Noh Mask and Maple Leaves

[joyfulgirl]

Hinoki wood, ho wood, white clove, and suminagashi maple leaf.

in the bottle: whoa UBERGREEN! it's like someone sliced a tiny branch of a tree open with a pocket knife and let the watery sap drip out. freshly cut grass! dandelion stems! green green green!

wet on my skin: more green! it is being grounded a tiny bit by what i assume are the woods and there is a TINY bit of spice from the clove...but boy, this is mostly just bright, fresh green to me.

dry on my skin: the clove is coming forward a bit now and the greenness of the maple leaf has subsided enough for me to start getting whiffs of a nice, well-rounded spicy, green woodsy scent. unfortunately my skin seems to be having a bit of a reaction to this. it is absolutely lovely, but i'm not sure i will keep it around due to my skin being sensitive to it.

[lapetiteflower]

Wet: Very aqueous and leafy.

 

Drydown: lovely Japanese incense! This is light, and sweet, Japanese incense...it will make a wonderful hot-weather alternative my usual dark, heavy resin-y favorites.

[SadariEvenstar]

I don't really get 'green' out of this. The clove is at the forefront giving a beautiful sweet spiciness to the maple leaves. This smells like autumn to me. It might be because I come from a part of the US where maple trees are dominant. I always love bpal's dry leaf blends, but they always seem to be missing the warm sweetness that dry maple leaves give off. This is September in a bottle for me. The leaves are just starting to turn and the sun is still warm in the afternoons, and the air is full with the light, sweet scent of maple leaves.

[yakiguri]

Noh Mask and Maple Leaves begins with a pungent stab of sharp woods, but eventually the warm spices weave their way through and warm up the blend. The warm leaf note I got from Autumn Lace is definitely here. I completely agree that this is a Japan-esque incense blend, but since I amp clove a bit this is a bit strong for warmer weather. I'll have to keep it in the aging box until autumn.

 

Beware, the throw is strong with this one--apply sparingly!

 

EDIT: Now that it's turning to autumn (or what passes for autumn in California x_X) I had to open this back up. The initial sharpness previously experienced is much, MUCH more subdued thanks to the hinoki and ho woods having a (quietly) stronger appearance, and quickly softens to a spicy maple warmth. Compared to Autumn Lace I find the leaf note here much more subtle--if you've ever seen a Japanese maple tree, think of the small delicate leaves compared to the comparatively massive North American maples. Throw is still fairly strong, though not piercing as it was before. The clove is still more prominent than I'd like, but my skin tends to amp it so oh well.

 

I look forward to opening this up in subsequent autumns over the years.

Edited September 14, 2013 by thatbrownelf

[malibusunny]

I have this on right now, though just a tiny tiny bit since I am decanting it. In the bottle, it was green, but an older green, starting to turn colors. After a bit it loses that entirely, becomes an almost vanilla wood. I like this much, much more than I expected from other reviews, except sadari, I think you are pretty close!

[Spork]

whoa, serious green! and that's just from opening my decant on skin, the green dies down a lot and turns into some softer and spicy woods...is a very soft clove, quite nice and long lasting as well

[hlinspjalda]

I have a thing about maple leaves, and I love the Lab's autumn leaf note, so even though I was wary of the ho wood I was eager to try this one.

 

In the vial: This smells like the first mown lawn of spring, complete with tiny snippets of bitter spring herbs. Or maybe it's clove or wood, but I definitely get a very juicy, pungent green scent off this.

 

Wet: Definitely an almost chive-like sort of wood smell and a lot of sappy green.

 

Half an hour: No more chive; now it's definitely got a clove-wood impression, but soft and manageable. I sense the "pickle" impression some have said ho wood gives, but it's not powerful, just a sweet-tart tingle. And there's still some green in this scent. It's really quite pleasant, reminding me a bit of Marquis de Carabas only not as dry.

 

Three hours: Very pretty, very gentle; just a bit of wood and clove. This is the most beautiful clove note I've encountered in the whole catalogue. It's perfectly calibrated to my skin -- not sharp, or pungent, or unkind to my skin, just soft and warm and happy.

 

This scent is not what I was expecting at all, but it sure is beautiful.

[whisperstilled]

In Imp: Spicy! That strange but fascinating smell of dead leaves that I love so much. Definitely the same dead leaf note that's in scents like November and October, so if you like those, you'll love this one.

 

Wet: Spicy, astringent dead leaves. If you grew up in a northern clime, this scent is guaranteed to give you nostalgic feelings about the fall. There is a little spicy wood here, as well. I don't get much clove, although I think it's part of what's making up the backing spice.

 

Drydown: Dries down earthy, with a less intense astringency, and gets much sexier as it settles on the skin. Awesome! 4/5

[zankoku_zen]

Trees, maple leaves, and a big dusting of clove. This is like a wood and clove blend, with a tinge on green around the outside.

 

I actually really enjoy this.

 

It's dark, sexy, and woody.

[SmileCat]

Trees, trees, trees. This is very strong, slightly sharp, and smells almost identical to the Japanese tea garden in San Francisco.

[BoneBone24]

Wet: Dial soap with something more rustic supporting it.

 

Drydown: It starts out as amber-touched Dial, and then begins to morph into smooth woods. It’s warm and soft with different shades of brown and tan coming through. A hint of sap and dew-covered autumn leaves appear as it dries.

 

Dry: There’s something almost green or mentholated coming through now. It reminds me of dried evergreen needles. I think it might actually be the white clove. Alongside that is the scent of damp fall leaves and bark. The overall effect is surprisingly cologne-y. I keep thinking there must be a touch of amber tucked in here too. The blend gives off a very smooth and professional vibe. Despite the leaf note occasionally skewing a bit acrid, it remains rather sexy throughout the day.

[brilliantcat]

Imp: Leaves! Trees!

 

Wet: It smells so different on me. The same leafy, woody vibe is there to be sure, but I'm getting a hit of spice that wasn't there in the imp.

 

Dry: Eugh, cleaning fluid and clove. Not a keeper.

[lohengrin]

In the decant: Woody. A touch of clove, and an odd note that must be the maple leaf.

 

On skin, wet: Similar to in the imp. The odd note is stronger, and now I can definitely identify it as being leafy... but like wet, decaying leaves in late autumn. It's not an unpleasant smell, but it's definitely weird.

 

On skin, dry: Both the clove and the wet-leaves note are totally gone, this is all wood all the time now.

 

After an hour: Same as the drydown. It's nice, but nothing really distinguishes it from other woody scents.

[Little Bird]

Noh Mask & Maple Leaves goes on smelling like sour green grass and soapy aquatic on me, and dries down to baby powder, a whiff of spice, and dry woods (reminds me of sandalwood). It's weird that it starts off soapy and green and finishes off powdery and dry smelling. So far, I think that Falling Leaf Moon is the only one of bpal's leaf scents that has worked on me.

[thekittenkat]

In the bottle: Sweet green woods heading for the drying season of late summer/early autumn.

 

Wet: That's lovely! A bit more fresh and green, but with a touch of spiciness from the clove.

 

The dry-down: Not much of a morpher. I have a half bottle from my decanter, and may spring for a full bottle before the Lupers go away. This will go in rotation for August and September.

Edited March 24, 2013 by thekittenkat

[JazzieCazzie]

This was a very last-minute add to a decant circle order, when I was intrigued by some of the early reviews and the person running the circle had a few spots left on this scent. Having memories of the scent of a store in midtown Manhattan that sort of a Japanese superstore (not Azuma or any of those, more of a supermarket, including a lot of tea and a lot of wood), I figured it was worth the extra splurge to see if this might match that sense memory.

 

IN THE IMP: Just, no. Not getting any of the green or woods or leaves or anything. Just getting a powerfully acrid, pungent, sour smell.

 

Dabbed very very lightly on one wrist in hopes of a magic morph.

 

WET: Strong, acrid, sour, like old sweat on me. I have no idea which note is causing this because I do tend to play nicely with a lot of woods, but these are new woods to me. And not good woods.

 

DRYDOWN: I confess I KNOW I should have tried to wait it out to see if upon drydown it would somehow turn into the smell of that store, but my stomach honestly couldn't handle it.

 

A rare washoff.

 

OVERALL: I can't say it wasn't what I was expecting, because I really didn't know what to expect. But it was obviously not what I hoped for. Still, my loss will be someone's gain once I finish my way through the alphabet of goodies and post a pretty comprehensive swap list sometime in April.

 

On a scale of 1-5, about a 1.5

[Franny]

When I first smelled this in the bottle I thought I had made a mistake in ordering it. There was a sharp wet smell that dominated everything, I'm still not sure what that note is but I think maple leaves? Anyway, I put it on to test anyway, and that smell remained dominant initially. A few minutes later I smelled my wrist and the scent had completely changed. That sharp note was still there, but everything else had come out to play. It had turned into an amazing woodsy incense smell that basically blew my mind.

 

I am in love with this. I had never smelled any of the notes in this blend and I basically just got curious and convinced myself I needed to smell it when someone said it smelled like fall in a review. I am so happy I took a random chance on it, it might be my favorite thing out of my luper/shunga/our lady of pain orders.

[mymymai]

ITI: It's spicy and astringent, like nettles, crushed ants, and freshly cut wood.

 

Wet: It still smells very much the same on my skin, except I get a little more maple leaf.

 

Dry: Once dried, the nasty aspects of the scent have gone away. It's not a pleasant combination of woods and a touch of clove.

[mistressfizz]

Fresh, newly cut woods, very green and slightly wet, with a powdery feel, like sawdust. Then the clove emerges, a mixture of spice and smoke, almost savory. This smells like the kind of wooden plank that I want to grill fish over.

[milo]

Sharp woods and greenery. Becomes slightly pickle-like after a bit. This one is a bit odd.

Edited September 4, 2013 by milo

[titania]

Mmmm nice. Slightly wet fallen leaves in autumn, a little bit of spiciness from the clove, and something sort of like wood incense. Very much there, but sort of understated at the same time. This is fantastic.

[tinyvulture]

Heavy childhood nostalgia here, since I grew up in an area where maple trees were everywhere. I love the lab's "autumn leaves" note, but this isn't that. It's more like green maple leaves warmed by summer sun. The clove isn't showing up for me. Just pure leaves!

[IambicDearie]

Faint as anything on me, no idea why! I had to slather to even pick it up; when I did, I got green wood with a little bite, softened by the maple. Not a standout, but certainly not unpleasant!

[Aviatrix]

This one is pretty powerful on my skin. Woah!

I'm getting a whole lot of sweet maple, which I'm rather happy about - I love maple, and it's so underutilized in BPALs in my opinion.

The different woods are underneath grounding the whole scent and there is a slightly spicy vibe from the clove. Mostly it's just maple, though.

 

I quite like it, but not enough for a big bottle purchase. I love what the scent evokes, though, and would definitely recommend it if you like maple or are curious about it. It's very atmospheric. I would even say it would be perfect for autumn and halloween as it has a kind of syrupy (but not cloying!) touch that reminds me of pies in autumn.

[bellumed]

Are you tired of being a person? Would you rather just be a tree? 

 

Well,  you can't! 

 

But now you can smell like one!

 

In the imp: bitter green wood, a bit harsh but not overpowering. It opens up a little on skin and becomes a gentler, "brown" tree, and the leafy note is detectable at this point. A bitter undertone remains on drydown, but it recedes very slowly until it evens out to a powdery wood scent. Very natural smelling.