although I'm not getting a strong vanilla vibe here. That may, again, be due to the small amount applied. It may also need a bit of age for the vanilla to begin to shine.

[FoxipherJones]

I can definitely smell the rice wine and grapefruit in the bottle, and a few other distinct notes. On me, it smells wet, juicy, and fruity first, floral second. The floral is fading pretty quickly, leaving wet and grapefruit behind, with a dusty floral note in the end of each sniff which is fading. I smell like I've just stepped out of the shower after using grapefruit shampoo. It seems to be fading to vanilla and lotus with a trace of tang to it. It's not a lickingly sexy scent, and I like it, but 15 minutes later, my skin appears to have utterly eaten it with barely a trace. Sad.

[HerbGirl]

I just got a testable sniffie of this from the wonderful Meaganola (thank you!!!)

 

I LOVE this! I thought it would be transparent like Loosening the Obi (which I wanted to love but could barely even detect...) but this actually has some strength and a bit of throw!

 

I get the Lily, Rice Wine, orchid and a touch of Grapefruit but this doesn't go cloyingly sweet on me (lotus root sometimes does) and it is beautiful. I will have to avoid looking at the picture though...yikes! I am hopeful that the vanilla will deepen/become more present with aging...but even right now this is gorgeous. 9/10

 

ETA: this is a love child of Hungry Ghost Moon '06 and Loosening of the Obi.

[Gwydion]

In bottle: lily dominant. It’s a rich unusual lily, with grapefruit, lotus, and orchid providing strong cleverly designed support. The rice wine is understated. The bourbon vanilla blends well with the orchid in particular, but smoothes things out and ties them together, like paper around a bouquet. Wet: More grapefruit than in the bottle, still doing gorgeous things with that Japanese lily. Orchid is still providing lovely support. Lotu is more understated on the skin. The balance is different, but it’s still absolutely stunning and possibly even better than in the bottle. Dry: The florals and the vanilla have the most staying power, which turns out to be lushly gorgeous .with lotus in support.

[angelamaria]

In decant: huh, boozy? Definitely rice wine, and a rather spicy floral. I'm not quite sure what I'm smelling, to be honest. I looked up what "lilium speciosum" is, and it's Japanese lily, but this is not like any lily I've smelled so far (and I like lilies, for the most part). It's not grapefruit, definitely not vanilla or vanilla orchid. It doesn't fit lotus root either. It's just...unplace-able.

 

Wet on skin: yes, definitely a huge splash of rice wine there. A hint of grapefruit, and a spicy tone--almost clove-like, but I have no idea where these darn spices are coming from. The floral is spicy and almost pungent. If it's really a mix of all these components, well, whoa there, this is really, really well blended.

 

Dry: the vanilla has come out, but this spicy/boozy floral is just really bothering me a bit, because while it seems like it could be the seamless mix of components, it's just...very different. The grapefruit is very understated and is a light note, but the ric wine kind of drowns it out. It's not a "heavy" blend, but it has some weight to it, a kind of lazy lethargic kind of weight, if that makes any sense. Aside from the rice wine, all the other notes are just hints and whiffs, fleeting and quickly gone: vanilla, lily, grapefruit. All dry, this is a decidedly masculine blend for me, slightly musky.

 

Verdict: I did have high hopes for this blend, but I guess the rice wine just couldn't let me have it. A bit of a shame, really--Loosening of the Obi has rice wine and vanilla bean and I love that--but this is a heavy, aged rice wine, methinks.

[countessmouse]

I've decided that this one just needs to age. I got a tiny bit of sweet citrus with the lily, but none of the vanilla. And it had no staying power whatsoever. Horribly disappointing.

 

This one is going back in the box with the intention of trying it in about 6 months.

[stellamaris]

I don't like this one, surprisingly. It smells very high pitched, and I really think grapefruit is not my friend. I like the idea of grapefruit but not the reality.

[orata]

This is very similar to Hungry Ghost Moon 2006, so I did a side-by-side comparison of them. They are most alike when wet, a mixture of fresh, tangy grapefruit and sweet rice wine; however, Tanuki no Yudachi is much more citrussy and sharper than HGM--almost fizzy. Dry, they diverge more--the drydown of Tanuki no Yudachi still has a bitter grapefruit peel tang, undertones of lily, and a clean, freshly-washed skin vibe, while HGM has a weirdly strong, sweet buttercream vanilla note to it in comparison that I think is a mixture of the ginger candy and smoky vanilla.

 

This is a very pretty scent, quite light and clean in the drydown. I'm considering a bottle and getting rid of my HGM because I think I like it better than HGM, but I might need to deathmatch them again to decide. It's also possible that with aging they will become more similar (the citrus oil fading and the vanilla coming out).

[Incendiare]

In the imp, my nose automatically honed in on the lily, but just a few seconds later, the grapefruit tried to push aside the lily. Wet, the grapefruit is even more pronounced. The fresh lilies are in the background now. The two notes are actually quite harmonious. After five minutes or so, the lily has taken the throne once again, and now the grapefruit is rather muted. No vanilla whatsoever. But on the dry down, I find that the lotus is now palpable and supports the lily. It's a very pretty blend, but bottle-worthy for me.

[milo]

Lot's of white grapefruit at first, really quite refreshing. Dry, a bit more musky, but the grapefruit is holding it's own. This ends up being rather perfumey and slightly citrussy, like one of the refreshing body sprays, which I'm not too keen on, though this is nicer. More morphing a bit later, and I'm getting more vanilla which adds a bit of warmth as the citrus steps back. Lot's of changes in this blend, and though the wet stage is amazing and the end result is quite nice, I don't think I need more than my decant.

[Little Bird]

Lavanila's Vanilla Grapefruit has been one of my favorite scents lately, and I do enjoy lily scents, so I was excited to try this one. But this isn't really sweet enough on me (I don't get the vanilla at all) and turns a little too sharp and perfumey for my tastes. There's an edge of cool, clean creaminess from the rice wine, but mostly this is a sharp, tart grapefruit with perfumey floral. I prefer Cheshire Cat for a sweet bpal grapefruit.

Starts off strong on my skin, but fades a lot after the half hour mark, and I can barely smell anything at all after an hour.

[mimosa]

Rice wine is predominant when I open the vial, I not getting any citrus yet. I really like this at first sniff, it reminds me of two of my favourites; Loosening of the Obi and the original Hungry Ghost Moon. As it dries the Lily and Grapefruit appear,blending with the Rice wine to give a pretty, light, soft scent which fades quickly.

[Monday]

On my skin wet: Very tart citrus. It's a rather light scent the lilies are right behind the citrus making it smell like dishwashing soap.

On my skin dry: It almost disappeared already. I don't get any vanilla at all or booze for that matter. They would help the scent to stick around.

This is a nice but rather unassuming scent. Far too light for me to buy a bottle of.

[theseagrows]

damn, i was hoping for a bunch of vanilla and vanilla orchid in this, but it's a little more cloying and fruity on me. i think it's pretty much all rice wine and grapefruit. it's a very cheerful, sweet, youthful scent, which totally isn't what i'm usually into so basically it's a citrussy fruity-floral. not really my thing, so i'll have to pass this one on!

 

 

[zankoku_zen]

On wet, I get a hit of grapefruit and rice wine, with muted lilies. As it dries, it's definitely a lily blend - but much more delicate and ethereal, with a hint of vanilla.

 

This is a delicate, feminine blend. It is evocatively Asian, and it reminds me to some of the more ethereal Asian Salons like Spirit of the Komachi Tree. Very lovely.

[mymymai]

ITI: It's soft and gentle like the rain, but I can also pick up on the playful rice wine and bourbon vanilla notes.

 

Wet: Grapefruit, rice wine, and subtle vanilla orchid make this a delightfully playful choice. This does remind me a bit of my beloved Fresh's Sake scent from the Memories of a Geisha collection. It figures that this one would be limited edition as well.

 

Dry: Rice wine and grapefruit, primarily. It's wonderful and I'm pleased to have found something with a rice wine note that works so well on my skin.

[Alethia]

Thoughts before testing: I hate the way grapefruit tastes, so I can't imagine that I'll like the way it smells in perfume form. Everything else here (minus the rice wine, which I've never smelled before) is a winner though, so maybe the combined other notes will overpower the grapefruit? One can hope

 

Wet: GRAPEFRUIT!!! Complete with spotlight and confetti and jazz hands. And shockingly, I like the way it smells! It's sweet and citrusy and quite pretty.

 

Dry down: Boozy grapefruit with a hefty splash of vanilla. The grapefruit isn't sharp or pithy, it's just fresh and clean. The rice wine is also surprisingly nice; most of the booze notes turn to vomit on my skin, but this is fresh and slightly boozy without being overpowering. Lovely.

 

Dry: Clean, fresh rice wine and vanilla with a whisper of grapefruit.

 

Final thoughts: This didn't last terribly long on my skin (around 4 hours), but it was shockingly pretty on my skin and so don't mind reapplying.

 

Verdict: Keeping, and on the lookout for more grapefruit perfumes!