VentoAureo

Transparent, airy, brightly shining.
Aromatic bitter tea, smoky guaiac, refreshing ginger.
The blend reminds me of typical creations by the perfumer (Jacques Cavallier-Belletrud), which he also made for Louis Vuitton and Bvlgari. At times, I am reminded of LV's Afternoon Swim or Bvlgari's Tygar, yet the Pour Homme EdP is an independent fragrance with better performance than the EdT version. Very modern and mature, somehow fresh, sometimes a little wet and aquatic like a rainy summer day. I really like it, as I also really like the other fragrance DNAs in the LV range.

Worth a test! :)

Vanille Fatale is for my nose a mixture of floral alcoholic vanilla, relatively unsweet, at least in direct comparison with Tobacco Vanilla. Sometimes VF has hints of a floral vanilla body lotion or shower gel from the drugstore, but then it also likes to spill over again into a very luxurious vanilla. I barely detect any alleged coffee-wheat notes. The general scent impression is quite wet, rich, liqueur-like, somehow moist, not at all dry or super sweet like other vanilla fragrances.

With other vanilla scents I have the image of candy in my head, or vanilla sugar...which can also have its charm, with Vanille Fatale on the other hand I think of homemade vanilla extract, vanilla beans pickled in vodka, stored in the dark for several months, shaken vigorously on a regular basis, the clear vodka slowly transforms into a dark brown-black nectar full of precious vanilla flavors.

Sillage and durability, however, unfortunately leave much to be desired, with perhaps 5-6 hours of longevity and weak sillage

"Yuzu" is currently the last J-Scent sample I can comment on, I hope soon I get the opportunity to test some more fragrances from this exciting brand :)

Briefly... with "Yuzu" I mean the perfume, with Yuzu the fruit. So that one can understand me hopefully better :)

So now to the fragrance: "Yuzu" starts....quite unspectacular and smells exactly like Yuzu smells. Citrusy, floral and slightly menthol-like. It's hard to explain what makes yuzu a yuzu, but once you know the differences it's obvious. Just like a tangerine smells and tastes different than an orange or lemon. All citrus fruits and yet fundamentally different.

"Yuzu", the fragrance, remains pretty much focused on just that smell of yuzus, thereby acts very juicy, natural, pleasantly harmonious in the nose, almost lifelike and moist as if you had the fruit right in front of you. Nothing seems harsh or pungent. Light menthol-like nuances are interwoven in the fragrance, probably also coming from thyme, otherwise hardly any other notes show. The rose shows itself eg. not at all.

Similarity has "Yuzu" with Diptyque's "Oyédo" whereby the latter has stronger mint / menthol facets, which can make the fragrance like an ice candy or toothpaste. In contrast, "Yuzu" is more of a pure natural yuzu, but still feels like "perfume" when worn, rather than just an ole essential oil.

The durability and sillage are a big surprise, because despite the fact that it is a citrus fragrance, "Yuzu" really holds relatively long, with 6 hours. This is not always the case with fragrances of this type, but is also due to the nature of the molecules, since citrus molecules tend to be light in molecular weight and thus tend to be volatile and "disappear" quickly.
In a nutshell.... "Yuzu" thus has a better performance than "Oyédo" since the latter only lasted 2-3 hrs on me.

Conclusion 1#: Yuzu lands with me on the wish list, however, I will probably get him only with the next visit to Japan, since he is to be obtained there immensely cheaper than if one would buy/order him in from DE.

Conclusion 2#: Yes "Yuzu" can be considered a Yuzu reference fragrance, much more than many other Yuzu fragrances for the Western market.

Honorable Mention: "Almost Transparent Blue" by ALabOnFire also has a very pretty yuzu note, but more entwined with other notes that are somewhat distracting, with worse performance! Still great fragrance!

Thanks for reading! :)

All good things come in threes, so also in this fragrance. Originally I wanted to buy me actually Roasted Green Tea as a blind buy, but am now glad that it has become Ramune...why I tell in the following.

Actually, Roasted Green Tea was supposed to smell like Hoji-Cha, a lower caffeine version of green tea with a roasted umami-like flavor.

Actually... because as soon as you put the scent on, a really disgusting smell wafts towards you, kind of sour, milky, algae-y. Almost like fermented milk, but not quite either. Difficult to describe. But not to compare with other algae scents like "Acqua di Sale" or "Bvlgari Aqva pour Homme". Probably the encounter with Cthulhu or another deep sea monster would smell like this. Fortunately, this impression of the seaweed monster remains only briefly, because quickly the fragrance transforms and becomes more pleasant. One now perceives more unsweet gourmand-like notes, of peanut and tea, peanut mochis and also pastries. To me, this combination smells 1 on 1 like the inside of a bubble tea shop. Warm humid air, the scent of countless teas, pastries and cakes that are displayed in glass cases and can be ordered with the bubble tea.

Still, Roasted Green Tea doesn't smell like Hojicha.

Conclusion: a special fragrance that can compete with "Sécrétions Magnifiques" with its nauseating top note, but reveals beautiful pleasant heart and base notes of tea and peanut mochis, if you give it the time.

With my purchase of "Ramune / ラムネ (Eau de Parfum)" of the same brand, I fortunately received some samples, including Hanamizake.

Right off the bat, I am not a connoisseur of Japanese sake, nor any other alcoholic beverage, but will try my best to describe this fragrance.

Hanamizake stands for hanami, the celebration of cherry blossoms in spring, and zake, the Japanese pronunciation for sake.

As for cherry blossoms and their scent, in the perfume world and also in food, a fantasy accord is mostly used, as far as I am informed, since cherry blossoms have little or very very faint and subtle scent. But since I have already tried some products (especially Japanese stuff) with cherry blossom scent, I think I know in which direction the scent should go. Generally floral, soft, light, "wafty" without getting too powdery, with a hint of fruity-sour notes. Very difficult to describe...phew.

Sake and perfume, is also a difficult story, as sake also smells very subtle and is confusingly similar to regular ethanol in perfume. No wonder since sake consists mostly of volatile ethanol and water. When drinking sake, including at an izakaya in Tokyo, my experience so far has been that it tastes relatively neutral, with occasional tart fruity nuances, in fact I found the cheaper sakes tastier and more exciting in terms of flavor profile. In perfumes, I only know "Kira Kira / きら きら" as a reference so far.

I now think I detected a similar sake note in both, particularly fleeting and only detectable moments after spraying on, that somehow smells like sake and alcohol (perhaps the rice parts in the sake), but definitely different from the ethanol in the perfume itself.
Shortly after this sake experience, the scent blossoms like a bud on a tree, and the described cherry blossom scent characteristics show up. Floral, soft, wafty, slightly fruity-sour. As it progresses, the fruity-sour nuances fade and Hanamizake reminds me somewhat of Japanese cosmetics and creams that have a subtle floral creamy scent. Occasionally, the sake flashes again and reminds you that this is a Hanami-zake and not a cherry blossom cream.

Conclusion: Hanamizake is a very special fragrance, so in the kind not yet smelled. One should like floral fragrances since this forms the basis here. Durability and sillage are rather ok to weak, but this is rather normal in view of a Japanese market, since applies "less is sometimes more" and discreet fragrances are wanted.

Thanks for reading ;) ♥