Hojōjutsu

[thecaitycat]

Red currant and rice milk with almond blossom and white tea.

In the bottle
Juicy, tart red currant with the almond blossom note to keep it from getting overly fruity. We're off to a really good start. The tea isn't obvious but it's there.

 

Wet on skin
This softens almost immediately and is less tart, but more lush. I can actually smell something a bit like rice, which is delightful mixed in with the currant and almond blossom. Again, the tea is there but it takes a back seat.

 

Dry on skin after 30 minutes
This morphs from fruity to subtly floral as it dries, and the tea note becomes more prominent. I can detect each note, but the sum of them is so much more than their parts.

 

Thoughts
This is stunning. Will be ordering another nottle. The throw is average, so it won't overpower but it won't fade into the background either. Definitely a win if you like currant and tea!

[Soupy Twist]

Almond cookie in the bottle. Goes on as the lovely light lemony tea from Embalming Fluid, which rounds a little with cookie sweetness as it dries. Vanishes from my skin in half an hour, but YMMV on that. Just beautiful.

 

No currants, no rice, but I'm okay with that.

[sqwook]

Starts out springy and lovely with the light tea note. Then hours later becomes a gorgeous warm skin-scent which must be rice-milk with the sweetness of spun-sugar almond. Beautiful!

[topazphoenix]

Out of all the Lupers, the simplicity and elegance of this blend called to me. Wet, I can smell the currant. Dry, the white tea note is the most prominent. I can't pick out the almond blossom or rice milk, they are in the background and make the scent milky in a way that's similar to White Rabbit. All in all a lovely spring scent.

[zankoku_zen]

Almond rice milk with a tinge of red currants. This is mainly an almond rice milk with just a bit of a fruity red currant edge. Medium throw and wear length.

[ramblingrambler]

This is a fruity white tea for me. I can’t place the currant as the fruity element, however—it’s just ambiguously fruity rather than a scent of a particular fruit .

[mishi-bear]

Based on the imp sniff I was wary of this one, the almond and currant made it smell somewhere in between medicine and cleaner. I also don't have high hopes for almond in general. However this one did end up surprising me.

On application it is a very cohesive blend. It smells very clean, but not in a laundry or aquatic way. Something about the almond and white tea just make it feel clean. The white tea is stronger on wrist sniff than in the throw, but in the throw it really lends a nice clean leafy base. The almond blossom is lovely. Sometimes almond can smell too 'lotiony' to me but in this it smells clean but not too fake or off. Because it's almond blossom and not straight almond, it's sort of a mix of a sweet almond and a sweet clean floral. The rice milk is nice in this and works well with the almond, kind of a milky-starchy sweet smell that just works here. The red currant in this was thankfully pretty light. I haven't had too much luck with red currant, something about it goes funky on me, but in this blend it stays pretty light and honestly just kind of a vague red fruit smell that adds a bit of diversity to this blend. As it dries on skin it just feels kind of simple, clean, but quite pretty. Very non-offensive. Medium throw and wear length.

[Lucchesa]

I have not been having good luck with currant scents recently either, but my decanter threw in an empty of Hojojutsu with just enough oil to skin test, and I'm so glad. Wet it's a lot of juicy, sweet-tart red currant, but the creamy rice milk keeps it chill. (I really love the non-dairy blends - rice milk, almond milk, fig milk, I'm all in.) Instead of a blast of almond that fades right away, the almond blossom note is more subtle and lasting, a creamy almondy floral, and there is just a hint of white tea leaf as well. This is a skin scent on me but has really good wear length for a Shunga. Perfect for this time of year!

[donkehpoo]

Wet: Almond blossom is center stage, with a little red currant in the background.

 

Dry: The currant, almond blossom, and rice milk have "melted" together. It's a little bit sweeter than the initial application, and I'm reallllllly liking it.

Not sure I'm getting any tea from this; the other notes may have overpowered it.

Edited June 16, 2018 by donkehpoo

[Deceitfuldescender]

On dry down this is a not quite perfuming almond blossom and rice milk (translate as just a pleasant creaminess) with only a sliver of currant hiding somewhere in the bouquet. Notably on the edge of foody without being foody. Nice and good for springy time.

[milo]

This is quite nice. The red currant is definitely prominent, but the rice milk tempers That and the tea, which is adding a crispness. This is a great summer blend, I really like it, and will probably use up the imp this summer.

[roseus]

This decant got lost in the mix and I wish I had tested it earlier or it might have been a bottle! This is an interesting white tea for me as I find they are usually very bright and crisp, and this is a lovely different take on it. It's a little creamy with the rice milk and almond blossom, with just a kiss of currant. It has a clean quality and brightness but not in the crisp citrusy way I tend to find it. The floral and fruit are perfectly balanced by the delicate creaminess of the rice milk.

[theredkilt]

It's such a beautiful sweet ethereal blend. I can discern the almond blossom, the white tea and some of the currant's tartness. Calms down to a light sweet smell with an element of airiness.

[starbrow]

This is in the "delicious drink" territory that Shungas do so well in. Here, it's a cool, frothy beverage whipped up with rice milk, toasted almond (yes, I really do smell the toastiness of them!), and a drop of red currant, all in kind of a sweet tea type of blend. The 'red currantness' of it is apparent but not very strong to me. I usually hate almond but the creamy blossom base of this almond makes it quite livable. Altogether, it's pretty, snuggly, and, yes, delicious.

 

When I first got it, Hojojutsu was so soft, it poofed immediately on my skin. Three years later, it's still a quiet blend but it hangs around a little longer than before. It is a great one to wear at work (or working from home) because it doesn't demand attention but you will turn your head and be quietly enchanted and also a little thirsty. I love my bottle and will be hanging on to it, no doubt! If you are a fan of this category of Shungas, I highly recommend this addition to it.