Tokyo Spring Blossom (Urara’s Tokyo Café)

In a continuation of yesterday's "Spring has Sprung" mood, I am wearing another spring-themed perfume today. It being England though, we seem to have bypassed the rest of spring and plunged straight into summer. I'm sitting in the garden in full sunlight - not a cloud to be seen. The reason Brits talk about the weather so much, is that we get an awful lot of it. Less than four weeks ago, it was snowing. Today the temperature is in the mid 20s. My Tokyo Spring Blossom is called "Urura's Tokyo Cafe", so it must be an older bottle. I'm not sure when or why the name changed, but for the sake of clarity I'll refer to it as TSB throughout this review. TSB bounces and fizzes out of the bottle when first sprayed. It's really joyful - a citrussy, effervescent burst which has the ability to change my mood, from being doleful (as I am, having broken the top of my humerus and ribs and am feeling rather fed up about it all) to feeling quite optimistic and cheery again. That fizzy, citrussy opening subsides, and then the flowers come into play - a light pink, fresh "modern" rose and then a delightful, powdery violet. Accompanying the flowers is a low-key raspberry, which has the effect of gently sweetening the perfume (although this is not a toothache inducing sweetness). Underpinning the flowers is a creamy sensation, which I think is coming from the balsam and the myrrh - again, these are just the lightest of touches, which give a little body and richness to what otherwise may have been a rather ordinary and transient floral perfume. Both longevity and sillage are moderate - I do like to reapply every couple of hours though, for the therapeutic value of that joyful opening.

Beautiful cherry blossom fragrance that doesn’t actually list cherry blossom as a note...but evokes the promise of Spring. Raspberry jam, a touch of green sparkle and fizz, a sexy, powdery, violet dry down with gentle, grounding woodsy notes. This manages to avoid being overly sweet and is instead a beautifully subtle, 'adult' fruity-floral, with a deep and dreamy effect that my nose just can't get enough of! This was my Spring 2017 signature and I have a huge bottle gifted to me for my birthday (thank you, Sis!). I will be visiting Tokyo for the first time this summer and guaranteed this will be my holiday signature. I can also see me wafting this around my workplace come September. Despite it not being an 'autumnal' fragrance on paper, its just SO more-ish, grown-up, fresh and yet deeply sensual. I can't get enough of it. I love this. I love 4160. I love Sarah. British perfume at its best.

I get a lot of juicy tart and sweet citrus upon initial spray. I sense a bit of conifer in there - a wisp of a conifer sap already in the opening this creates a paradox in the scent it is at once juicy and citrus and yet dry woody sap in the opening. This opening act lasts for ages on fabric. It settles fairly quickly on skin though - I barely detect violet or rose...if it is there it is creating a slight powder effect on top of a warm yet dry opoponax base. I am not sure what I was expecting here but I like to think that this delicate dry, woody slightly citrus and hinting of a gentle floral to come is what Tokyo may smell like in the spring - I haven't been to know for certain. Regardless this fragrance is serene, smooth and gentle.

A citrus opening gives way to crisp violet and tart juicy raspberry, not too powdery at all, the tart fruit and violet flowers stand out way above the powder. And there’s a touch of balsamic woodiness to keep it grounded. It is a little but like Parma violet sweets, but just in that sweet, fizzy, violet way. This is simply the best violet fragrance I’ve smelled. Perfect for spring and summer days. Love. Edit: on clothes this is quite different, and it becomes dry, spicy and woody with a slight green spice fresh feeling to it, and the barest hint of tart raspberry. It stays much sweeter on my skin (but is still a great unisex violet fragrance). But I love it both ways.

OK this is not my type of perfume at all. I don't care particularly for florals, fruity perfumes, and where are my beloved patchouli and vanilla? But I love this! The florals are natural, beautiful and delicate and the raspberry gives this a zingy freshness. These aren't big, blousy in-your-face florals, the sort I don't like, but beautifully balanced violets and raspberries and roses like a British stately home Garden on a summer's day. I am eking out my little bottle of this but hope to buy a FB of this in time for the Spring when I think this will come into its own.