Teahouse on Nakanocho in Yoshiwara Hair Gloss

[Seajewel]

Green tea, pink grapefruit, white amber, and Italian bergamot.

[crystaltongue]

This was my first hair gloss, so I really wasn't sure what to expect. It turned out to not be moisturizing enough to use in place of my normal hair oil, and so had to be layered with it. Since my normal hair oil has a slight fragrance, that may impact how this smells on me, so my experience should be taken with a grain of salt.

 

In general, this reads as a hair gloss version of Shanghai. The green tea is definitely the dominant note, and the combination of that and citrus gives it a clean, slightly soapy smell. I described Shanghai as expensive hotel soap (complementary) - that is true of Teahouse on Nakanocho in Yoshiwara as well. The scent js definitely still detectable in my hair 12 hours after application (applied to wet, clean hair) but doesn't have much throw - exactly what I want in a hair product. Overall, I am well pleased.

 

EDIT: put some on again today, on dry hair, and WOW that makes a difference. Way more of the amber comes through this way. It is notably harder to spread evenly through my hair when hair is dry, but the scent is much more complex and interesting this way, and it soothes my frizz some, so definitely warrants further experiments.

Edited March 6, 2023 by crystaltongue

[Weirdgirlpilled]

WOOOOOF amber!!!! I absolutely agree with crystaltongue! Very expensive and yummy smelling. I'm a sweet/ heady scent lover, and this is neither, but  I ADORE it. I feel like I just went to an expensive spa in vegas and got a facial and now I'm wandering around. I do wish I got more green tea and bergamot, but also I've only been wearing it for thirty minutes and I used it in my damp hair, and hair glosses usually morph a bit. I cannot wait to experiment more with this one 

[doomsday_disco]

I tested this over the weekend, applying it to wet hair one day, and dry hair the next.

 

I would say this is primarily a green tea hair gloss infused with some citrus (more grapefruit than bergamot!) and a bit of perfume-y white amber. I do think you have to like some citrus in order to be able to enjoy this, but the grapefruit in this, while present and longer-lasting than some other citrus notes, is not as strong as I was hoping it would be (even though it is the second strongest note after the green tea). I actually did pair this with Shanghai the second day that I tried this, and they went really well together since they share the same green tea note and both feature citrus; in fact, I may start pairing that scent with this hair gloss now instead of Informal Tea (Green tea, white sandalwood, and white amber), which is very similar to this, but if you replaced the sandalwood with pink grapefruit.

 

As far as the throw/longevity goes: The scent did not disappear when applied to wet hair like some hair glosses do. I could smell this whenever I lifted my hair to my nose for several hours throughout both days, but I could not smell it without directly smelling my hair. Then again, maybe that would be different if I had gone for a walk on a windy day, or if I hadn't decided to season a brand new wok this weekend to make J. Kenji Lopez-Alt's bibimbap recipe. (My apartment still smells like smoke from seasoning the wok. Halp.)

 

So while my grapefruit-loving self wanted this to be more unabashedly grapefruit, I still enjoy this as I'm also a green tea fan, but I'll be more likely to pair this with green tea scents than citrus ones.

[torikitty]

I completely agree with @doomsday_disco. Was expecting and experienced the same thing. The green tea might be too "perfumey" for me, but will smell really pretty on the right person.

[zankoku_zen]

HUGE throw, this is like a floral salon shampoo with notes of green tea. It smells gorgeous, expensive, and yes, this is what courtesan hair smells like. Clean, floral, and expensive.

[samanare]

Almost a green tea single note for me. I can smell the white amber, but I'd describe it more as a white/silver musk. Any citrus gets eaten up by the green tea. It's pleasant, but a little too heady for my taste. I was also hoping for more citrus.

[roseus]

Gorgeous sparkling citrus and green tea. The white amber rounds it out with out weighing down the floatiness of the the grapefruit and tea. Agree it's expensive smelling.