Eau Triple Sumi Hinoki

This is absolutely gorgeous. If you can imagine being in a forrest in early winter Japan, freshly off the shower wearing Calvin Klein RTW Fall 1999, in a beautiful cypress cabin. You dress and live like the young mom in the film A.I. (2001). Elegant and simple, yet the fragrance is complex. The cold, humid, clear winds bring the whiffs of forrest, wood, and smoke that comes from a bonfire outside of the cabin. The cleanest smoke fragrance I've ever come across. Light, yet calming, cozy and like all Buly fragrances, it's very intimate. 9/10 only because it could have more longevity and not need so many sprays

This smells exactly like a blacksmith's forge.

An atmospheric perfume that capture sthe burning wood and incense. This is proably the most "Smokey" perfume I have ever sniffed, pure smoke of burning wood. The smoke is forefront but you certainly get the hinoki and resins too, a must try for those wanting something so very different and enjoy smokey scents. A wonderful creation. This is water based and performs well, the water is actually milky. A must try!

It’s October and you’re having a bonfire in the woods. You’re wrapped up warm in your woollen coat, and you’re throwing old letters and diaries into the fire. The paper crackles in the flames as you take a deep breath, inhaling the sharp tang of the smoke. You’re letting go of old experiences, old energy, you’re ready now to meet the new.

literally why do all my hinoki scents keep getting reformulated or discontinued...so glad i was able to snag a travel size sample from a brick and mortar officine buly while i was on vacation in paris. at least it will always have that special memory attached.

Indescribable. I’ll try, but utterly fail. It’s that good. Not because it’s especially “complex,” but because it captures an impossible image, an ephemeral moment in time, in scent: Stepping out of a thermal hot spring bath, circa 18th century, somewhere on an ancient road between Tokyo and Kyoto, as rain blows from one direction and temple incense wafts from the other. It starts cool, terpenic, medicinal. A hinoki wood bath tub. Then, as it settles, the tub fills with warm water and steam rises up and curls around the body like a veil. It’s not actually a “smoky” scent at all, and the “incense” notes are quite subdued. It’s the smell of steam. Camphoraceous, but creamy. Nothing more, nothing less. Nothing like it. Truly Unisex, but truly not universal. All of the perfumes from the Buly range are water-based, which means that they have poor spillage but exceptional longevity. Buly designed their perfumes to be deliberately linear and transparent, with all notes released at once. It’s worth noting that Buly is a heritage French brand that was resurrected by the same creatives who rebranded Cire Trudon. And, like Trudon, the idea behind each scent is to transport you to a specific time and place in history. Also, there are some noticeable similarities between this perfume and the Cire Trudon candle, “Tadine,” which is is a linear, bone-dry sandalwood with a bit of guaic.

i usually really enjoy smoky, woody perfumes, but this one was admittedly a bit too heavy for me. definitely gave me the pencil-shavings vibe if that's what you're into edit: amending my review on this two years later as someone who now owns a full bottle hahaha. admittedly, the biggest selling point for me was that when i was smelling it again in store, a sales associate animatedly wafted his hands towards his nose and was like "reaaalllly smoky." probably shouldn't have been the main contributing factor behind a fairly lofty purchase but it was so charming i couldn't help myself from wanting to preserve the memory. smelling it more carefully now, there's plenty more depth to sumi hinoki than i initially gave it credit for. this is pure hinoki through and through, which means it has an unmistakeable citrus-like freshness to it underlying everything. some days i like to spray this in my hair and it smells like i was dancing around a midnight campfire after a lengthy bath in a hinoki tub. there's a certain boldness to it, but because of the water-based formula it's never overbearing !!

I've found interpretations of hinoki varies from perfumer to perfumer, ranging from lemony and coniferous, to tarry and peppery. This version is a deeply unpleasant boyscout campfire burning with bandaids and liniment and makes me feel the way I do when I'm dreaming and I walk into a darkened room and flip a light switch for illumination...and then nothing happens. At that point, the dream invariably descends into a nightmare, but I have learned to wake myself up at that moment, my brain boiling, electrified and panic-stricken. As a writer, at times I crave this scent when I need a freaky, feverish jolt of agitation. It's also great for layering to add a touch of artful anxiety to a scent that's pretty, but perhaps placid.

Oh, yeah, this is that fragrance that most 'smokes' aspire to be. It's fabulous if you love the smell, but don't want your eyes to water as though you're standing in front of a campfire. Most smoky fragrances, to me, smell of Applewood salt. Which really does smell of salt, despite salt not having much of a scent. The same is present here, I smell a light touch of salt. It's purely splendid.

A little too smokey for my taste. Definitely an authentic campfire scent if that's your jam. The hinoki note, which is very nice, wafts on the edges of a smoke dominant sillage. Like all Buly fragrances, very intimate.

A favorite of mine, I just wish it would last longer. Smells like a cool, clean smokey scent - not heavy or oud-y, just plain smoke. Great to layer with other soft scents as well. Would love this in an EDP!

Campfire. Smoke; burning logs; that's pretty much the whole scent. Not really my vibe on it's own, but I like layering it with other perfumes to give them an extra "oomph".