Courtesan with Secret Lover

[fenharel]

Green tea, plum blossom, white musk, jasmine blossom honey, and lemon peel.

This was probably the Shunga I was most excited about. It has all the notes I was craving for from Shungas - teas, fruit, and florals. Something light, fresh, crisp, and springy. I was a TEENY worried about the lemon peel because I tend to amp lemon even in scents it's not listed as a note in and turn everything to lemon Pledge. That's DEFINITELY not the case with this one, thank god! I was in love at first sniff. It's giving me a bit of Embalming Fluid mixed with RPG Good. You know, know that I look, this contains all the notes of Embalming Fluid minus aloe. The musk is the same sugary sweet musk from RPG Good, which I love. It's definitely more floral than Embalming Fluid - the plum blossom and jasmine aren't distinctly detectable to my nose, but they give the scent an overall richness and fullness that isn't present in EF. I really like this fragrance, unfortunately the throw and wear length aren't the best. Maybe I'll turn it into a perfume spray.

[JasminDreams2010]

This is simple and sweet. Its a lemon-honeyed musk with a light floral in the background to keep it a little airy- it doesnt get too syrupy or have too much stank. I like Jasmine a lot and my husband doesnt, I keep trying to sneak it past him but he usually noses it out. The jasmine in here is just barely there enough to notice, it smells a little more like jasmine tea than the potent jasmine of peitho or delight.

So jasmine lovers may be disappointed and jasmine haters may be safe.

 

Not sure I will need backups but this is a keeper. I could see it aging very well. Not sure about the musk in good because I havent tried it, but it reminds me of a more feminine Door or Pandy- with enough gentle floral to mellow out the harsher aspects of those.

Edited February 26, 2018 by JasminDreams2010

[galahad]

In the Bottle:

A complex floral honey with a slight tea freshness in the back. Can pick the jasmine and white musk, clearly

On the Skin:

Rich honey and jasmine and the plum blossom is surprisingly robust

On the Drydown:

A very musky floral with honey richness and a slight backing of bitter lemon peel. Extremely sophisticated and elegant but more a winter/autumn floral for me rather than spring or summer. The honey on me is very thick and sticky-sweet. Very nice

[lady_pandora]

I didn't even order this, but I love it! Thanks to Mystery213 for including a tester of it in my decant order. I would never have picked it out for myself; I'm meh on tea and white musk, and jasmine is usually amped to annoying levels. But this doesn't even really smell like those things, on me!

 

I popped open the imp and instantly made the "unf" sound, which is always a good sign. In the vial and when it's first on my skin, I get a lovely blend of sweetness, floral, and citrus--if I hadn't been looking at the notes, I'd have said honey/orange/lily instead of what's actually here. It's delicate and just sooo pretty. I find myself sniffing my arm constantly just for the pleasure of it.

 

It dries down to a combo of the sweet honey and the bitter lemon peel. I can distinctly make out both the sweetness and the bitterness; they don't cancel each other out, it's more like a bitter candy with a dusting of sweet on the outside, if that makes sense. They enhance each other.

 

The early stages are absolutely divine, and the drydown is also quite nice, and I've been looking for a new lemon scent since exhausting my Seven Herbs Charm. Big bottle imminent!

 

ETA: I think it might be a little like Iulia.

Edited March 14, 2018 by lady_pandora

[zankoku_zen]

Plum, honey, green tea and citrus. This one is a bit of a morpher. On wet, the jasmine is more prominent, but as it dries the plum blossom makes more of an appearance and the green tea comes in adding a bit of freshness to it. Plummy white blossoms, green tea, and a swirl of honey. Good throw and wear length.

[Lucchesa]

My decanter frimped me an empty of Courtesan with Secret Lover with just enough oil for a skin test. I was happy to try it; I didn't get a decant of it because of the jasmine, but it seems that here at least jasmine honey is a note I can wear. This is a classic Shunga. Green tea, pale musk, fruit blossom, citrus, check. I love this class of scents. Bright, cheerfully sexy or maybe sexily cheerful, perfect for a sunny spring day. Unfortunately, as is so often the case with tea blends, my skin eats this one up within 90 minutes. It's lovely while it lasts -- not even the jasmine can ruin it.

[Epiphany]

This is very interesting. It is pale, fruity, and softly lemony. I really enjoy it, but I think it overall may be just *slightly* too much like a nice glycerin soap (this is my downfall with lighter scents). It's truly lovely and light and I think is a wonderful spring scent for those sunny, but still cool days. Definitely worth trying, especially if you don't tend to turn basically any floral into soap the way I do.

[starbrow]

Such a pretty, dreamy green tea, almost jasmine tea from the sheer blossom honey that is such a delicate brush of jasmine, it only butterfly-kisses the nose. There's only the faintest suggestion of plum blossom, but it's enough to make this tea blend a little different than the other ones available from BPAL. Similarly, the lemon peel is just part of the fixings for this tea, a subtle zest, and the white musk is subtle too, anchoring the tea atmosphere rather than turning it soapy or dryer-sheety. Perfection.

 

The throw is very small, although there was a day I wore this at work and I don't know if it was the heat from my laptop on my wrists but it lasted all day long. In any case, it is a very beautiful work scent, because it is unlikely to bother any coworkers but it will still make you happy every time you smell it. I love this one and I'm keeping my full bottle of it.

[Cali]

At first sniff i thought there may be pear in this; now i know it's a mix of that green tea and white musk! This is a soft, very sweet green milky tea scent, with a lovely strong honey to keep it company.