Geisha in a State of Rumpled Annoyance

[HerbGirl]

French lavender, white plum blossom, white ginger, and rice wine.

I just got this in the mail and wanted to share my initial impression, this usually changes but:

Lavender is most prominent in bottle and wet on skin. Its not a TKO lavender but closer to the lavender in Needlework and A Nocturnal Reverie. Actually, this has a very similar vibe to Needlework.

Dry - I get a hint of ginger and a nice soft hit of the rice wine.

In short, if you think you will like this, get it. There are no surprises here if you like the notes involved. I think it is pretty now and may very well turn into a drop dead stunner in a few months time.

ETA: After an hour the plum comes out! This scent has a gorgeous waft...it will certainly age well!

[puck_nc]

Origin: Straight from the Lab

 

Initial Thoughts: I have had good success with several of the BPAL Oriental-themed scents, with plum and rice wine and such. I also like lavender and was curious about white ginger, having recently discovered that the white/light side of certain notes behaves well on my skin.

 

In the Bottle: I agree that this is a very lavender scent to begin with. I think I get a hint of the ginger, but not much.

 

Wet: Rice wine and ginger! A complete 180 from the bottle.

 

Drydown: The lavender comes back out, but is now side-by-side with the other notes rather than in front. I agree that it's a bit like Needlework and I also find it a bit like an Oriental version of Butterflies, Flowers, and Jewels Attending with the light blend of spicy and floral.

 

Verdict: I believe I'll hang onto this one.

[velvet]

in the bottle i mostly smell the lavender with hints of ginger and something else, i assume it is the rice wine

 

on my skin... it is sharp lavender and rice wine at first and after a minute or two the plum blossom comes out to play and makes this scent completely different from what i was smelling in the bottle

the ginger and plum blossom take center stage and the scent goes from being cool and sharp to warm and inviting. the longer i wear it, the spicier it becomes. I am falling in love with this scent. It's the only bottle from this year i bought with out testing it first.

 

ETA: ok sadly, all the fun beauty of this scent has disappeared and i am left with very lightly scented dryer sheets.

Edited March 2, 2014 by velvet

[Gwydion]

In bottle: Heavenly lavender dominant, with a ginger bite. The plum blossom is second strongest, and with the rice wine, give the lavender a sensual body. Wet: The balance shifts, the plum blossom swelling to lift the lavander and ginger which end up floating on a sea of plum wine, still sharp, but now working parts of a smooth and complex whole. Let it wear a little, and the lavender and plum blossoms come to an agreement and dance, holding hands on the wine, while the ginger circles them. This is unique and lovely. Dry: Soft lavender with plum blossom support, and a ghost of rice wine.

[Jangzonrice]

Wet: lavender, but not sweet like tko. Dry: lavender with plum blossom, a tiny bit of ginger and hint of rice wine. This is nice, but becomes more floral than I thought it would be. Nice feminine perfume for spring.

[DovaKitten]

The other reviews here are very similar to my experience, but I'll add my two cents.

 

Wet on skin: LAVENDER and ginger. Perhaps there is also some rice wine here? It's sort of astringent.

 

Dry down: The same, but the white plum blossom is coming out more and more. It's a white floral, not juicy or fruity. I can't place what this smells like exactly ... I'm getting an association with medicine and also with a bath product that my mom used to use when I was young. It's not cough syrup-y medicine, by the way. It's more like "I try to treat things naturally so sometimes herbs gain medicinal association."

 

Dry: I agree with Jangzonrice: "This is nice, but becomes more floral than I thought it would be. Nice feminine perfume for spring." I would add that this is very well-blended and smells sort of like a high end perfume. I like it a lot and almost want to get a bottle just to add diversity to my collection, but I'm not sure. We'll see.

[doomsday_disco]

In the decant: The lavender is the dominant note, but there is a hint of plum blossom and rice wine.

 

Wet: The lavender is the dominant note, but I can detect all of the notes (including the ginger that I wasn't getting in the decant). It is mostly lavender and rice wine at first. The notes, from strongest to weakest, seem to be as follows: lavender, rice wine, white ginger, and plum blossom. However, the plum blossom is starting to emerge more the longer this sits on my skin and ends up becoming one of the dominant notes.

 

Dry: Plum blossom is now the dominant note, followed by lavender, and then rice wine and ginger. Alas, it is starting to give me a headache.

 

Verdict: Although I'm a fan of lavender, I guess I prefer it mixed with sweet notes, and I'm not very fond of the plum blossom. I won't be keeping my decant.

[Laurel the Woodfairy]

Lavender and ginger; what a fantastic combination! This is perfection for work or anywhere I want to smell sophisticated and respectable--a classy, elegant scent, spicy in an unexpected way but still very clean. This is the scent of a successful woman who doesn't lose touch with her femininity--a geisha you don't want to annoy, haha! I LOVE it.

[thejessone]

In the bottle: soft lavender with just a hint of ginger.

 

Wet: BAM! Sharp and gingery all the way with just a hint of rice wine, florals taking a backseat.

 

Drydown: The lavender and plum blossom float along in the background, while the ginger and rice wine fade and become much softer.

 

All in all: a fantastic scent!

[Circaea]

Love the initial blast: lavender and fresh green... things. Reminds me of Kumiho. But the dry-down goes kind of soft and powdery. Someone said "dryer sheets." I don't quite get that impression, but it's similar. I will hold on to my imp. I think I might wear this to bed sometimes, and if it were an atmo spray, I'd probably look out for some. It has a clean freshness.

[strahlend]

First sniff – sharp piercing lavender, but stays on this side of pleasant. I like this better than the expensive lavender perfume I have a sample of (Caldey Island Lavender).

 

Testing – this is a fantastic lavender. Sharp enough to smell like real lavender flowers but just slightly rounded. Love it. Perfect balance of sharp but rounded out and beautifully accented (but not overwhelmed) by the ginger and plum blossom. I can see myself wearing this often and have it on my bottle list.

[toku]

I'm absolutely terrible at deciphering the notes in this one; I don't know that I can distinguish plum blossom from rice wine from white ginger. Lavender I know. Out of the decant, I get a lot of lavender. A Lot. It does kind of pierce, and while I don't find it an unpleasant smell at all (I love lavender!), it's not something that I think screams to be worn on skin.

 

However, after 10 or so minutes on my wrist, the lavender has toned way down to the point where it's not really noticeable. There isn't a lot of throw (my skin seems to devour every scent I wear, lately) and it's probably not going to be very long-lasting on me considering how quickly it's morphing. I have to get my nose pretty close to my skin to detect it, and when I sniff, my nose prickles - I would guess this is the white ginger. Again, it's not unpleasant. Just different from my norm!

 

But even as I'm typing this over several minutes that nose-tickling pop is fading. At this point I would call it clean and fresh, a little floral. It has some warmth to it (in contrast to Shamisen, which is on my other wrist). Maybe the rice wine is poking through at this point? Maybe the plum blossom?

 

About 30 minutes after application, there is no discernible lavender. It's not 'popping' any more, either. Instead, it's now warm and... smooth? - but alas, very faint on me - and I could go so far as to describe this as a lovely, everyday scent. It's not overly sweet or cloying like some plum-y scents I've worm. In fact it's really quite enjoyable, but I'd have to see how it lasts over several hours to know whether I'll just keep the decant and wear it occasionally (I probably will) or whether I'll get a bottle (I probably won't, sadly).

 

UPDATE 3/25

welp I've worn this a few times since my review and sadly I've come to the conclusion that Geisha won't last more than a few hours on me.

Edited March 25, 2014 by toku

[Miss Despair]

It's a very pretty, slightly sweet, very floral lavender at first, with plum blossom in the background. I don't really get ginger, which is fine. In the wet stage, it's beautiful, but after drydown my skin amps the plum blossom instead. It turns powdery and reminds me of my grandmother.

 

I've read about scents smelling different on different parts of the body, but this is the first scent I've experienced firsthand that does that. It's more lavender on my chest and neck, but almost entirely plum blossom on my arms. Feminine and pretty, but a bit too powdery and has too many granny-associations for me to want a full bottle.

[Magycmyste]

In the imp: Hmmm, the lavender and ginger come together to become very sharp.

 

Wet on skin: Same as above. I'm not getting the white plum blossom or rice wine at all. This is a white scent. Not soft white - this is blinding white, that you need to turn away from.

 

Dried down: The white plum blossom comes out much more as it dries down. Still a bit too astringent for my tastes when I sniff

 

Throw: The throw is ume blossom, and very pleasant, actually.

 

Verdict: ** The ume is nice, but this one is too astringent and sharp for me. This one's a pass.

[Astarial]

In the imp, LAAAAAVENDER YES HELLO I AM LAAAAAAAAAAVENDER! My brain seems to associate lavender with something about babies.. I'm not sure exactly what, maybe some kind of powder for them? I don't know babies. Regardless, it's not an unpleasant scent, just a little bit confusing on my brain.

 

On my skin, the lavender backs off and the ginger comes out to play for a while. It doesn't stick around very long, and is replaced by I think the rice wine. I don't notice any plum blossom during drydown, but it's possible it's helping to keep the lavender in check and providing some of the floral sense to this scent.

 

Overall, it's very pretty and elegant.

[zankoku_zen]

Super fresh lavender, rice wine and hint of plum blossom.

 

This is a light asian blend - light and airy in both composition and feel. The lavender is probably the most prominent note on wet, but it dries to a rice wine/plum blossom blend.

 

Elegant, fresh, asian.

 

I am seriously considering more of this.

[MCS4096]

Lavender smells "dry" to me, and plum blossom smells "juicy"... together that juxtaposition bothers me a little.. it smells conflicted. Dont get me wrong, it's lovely (although I was hoping for more white ginger.. I still dont have a bpal blend that is white gingery enough for me), but it seems unsettled to my nose.

[milo]

Strong tea and musk at first. Not very sweet. The citrus comes into play, and turns into a fruit. I like the wet stage the best, but it turns into something not very pleasant on me.

[whitsunweddings]

In the imp: Ginger and lavender. Very fresh and herbal, both garden-y (not floral), and foody.

Wet: The lavender is stronger, plum coming out a bit.

Dry: Ooh, mostly ginger and lavender, but there are nice fruity notes in there too. It's bright and sparkly, tart without sour. I really like it, but I wore it to work and was gone within a few hours, so I think I'll pass on a bottle.

[tinyvulture]

I love that there are so many BPAL lavender blends, yet they're all quite different. This one's a combination of lavender and floral plum blossom, with a slight sting from the rice wine. No ginger, though. After a few minutes, the floral note is quite strong and doesn't really agree with me. I'll try it at bedtime, but may end up swapping due to the floral.