Bonsai

Subdued green Japanese pine incense, but not how you would expect. There is definitely an array of ingredients in here giving a strong impression of natural materials and unexpected off notes (fig and kerosene for instance). As is usually the case with House of Matriarch, unique and a little crunchy. After wearing a few times, I'm reluctant to order a full bottle (although it smells fantastic) because it fails on performance. If I spray heavily in the morning, by lunchtime it's completely gone. Otherwise an awesome, rich, dark green scent. Edit: I was revisiting this recently and I have to give it big complements for what amounts to a very original, very intriguing green accord in the first half hour of Bonsai. I mention offnotes like fig and kerosene above but I also get a strong blast of cold frankincense in the multi-dimensional accord, similar to that used in Devotion. Whatever the materials, the layered, textured green is akin to smelling a whole bonsai tree at once, bark, sap, needles, and wet stone.

The House of Matriarch knows how to impress. Opening the box, there was a fresh cut piece of Japanese cyprus. Like all the other scents I have either purchased or sampled from this House, this one smells as if no expense was spared. The cyprus is the strongest I have smelled from any fragrance, ever, so if you love cyprus this scent is made for you. The crysthanamum also comes across are lush and deep. I have just put this on a couple of hours ago so I can't say with an authority how long it will last, but nothing stays on my skin all that long (a few exceptions to this). It seems a scent that can be worn almost any time of year. A day scent that will not overwhelm others with its sillage. I picture this more of standing on a mountain surrounded by cyprus holding crysthanimums than a zen garden,(or at least my favorite one), that is filled with almost every kind of rose in the world. Unique, and that is hard to say in a time with so many are trying come up with something new in fragrance.

High quality and clever. Like the damp insides of a shrub branch. There's really nothing like it. A burst of cypress and damp earth. I can't decide whether it is something I'd wear (I will but it's really a matter of when) but it does smell great. It actually dried down to a resinous skin scent. It came as a sample with another order. Not much projection or duration but that's ok to me. It seems suited for a sort of personal smell.

This absolutely knocked my socks off. It is similar to Fille en Aiguilles by Serge Lutens, but different enough that you could justify having both. This is a glorious clean green piney fragrance that doesn't smell like a cleaning product and is heavenly on anyone regardless of gender. I had ordered several of the 3 ml sprays from House of Matriarch, and they put Bonsai in as a free sample. They knew what they were doing! *swoon*

Bonsai starts with a rush of cut wildflower stems and develops into ancient forest temple— dusty, humid corridors, layers of snuffed incense sinking into dry wood, and strange flowers being more of a memory of a place or time than a strictly good scent (although it is). Sweet copal balances the darker resins. A big incense fragrance I feel comfortable wearing in 86F weather. Dry, woody, and bright.