Kobako Vintage Edition

Divine. Twisted. Alluring. Mysterious. Carnal. (long writing!!!) Ever read a book Silk? From Alessandro Baricco? The extraordinary novel tells the story of a French silkworm merchant-turned-smuggler named Hervé Joncour in 19th century France who travels to Japan for his town's supply of silkworms after a disease wipes out their African supply. His first trip to Japan takes place in the Bakumatsu period, when Japan was still largely closed to foreigners. During his stay in Japan, he becomes obsessed with the concubine of a local baron. She is not Japanese btw. If you read the book (read it), there is letter, that she writes to main character. That's Kobako. That's the spirit of this perfume described. What she wrote to him. Captures what Kobako is. To the point. Including word meaning itself. Kobako word. Means incense smaller box or in the slang of Japan a vagina. Kobako is very very sensual perfume. Let's be straight here. Base of this masterpiece is wet. Warm. Animalic desire. This is leather animalic earth, dirty desire master. Owner of the body and soul. Dressed in leather. The base itself can be seperate perfume. Or soap. Earthly base notes, carrying the fusion of heart notes, which is not calm, not nice, not sweet. It's carnal scream of nature. Did you ever smell the forest soil? Smell it. Did Ernest think of these components I don't know. Nobody does. Did he really invent this perfume we also don't know. We know how the stories around him are complex. Yet this is, if his, a serious masterpiece in the sense of how it's composed and busted with aldehydes. His special touch. Slap of aldehydes. With this he step out of his, if his, safe zone. Into danger. He himself, allegedly, said he wanted to capture certain freshness of certain part of Russia (lake side with forests). Well, with this he succeeded. Only with this. From his, if his, perfumes. This scent floats like red mist morning freshness over your skin. It doesn't disappear into your skin. Floats, floats... Red. It's beyond beautiful. Crying beautiful. Let's talk it trough. It simply deserves the attention in serious sense. Top notes: - aldehydes (not as strong as with Chanel but still powerful). Smell it trough! -citrus notes (Neroli and Bergamote. Very interesting opening. Both citruses are very specific. Neroli oil is an essential oil produced from the blossom of the bitter orange tree (Citrus aurantium subsp. amara or Bigaradia). Bitter! Can we smell bitter? Yes! Its scent is sweet, honeyed and somewhat metallic with green and spicy facets. And bitter. Desire is bitter. Bergamote is rounded, layered! Sweet, but complex and deep at the same time. With floral, herbal, and resinous undertones. Desire is bitter and sweet. It hurts. -cloves, and cinnamon also as the opening Let's check them also. To round up this opening with the meaning. Because it has a meaning. Cloves showing you power right away, see what parfumer did here? Anglo-French clowes de gilofre and Old French clou de girofle, from the Latin word clavus "nail". To grab you. To grab that desire. Cloves are big part if Chinese culture use btw. Flower of cloves are red. Did you ever had chance to smell them? If not do it. That's the note that stays till the end. The grab of desire. This is the scent of desire. Carrying the red colour. Never sinking into your skin. Desire never sinks! That fruit note you smell? It's not fruit. It's the clove blossoms scent. The deep woody sharp flowerish smell. Passionately annoying. Desire is annoying. Embraced with cinnamon. A potent, penetrative scent of warm, peppery and pervasive facets. Cinnamon is adored for its ability to add a spicy flair to ambery and woody compositions. Lingering long after other scents have disappeared, cinnamon makes for a gorgeously sultry base note with its warm, soft and subtly sweet nuances. Only this time it's in the opening and guess what? Cinnamon grows in China. See what parfumer did here? Désire. Middle notes: jasmine, iris, rose, magnolia, galbanum, carnation, orris and lily. I don't have informations which Jasmine, which Iris and which from the rest magnificent middle notes flowers. Just look at them! 7! All strong, together with orris to fix them. But not into order. They smell in disorder. Confusion of feelings. Very very suitable to this whole composition. Very unsafe. Like carnal passion is. 7 great ones fighting for control over you. You desire and you desire carnally. Base notes: -olibanum. To extract the fragrant gum resin, cuts are made with a knife into the outer layers of tree trunks to make the trees "cry. " Did you ever cry out of passion? Have in mind. This early base contains tears of the tree!!! - amber (vanilla, benzoin & tonka bean a unique ability to evoke sensual pleasure and ancient wisdom). -oakmoss (wet) -Musk (animalic 1) -civet (animalic 2) - leather (It spanks you, it's that irresistible smell of leather over nude body) Dry down is Earth. Nature. Red light floating over cool lake, fog coming out of forests. Screaming nudity. Kobako strips you down. This perfume is so beautiful and so underrated. I have old vintage bottle. I sniff it from time to time. While I use, with sorrow and hope, newly ones, waiting for people to get serious and start to produce vintage version. Because this is a masterpiece scent. Feminine. The Animalic musk at the bottom anchor it at arms length for the day and to clothes for the night. From the clothes it stays even after washing machine. This fragrance is literally almost hundred years old... But smells eternal. Divine.

Fascinating vintage fragrance! I'm unsure if I have the original or the reformulation so I'm posting this on both. This is a beautiful (although definitely dated) aldehyde/ spice/ leather/ earthy fragrance that is softer and more harmonious than the notes might imply. I feel sure I must have the 1980s reformulation but I would swear the overall effect is so classic it would not be out of place in the 1930s or 40s. It's like something Rosie the Riveter would wear. It takes an old-fashioned sensibility to appreciate. A little soapy on the drydown, but not unpleasant, and incredibly long-lasting: 12-24 hours. Overall, a remarkable example of historical perfumery. Update: On further exploration, I'm sure I have the 1980s reformulation, as, I suspect, do most people here - the original is extremely rare, having been out of production for decades. The Osthmoteque pefume archive has recently recreated it; what I wouldn't give to be in France to sample it! I can only imagine the modern 1980s version pales in comparison to the glory of the Ernest Beaux original, but I quite like it. I get the idea of exotic herbs, florals, and spices, only a hint of leather. I believe the original was very leather based: one reviewer who visited Osthmoteque described it as "Cuir de Russie with a blast of cinnamon." The rest of us can only imagine.

I was fortunate to find one bottle of Kobako in a friend's shop yesterday. It must date from the 1980s/90s as there is a bar code on the packaging. I've been looking for this for ages so I feel I really struck lucky. I think this is an interesting fragrance. I can detect leather in the notes, but not in the manner of Lanvin's Scandal. There's a prominent rose note (on my skin at least), as well as spice in the base, possibly oakmoss. I wouldn't say this is a masterpiece, but I'm certainly enjoying wearing it today!

I love and completely agree with your review Angela Agiannidou!!! Very gorgeous!!! I love Kobako!!! It's fantastic! Sooo super strong, and long lasting, and all those wonderful things you said!!! And heavy!! It's a gorgeous rich and potent fabulous divine perfume. I love it!!! So replete with spices and flowers, and beautiful soft rich animalic, leathery, mossy, sweet undertone. It's just fabulous!

Bourjois Kobako is a vintage mystery when applied to the skin conjures on a vast rubber and spice plantation in French Indochine of the 1930's opens with the scent of Cinnamon, Chai, and frankincense dries under the setting sun on grassy field with a sharp green note that can be overwhelming if applied to much as it grows darker nocturnal jasmine starts to steep though the warm air blown though the vastness of the night sky roses bloom with it's blood red vibrancy makes it defined and known carnations adds to an fiery texture orris dries the middle with powdery finish, the drydown is mossy but it doe'snt have the wetness to it due to the dry Sandalwood like the wisp of incense floating beneath the sky patches of musk makes it ancient and it's semi-masculine drydown of leather finishes the scent. Kobako is Elegance with a sting picturing a scene with Bette Davis shoots a man in broad moonlight in the letter what do you think she is wearing?.

I have let myself to try this, since it appeared in our home. Love the fragrance when it projects. Exactly like the cloud of it in the room It's been sprayed. Marvelous, lady's scent. I feel lot of spices, orient flowers and woods/grasses. But I honestly can't stand it while sniffing my wrist. It feels horrible sour and bitter, no sweetness of it's projection. A heavy headachey smell. I believe small doses of this mixture will do a magic, though. Because of it's mature, feminine, oriental charm, when it projects, also with a great sillage.

A pity it has changed a lot since the beginning. Although it still has the same sweet oriental thing in it. Good longevity, sits nicely on the skin. I like it the best after about 20 minutes from spraying it, it becomes a creamy oriental scent, very pleasant even for people, who don't like strong scents.

I got rid of it, had a bottle about a year ago. I remember I liked it when I was a teenager but my tastes have changed since then. I sometimes like "heavy" fragrances but Kobako is a real killer that I cannot wear. Too heavy with a strong leather note I don't like - but I guess it can be liked nowadays too, just not by me - it's a strong oriental.

I know it may sound crazy but I detect a "horse" note in it... so does my friend... We're both crazy but we can't help it! Otherwise, it's a great classic, too much amber and benzoin in it for me to wear it but I totally love it on others, my class teacher used to wear that and she was an angel!

There are no notes listed here for this fragrance.. The perfume is a modern leather chypre fragrance with citrus top notes, vanilla, jasmine, rose, magnolia, galbanum, cloves, cinnamon, carnation, tonka bean, lily, orris, benzoin, frankincense, amber, oakmoss, musk and leather.

I also was using it 10 years ago. I did not know what I like, so I bought this perfume as they had the others. It was not my scent. This perfume was heavy, sweet and a bit oriental. Not for the 20-year-olds.

This Bourjois Kobako smells nothing but soap.Nothing light,nothing powdery,nothing citrusy here...it is so bad scent...

old school chypre; I don't smell any of the notes including leather, just oakmoss

Very mossy and spicy enough to make 3 Biryanis, 5 chouricos, 2 chili con carnes,3 imam baildis (apologies if I left any International Cuisine out...). The earthy element and spices, pepper, carnation, cloves, cinnamon keep a strong hold in the composition and only towards the dry down vanilla, a touch of leather and Amber appear but briefly. The projection is gigantic and very long lasting, the quantity of oakmoss lends a rather Seventies beautiful vibe. It is very close to Opium. Only if you are madly into spicy florals venture towards it,it is extremely potent!

i remember my mother wearin in the 90s !! such a heavy scent! i couldnt breathe when she was aroung because the perfume was sooo strong, but nevertheless i have so many memories with it ! :) it starts very light, but from one sec to another it is so strong, flowery, dusty !!! at the end, it doesnt last that long, but quite a while it turns into a light, nice scent with this spice which i love ! :)

I came across a very old Bourjois perfume yesterday which has the exact bottle design as this one but the cover is a lighter maroon, you can say red I guess. I can't see it listed here unfortunately, its called FLAMME, I liked it a lot so I bought two 50ml. It actually reminds me of Estee Lauder Private Collection :>

The bottle look like a cheap version of an old YSL Opium bottle.