Beneath the Kotatsu

[fairestrocza]

Cedarwood, orange blossom, Florentine iris, and golden vanilla.

Beneath the Kotatsu is absolutely beautiful.

The cedar is very subtle, and grounds the scent without playing a prominent role. The vanilla is warm, with no hint of plastic. The orange blossom and iris are sweet and subtle.
This began as a subtle floral with medium throw, and settled down to a slightly closer scent dominated by vanilla.

Truly a beautiful blend.

[whoahorsey]

I was afraid the cedar would make this smell like hamster shavings, but I don't get much cedar at all (yay!). The iris is subtle too. I don't normally go for florals at all, but this isn't screechy. It's nice! The golden vanilla is a good balance to the iris. This is very sophisticated and classy. Very nice!

[Velvet Lilly]

This is amazing. Once I found it, and tried a bit on my skin, I knew I had to have a bottle and couldn't stop sniffing it.

 

It's so well blended that the notes are hard to pick out and create a unique new whole that's glorious and nostalgic at once.

 

It reminded me, in the best way of a high end tiki parlor, like Trader Vicks in it's day..... or the Polynesian Hotel lobby way back in the day.

 

Polished woods and the faint whisper of orange blossom and tropical, verdant things.

 

WIN: this orange blossom doesn't go anywhere near the bandaid thing it can sometimes to in my nose! This stays true orange blossom in all it's sunny reverie.

 

On the dry down the vanilla comes up and plays nicely... in an almost sugary way.

 

For a kid from the rustic touristy byways of Florida...this is high end nostalgia in a bottle. I love it!

(and everyone that smelled it on me went wide eyed and had to try some.... it's so good)

[Haltija]

Not a stitch of cedarwood on me, thank goodness.

 

This is all soft powdery iris and a hint of vanilla. If you like soft, powdery delicate florals, this is for you. It's comforting in the same way a gentle hug is

[mari4212]

Wet on skin: So my mother, when I was a child, had a bunch of perfume bottles shaped like women in various ethnic clothing from around the world. I never knew what scent was in the bottles, but I loved looking at them and playing with them. Wet on the skin this smelled exactly like those bottles did: golden and perfumey, with no one note I could pull out. I'm betting that in this case it's the iris note playing out.

 

Initial drydown: This has softened and sweetened the way most vanilla scents do on me. The initial "perfumey" note has faded a bit, and I've got something soft-edged and golden from it. There is a trace of powder, and very soft floral notes, but nothing is intense or strong. This will be a great skin scent, and it does feel sophisticated and classic.

 

Later: This fades down into a sweet powder scent as the day goes past. I think I'm catching hints of the orange blossom at the end.

[tziporra]

I blind bought three bottles, and Beneath the Kotatsu was the runaway favorite.

 

Wet it's the warmest fuzziest floral (iris) vanilla cedar. It's perfumey, and beautifully so. As it dries down I get the vegetal-y aspect of the orange blossom and it smells delightfully like some orange blossom drawer liners my grandmother used to use in her house when I was kid. Very golden and sunny. The vanilla does a lovely job of sweetening and grounding the whole scent, keeping the flowers in check. The cedar in this is utterly gorgeous, doing everything a wood should do with the warming and dry edge. I can still smell it when I wake up in the morning, but mostly just the morning after of the orange blossom.

 

Absolute love, and a big thanks to everyone in this thread for your great reviews that led me to purchase this one blind.

 

Tzi

[zankoku_zen]

This is sort of what I wish Nevertheless, She Persisted would smell like. Golden orange, vanilla, and a touch of woodiness. It's golden orange and delicious skin scent. Low throw, average wear length.

[Jenjin]

The balance here between the orange, iris, wood and vanilla is certain Utopia.
On the outskirts of Santa Fe, NM is a quaint, Japanese spa called Ten-Thousand Waves. I visited years ago, and they have a cluster of outdoor warmed pools in the mountains where you can soak and watch the snow fall. It is a magical experience for certain.

Kotatsu takes me back to Waves, perhaps because the spa is built entirely with red cedar, and within the bathrooms they have the most exquisite sweet cedar lotion. I would slather myself in it and feel peaceful and divine for hours afterward. The notes in Kotatsu have the same type of beautiful balance. The slightly sweet notes intertwine with the vanilla and wispy cedar to create a velvety, wooded, yummy vanilla.

Edited May 4, 2017 by Jenjin

[milo]

I really like these notes, and it does not disappoint. At first, cedar, then the iris comes out, though it smells more like violets to me, which is fine. after bit, the orange blossom. Gone within minutes, though, so it ultimately not for me.

[tinyvulture]

I'm in love!! Sharp cedar, balanced by orange blossom and vanilla, with a floral note (iris) that fades in and out. After a few minutes the cedar mellows out, and it's a Florida beach dream, all sweet orange floral.