Portrait of Kyoto The Body Tale 2023

It opens with a beautiful dark, sweetened tea. Rich enough to have some depth, but not heavy or syrupy. Unfortunately, a clean white floral quickly starts creeping in and eventually takes over the tea. I wanted that dark sweet tea to stay front and center. Instead, the flowers stole the show and my tea.

I'd assumed that because the brand does specifically soapy fragrances, they'd want variety and make the specifically tea scents less soapy. That assumption was wrong. This is soapy as heck.

Under the soap there's apple and amber. As a black tea (and earl grey) obsessive, I struggle to find the tea notes. I'm normally oversensitive to citrus notes and in this they are imperceptible. Presumably the iris and musk is taking over, but I swear there's heliotrope in here.

Is it wearable? Sure. It's inoffensive. There's no screech to the soap. There's not even much sweetness, which is a welcome surprise with the honey and apple notes. It's just a big 'meh' of a fragrance.

I've been experimenting with layering to fix the issue. Bubble Tea and Rose Oud help.