Lovers in a Ricefield

[zankoku_zen]

Plum blossom, vanilla sandalwood, nutmeg, and wild rice.

This one was very much plum and vanilla sandalwood. And definitely dries down to almost just vanilla sandalwood and nutmeg. The nutmeg is very prominent and probably what makes everyone at home think 'potpourri'.

It's very pretty on the drydown, but kinda generic.

[jiggahava]

Sniffing this, I think it is a perfect scent for a spring wedding. It's soft, pretty and slightly sensual, but not overtly sexy. Nothing that would upstage the bride. :-D

 

I mostly get soft plum blossom and vanilla. It's a soft, mildly sweet scent. No trace of nutmeg at all, however. So if you're looking for nutmeg, you're not going to get it! Throw is very weak, but this is meant to be a skin scent, like many of the Shungas. A more intimate scent. I'm very happy that I bought a bottle of this. Long wearlength as well, although it does peter out after 8 hours.

[oneiromantics]

On me, this is creamy plum candies wrapped in edible rice paper. While I would definitely eat candies like that, I don't think I want to smell like them. It's way too sweet for me to want to wear often, although I can picture it working beautifully on someone else. Ah well.

[Sarri]

First on this is all creamy rice milk with a little bit of fruit - it's quite pretty but a little bit generic hair conditioner scent!

 

As it dries it becomes a bit fresher and fruitier with a very slight hint of the spice from the nutmeg. The underlying creamy rice scent remains and reminds me of something else, Castitas bath oil from the Trading Post. These scents are cousins, not twins but I think they might be very pretty layered together.

[Brianne]

This goes on like rice pudding with plum. The longer this sits on me, the woodier it becomes - it's very plummy though - not plum blossom, but plum. Rich and purpley in tone, backed by sandalwood and the clean, perfumey scent of rice.

 

This is really nice - I think it's a sort of "grown up" scent, the kind of scent a woman would wear. It does remind me a great deal of Bordello, but if Bordello was woodier and not quite as sweet.

[savage_rose]

At first this smells like "BPAL"...I can't describe it, but it's just this quality of lovely, intricate, mysterious, dark perfumery. I love it, and "Ooh" to myself. But it dries, and the plum becomes this horrible shrill sweet smell. Remember Mojo Jojo's girlfriend from the Meet the Beat-Alls episode, the one who was modeled after Yoko Ono and kept shrieking like nails on a blackboard? That's this scent on me. It's giving me a headache, and I hate that it's not working on me.

[Dracoo9]

This is so deliciously yummy! The plum sticks out a lot, making a fruity sweetness then the other scents rise up and even it out. This is defenently a favorite of mine from this years shungas. I can get the faint nutmeg and sandalwood but I'm having dificulty finding vanilla. Either way this is a very nice scent if your a fruity fan. Its not to fruity to be considered foody but its a tad sweet.

[msbcozad]

Lovers in a Ricefield

 

This oil is nearly all plum with a hint of pear when it's wet on my skin. After an hour, the pear is gone and the pear is fading while the vanilla sandalwood rises to the top. I agree that the rice note is more rice milk than wild rice.

 

It's very, very pretty but it's not a me scent.

[femmefatale]

This is a very pretty creamy plum scent. I'm not getting much of the other notes. Perhaps just a touch of sandalwood.

This isn't as strong on the vanilla as I expected and I was hoping for a bit more nutmeg, but it's a very pretty scent and would be lovely this spring. I'm not sure I would get a full bottle because it's a bit girly (this strikes me as a very youthful scent), but I am definitely keeping my decant and wouldn't say no to a partial bottle.

[fairnymph]

In the bottle: Nearly colourless extremely pale yellow oil. Sweet, fruity (plum!), warm and a bit creamy, with hints of spice and wood.

 

Wet: Sweeter, but also richer, darker - dark fruit added to the plum blossom. Vanilla and the nutty wild rice come out too, providing that creamy feel. Nutmeg light.

 

Dry: Vanilla has amped up greatly, sweetening the blend further, and the nutmeg has more bite now, too. The sandalwood is very light - maybe red sandalwood? - more warm than dry.

 

Later: This reminds me of Morocco - a very similar feel, though this has more distinct notes, and obviously the rich and fruity plum. So maybe throw in a dash of Kitsune-Tsuki, bc I detect musk too.

 

Summary: Deep, juicy plum with lighter blossom notes, softly spicy nutmeg, warm red sandalwood, nutty wild rice, rich, sweetly creamy vanilla, and some sexy musk. Sophisticated, feminine. Decent throw, but fades quickly.

 

Not my thing, but surprisingly yummy. This is my pick for most popular Shunga.

 

 

[hellomoonglow]

With each sniff of my forearm I get the distinct scents of rice, plum, vanilla and spice. And that's very nice, but I'm not so sure this is well suited for me to wear. Maybe to scent the room in a tart burner, though.

[AEris]

Gorgeous!!!

 

A lovely sweet floral. The plum blossom reminds me of a sweet gardenia note. I am enjoying every breath of this fragrance. Love!

 

Try this if you like: Tamamo-no-Mae, Marae, Mad Kate

[AnArtfuldodger]

This was actually the blend that I initially thought, upon reading the notes, I would adore.

 

I got a decant, and eagerly tried a bit.

 

You're not gonna believe it, but of all things, this went to a weird parmesan cheese smell on my wrist. I have no idea why!

 

*sigh*

[VioletChaos]

in the bottle: totally STUNNING vanilla/sandalwood combination.

 

wet on skin: plum rises to dominate at this stage.

 

dry down: a light sandalwood, with notes of vanilla and plum, and sweet ricemilk poured over the whole affair. wonderful.

 

in all: a close to the skin scent without a lot of thrown, this is a really special scent, the kind that will ensure i sniff myself all day long, and also ensure anyone close by will be pulled in for a closer sniff as well

[puck_nc]

Origin: decant from eviltemptressdq's circle

 

Initial Thoughts: Sandalwood often amps on me, but perhaps the vanilla will make it behave.

 

In the Vial: Very light and airy. I think I'm getting all wild rice with a dash of nutmeg and maybe a bit of plum blossom.

 

Wet: Still very light and airy without any ozone, with the thread of nutmeg giving it a delicate spice.

 

Drydown: Oh, this is interesting. The vanilla and sandalwood are coming out and grounding everything and now I can get whiffs of the plum blossom. The nutmeg is still there with its very light touch.

 

Verdict: This might just be a bottle coming my way...

[filigree_shadow]

Why oh why can't this be stronger??

 

I LOVE the scent of this. It smells like a sweet, delicate, soft rice milk on me. The plum blossom with it is absolutely great -- just gives a slightly feminine quality to the softness of the scent. But I can only smell it when my nose is three inches from my skin! I put some oil on, loved it, and then put more oil on, and it's still so faint that I can't smell it at all from a distance.

 

I like it so much that I'm willing to wear it as a "skin scent" perfume, but it would be a serious favorite if it were stronger.

[WidgetAlley]

There must at least be a few notes in common across the Shungas, because the two I've tried smell very similar out of the bottle... there's a perfumey, airy quality to them that's hard to describe. It's almost a space or a pause in the scent, where I'm *not* smelling something as opposed to smelling it. Almost as if they're sort of... thin... at first. Does anyone else get that? Anyway.

 

<b>Bottle:</b> Plum candy, soft grainy rice and a hint of spice. It smells a lot like plum jam and horchata (a Latin American rice/milk/cinnamon drink) to me, and that's totally cool. It's sweet and kinda foody but still smells like perfume.

 

<b>Wet:</b> Sweet sticky plums, rice, vanilla and sandalwood. It smells like a delectable dessert of some kind, maybe rice pudding with kirsch? The perfume quality gives it a little bite, makes it smell a bit alcoholic. It's got a lightness, sort of a sharpness to it, that I associate with all the Lab's "Asian" blends. It makes it all kinda high-pitched. Strong throw, too.

 

<b>Dry:</b> This dries down to a sweet plum with touches of nutmeg and vanilla. It's very pretty but, as someone else said, kind of generic. I am going to put this bottle in my cellaring box because I think aging is going to make this much more complex, deeper, and more interesting.

 

<b>Edit:</b> Just want to say that, after a week or two of cellaring, the plum on this one dies down a bit and the vanilla sandalwood, nutmeg and rice come out much more. It goes from an ALL FRUIT ALL THE TIME blend to a sweet, creamy, inviting scent with touches of ripe plum. Just gorgeous-- playful and sexy. Unfortunately, there's definitely a note in here that gives me a major headache. Swaps.

Edited October 7, 2011 by WidgetAlley

[EdenIris]

I'd often read of the dreaded plastic smell but had never encountered it. Until now.

 

Imp: Vanilla? No, rice pudding.

 

Wet: Yick! Plastic!

 

Drying: Now I'm getting plum, but more of a candy plum than a natural fruit scent. It's not bad, really, but not exactly how I'd like to smell. Also, I think the nutmeg is giving me a headache.

 

Later: Nutty rice with something soft that is probably the sandalwood and vanilla mingling. Again, not bad, but I'm not in love. Headache still lingering.

 

So it seems that Lovers in a Ricefield and I are chemically incompatible, which means that someone on the swap board will score my imp.

[awesomeoverlord]

Imp: Wow...this is fruity! Really bright and juicy and fruity -- if it's plum, it's very very fresh plum. Not getting much else at this point.

 

Wet: The fruity backs off a tiny bit and I'm getting some of the "potpourri" element, which, I'll hate to agree with zankoku_zen, is probably the nutmeg talking. Still very bright and fruity from the plum but the softness of the vanilla starts to come out a bit more -- if the sandalwood is there, it's very light -- and I'm getting a creamyness, which I'm going to ascribe to the wild rice.

 

Dry: This really reminds me of Lady Una. It's not really that they smell alike, but this has the same "sweet skin" type feel to it once it dries down, except with plum instead of blackberry. It's a lovely creamy light scent. Too light, actually. Like all the Shungas I've tried, I really wish this would last longer.

 

Verdict: There may be a bottle in my future -- I really like how soft this is -- I'll have to slather it on a few times and see how long it lasts. As long as I don't let anyone smell me during that initial holycrap!FRUIT phase, I think I can really pull this off.

[forspecial_plate]

I really love this, and it totally doesn't match my personality (or gender, really...), but I just love the way it smells on my skin. The first day I tried it, it was less foody and almost hair product, like conditioner or something. But since then, it is always light, creamy plum blossom, pretty much as others have described. It's like some fabulous, creamy plum dessert. Just light and fruity and yum! I agree that it doesn't have a lot of throw. When it has dried on my skin, after a while, it deepens and becomes something like plum tea or maybe even plum wine (is there such a thing? there must be...).

 

I also agree that there's something Underpants-y about this scent, although I couldn't describe exactly how. And if you like Tamamo-No-Mae, you may also like this, although they are different. But this is just great, my favorite so far of the whole Lupercalia update. Oh and I wanted to add, this reminds me very much of one of the 4 Fat Cats wax tarts, but I can't remember which one. Maybe White Plum Chutney? That would make sense. Or maybe Basmati Rice. Anyway, it brings back good memories and I think I may need more of this scent.

 

Edit: I also want to add that this isn't totally foody. The sandalwood doesn't stand out a whole lot, but it must be supporting somewhat.

Edited March 1, 2009 by Forspecial Plate

[papermaker]

In the decant this is a nice creamy plum. Once it hits my skin it is PLUM PLUM PLUM all the time. Once dry it is a nice creamy plum again with swirls of nutmeg. This is a definite bottle for me.

[Schmoozy]

Wow. Starts off really sweet and spicy. It is all plum with hints of vanilla sandalwood. Once it begins to dry down, the plum backs off, and the nutmeg, rice and vanilla sandalwood really shine through. It is spicy, creamy, grainy and simple beautiful. I was worried the plum blossom wouldn't settle down, but it has and sits very nicely in the background.

[dreadpiraterustypants2]

expectation-

less floral, more a creamy, rich, rice pudding~

imp-

oh no! smells like plumeria! I hope it morphs...

wet-

odd- still plumeria-esque, a bit nutty. quite sweet. too rich a floral right now for bottle status- gimme my sandlewood!!! akk, might even wash this off...mew

dry-

the creamy nutty rice pops out as it dries down, but this scent is still primarily a floral- alas~

verdict-

might swap my decant, i'm crushed-mew!

ETA:perhaps aging!!! (never give up, never surrender~)

week later: I'm warming up to this, obviously plumeria=plum blossom to my untrained schnoze. I suppose I just have a case of the wildly different expectations~

Edited March 28, 2009 by Shollin

[GalaxyLei]

I can see what people mean about the rice pudding--this is a very sweet, creamy scent. I don't get a lot of straight vanilla, but it's what's giving that sense, I think. It's a creaminess with a slightly brighter floral note in the background. I am reminded a bit of La Primavera, but with a bunch of vanilla layered on top. I don't really smell any nutmeg, which makes me sad, but overall this blend is very pretty nonetheless.

[blu°]

This is a very sweet yet mild floral, juicy and lush, and have I said, that it is very sweet?

 

Even though the vanilla and rice might make it smell like dessert, it doesn't really do so. Not a foody scent on me at all.

 

In the beginning it's a burst of plum blossom (not plum, but plum blossom for me) and then you notice that its flowery sweetness is grounded yet somewhat intensified by the vanilla-rice-combo.

 

After a while the plum blossom becomes a bit less prominent and mingles with the other notes to create a lovely sweet candyish smell that is utterly delicious.

 

Sadly, I think, on my skin this doesn't work entirely well - I smelled some sharp almost acrid note today while testing LiaRf. However, it is wonderful in my hair.

 

It might be a bit much for certain occasions and is more of a scent for a lazy day in spring or early summer that you spend in a park or somewhere outside with your lover or some friends than sth to wear to work.

Edited March 3, 2009 by blu°