Monday, 12 October 2015

Haso-no-Hana by Grossmith


Today I am wearing Haso-no-Hana by Grossmith.

I have to confess, I chose it because the name caught my eye….

But (and rather to my disappointment, I confess) the translation from Japanese to English simply means lotus lily, I was hoping for something much more romantic than that!

So the clue is in the name – this apparently is the aroma of the lotus lily.  The additional fascination is that this perfume was first introduced in 1888 when perfume ingredients weren’t as prolific and available as they are today, the perfumer’s tool box was definitely limited.

It is a little on the sweet side for me with undertones of powder and face makeup.  Although it opens with bergamot and bitter orange, I can’t detect these notes at all.

The middle floral notes are very apparent and we have rose, iris, jasmine and ylang ylang floating around in a very gentle feminine fashion.  The base notes of patchouli, sandalwood, oakmoss, cedar and tonka are quite shy and really it is only the creaminess from the tonka and sandalwood that are doing much here – but not that much!

Overall this perfume is very delicate.  I can imagine a sweet, white-faced, kimono-clad happy Japanese lady dabbing this on and feeling very special.



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