Costume National J

Instant love for this gentle eau de parfum. The opening is mild lime, sweet mandarin orange, bergamot and neroli. Very refreshing and elegant like well perfumed linnen. The blossoms and rose in the heart are very well blended to perfection. That gives this a feminine feel, but in a very pleasant way. There is a slight resemblence with Diptique Eau de Sense. That one is stronger but J has a nicer more subtle projection. It's noticeable at moments that you think it's not noticeable. I love that form of subtleness like Japanese politeness. The cashmere wood and the rice note in the dry down give together with the flowers a subtle Asian/ Japanese zen kinda feel. The cedar and moss lay a great sturdy base. So it's definitely unisex. What a wonderful fragrance from that great house Costume National, created by Fanny Bal.

The fizzy neroli opening is so addictive, but disappears quickly. Then, it gets really soft and creamy with the cherry blossom and rice coming in strong. It’s such a clean, soapy and comforting smell. I could imagine this working for all weather. I’m not usually into more feminine leaning scents, but this one has got me hooked!

I received a sample of this perfume with another purchase and was curious to smell it on my skin for its note breakdown that doesn't really suggest too much of a unisex scent. J starts with a sweet and rich white/pink floral opening, underpinned by light citruses - the lime especially gives some zestiness that cleans up a bit the sweetness. I like the juxtaposition of the airy and light quality of the rose accord with the heavier and hedionic quality of what I smell like magnolia flowers - it makes the entire concoction almost liquid but with a nice presence in the air. J projects very nicely and will diffuse around you like a light cozy bubble (soap - yes it smells clean and soapy). I like how the perfumer imagined this scent and it fits quite nicely with the Japanese/oriental mood the house wanted to convey. Is it really unisex? I'd say it leans on the feminine side of it, though I consider this definitely unisex and can be worn easily by men as long as they are at ease with pink flowers. As said, the projection is really good, and for this reason I'd suggest to go easy on the trigger - if oversprayed it develops a heavy cheap hairspray smell. It lasts a moderate amount of time on my skin and I can get whiffs for several hours. It is fairly linear start to finish, with a bit more woodiness from the cashmeran coming to the surface as the scent develops on the skin, while the dominant notes remain the pink florals that show up straight up front upon spraying. I like this one, though I find it hard to imagine a time or occasion to wear it - my go to rose scent remains Moschino Toyboy. Batch code of my sample is 9106B.

To my nose this is definitely more male leaning, I think it might be the cedar that pushes it that way. I'm enjoying it, seems to balance out nicely as it settles. I don't really detect any rose but I think that's because it's balanced so perfectly that nothing in particular stands out - apart from the afore mentioned cedar note. I probably won't grad this scent very often but I'll keep trying it.

So, according to Costumes marketing (which isn’t mentioned here) this is meant to represent the Sakura flower? Well, I don’t know the Sakura flower but this sample is a lovely though generic white/yellow floral with little punch. For the ladies but passable for men. Better than most Costume scents though still amongst the meh brigade of overrated/priced products. Happy Smelling