Tatami

tatami is such a cozy favorite. definitely be patient and give it time to dry down before forming an opinion, though. right out of the bottle and for the first hour or so on skin, it's almost offensively cloying and sweet. but slowly, gently, it settles into its true warm grassy nature. if you've ever had the pleasure of smelling a burning braid of sweetgrass, that's what tatami evokes. it's a little vanilla-like, dry and crisp, a little heady and medicinal. it really does remind me of sun-warmed straw, and i adore how effortlessly it blends with skin-smell to wrap you in a close, personal aura of hazy late afternoon light. the incense is definitely there, but it's subtle, not as much of a show-stealer as i was worried it would be. this is becoming a go-to for an inoffensive smell i can take anywhere to bring a little inner peace with me. absolutely FB worthy.

This is the fragrance that made me fall in love with rice as a fragrance note. It's not sweet, but deeply warm, dry, and smoky. It smells sophisticated and grounding. The incense and straw mat conjures a clear picture in my mind. It's definitely smoky, but not overwhelmingly so. I'm likely going to buy a full bottle now!

Upon first spray, this hits you HEAVILY in the face with incense. To me, that's not a bad thing; I love incense. As it dries down, the incense starts to fade to the background, and the hay becomes very prominent. While I've never been in a tatami room, this is exactly how I imagine it would smell, so I believe it's pretty photorealistic. It's simple, with a clear point of view, and it's oddly comforting for someone who hasn't experienced tatami. I don't get the rice, but that's not a big deal to me. While this isn't full bottle worthy to me, I am really glad I sampled it. I think if I were to get a small bottle, it would be a perfect bedtime fragrance (though it might be too heavy for others to wear to bed, lol.)

The initial scent is of straw and incense, as if I were sitting on a straw mat inside a temple. I can smell sunlight in this fragrance, or at least warmth. Upon the dry-down, the incense fragrance lessens, leaving behind sun-heated straw.

this is a cozy, intimate rice, incense, powder, and hay scent. it's just sweet enough to be wearable, but definitely a unique fragrance. it doesn't smell as rice-y as i initially hoped, but it's still beautiful.