Tomoe Gozen Bath Oil

[astarinel]

A "warrior worth a thousand, ready to confront a demon or a god, mounted or on foot." Tomoe Gozen was a fierce, noble, and courageous samurai, first captain, as well as a renowned beauty. She was an excellent swordswoman, famed for her riding ability and her skill at archery. She fought for Minamoto no Yoshinaka at Battle of Awazu, and her forces were defeated. Legend says she was seen holding the severed head of one of her foes on the battlefield, and vanished, never to be seen again.

Red currant and honey.

In the bottle: Precisely what it says: red currant and honey. The tartness of the currant cuts through the honey, which is sweet but not as thick or sticky as it sometimes can be.

Rubbed on skin: The currant softens up a bit and blends with the honey. It's much subtler once it hits my skin, and the currant is much quieter and less tart. This sinks in quite well and smells really delicious in a not-quite-edible way.

I have the bath oil on one hand and the perfume on the other, and they really go together very well. The perfume has the addition of blackberries and pink pepper, and so stays a bit more juicy-tart with a touch of spice, while the bath oil is now an aura of subtle, honeyed currants. I really love how these two oils smell layered next to each other -- the currant and honey in the bath oil make those notes in the perfume stand out a little more.

[angelicruin]

Inside the bottle, yup, that's red currant and honey, all right.

 

On my skin (I usually apply bath oils directly on my skin), it's almost entirely red currant right after initial application. Very bright and fruity blend. Honey note become stronger as the oil dries on my skin. I imagine this being something I will reach for in the colder months though. It's a heavy, but beautiful dark fruit blend.

[GardenCat]

OK - in the bottle all I got was tart currents - I couldn't even smell the honey. But on (I used it in the shower this morning onmy legs) the current is cut by the honey & the scent is complex without complexity. I think it will need another try!

[VioletChaos]

in the bottle: super tart, super yummy red currants!

 

wet on skin: still mostly currant, but the honey is absolutely present.

 

dry down: the fruit is definitely stronger than the honey. i don't personally find a balance here.

 

in all: this was all on my skin and really, i use the bath oils mostly in my hair, so i feel i'll have to give this another try with that application in mind. but so far my verdict is that it's a bit too strong and overpowering for the applications i give it.

 

 

 

 

[Gin]

Tomoe Gozen Bath Oil

 

Love it. It's pretty much all red currant. I think it almost has a tea scent, but I don't know if it's really there or if I just always associate red currant with tea. The honey mght be there, but it's definitely not the strong honey I usually get from BPAL. Anyway, it's beautiful and RED and fruity and I'm glad I took a chance on this.

[CynicalPink]

Bottle: Got a good whiff of this on the bubble wrap around the bottle. Super sweet with a hint of tart currant

 

On the water: Makes the whole bathroom smell of beautiful sweet herbal honey and tart red currants. I definitely get more honey than fruit though

 

On the skin after a bath: Sweet, but not cloying. Nice and clean. Just very soft and pretty. This is lovely.

 

Overall: These bath oils are so nice! They leave your skin lightly scented after the bath and when it's warmed by the hot water the whole room smells amazing. A very relaxing experience. And a little goes a long way!

[iiinterstate]

Smells just like its ingredients, red currant and honey!

 

This is loooovely and delicious. I used it in the shower and on my hair, and now I smell like... well... red currant and honey!

 

This is my favorite BPTP bath oil thus far.

[ElinaMakropulos]

Something about a lot of the lab's honey blends smells almost lemony to my nose - I get zero fruitiness from the currants and a whole lotta very soft citrusy stuff from the honey. Nonetheless, it's gorgeous and definitely my favorite bath oil from the Trading Post thus far

[ravenfeathers]

since i had some in-transit leakage and am covered with this, it seems like a good time to review!

 

in the bottle/on the bottle the tartness of currant and the swarthy sweetness of honey with a... a sort of pleasant prickliness in the nose. sort of a... spiciness? as though the bath oil had a shot of the pink pepper in it as well as the perfume.

all over my hands/office for a two note scent, this is marvelously complex, reminiscent of two of my favourite GCs in the way two notes can meld so perfectly together: carnal and march hare. it's very fresh and vibrant and has a bright sparkle while simultaneously having a dark underbelly. really reminds me of carnal a lot. spectacular.

[dawndie]

Up until now I had never tried the BPTP bath oils, as I don't take baths and assumed it would be too greasy to use otherwise. But the tempting notes listed for this one made me take the plunge.

 

Since my bottle leaked a bit I simply took the slick bubble wrap and rubbed on my arms. It absorbed nicely and I didn't feel like an oil slick -- and since it was 100 and humid, I could have been uncomfortable in an instant! The fragrance lasted for hours and I felt nicely moisturized.

 

And the mellow sweetened berries scent is gorgeous!

[svelterose]

It turned super tart on me and after several hours, it smells like swine. I don't know why - maybe it's because I don't wear honey well? They honey is sort of woodsy/grassy to me so maybe that's just not agreeing with the red currant. It was fruity for the first 30 seconds and quickly turned tart - almost sour. It might just be the way it mixed with my legs - I don't know but I'll have to give it another try...

 

Swiiine. T_T

Edited July 4, 2009 by SvelteRose

[Little Bird]

Red currant is sour & tart on me. In the Tomoe Gozen perfume oil, the red currant mixed with the blackberry became unbearably sour. The bath oil isn't bad on me, though. The honey here really mellows out the red currant for me. It still smells like a tart red fruit, but the honey adds a sugary edge to it that smooths it out. It kinda smells like some sort of berry smoothie.

 

In the water and on my skin, this smells like a tart, cool berry. Very simple.

[thekittenkat]

In the bottle: Sweet honey and yummy currants.

 

Wet: Why, helo thar currant!

 

The dry-down: That lovely honey note is coming back and mixing with and mellowing the red currants into a wonderful sweet blend on my arm. This is a feisty Queen alright, but she knows when to be a warrior and when to be a lady.

 

Goodness, I want to lick my arm. Layering this with her perfume is just pure heaven. The pink pepper and amber spice things up and my lovely blackberrry has a tea party with the currants. This combination is not as sweet as Lady Una, but it's in the same family.

 

And as always with the Post's bath oils, this oil melted into my skin and left it much softer than before.

[Monster]

I was gifted this by a super sweet and generous forum member today.

 

In the bottle this is honey, currents and something else...something floral maybe?

 

On my skin this is mostly honey mixed with a teeny teeny bit of currents. I'm still smelling something floral in this. How strange!

Tomoe Gozen bath oil is very sweet, yummy and clean smelling. I wasn't expecting this at all! I was imagining a more juicy berry scent with golden honey, instead this is a floral honey smell with just a squish of berry.

It's not what I was expecting but it is still gorgeous and delicious. I will happily slather away and surely use up this entire decant.

[Lyrical]

I must say that the bottles used for the bath oils are pretty unsuitable, as I've heard leakage is a big problem and mine leaked too. It smells pretty damn good, though! Definitely redcurrant (one of my absolute favourite notes) and honey, but very well blended so that they hardly seem like two different notes - just a red/gold sweet, fruity haze. The oil is extremely liquid, which took me by surprise (and probably explains it's incredible ability to escape from the bottle. If you are pouring it in the bath, the runniness isn't a problem, but it makes it hard to apply to the skin without making a mess.

 

Unfortunately, shortly after I applied to to my damp, freshly-showered skin, the burn started and the skin started to go red. It's better now, but a bath oil you can't apply to warm, wet skin isn't especially useful. Maybe I can find a way to fragrance a room with it instead, because it's really gorgeous! The scent is subtle, as in not at all strong on my skin, but it still wafts around in an all-enveloping kind of way, filling the room with red and gold!

 

Layering the perfume over the bath oil works well. The perfume is fresher with bright blackberry and pink pepper, grounded with amber. Together, the two oils are giving me an oriental feel - light, sweet and fruity.

[hlinspjalda]

It starts tart and fruity. Ten minutes later, though, a warm sexy honey note is in the lead. It lasted through the night, too; I could still smell it the next morning.

 

My daughter thinks this works really well on me. Although it is not my favorite Queen in the bottle, it works on my skin better than most of them.

 

[lainevierge]

In the bottle this smelled strangely like tomatoes. Once of rubbed some on my skin I got the honey, and somehow a bit of cinnamon. I'm thinking all in all that red currant doesn't work on me.

[gingiemay]

This is a gorgeous tart and fruity bath oil scent. It has an underlying sweet, smooth note of honey and the berries come across as fresh and juicy. I love it for the summer warm months!

[Suu4LC]

This is so simple and gorgeous. If you liked the perfume oil, you will like this. If you like Beth's red currant and honey notes, you will love this. Not the most exciting or unique scent, but just beautiful, sweet, red, juicy goodness.

 

I am a huge fan of the bath oils-I use them as in shower moisturizers-rub them in and then rinse them off, leaving me super soft and lightly scented. I will absolutely enjoy the heck out of this one!

[PurringPulsar]

Tomoe Gozen Bath Oil

 

In bottle: hyper-acidic red currant and honey. Not gentle and sweet like fairy Wine.

On skin: holy crap this is too sharp for me…I don’t know if I’ve become over-sensitive to these sorts of scents, but this is so sour it is making my nose wrinkle up! I got a similar reaction with the TG perfume, and this may be even sharper. This is not Fairy Wine’s mellow, sublime and sweet currant-honey scent. This is a currant that is sharp, strong and takes no prisoners. Punchy and powerful, quite fitting for a kick-ass warrior queen. And the honey here-nope, not sweet. This is a sharp honey. However this does sweeten quite nicely, the currant develops the delightful sweet scent I got in Fairy Wine, and the honey mellows as well. It’s a lovely drydown but it’s not worth waiting through that sour scent I get at the beginning. I haven’t tried this in the bath-maybe it would have been gentler? But I swapped it off because I found it too tart for my likings.

[zankoku_zen]

Tomoe Gozen is a giant burst of juicy red fruit, with just enough tartness that it never veers into too sweet. On the drydown, I definitely get more of the honey and the red currant note is less aggressive. Fruity and fun!

[bluerose]

Juicy red currents with the smallest hint of honey. It's a clean refreshing scent. Unfortunately, as a moisturizer, the scent doesn't last very long on the body. I also used it to scent some homemade body scrub - the scent lingered for a few hours afterward.

[Venneh]

Straight up red currant and honey, and absolutely delicious on my skin. Definitely need to find more.

[sea_stars]

I am a hoarder of bath oils, to be sure. Most I don't use in the bath (even though I take *lots* of baths), but I prefer to use them as after-bath moisturizers.

 

I tried using Tomoe Gozen straight on my skin like I do with other bath oils, and it was SO STRONG! I couldn't handle it. So I tried it in the bath water, and that's where this oil truly shines (as intended). This is probably my favorite winter-time bath oil. It is just as described, a perfect blend of equal parts red currant and honey! Deliciousness.

[RavenintheWind]

I also found this too strong to use directly on the skin, but I enjoy it in the bath. My decant was used up with relish. Not sure I'd buy a whole bottle, as I am not usually a fan of fruitier scents (except apple). However, like another reviewer. I found this to be a bit more honey than currant, and that made it work for me.