This one missed the mark on me.
There’s a weird rough plastic note that swallows up the fruit–like the mesh bag holding the Halos is consuming them–then some vague pine arrives and immediately soaks into the skin.
The ad copy talks about spices and herbs but I get nothing fun like that. Maybe I’ll give it another try when the weather is less January.
A more fun California.
Rose tea with thorns.
A prick of citrus, but black currants keep it sweet. The pinch of black pepper grounds the floral edge nicely.
Stays pretty linear — fresh in personal space for two hours, and twice that on clothes.
I’d love it in a bath gel.
Here’s another sip–Anna Maria Jopek is an amazing artist from Poland who reminds me of Joni Mitchell.
Opens with a big splash of blood orange juice that softens down to ginger-ale zing, then settles to soft wet musk on the skin for a few hours.
There’s a slight note of feet on the bottom that wants to be warm woods, but doesn’t have the right balance.
This one teeters between nice and meh for me–a sportsball guy could pull this off better than I could.
You can’t beat the original, but this cover of Sade’s Paradise roughs it up on the edges in a good way.
I get berry lemonade at first, then a mild iced jasmine tea. Two hours later there’s a trace of sweet patchy citrus musk on my skin.
Cleopatra is pretty, but a bit thin for the name–the Queen of the Nile conjures power and seduction, not summer drinks.
Herbal Essence shampoo and towels.
A splash of citrus, some lemony herbs and a bit of sterile musk. Mild projection, mild longevity.
It’s marketed as feminine, but would make a good first scent for any pre-teen.
Here’s a nice clean kid-friendly song, also from 2007.
TokyoMilk #09
Cake and lemon sorbet syrup–and waxy sweet flowers that are probably poisonous to cats–hover a foot off the skin for an hour, then settle to sour fruity sugar.
I like it, but aside from the jasmine-scented pancake make-up note, I get no sense of Japanese theater.
A Swedish jazz group mash up with traditional Hogaku instruments.
A pretty cuppa tea.
Opens with Ceylon rose and lemon, then slowly cools to musky peach Oolong.
It’s simple but long lasting with impeccable sillage–personal space and the faintest trail of petals. The base notes–woody stems tinged red with the roses–linger for days on clothes.
And the bottle is adorable.
Another gem that came out in 2019.
Citron d’Erable is exactly what Atelier Cologne says it is: lemon maple, with a sequoia base.
Opens with the brand’s signature burst of citrus: fresh sharp zest, with sweet custard underneath. Slowly settles to lemonade sweetened with maple syrup, which seems like a weird description, but it works in a lovely Vermont hippy way. Lasts a good half hour before fading into dry rich woods.
It’s very non-flirtatious and personal–wear in autumn on “me days.”
Macy Gray makes self indulgence necessary, rather than vanity.
Artsy bubblegum and I’m here for it.
The champagne and cardamom combination keeps it from being gooey, and the jasmine sweetens the sandalwood the perfect amount.
Sillage at arms length for an hour, and close to the skin for three more.
I wish I’d bought the big bottle.
Joan Jett is pretty remarkable.
TokyoMilk #19 – Magnolia, Jasmine, Sheer Citrus, White Musk
Too skinny for the ingredients.
A musky white flower concoction with peacock branding should be big and voluptuous, and Paradiso is at most a juniors size 6.
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Thin Lizzy’s guitarist does some sweet solo stuff–
kira a. gold 