Agarwood

I feel Japanese incense soul in this one. like Temples, my grandmother’s house, funerals... In my opinion, I think all the incense-based perfumes on the market are rooted in continental religious concepts such as “Eastern religions,” “Western religions,” and “the church.” (I haven't actually smelled every single perfume, so I don't think this is entirely accurate, but...) Personally, I believe that in Japan (a unique or weird? country) religion has become quite intricately woven into the culture. In particular, there are many households where Shinto and Buddhism are blurred together to the point where the boundaries between them have disappeared. So even when we simply talk about “incense,” I believe that for Japanese people, the scent isn’t specifically Western or Eastern—there’s a distinct concept of “Japanese incense.” Despite its affordable price of just around 5,000 yen ($35), I feel that this fragrance does a remarkably good job of recreating the impression of incense that I, as a Japanese person, have in my memory.

I find it to be a very calming tea like frankincense that kinda smells like it would be the dry down of something far more complex but with the intensity of it being fresh and not dissipated and quiet like a perfume would get by the time it smells like this. I always love a woody dry down and wish I had something that mimicked that smell in the opening but most purely woody scents don’t really do it for me as they lean way too masculine. Even though woods are my go to scents I like them when they have a softness to them with florals or whatever along with them. So this kinda hits a spot not many do with it’s masterful blending. It’s also perfect to mix with other things. Such a versatile and reliable creation I kinda only bought it bc I adored my sample and it was on sale and I kinda made a mistake bc I didn’t need it and I’m addicted to spending money, but it’s been put to really good use regardless so yay!

This is a love for me, mostly for sentimental reasons, though the scent (spicy cedar + Japanese incense) is spectacular. I purchased this during a trip to Japan to be my scent for the whole vacation, so I could revisit whenever I wanted. I bought it for a mere ~$30 USD at Tsutaya Books and wore it for two weeks straight traveling across the country; through Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka, through coastal onsen towns, napping on tatami mats, salivating over sizzling yakiniku; missing trains, anxiously; Shinkansen-hopping, desperately; bonding with an elderly small town karaoke bar owner via Google Translate, savoring train station katsu curry in Osaka (best I had all trip), sweating/panicking in Shinjuku Station, devouring my body weight in yakitori and Mega Highballs ordered from an iPad in Tokyo (iykyk). All these memories smell to me of Agarwood.

The most beautiful wood! I can’t stop smelling my wrist omg. It brings me in a quiet wooden temple - clean wood, light encense. I can feel the smooth wood boards under my feet, the atmosphere is calming and so beautiful it’s almost romantic. I love this and if it were more feminine of a scent I’d buy a full bottle. Now wanting to buy this for the men in my life. Also this is probably a super weird and nerdy remark but if you played Pokémon Gold/Silver as a child: this somehow reminds me of the Sprout Tower, I guess this is what it would smell like!

A lovely translucent sandalwood with sweet orange and cinnamon. Not really an oud fragrance at all the name is misleading. This is a nice masculine (unisex) counterpart to Guerlain Samsara or Jean Patou L'Heure Attendue. Much more simplistic and unisex than those fragrances are but would be an excellent counterpart to those. A lovely slightly sweet and softly warm spiced powdery wood.