Tian Di has been on my radar for months. When I joined the now defunct subscription service from Scent Social Tian Di was one of my calendar choice for spring 2024. It went out of stock long before it was due & then Scent Social (formerly HooHaa) closed subscriptions. Heyho! I went on a quest to find Frassai stockists, there were two, neither had Tian Di. Then Brooke of Sainte Cellier came to my rescue! My favourite niche perfumery now stocks Frassai! Including Tian Di. I bought the sample set, it arrived Tuesday morning & I tore into the packaging to get at the juice. There are 9 x 2ml samples & includes blotters to test
Why all the fuss I hear you ask. Smoked peach. It has a smoked peach note & those two words had me hooked.
Notes.
- Ginger, Galbanum, Star Anise
- Olibanum, Peach Elixir, Red Chrysanthemum, Orris
- Sandalwood, Chinese Incense, Tonkin Musk
How does it smell? I lavished half the sample on me & felt glee. Unadulterated, childish glee. Peach black tea right from the start is joyous. My olfactory memory whipped through Mitsouko, Femme, Ivoire & Tresor, all, yet none, of these. There is heat & brightness with temple incense & dark anise dancing around this central accord.
I had read the legend of the heavenly Chinese peach that inspired this fragrance. Maybe this is what brought the mental image of Chinese porcelain, red bean rice cakes & black tea sweetened with peach nectar. The woman serving gives the elders the choicest of the confections. As she moves the scent of these delights is wafted around this homely scene. Tian Di didn’t deliver a stately banquet held only every 3000 years but this homely scene of love & care.
As time moves on the button chrysanthemums table decor are moved aside & the ancient mah jong set is brought out in its polished box, the pieces tipped out. The fragrant woody, powder scent from the box rises. The petals release their bitter scent & the excitement rises. The elders know this is when the serious business of gambling begins.
On clothing the smokey peach is still going strong after 5 hours. On skin Tian Di is polished wood & a slightly bitter powder.
Next morning Tian Di is a skin scent of bitter crysanths & slightly dirty musk. Very nice
Oh Tian Di I hoped to love you & you didn’t disappoint. I’ve started saving the pennies from now!
*I paid for the sample set
**Terrible photo is mine
alitykescents 
Great overview, Alityke. Somewhere in my scent memory I believe I’ve tried a few from Frassai. I just can’t remember which ones. I don’t think it was this one, though. There was one white floral one with a creamy note that I found nice, but not for me. I might have to revisit the whole set. I know that Rodrigo Florex-Roux does a few for the brand and I often like his work.
I think the creamy white flower one is Verano Porteno. I’m looking forward to trying them all in due course.
Yes and I think Blondine was the other one I sampled. High quality perfumes.
I think I tried some of these, too, but none of them moved me to purchase a bottle.
I’ll be trying the remaining Tian Di again. I adore the smokey peach opening. I need to pay a bit more attention to the transitions though.
You may have just created another lemming!
Definitely worth getting your nose on. After I wrote the review I read Fragrantica reviews. Many report only 2-3hrs longevity on skin. As I wrote I got 24hrs. I think this is more that the peach leaves at that point & the other, more bitter & musky notes come to the fore & it becomes a different animal.
Peach is one of the notes that usually don’t work on my skin, but your description makes me want to try this perfume anyway: who knows m, maybe the “smokey” part will nudge it into the delight zone for me as well?
If you try I hope you like it. It is a vintage style peach, doesn’t smell gourmand. The mid & base aren’t peachy at all.
I enjoyed this post, Alityke. I also enjoyed your description of Tian Di. It sounds amazing. You need to stop adding things to my sample list. 😉
WOW! This reads fabulous Alityke. I’m not sure if I need another peach anything in the wardrobe but if I see them there will be spritzing.
Portia xx
Portia, she’s beautiful. A fragrance of two distinct parts though. That stunning opening twists & turns into that Tonkin musk skin scent
Gah! sounds so good