Kyoto

Beetroot is a tuber that could give sensory problems to the sense of smell, very subjective problems that depend greatly on experience. Once removed from the soil and washed, the tuber still has an organic-type odour similar to the soil, but more concentrated or enhanced. The root vegetable, besides its particular appearance, has a sweet and earthy taste, due to a compound called geosmin, produced by the plant itself. This substance gives off the earthy smell we all know. You know, after a storm when we smell this earthy smell coming from the ground? It is caused by a substance in the soil in this case. So it gives this not-too-sweet vegetable a touch of sourness. Everyone doesn't like or appreciate beetroot, which can be a polarizing tuber. Given that I like it, it has never happened to me before to come across a fragrance with this note among its ingredients. This bizarre element led me to make a blind purchase, which turned out to be a wise decision. First, Kyoto is a fragrance with balanced scents of incense, rose and vetiver. It belongs to the rosy, earthy, rooty, musky, smoky, and unconventional categories. However, as soon as I smelled Kyoto, I couldn’t help but imagine something earthly, the smell of damp autumn foliage. Frondescence, leafage, or foliage — call it what you prefer — but that’s what I feel. Kyoto gives off a very intense herbaceous scent, dizzying, reminiscent of freshly picked field vegetables. There is a decadent rosy scent that overlaps the earthy, a bit sweet, a tad tart, a hint of floral smell. The Turkish rose emerges undaunted, slow but astonishing, bittersweet and slightly peppery. I don’t remember any other perfume with this amazing opening, an earthy rose raised to the umpteenth degree. Not outdated, not the ordinary rose, but spicy and green, a truly revolutionary rose. As well as being earthy, the opening also has a slightly metallic undertone. This could be due to the rose petals and beetroot tubers that immediately come to mind. A dry incense, austere, very faint, with lemony hints fills the heart of Kyoto. While I find the slightly clerical incense appealing, it appears airy and sober as a feather here. It mixes with the rose and takes on musky tones. Bursts of incense flutter throughout Kyoto’s development. But the real magic is the sweet earthiness of the beetroot, it changes everything. If you are fond of incense, then this might not be what you’re looking for. In this movie, it is not one of the principal actors, but an extra who serves to fill the scene without dominating it. It blends seamlessly with the rose and gives the vetiver a smokier undertone. The dry-down reveals a smooth, vegetal, grassy, and slightly astringent vetiver, only a touch. The same vetiver that we also find in the homonymous Guerlain, very fickle, is sometimes sweeter and earthy and other times more herbaceous and peppery. Towards the end, the incense floats above everything. On my skin, it begins earthier and then floral but then becomes musky and animalic, with fresh vetiver balancing the rose from becoming too overpowering. It would not be unreasonable to include a tinge of white musk in the concoction. Floral, earthy, loamy, and smoky, Kyoto is a fragrance that is very sensitive to temperature and humidity. There are a lot of changes in the scent throughout the day, which is something I appreciate in a perfume. This scent has a moderate projection, and it lasts for a long time on the skin and even more on clothing. It screams cold weather, fall, and a great day and evening scent. If it were embroidery, the beetroot would be the thread covering the warp made from all the other notes. I base the review on a bottle I have owned since October 2022.

I adore this scent. I'm wearing a test spray today and I'm deeply in love with the lasting rose scent plus something interesting going on - it's not simply a Stella type of single note rose, though the rose is very similar (and I am a fan of Stella) but there's something else there. My husband says it smells like the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disneyland, and he means that as a deeply appreciative positive. I am so sorry I am late to the game on trying to find a full bottle. It is an absolute pet peeve of mine that stores have a tester out for something that they have no stock of and none to order from other stores (Looking at you, Nordstrom Broadway Plaza - we are not friends today) I ordered this from England and hope their website is not mistaken in terms of stock. It's expensive shipping but worth it. Update: the bottle from Harrod’s arrived! It’s beautifully packaged with the small scarf wrapping the bottle, inside a larger Kyoto archival quality box. So lovely. Diptique says “ Presented in the furoshiki tradition, the bottle is wrapped in a fabric printed with the Sarayi pattern created by diptyque's founders.”

This may be one of my favorite scents of all time. It is certainly rosy and has the scent of beets, as well as fresh green leaves. But my favorite element is the base note — it’s like walking into a concrete garage, or the scent that radiates off the sidewalk when it’s just started to rain in the city. It’s the scent of dusty, dirt-covered rocks when you’re hiking on the side of a mountain. I say that with love. I have pica and it’s the EXACT scent that makes my mouth water. And now I get to wear it whenever I want!!!! I don’t think this smells anything like the city of Kyoto, but I see the connection, this collision of industry with tradition and beautiful forested mountains. The dusty stone steps leading through Senbon Torii, tucked away in the woods. Edit: I wore this to work as a middle school teacher for the first time — this is definitely a beast mode perfume. 3 sprays was an offensive amount. Multiple kids asked me if I’d been eating bell peppers or cucumbers. One said “it doesn’t smell bad, but it definitely doesn’t smell good.” It lasted my entire 7 hour shift. One spray max if you’re in an indoor area!!

This is so incredibly beautiful! It starts off with a sweet yet bitter peppery rose with a rooty vetiver base, then the pepper tempers down some to make way for beet root to come forward to complement the rose, sweetened with a bit of amber resin (does not smell of ambroxan, don’t worry). And what a complement these notes are to each other, wow! The frankincense incense note is there, but is a very light waft and just an accompaniment to the other notes. This is such a wonderful rooty, earthy, yet lightly sweet perfume that I just had to have it in my collection, immediately. It is what I had hoped Comme De Garçons Rouge would be. This and Venise are a limited release as part of the Le Grand Tour collection for the 60th anniversary celebration of the house. The presentation of the bottle is gorgeous with the Furoshiki wrap. I almost didn’t want to open mine, but I had to get at the beautiful perfume that was inside. Definitely FBW, don’t hesitate. Very nice layered with Venice, to bring out more of the green.

As per some of the reviews, this is truly a perfume that does not remind me of any perfumes I've smelled, ever. It opens quite floral and peppery for me, and over time the dry down becomes this soft, green rose. It is not a loud, intense, smoky rose that smells overripe/overtly sweet. Instead it is cool and balanced, and has an earthy quality that reminds me of a lush late summer garden. I'm normally not into green scents as I find them overwhelmingly squeaky and therefore uncomfortable, but the balance achieved in this perfume is sheer poetry. There is a certain "controlled" quality to this perfume that I love and within this setup you experience a deep beauty. A kind of delicate balance that has been achieved. Don't be thrown off by the "incense" - it is not woody/amber like a true patchouli kind of woody, but rather a soft gentle warmth that the rose layers on top of. To me this does not in any shape or form resemble Philosykos where the dominant note seems to be coconut.