Yazhini ManimudiPerfume trends around foods come and go. One such trend was matcha perfumes, popularized by global attention towards Japanese culture along with cherry blossoms and anime. For some companies, it was just a trend to capitalize on, but many have managed to make fragrances that are certifiably good even after the trend cycle moves on to the next coolest thing.
If you don’t already know, matcha is a green tea often found in powdered form. It has become a replacement for coffee with a younger audience with its lower caffeine content. It has found its way into ice cream, baked goods, and even perfumes. It tastes green, kind of grassy but with a pleasant sweetness underlying it. It’s most treasured for its umami flavor, which is a novelty for those of us outside Japan.
Matcha perfumes can be so different based on the other notes they’re paired with. They can be green, grassy with a bitter undertone in fresh watery perfumes. They can be sweet and creamy when paired with other gourmand notes like vanilla. The tea note can be spiced up to bring an outdoorsy natural feeling when paired with aromatic notes. Here are a few perfumes that explore this variety matcha offers:
d’Annam Matcha Soft Serve
Key accords: green, powdery, vanilla
Unisex
d’Annam is known for making very realistic and meaningful fragrances as we saw with their interpretation of Vietnamese Coffee. Matcha Soft Serve is no different. Matcha Soft Serve brings the whole matcha experience from opening the tin and wafting the powdery grassy green fragrance to its transformation under the whisk. Vanilla brings a hint of sweetness, milk makes it creamy and together with the cone waffle accord, it feels like a matcha soft serve.
By Kilian Princess
Key accords: powdery, sweet, green
Unisex
By Kilian takes the trendy tea note and makes it pretty, princessy, but not excessively so. The fresh green powderiness of matcha complements the airy, powdery sweetness of marshmallow really well. Ginger’s light kick of spice is what makes this perfume so interesting, making it feel like more than a perfume that took advantage of two trendy gourmand ingredients. It feels like a special family recipe for a matcha tea that you won’t get anywhere else.
Kenzo Poudre Matcha
Key accords: powdery, green, musky
Unisex
This one’s a clean, fresh matcha made for the clean girl era. The opening is all powdery matcha and herbal tea but it dries down in around 2 hours to become a more floral musk that feels intimate and skin-like. It feels light, fresh and green like a pleasant day at a Japanese tea house.
Penhaligon’s Fortuitous Finley
Key accords: spicy, salty, green
Masculine
I’d say this is one of the most unique matchas I’ve come across. The fresh green notes with the ozonic notes and leather is giving horseriding lessons in a British estate and I’d expect nothing less from a brand that has a Royal Warrant meaning they are official suppliers to the British Royal Family. The matcha is green and sharp, there’s earthy patchouli, and pistachio for nuttiness. It’s the kind of perfume that goes from day to night and through the seasons effortlessly.
Le Labo Thé Matcha 26
Key accords: woody, fruity, citrus
Unisex
Thé Matcha is a woody, creamy fragrance. The opening is more about the woods and citrusy sparkle, making you wonder where the matcha was. But it comes to you in soft waves, very natural and green with the refreshing feeling of tea replacing the brightness of citrus. The fig comes through green and sweet with a light milky accent. Altogether, it’s a really unique matcha fragrance that you should at least sample if not buy.
Yazhini Manimudi
