Les Voyages Olfactifs 03 Paris-Tokyo

Toyko is appropriately minimalist with a thoughtfully selected blend of beautiful ingredients. The scent opens with the finest green tea--a gently infused sweet cup, not oversteeped and without a trace of tannin. Regal jasmine then makes a most graceful appearance--and the flower is simply exquisite in this composition. If you have ever travelled to Thailand and been captivated by the scent of the double blossoms of jasmine sambac used in garlands for sale lining nearly every street of Bangkok, then you know the jasmine I'm talking about: very luminous, deeply fragrant, more exotic than jasmine grandiflora and just a hint masculine compared to the heady, feminine note of its sister. This is also the same flower that is used to infuse deliciously fragrant jasmine tea. Violet makes this airy and transparent, while the subtle wood notes ground this scent perfectly and create a stillness that evokes tranquility and meditation. I'm still deciding whether I like this better than Elizabeth Arden's Green Tea. Maybe there is no comparison as they both play different roles: Tokyo is still and quiet; Green Tea is refreshing and energetic. In any event, I wish this were less expensive or came in a smaller size bottle. I'd love to buy or swap for a decant--a definite must-have for me. ** Edit: I finally purchased a full bottle as Guerlain now offers a 3.3 oz size instead of just the 8.5 oz growler.

Yes, it has been discontinued, but I just bought a bottle (100cc, not 250cc as stated above) of this edp in Guerlain's 68 Champs Elysees main boutique in Paris ... so they probably have a few left in their cellar. It opens with a charming soft green tea scent mixed with yuzu (a japanese lemon). Yuzu is not proposed in the perfume pyramid of this site but it is clearly present (and confirmed by one of the best onsite specialists of Guerlain's boutique). Then come the floral scents of delicate jasmin & violet with underlying notes of hinoki and cedar, which remain for hours, just playing with your nose. The box includes a nice aquarelle by Carla Talopp figuring abstractions of the ingredients and a Shinto statue, as well as an instructive hand drawn map of the parks, gardens, markets & tea ceremony centers of Tokyo where these fragrances can be experienced in real life. Once again, Guerlain shows us a great creation of outstanding quality, but they just make us tired of the ephermeral side of what they create, as if they were addicted to the motto: "if you love me, I'll make you regret" !!

I find this scent addicting and think the other reviewers are pretty spot-on, however I don't know that I could buy such a large and expensive bottle of it because while the lasting power is good, the sillage is really poor.

The first time I smelled it, the image that came to mind was a morning in Tokyo. Not the Tokyo of tourist views—Tokyo Tower or the Shibuya crossing—but the kind of morning I experienced while staying in a small guesthouse during a trip. A quiet residential alley, a convenience store just opening, and the brief gust of wind created when someone cycles past on their way to work. The opening feels very Japanese: green tea with yuzu. It isn’t showy, but it’s very clean. It reminds me of a freshly brewed pot of hot tea after waking up, with a hint of the slightly bitter peel of yuzu that feels refreshing and clear. Then comes a combination of jasmine and violet. The jasmine carries the lingering nuance of tea—noticeable but not intense. The violet brushes past lightly, like a freshly washed curtain drying in the breeze, lifted gently by the wind. There is a sense of quiet cleanliness in that moment. The two notes are woven together with restraint, without anything excessive. It feels like the empty space in a Japanese garden—balanced and intentional. What moved me the most is the drydown of hinoki wood and vanilla. The woodiness reminds me of the damp air at Meiji Shrine, and the shade of the trees in Yoyogi Park. The vanilla in the finish is not sugary or heavy; it feels more like a gentle sense of presence. This is not a fragrance that impresses instantly. Its appeal does not lie in the first spray. Instead, it appears later—when you realize you are thinking about it even when you are no longer wearing it. Much like Tokyo itself: on the surface it seems loud and busy, but underneath are countless refined and restrained layers. You might not pay much attention the first time, but when you look back, you realize the scent is still lingering in your mind.

In my journeys with Guerlain through Les Voyages Olfactifs, I somehow saved the best for last: Tokyo. Here are the notes, according to neimanmarcus.com: • Top: Green tea • Heart: Jasmine, Violet • Base: Vanilla, Hinoki This is just a beautiful composition, fresh and clean, yet sensual, fragrant, and warm at the same time. It actually reminds me of Tokyo, which is of course an added bonus in terms of overall concept. In fact, one of the reasons why TOKYO reminds me of the city is because both are totally unique and like nothing else in my experience. I honestly cannot think of a single fragrance that captures this feeling. TOKYO reminds me of the beauty of Tokyo in all of its various guises. The gardens, the people, the tea, the magnificent and diverse neighborhoods, the food, including freshly steamed rice, which I keep remembering while wearing this scent. I even love the Japanese language and sometimes fantasize about returning there to be surrounded by kanji on all sides. Basically, my Japanese experience was the antithesis of that portrayed by Sofia Coppola in "Lost in Translation," which I found to be a rather japanophobic and anglophilic film. But that's another story. More to the point: I'll be adding a bottle of TOKYO to my collection, oh yes, I will!