Kimonanthe

Imagine Bon Parfumeur 303 and Diptyque’s Kimonanthe (DK) begin with the same perfumer’s accord. In the opening 303 is a little drier, DK has a dollop of L’Artisan’s Mon Numero 20 (described brilliantly be another reviewer as Dr Pepper spilled on a leather car seat). But they both have sweet, resinous Benzoin, Allspice-like spice accord, a touch of patch for richness, that delicious soap/flower musk of Lutens Vitriol d’Oeillet. VO has the same ylang ylang, red pepper, and red chili pepper accord as 303. DK is calling it camphor, incense, clove. In any event the effect is allspice but sweeter. Now, midway through dry down DK loses the Mon Numero 10 Dr Pepper/sugar a bit and 303 picks it up. By late drydown 303 has picked up a bit more leather and a hint of powder. DK stays drier with a more camphorous patch. Do you need both? Honestly (especially given they’re both now expensive and DK is a unicorn), not really. But you could be super happy wearing one of them - super beautiful, subtle silage, complex and unique scent, lovely traditions and shifting. A comforting, clean cloud of sweet benzoin, clean musk (not Egyptian-soapy, but while clean, not biting white), dry wood, spice. Really, really love, both of them. And L’Artisan’s Mon Numero 10 - cousin to these sister smellalikes - is also gorgeous and worth having along with one of these, though 10 can get cloying in summer.

Currently my FAVORITE perfume... I feel like I found my "spirit animal" in perfumery. It is tangy, fruity, a little dry, elegant with incense, spice and sandalwood, and oh so mysterious. Just LOVE LOVE LOVE it :) ps. Somehow I also detect plum and cherry blossoms... Kimonanthe totally transports me to my beautiful trip to Yokohama 3 years ago where I tried on a gorgeous silk kimono with pink cherry blossoms. This perfume would go perfectly with it :) Thank you Diptyque!!! psps. Really enjoy works from the master perfumer Fabrice Pellegrin. His works tend to be very natural-smelling and rather luminous, feminine, and sexy. One key ingredient (note) in this perfume is the Japanese incense Zukoh (literally means body incense, which is made of cinnamon, cassia, sandalwood and clove). The perfume smells like the most delicious combination of authentic zokuh with delicious, juicy plum, apricot and sweet/airy cherry blossoms :) Yes it is a little linear, but I do NOT mind. I want to smell like these ALL DAY :)

I feel so alone in my obsession with Kimonanthe. From the moment I read its name, I knew it would be an amazing fragrance. Its pyramid only further reinforced my excitement, and when it finally arrived, it was everything I thought it would be and more. For some reason, though, it's barely talked about, and even some of the biggest fragrance reviewers I follow don't seem to acknowledge its existence. The bottle and the packaging are superb, but the fragrance itself, oh, the fragrance... it smells like the 70s embodied. Orange wool sweaters, groovy prints, artistically tacky furniture, the memories of your quirky aunt or grandma who used to be a part of the hippie heyday. It's so deeply cozy, transcendentally artistic, fun, but also comforting and solid. I adore Kimonanthe, I wish it was still available and more appreciated.

What world does this hail from? I just did a review for another Diptyque fragrance, 34 Boulevard Saint-Germain EDP, which in many ways is the polar opposite of Kimonanthe. Whereas 34 BSG is stylish and safe, Kimonanthe is radical and daring. It slaps you in the face with this sour-fresh apricot-osmanthus note, then kisses you on the cheek with a bizarre but harmonious camphor-smoke-pepper accord. The whole concoction can't decide if it wants to be lactonic or medicinal, and it's precisely that ambivalence that makes it so fun and original. Definitely a warm-weather scent. The cap and bottle are works of art. Unisex in the best possible way—perfumes just aren't traditionally made like this. Anybody from their early 20s to mid-60s could pull this off with enough panache.

Curiosity got to me and I sought out a sample of this discontinued and highly unattainable perfume. The osmanthus here reads as more plum than apricot, and there’s a tea-like facet paired with the osmanthus-leather feel. The opening is camphoraceous, which I love. The base has a bit of subtle cloves. A wisp of incense runs throughout from opening to end. It’s really nice, but I do prefer a more apricoty, peachy osmanthus like the material used in Cuir de Chine by Les Indémodables. Plum just isn’t my favorite note, but it’s used very well here. Frankly, the more I wear this, the more I wish I could have a bottle. I would be willing to trade my sealed, very rare backup of Roberto Greco’s Porter Sa Peau for a bottle of this. CONUS. Just reach out!