Yakisugi Wood

A new find for me which was an instant love. A very dry & slightly smoky combination of woods that are very realistic and life-like. Sage and lavender poke their heads through to save it from “I’ve just stuck my nose in a log and inhaled” territory, but if you love your dry woods like myself, then this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. A softer silage and moderate longevity means this is my new go-to mood-booster around the house or for more casual occasions, whereas I’ll continue wearing my love Eau Noir when I want the same dry hay/wood feeling but amped up a bit. Excited to try some more from this local Melbourne fragrance house - definitely off to a strong start for me!

This fragrance made me realise that I can love a frag without necessarily wanting to wear it. This smells so good, so accurate. Hard to believe that there is anything other than premium wood in the bottle. I'd wear it on very specific occasions - maybe a bushwalk date, or going to the park by myself.

I normally try to finish my fragrance samples before I review them just to make sure I'm spending enough time with them. Won't be doing that with this darling simply because the idea of not having this on hand makes me a little sad (would love it as a travel, but I can't see this being a full bottle). It smells less like burned wood to me and more like a hike - old wood and new life peeking through, vegetation breaking down, and very dry.

This one started off with an interesting accord, but it quickly transitioned into a Black Afgano / Orto Parisi accord scent with not much nuance and / or variance. It legit smells like an Orto Parisi scent -- it comes across bombastic, unbalanced a little bit 'done' -- I'm sorry to be so brutal and honest, but this did disappoint me. This scent could have been much MUCH better -- not much 'burnt wood' or woody ANYTHING -- look, I might need to try this one again, might need to give this a longer trial, but it's not something I'm going to go for, I feel. It was a smidge derivative -- I'll edit this review if, indeed, my second wearing yields different results.

I've tried this one on a few more times since, and I find that it's a lot more complex than imagined. It does indeed have a burnt wood accord, but there is also a 'wet' accord, like soggy, water-logged burnt wood -- the Nasomatto accord is still there, along with a unique, moist-vegetal element, probably vetiver. I don't see myself really wearing this, I didn't enjoy it, but it does have a special quality to it, it's quite different from most other scents that would fall into this category, just not for me. Worth a trial, I'd say...