Alpinia speciosa.

The plant with the singsong name of ALPINIA SPECIOSA entrapped me by first smell, in Chidoriya's Secret de Geiko face cream - warming a little crescent between my palms, it released the most meditative, entrancing scent - moist, piney and still. It was the smell of Kawabata's House of the Sleeping Beauties, with its paper screens and window overlooking the sea. I find it more relaxing than lavender, with its skin-soft hint of camphor evoking snowy forests and childhood slumber. It's a smell of spectres and magical foxes stalking in the cool, silvery mist.