Courtesans Relaxing

[Jenjin]

Rice milk, cardamom, coconut shavings, hinoki, white almond, ti leaf, and jasmine cream.

[theredkilt]

This is a very dainty, refined and floral clean scent. I get the unsweetened coconut and the jasmine. The rice milk and almond give off this powdery cloudy base. Not sure where cardamom and ti leaf are. I expected more oomph from these Courtesans, a bit more subdued debauchery. As it is, it feels more like Courtesans relaxing and applying make up.

[becca_s]

On me this starts out with the almond leading the way but it quickly fades and the rice milk, coconut and Jasmine cream become the dominant notes with hints of cardamom and hinoki. After the it's initial appearance I can no longer detect any almond. The rice milk note is particularly pretty and it adds a milky sweetness to the scent. The jasmine is well balanced by the coconut and rice milk and doesn't become high pitched here. Its more of a creamy note with hints of jasmine rather than straight up Jasmine. I've been wearing this one for the last couple of days and I'm really enjoying it. It's very wearable but also unique because I don't think I have anything similar in my bpal collection. It's light, milky and summery, it's also subtlety tropical with the rice milk, coconut and jasmine cream.  I think this will be a go to for me over the summer months. 

Edited April 3 by becca_s

[coilymoe]

Overall, it feels calm and collected, smooth and creamy, but not like rice milk or really any milk, unless it's rice powder stirred in water so it looks like milk. A little bit powdery and very slightly sweet, possibly from the jasmine but more likely from the coconut. The coconut and almond comes thru strongest and stays the longest, chilled and composed like Nui Cobalt's Snow Cat (not as brisk as Snowy Owl). 

[Fancyfetus]

A pink toned rice powder bath, with fresh jasmine flowers floating placidly on top. The almond is very present as well - maybe an expensive almond extract soap. I think the bath is cold, but it feels soothing instead of uncomfortable.

 

The coconut doesn't reach me immediately, but as this wears it mingles with the warmth of my skin and brings that chilled bath up to temperature. Something about the coconut makes the scent incredibly addictive. Just the perfect amount of fatty, unsweetened coconut flesh to balance out the sweetness of the almond and jasmine, along with the powder puff of rice. 

 

This wears for 4-5 hours, and keeps getting better for the first few of those. Truly a favorite.

[theseagrows]

this opens with rice milk, cardamom and almond. it's very pretty and creamy. after awhile i get the other notes but they are very subtle at first. after being on the skin awhile, the jasmine blooms a lot more and becomes more dominant. it's not an indolic jasmine, but leans a tiny bit soapy. the jasmine (and perfume as a whole) gets better and better the longer it's on skin. this one is very pretty!

Edited April 24 by theseagrows

[doomsday_disco]

I have tested this one twice because I wasn't able to review it last week and wanted to retest it so I could be more accurate in my review.

 

This is unexpectedly smoky in the beginning. Maybe it's the cardamom combining with the hinoki? But I've never experienced that with other perfumes containing hinoki, and if it's the cardamom, it's not the one usually used by the Lab, either (although I do think it could be the same one from Chestnut Vulva adding a light smokiness to the chestnut note... but the smokiness is stronger here). I get the almond along with the smoke and wood notes, but it quickly fades away. Then the jasmine emerges. It's not an indolic variety, but it is heady, and this does become somewhat high-pitched on me when the jasmine becomes friends with the white tea, making this too perfume-y for me. There's a cool creaminess throughout wear from the rice milk, and perhaps the coconut is contributing to that cool creaminess too, but it wasn't as distinct on me as the other notes.

 

None of the phases of this scent jived with me, so I'll be destashing my decant. I seem to be the only one who got any smokiness from this, so perhaps it's just a skin chemistry fail.

[sudenmorsian]

I agree with @doomsday_disco. At first I was hit by the weird, sharp, woody smokiness that I did not expect after reading earlier reviews. It felt like I had completely different perfume than others as I did not find it calm, soothing or tropical. 

 

I was thinking the smokiness must be the hinoki but to be honest I have no clue. Woodiness is strong when wet, but after an hour calms down a bit, when I can get the coconut and almond and after a while the jasmine too. I was hoping more cardamom, actually I cannot find it at all.

 

This is something completely different that I was expecting, but let's see what happens with time and aging. I received my bottle two days ago so it might still be a little shocked from the journey.

 

E: okay it's been almost a week and this has morphed a lot. Now this is much more pleasant and the smokiness has faded a lot but still being there. I'm gonna let it rest for a couple of weeks or more and review again. 

Edited May 2 by sudenmorsian

[samanare]

Cozy jasmine. The jasmine is by far the strongest on me. I can pick out the foodie notes, largely the rice milk and coconut, but the others aren't coming through for me. Though this is not an especially foodie scent on me, the rice milk brings a fuzziness to the scent and the coconut adds a sweetness to the jasmine. It brings to mind a cozy sweater, scented with a strong, but sweet jasmine perfume, and just a hint of coconut.

[roseus]

In the imp I get a big hit of almond (the kind that sometimes goes cherryish on me) and coconut with a bit of heady jasmine in the mix. Wet it goes very sharp, something about the hinoki is not playing well with the almond on my skin. As it dries the almond takes over, sharp and more like cherry cough syrup than nutty. Eventually the cherry cough syrup vibe gives way to a nutty jasmine and coconut cream, but the wet stage is a bit much for me.

Edited June 13 by roseus

[sudenmorsian]

On 4/26/2024 at 11:36 PM, sudenmorsian said:

I agree with @doomsday_disco. At first I was hit by the weird, sharp, woody smokiness that I did not expect after reading earlier reviews. It felt like I had completely different perfume than others as I did not find it calm, soothing or tropical. 

 

I was thinking the smokiness must be the hinoki but to be honest I have no clue. Woodiness is strong when wet, but after an hour calms down a bit, when I can get the coconut and almond and after a while the jasmine too. I was hoping more cardamom, actually I cannot find it at all.

 

This is something completely different that I was expecting, but let's see what happens with time and aging. I received my bottle two days ago so it might still be a little shocked from the journey.

 

E: okay it's been almost a week and this has morphed a lot. Now this is much more pleasant and the smokiness has faded a lot but still being there. I'm gonna let it rest for a couple of weeks or more and review again. 

After couple of months I'm ready to rewrite my earlier review. The perfume has developed significantly and now it's quite pleasant, beautiful and calming. Much more softer than earlier. 

 

At first, when wet on skin, there's still a hint of woody-like smokiness but it has calmed remarkably. Now it reminds me a Finnish sauna! And it feels relaxing and nice. So the courtesans are definitely relaxing in a bathhouse and there's some kind of sauna, too. Coconut and almond are dominant while drying and about an hour after that. After that cardamom and jasmine cream comes forward staying subtle.

 

After all this is now very soothing. Never underestimate the power of aging your perfume oils.