Aroma M Geisha Nobara-Cha (1997): A Spicy, Contemplative Rose {Perfume Review} {Smell-The-Roses-Till-Valentine's Day Challenge - Day 6}

 
Aroma M is a small New York-based perfume house which was founded in 1995 by two artists, Maria McElroy and husband and partner Shinya Yokota. The aesthetics of the house reflect their common love of the Orient and the visual arts. Their mission as they declare it themselves is to "interpret and update the Geisha sensibility and the subtleties of Japanese incense for contemporary fragrance connoisseurs."  After Japan they announce that Turkey and the Ottoman period will be their next creative influences.

Amongst Aroma M's characterizing features is a great attention to the outer shell of the perfume, especially as it pertains to the all-important ritual and art of gift-giving in Japanese culture. Refined Yuzen papers and Shibori textiles, vintage ones, are used to accompany and intensify the pleasure of perfume-wearing seen as an aesthetic gesture demanding a visual preparation and heightened sense of anticipation.....

Nobara-Cha, which is translated from the Japanese as "Wild Rose Tea" features notes of amber, rose geranium, and sandalwood. It is a simple scent from the point of view of its composition but sophisticated from the vantage point of its effect. The result is refined and natural, deep and fresh, alluring and restrained. Its simplicity and naturalness makes it seem to belong to the pre-industrial era. 

The rose geranium note Nobara-Cha includes is a scented type of geranium sometimes used in perfumery as a cheaper alternative to rose. Here it smells of a fresh dewy rose as picked from the garden while giving out some hints of lemon and citronella that are part of its geranium nature. It is satisfactorily deepened by an antique-smelling amber and the beautiful sandalwood turns the scent into a spicy rose concoction shimmering like gold dust on a sandalwood fan playing with the subtle autumnal light.

The perfume is available for $72. A sampler set of all 11 Aroma M perfumes can be purchased for $20.