Tag: sakura

Review – Ritual of Sakura duty free kit

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Sakura season may be ephemeral, but I’ve always wished I could enjoy the scent year-round. And so begins my quest for a line of gentle, authentic, lightly sakura-scented bath and body products that are relatively easy to obtain.

Rituals is a line of home and personal-care products inspired by scents and, well, rituals of self-care from around the world. I’d been wanting to try their Ritual of Sakura for a while but never got around to it. Until I passed through the duty-free shop in Denver on the way to California last time, and I knew it was fate. They had this lovely little kit that was a duty-free exclusive and I took it as a sign that I had to snag it.

I managed to hold on to it until we got to Las Vegas, where I could take advantage of the huge glass shower and giant two-person bathtub. It made the experience all the more special.

The products included in this travel-focused kit are a shampoo, rice scrub, foaming shower gel, and a body cream. They all include rice milk and cherry blossom. The products are all lovely to use – rich and creamy and not drying. The shower gel also makes an incredible shave gel and I’m always a fan of double-duty products, especially for travel. The rice scrub is very gentle, which my sensitive and eczema-prone skin greatly appreciated. The whole kit comes in an elegant little travel bag that’s white faux-leather on the outside with a soft pink lining that suits the sakura theme perfectly. There is branding on it, but it’s a very discreet embossed logo and I would not feel self-conscious carrying other products at all in this. The whole package and experience felt suitably luxurious for a Vegas getaway with a fancy bathtub.

Unfortunately, for me personally, the scent on these missed the mark. It’s definitely got notes of sakura but it reminds me more of that iconic “doll” scent from the early 80s (I know, I’m likely dating myself here). It’s a combination of bright florals and a powdery, comforting scent, all undertoned with a very faint whiff of plastic. It was definitely less fresh and herbaceous than a true single-note sakura fragrance should be, which is what I am still on the prowl for.

However, none of of this is to say that it’s an unpleasant scent! Not by any means! It’s familiar, but elevated, and unique enough to make it stand out in a line of overly florid and saccharine “cherry blossom” scents on the western market. All it means is that my hunt for a true, easily attainable sakura body care line continues. If you like the idea of a softer cherry blossom scent with a more western scent profile in mind, then I highly suggest checking this line out. But if you’re like me and you’re on the lookout for a pure sakura experience, maybe give Rituals of Sakura a pass.

 I purchased this item myself and chose to review it. 

S is for Sakura

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Sakura, 桜, Japanese cherry blossom

Few things are as aesthetically emblematic of Japan as the sakura blossom. It’s an easy visual shorthand in movies and anime for spring, new love, and youthful exuberance. All for good reason. They bloom in profusion across the entire country, a season as looked forward to as the holiday season here in North America. The blooming of the sakura trees is celebrated on coins, with parties, by time-limited merchandise, clothing, picnics, drinks at Starbucks, you name it.

They are a perfect example of mono no aware, or the acceptance of the transience of life. They burst open in a cloud of soft colour and last mere days.

When it comes to kimono, sakura can be depicted many ways. However, there are some constants that make it easy to identify. Sakura will always have five petals in the central or main layer, and each petal is slightly elongated with a tell-tale notch in the tip.

Traditionally, sakura is a spring motif, worn right before the real ones bloom. However, it’s become such a ubiquitous design that it shows up in all seasons nowadays. Unless you’re going to a very strict event, I believe you can wear it any time.

Here are some examples taken from my collection, so you can see the variations and similarities.

All the photos in this entry come directly from my collection. You are welcome to use them for personal projects and reference, but not for anything commercial. If you’re uncertain, feel free to contact me.

Let’s Celebrate the New Era of Reiwa!

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Yesterday marked the beginning of a new era in Japan. Emperor Akihito abidcated the throne at the end of April, paving the way for his son Naruhito to ascend to the throne. This ushered in the end of the Heisei era and the beginning of the Reiwa era. There will be a week of celebrations of all sorts, but when I saw that they had announced a special colour palette for the event, I knew I had to do a coordination to celebrate. The three celebratory colours are ume (plum), sumire (violet), and sakura (pink).  They  were  chosen  because  they  are  all  traditional  spring  flowers,  and  also because  they  are  mentioned  in  the  Manyoshu,  Japan’s  oldest  recorded  poetry  that  served  as  inspiration  for  the  new era’s  name.

I knew right away that my beloved peony furisode would be absolutely perfect for this outfit, since it features all three colours already. A white-based obi with delicate pink accents gave the outfit a bit of visual rest, since the kimono itself is quite busy and bold. I chose more pink and purple accessories to reinforce the theme and went with a classically feminine but modern styling.

To me, this outfit is the perfect way to usher in what will hopefully be a new era of peace, cooperation, equality, and prosperity for Japan.

Items used in this coordination

Fudangi First Friday – Flirty Florals

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I’ve been pretty terrible at keeping up with my Fudangi First Friday project, but since this is the last one of the year I figured I had to make an effort! This gorgeous raspberry red hakata obi is one I got from Kimono Yuki back during the summer and hadn’t gotten around to coordinating yet. I love how rich the colour is, and it’s also super long, I can’t wait to wear it myself!

The obi is one of those strange colours that’s super bold and vivid but still manages to fall into the neutral category, at least when it comes to kimono. So I knew I could pair it up with almost anything. I haven’t done much with this multi-season komon recently but thought it could work and make a sort of sweet, feminine outfit that still felt a little mature due to the black base and richer tone of the obi.

I’d also never gotten the opportunity to use this adorable owl haneri. It matched some of the pinks in the kimono so perfectly, I’m very glad I thought of it. The finishing touch was a peach and white obijime that again ties in to some of the accent colours on the kimono. It was feeling a little drab against the obi, somehow, so I thought tying it in a cute bow would help balance things out a little better.

As much as I’ve loved doing the Fudangi First Friday project (and the MonoKimono challenge), I’m pretty sure that in 2019 I’m not going to commit to any challenge or project where I have to do something at a fixed and repeated time. I’ve just got too much going on. I hate feeling like I’ve failed and I don’t need that sort of stress going forward.

Today’s post was apparently brought to you by the letter F.

Items used in this coordination

 

Tea Time – Tea Forté

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Today I have a beautiful assortment of teas from Tea Forté as well as their incredible KATI steeping cup in Hanami design. I received these for review purposes back in early June, and have been trying them out for a while to make sure I could bring you the best review possible. It’s just my luck that I get a selection of hot steeped beverages to work through while we’ve been hit with the hottest summer on record here in Montreal, but I’ve persevered! It was worth it!

To begin with, here’s the Matcha Collection; a beautiful presentation box with single-serving packets of matcha. Included are Chai Matcha, Chocolate Matcha, Coconut Matcha, Ginger Matcha, and Pure Matcha.

This is a beautifully cohesive, well-designed sampler. There are three packets of each variety, perfectly measured to make one cup of tea each. I love how thoughtfully designed the packets are, they’re very pretty to look at as well as being practical. They prevent the tea from being exposed to light and are very easy to open. so they would be great to travel with or keep at your desk.

I started with the Pure Matcha, because it was the most straightforward and I wanted to taste it clean before digging in to the interesting flavour combinations. It was earthy and grassy in just the right way; if you’re familiar with matcha you’ll know what I mean. It whisked easily just using a dessert fork, if you don’t have a proper chasen (bamboo whisk).

Next up was the Coconut Matcha. Full disclosure here, I like coconut by itself but tend not to like coconut-flavoured things. They almost always remind me of sun block or soap. I’m very glad to say that was not the case with this one! The coconut was delicate and natural-tasting, and didn’t overpower the fresh green taste of the tea. I do think I’ll be giving the other two packets to my mum, who is a coconut fiend, but I definitely did find this one more pleasant than I was expecting to.

From there, I started venturing out to the stronger and more adventurous combos, starting with the Ginger Matcha. This one was delicious – very heavy on the ginger, spicy and warming all the way down my throat. Which I probably would have appreciated a little more were we not in the midst of another oppressive heat wave! I did find the ginger overpowered the matcha itself a little bit but since I love ginger that wasn’t an issue personally. If you prefer your ginger milder, however, you might want to give this one a pass.

That brought me to the Chai Matcha, which struck a perfect balance between the grassy tea and spicy herbs. There’s also ginger in this one. but it’s not as up-front as the previous tea. There are also beautiful notes of cinnamon and a few other subtle spices I can’t quite pin down. This would also be incredible iced, or blended with a milk or non-dairy beverage of your choice.

I left the Chocolate Matcha for last because, to be frank, I was a little wary of it. I know it’s not uncommon for matcha to be paired with white chocolate in desserts, but the idea of it as a warm drink struck me as more than a little odd. Thankfully, the geniuses at Tea Forté clearly know what they’re doing, since this was unexpectedly delicious. It’s a little sweet without being cloying, and there are definite notes of cocoa in the blend that somehow pair really well with the matcha. This one would be a lovely dessert tea, and I’m going to try baking with it soon.

Next up is Hanami, another lovely presentation box filled with ten individually wrapped pyramid infuser bags as well as a pretty and sturdy tin of loose-leaf. This is a new addition to their product line and has already won a silver medal at the 2018 Global Tea Championship

This tea starts out with delicate sencha green tea, carefully blended with sakura essence and rose petals to bring a beautifully balanced floral note. This particular style of tea (green with light floral notes) is one of my favourite ways to drink green tea, so it’s no surprise that I absolutely loved this one. When mixing floral notes into tea it can be easy to go either too heavy and have the tea overpowered, or too light and make the floral almost undetectable, but there’s a reason this one’s an award winner. It’s spectacularly balanced!

This also shows off their fantastic handcrafted pyramid bags very well, and aren’t the little leaf tags adorable?! The bags are incredibly sturdy and allow for excellent water flow which makes for a very smoothly brewed tea. This isn’t really related, but I received this amazing mid-century tea cup from a friend years ago, and it’s one of my favourites. I don’t use it often because I’m afraid of breaking it, but this seemed like an appropriate time to bring it out.

As amazing as flavoured and speciality teas are, one of the best tests is how a pure, organic tea with no additions tastes, and their Organic Sencha is no exception. This is a beautifully gentle, clean, and fresh green tea. These tins have steeping instructions on them which is one of those little touches that make such a huge difference, especially when it comes to green teas. They’re quite sensitive to time and temperature, so having precise numbers to work from helps ensure optimum enjoyment of the product. This tea is clean, fresh, and just a tiny bit grassy/earthy, which is exactly what you want in a green tea.

 

The KATI cup is also absolutely gorgeous. It’s a really weighty, solid-feeling ceramic with a beautiful design of sakura on it. There’s a very fine mesh strainer that fits into it, perfect for loose-leaf teas, and a ceramic lid to keep your tea safe and warm. The cup comes in a ton of other beautiful designs, if the cherry blossoms aren’t your style.

I can’t get over how much thought and effort were put into every aspect of everything Tea Forté offers. From the flavourful, delicate, and well-balanced teas themselves to the design and aesthetics of the packaging. They feel so luxurious, and would make incredible gifts. I highly recommend everything listed here (assuming the products are to your taste!), and I’ll definitely be buying from them in the future.

 I received this item from the retailer or manufacturer for honest review purposes.If you have a topically appropriate craft, product, or service you would like me to review, please contact me.