Kuroi

Even tho I have been a frequent visitor of Fragantica for years without feeling the need to contribute,I felt I had to finally make an account and comment on Kuroi. This fragrance is probably the most RARE new(ish) concoction you`ll ever set eyes on. Even tho it`s a Japanese brand,strangely enough,it doesn`t retail in Japan. All other Annayake products are widely available on the European market apart from Kuroi. (i live in London) With help from some friends I sourced it from Russia(only country in the world i could find it in). I am Caucasian,Male and in my early 30s. I`ve had this for a while now so i`ve played with it plenty. First of all the bottle...beautiful in its simplicity and quality and could quite easily be a decorative object and not just a recipient. Perfect ! (the symbols are Annayake in Japanese) The fragrance ingredients are pretty much the ones described in the info with the exception of Citrus. IF there is any it is most certainly overwhelmed by the cedary amber. The amber is dark,thick and sweet so quite a bit of vanilla in it. The spices give it a lot of warmth and it sticks to your skin and envelops you within seconds. It starts off quite spicy with an obvious hit of pepper and slowly drifts into a fog (the tea maybe?) of ambery woods. It lasts forever!! A shower will only tame it close to your skin but will most certainly fail to banish it. IT IS SWEET !!! This is a GREAT fragrance for the cold season and probably shows its true colours best on darker skin. I think it could be very popular with the ladies too. The concept between Kuroi (black) and Shiroi(white) does what it set to do in bringing fragrance at the border of gender. Kuroi`s complexity is in this very fact,easily crossing genders and bringing them together as one. Personally I would have liked either a fresher amber (more frankincense than vanilla) or a moderately strong citrus note but i think that would make it too 'butch'. Or if the cedar was japanese (hinoki) ... the most beautiful wood in the world ( Scent one: hinoki)... Well,it isn`t! I would score it a fair 8/10 by itself and 10/10 for achieving the concept it set to deliver. Also a 10/10 for being REALLY fantastic for layering. With Concentre d`Orange Verte,the juxtaposition between fresh and warm united by the resinous woods is marvellous. With Iso-E it becomes more masculine and it travels even further and has an air of confidence about it. Outstanding cypressy forest with treacle seeping out of the bark. I hope this fragrance will become more widely available and people will give their opinion on it. I`m curious.. :)

This limited edition frangrance is really something. I wouldn't call myself Fragrantica-qualified enough yet to talk about it's intricate details haha, but what I can tell you as a novice is that it blew me away! At first, I find it quite a heavy scent, intoxicating almost. And it ́s very easy to notice the distinct, sweet-like smell. I specifically say "sweet-like", because it appears to me it might not actually be sweet? Or rather, to me it hints at going into extreme-sweetness-overdrive at first, but then stops halfway there and doesn't really follow through. This is because it comes across as being very calm and composed -restricted almost, by other notes, perhaps? And that is actually a good thing, because in the context of the other very noticable elements (pepper, spices and something I can't descrive, could be amber/wood?) it brings a touch of almost impossibly straightforward flirtation to the very deep baseline of what I would describe as earthy notes. An effect I find to be very masculine and which seems very well-suited to fall and winter in my humble opinion. Also, I strongly agree with Timbersilk: this fragrance sticks to you like a bear to a honeycomb. You need more than a bucket of water to get it away from the hive that's for sure! Even long after I have stopped noticing the smell it still gets véry strongly reactivated by warmth and humidity... or a shower. I would rate it 80/100. I find it a very pleasant and distinct fragrance that I thoroughly enjoy wearing, but that could however have been slightly better for me personally had it been a little less heavy. A touch of delicacy through a pinch of freshness might have made it an absolute alltime favorite. @timbersilk, thank you for the extensive review! I really like the way you describe Kuroi.

I'm glad I bought this fragrance when it was still available. Still have a full bottle. It's extremely rare nowadays. Hope to use it in the colder days during the forthcoming autumn and winter seasons.