Kawaguchirun

I'm glad that Artepolé finally has database in Fragrantica. It's the perfume house from Thailand that offers good quality and unique frgrances with affordable price. :) I own some of their fragrances including this Kawaguchirun. Since the notes are not listed yet, the notes from the brand's website are: Top: Yuzu, Fir Needle, Bergamot Middle: Jasmine, Rose, Pineapple, Cherry Base: Virginia Cedarwood, Snow Kawaguchirun opens with sweet Yuzu scent then turns to aromatic floral scent. Very fresh and uplifting and very suitable for scorching weather in Thailand. Although I prefer 'Yellow House on Rocky Island' but 'Kawaguchirun' brings more compliments. Everybody seems to like it. The only bad thing is its longevity. Last only 4-5 hours on my skin. I hope the brand will continue to add their fragrances data here.

These perfumes remind me of Ecentric Molecule 02 perfume. The scent is fresh, slightly sweet and tangy like fruits, with a hint of floral. Deserve a bottle for the collection. The name of the perfumes is very fitting for their profile.

If you're looking for a scent that's simply “pleasant,” this is a solid 8/10 — definitely a crowd-pleaser. But if you're after a perfume that tells a story, I think you'd be better off looking elsewhere. The name Kawaguchiko Run suggests a jog along the lakeside, surrounded by the serene morning air of Japan. But what I got instead was a bright fruity-floral-woody scent — which, to be fair, smells nice. Still, the “lake,” which should be the heart of the story, feels almost entirely forgotten. The scent makes me picture someone sitting somewhere, eating fruit, with flowers nearby — but I have no idea where this is happening. There’s no sense of place, no ambient notes like grass, wet soil, mist, or breeze that give context to the scene. The fruits overpower everything. I think this is where the storytelling breaks: the emphasis on fruits leaves no room for the landscape that was supposed to matter. The opening comes off sharp and sour — not juicy or refreshing in a natural way. It feels like the brightness was forced in just to scream “energizing,” without emotional depth. The florals simply announce “There are flowers here.” And the fir at the end tries to cool things down a bit, but even that feels too controlled — like the perfumer was afraid of overdoing it. The scent lacks airiness. There’s no breeze, no lake mist, no sense of Fuji’s snowy mountaintop. Adding ozone or watery-green notes could’ve really helped. Right now, it’s “fresh” in a fruity way — but not in the way the actual air at that lakeside would feel. All of this is just my personal opinion, of course. I don’t mean to harm the brand in any way — I just feel that while the perfume smells good, it doesn’t quite tell the story it set out to tell.

It was nominated for the 2024 A+OA Honorable Mention, with the theme of depicting an early morning jog along the lakeside of Lake Kawaguchiko beneath Mount Fuji. Honestly, I didn’t quite feel that imagery. Instead, it reminded me more of enjoying a pineapple-lemon shaved ice by the lake. The opening immediately bursts with fruity notes of pineapple, yuzu, and bergamot, layered with a cool fir-like freshness—perhaps the “snow” element adds that crisp, airy feel. Overall, it smells like a sporty fragrance — fresh, breezy, and easy to wear. I agree with other comments that it doesn’t fully capture the story it aims to tell, but it works well as a casual scent for jogging or outdoor activities. Suitable for all seasons, inoffensive and clean, though not particularly distinctive.