Matsukita Clive Christian 2021

This week I am going to do five sample reviews for five of Clive Christian's best known fragrances, as I was very kindly given five testers at HN in Dubai to spend some time with and see what they are about. Monday's is Matsukita.

It is funny because I've smelt this one a couple of times before and it never wowed me, but this morning it absolutely rocked my world. The opening is a thick, resinous aromatic vibe with a heavy dose of smoke. It reminds me of the way Lapsang Souchong tea tastes; the way smoke curls around you in an embrace against the green freshness. I get more of the pink pepper in the top than the very subtle bergamot. Oddly, I have always found The Noir 29 by Le Labo lovely but a bit stringent and this should be similar but it is not at all. Matsukita is darker yet softer.

The jasmine is woven into the sambar note here in the heart and together it has this soaring sweetness to it that works so beautifully with the moody mate and the tarry smokiness of the tea. It all sits above the cedar wood base in the most elegant way imaginable. The woods are smoky but there is also a coniferous aromatic vibe to it as well that stops this from going too heavy like The Noir 29 does. This is not fun or happy. It is moody and reflective and in that quite astonishingly well done.

If you took Winter Palace by MEMO without the fruits and pushed it in a The Noir 29 direction via a short dalliance with Tea Tonique by Miller Harris, but without the bright citruses to sweeten, you have something close to Matsukita. Quite unexpectedly, it resonated with me in an emotional way. This fragrance evokes something lost from my memory; recalling an echo of something tender and fragile but powerful at the same time that I must have experienced in a past life.

Sometimes I wonder why I love fragrances so much and why I entertain such an odd addiction for something that can seem so banal or vain at times. It is fragrances like Matsukita that make everything make sense to me. I do not need to tell you that I love this fragrance because that should be blindingly obvious, but I will tell you that this is my kind of perfumery and absolutely my kind of scent. It is breathtaking. If Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday's testers are anything like as wonderful as Matsukita is, I am in for a treat.

Layering suggestion: Nope. This one is not for layering. There is nothing anyone could spray on top or below this that could improve it.

Three Word Summary: Pure Moody Perfection

Scent - 10/10
Drydown - 8/10
Sillage - 8/10
Bottle/packaging - 10/10
Performance - 8/10

44 / 50

Matsukita

Mom and Pop Asian markets that provides tastes of home away from home. The familiar whiff of asian snacks and abundance of jasmine tea and hints of green tea floating around, shrouded by old smokey cardboard that is strangely comforting. I also picture those small stand-like joints that you see in Japan with grandmas and grandpas selling knick knacks and snacks to kids during festivals; all the while people wearing kimonos are in the background enjoying life as incense floats throughout the streets

It's a freshie smokey tea chypre, which is unheard of for me. Chypre is one of my fave profiles, and I never thought I'd find a variation like such

That's what I think of for Matsukita, partially due to the name, history, and beautiful artwork of the presentation, but also due to my childhood. It's so simple and rugged, yet there's an air of elegance to it

Longevity and projection is impressive for it's profile. Lasting 6-8hrs with good projection for 1-3hrs

Definitely my favourite CC thus far

It's a nice smokey jasmine tea. Points for the balance; I'm not a fan of "smoke" and I think it tends to overwhelm most mixes but it's well measured here. However, after the open (when you stop applauding the smoke-balance) it's kind of boring? I feel like it needed either a more skanky jasmine or a heftier note in the base. Maybe some hinoki or vetiver?

Also, for a tea-jasmine the longevity is quite impressive; but (and I think this is the first time I've ever felt this way) the longevity actually works against it?? During the first 30 minutes I was adding this to cart as an exciting late summer-early fall scent, but this has lasted all day and honestly now I'm bored and kind of fatigued with it. Once the smoke fades out it becomes a ubiquitous woody green tea.

MSRP is hilarious. IMO also not worth the common discount price; there are countless more interesting jasmines....even a ton of more interesting smoked-jasmine-teas. You could buy 4-5 of them at the MSRP.

It is a fragrance with a unique scent. While it is fresh and juicy, it also has a beautiful soft smoky undertone.

Clive Christian has managed to beautifully combine the dominant note of jasmine, which has a spring scent, with the smoky note, which has a winter scent, in a way that neither of these 2 notes has an olfactory superiority over the other and the olfactory share of these 2 scents is completely 50% to 50%.

I think it is quite innovative to create this scent and it can make those who only like fresh and juicy scents and have the problem of what perfume to use in the cold seasons of the year that has both a refreshing smell and a winter mood very happy, because there is very few such perfume styles in the world of perfumes.

For me, at first, it smells like a rainforest, like a Christmas tree at first, very forest-like and woody. A scent like this definitely suits for melancholic winter nights. However, when I applied it and went to store, then returned home, I smelt like I smoked two packs in 20 minutes, like I stayed near bonfire for two hours and let my clothes digest that smoky scent. It's very smokey. If you go to a strict school or somewhere else like me, and scared being accused of smoking, then it's definitely not for you. However, if you want to protect your homies and tell the staff it's your perfume instead, not cigarettes or vape, then go for it.