Russian Tea

TERRIFIC tea - a privilege to sit down with this and take even the tiniest sample of its loveliness. I've been after something with great tea note(s) but no citrus for a while anyway, and Russian Tea is often mentioned in the same breath as lots of other stuff I like. Reading here that the nose is the same guy who formulated Bois d'Ascese (which is damn near to my 'smell of imaginary heaven') sealed the deal and made it even more imperative to try this. And oh MY it is good, especially at first, when the notoriously elusive and short-lived real-tea note clouds up around your nose in glorious, smoky/steamy/fruity wafts, strong and unmistakeable, and seeming - to my nose anyway - all organic and detailed and beautiful. So deeply smoky at the bottom end I even thought there was cade in it, but maybe that's just the birch. Mint and immortelle are both notes which can ruin a whole frag for me, but in this they're both on their very best behaviour and share the tea-table without losing their manners. Soft and natural leather underlying it all. Nothing at all out of place, then, with even the raspberry seeming sophisticated and real, not like some bullying synthetic Frankenfruit concocted in a test tube. Just bewitchingly good, and also has blooming marvellous projection at first and really robust longevity - hanging on up to 9h on my skin. So - a seductive proposition, for sure! Yet there are a few bad omens in the tea leaves at the bottom of the cup. For one: very overpriced, even for niche, even BEFORE Masque Milano pulled a dirty trick and decided to charge the same for a 35ml bottle as they'd previously done for a 100ml. Second: I really admire the knowledge and insight of the Kafkaesque blog's writer (though I strongly disagree with it about loads of scents) and their takedown of Russian Tea is a genuine savaging, finding all sorts of very grave technical faults in it. While I don't know enough about perfume tech to share those reservations, they make me doubt what I was really smelling. And most seriously: the longer I wore this, the more I couldn't stop thinking about its very close kinship to Tuscan Leather (Tom Ford, pleh!) OR - even more concerning - Rasasi La Yuqawam, which has far more smouldering ashtray in it and none of the beauties of tea in the Masque Milano - but which costs only about a quarter as much while giving nearly as much pleasure. So I'm still on the fence. Love it. Want it. Can't afford it. Doubt if it's worth it. Then smell it again and want it again. Oh Ambivalence! thy name is Russian Tea...

The Eastern (tea) Promises. The story should be that you arrive from the cold outside into this smoky place where you enjoy an eastern tea ceremony, let's find out if this tells the story. The opening is a very cold, balsamic and spicy mint plus pepper, if you are carefull enough you can catch something sweet, wery sublte, but I can't detect any proper rasberry (which is indicated in the notes). The mint here is very sharp, almost medicinal, but it's definitely "cold". After some time the heart notes start to blend with the opening, the initial freshness of the mint meets a (probably) synthetic immortelle that on the "upper side" joins the opening on its fresh-erbacious, cotton lavander like (almost licorice, reminding me a mint-licorice thing) and on the other side starts to build the leather accord that will bring us in the dry down phase. The black tea is minty, very eastern, and it reminds me of the infused drink more than the leaf. You don't smell tea leaf, but prepared, infused, black tea with some mint inside. It could be a longfenxia tea (very appreciated in Russia) because the magnolia adds some florals, light rose, violet and remembers the fresh opening with his lemon hints. At this point a light incense starts to grow with the birchwood coal giving to the thing it's smoky feeling that opens the leather-wood drydown annunced by the immortelle. This phase is basically skin scents and very, very relaxing, not heavy on leather (thing that I find a little bit boring and fatiguing in other fragrances). So to summarize, this is a damn good blend, that respects the concept and develops a lot during the wearing, and for me it's the best Rasquinet formula (between those I tryed), much better than his recent releases where he decided to go mad in super strong amberwoody drydowns to have more longevity. Totally unisex, little more wintery but wearable in every season. Sillage is not great, it's a "close quarter" fragrance, the longevity is ok, 6 hours on my skin (I know, I know, this is considered weak nowdays, but this madness will end someday). Price is not low, but neither so high, it's ok priced I suppose.

Im testing this for half a week because i hope this can be the scent ill wear when i meet my sweetheart for the first time! Initial spray: On a blotting paper its a fresh, from the tea bag raspberry peppermint tea with definitely a hint of random tea leaves. What you'd imagine you'd get in commercial tea to make up the base of the brew. On skin, shortly a confusion of maybe tea? an old museum? Grandma's home? And soon, from a distance and anyone in your vicinity its a fresh and fruity mint. This surprised me, because the top note echoes JPG's Le Beau Paradise's delicious greens that leave an impression on you. The kind of sweetness to the mint that wants you to come closer. In the crook of my elbow, the heat gives you that cup of mint tea, but you're in a room that is burning incense, the raspberry dies very quickly after this, but slowly, what I smell is............ Rooibos Tea? Subtle but I can tell. It's stood for a while, nearly room temperature with enough heat to not call it cold. But from afar, all you smell is mint tea brewing in a bit kettle, steaming up the room. Passing time, it bottoms out to dry black tea. The hearty note, but still you're probably in a store that sells crystals and pendulums. Essential oils and little esoteric statues. My city has a shop like this, sometimes I come browse just to soak up the atmosphere of thick incense in the air. SMELLS LIKE A WITCH. But a baddie, a fine shyt goth girl witch. This could definitely not be for everyone. Aesthetically or with aura, you need to match this vibe. Plus points if you are eastern european, perhaps suitable for you if you have that sadness in your eyes that you only see in eastern european gay porn. Additionally, a honorable and respected shoutout to the reviewer who described this perfume to be "Dry humping a leather boot" - As a dry humper who had picked out this perfume before discovering this review, I feel seen and wholeheartedly agree with you. Please, do not contact me about my warranty.

Act I, Perfume III from Masque Milano is the enigmatic Russian Tea, mostly a mix of black tea, mint, raspberry, black pepper, florals, leather, incense, and birch. It opens with an abundance of mint, black pepper, and tea, the mint and pepper giving way to the tea, birch, florals, and incense, mostly, in the dry down. And while raspberry is listed as a top note, I feel like I get more of it in the dry down, myself. The blast of mint and pepper in the opening is powerful, a spicy sting of a wake-up that requires a couple of hours to fade to the point of the tea being more singularly front-and-center with the raspberry, mixed florals, incense, leather, and birch. It’s not wholly smooth, a sort of wood-varnish-mixed-with-leather-and-incense base under the tea. It’s an elegantly- and carefully-crafted fragrance and I’ve already discovered more nuances in this first full wearing on skin than in my initial smelling of it during the Masque Milano introductory event at Perfumology, where Alessandro Brun wisely pointed out (of this fragrance, in particular) that it needs to be tested on skin, not paper. It’s much more interesting on skin. Its performance is very good, too, much like Montecristo, having a boastful and provocative opening and finding balance in a tamer but long-lasting dry down. Its pricing is in the middle of the line at $145 for a now-standard 35 bottle size, and while the presentation is lovely, the fragrances don’t come cheap, though I think the job done here in Russian Tea (and Terralba and Montecristo) is great, and I’d recommend that others try it if they haven’t. Overall, it wins high points for uniqueness and provocativeness, as, while I’m not a huge fan of tea fragrances, let alone spicier tea fragrances, specifically, this is so well done that it warrants attention. 8 out of 10

Ok, Masque, you almost got me here. Put on my little stick sample this morning and was instantly impressed with this beautiful blend of fresh tea and leather. It's like sipping tea in a study full of leather-bound books. To me, this is very much an experiential scent . . . One that you wear to take you on a little journey. It's not one I would spray on just for a pleasant scent I'm free to ignore. I find myself with the back of my hand against my nose, making this review somewhat of a challenge to type. . . It does dry down quickly to a place where the edges between fresh tea and warm leather are much less easily distinguished. But that does not affect the performance. I'm still getting lovely wafts and I'm loving it. Another plus is that what I sniff straight off my skin is very similar to the wafts I get. This is not always the case and I appreciate that little detail. The scent is not feminine per se, but it is soft and borders on powdery (from the dusty leather) with a slight touch of sweetness there somewhere. But it's not sweet either. It's thoroughly unisex, though those who think of feminine scents as sweet and floral would consider it masculine, and those considering men's scents to be barbershop fougres would maybe find it feminine . . . Hence why I said it's thoroughly unisex. My sole complaint is the price. I simply can't pay that much for a scent that is ambiance and reflective and one that I would get for the novelty. If it was under $100, I might consider a bottle. I just can't justify contributing to the inflated perfume market when there are equally high quality scents being sold at 1/3 per ml, this price. That's my own conviction. If the price doesn't bother you, get a sample. It really is lovely.