08/23/2025

chaillaty
3 Reviews

chaillaty
1
Incense and Grandmother's-house smell
I bought a sample of this for my girlfriend; she did one spray on either side of the neck just to test it for the night; two sprays in total. Initially, it was a lot stronger than expected, and it left a cloud of fragrance behind wherever she was standing. I could smell it from five feet away. It wasn't unpleasant or overpowering, though; just a surprise for me considering that I'm used to fragrances much less potent. To give you a sense of longevity, the cloud of fragrance effect had certainly faded after, let's say, ~2 hours. Additionally, we tested it at ~7:30 pm / 19:30, and the strength had dimmed to where I had to be within a couple of feet to smell it by 3:30 am / 03:30. What amazes me is that I can still smell the fragrance on the neck/when close, a little over a full day later! The longevity is truly remarkable.
The scent disappointed just the slightest in that I couldn't really pick up on any rice or straw notes, but that could just be something in skin chemistry. It smelled like pure incense to me, not necessarily evocative of a temple. There was something about it that smelled (not in a bad way) elderly to me; perhaps it was something slightly medicinal about the scent, almost like an old herbal candy kept in a purse...?
Tatami reminded me of the roomy scent of my grandmother's house in Rhode Island. She is no incense user; a stay-at-home Catholic mom in her time with insular beliefs, who paints her house only in shades of light blue and white (if that could at all help describe the fragrance). But her house was a place of relaxation, peace, and community: that energy is something I keenly felt from this scent, and a wave of calm soothed me whenever I caught it in the air.
Overall, a powerful incense, with something else I couldn't quite place that was reminiscent of the smell (or memory) of a grandmother's house. Despite the absence of rice for me, it is incredibly pleasant.
The scent disappointed just the slightest in that I couldn't really pick up on any rice or straw notes, but that could just be something in skin chemistry. It smelled like pure incense to me, not necessarily evocative of a temple. There was something about it that smelled (not in a bad way) elderly to me; perhaps it was something slightly medicinal about the scent, almost like an old herbal candy kept in a purse...?
Tatami reminded me of the roomy scent of my grandmother's house in Rhode Island. She is no incense user; a stay-at-home Catholic mom in her time with insular beliefs, who paints her house only in shades of light blue and white (if that could at all help describe the fragrance). But her house was a place of relaxation, peace, and community: that energy is something I keenly felt from this scent, and a wave of calm soothed me whenever I caught it in the air.
Overall, a powerful incense, with something else I couldn't quite place that was reminiscent of the smell (or memory) of a grandmother's house. Despite the absence of rice for me, it is incredibly pleasant.