Hanzo

Therapeutic. Love, love, love. Hanzo opens like entering a flower shop - one that sells bonsais, potted trees, plants and flowers rather than bouquets. It's fruity-coniferous and so, so green. Wonderful and heartwarming. (To my Czech nose also very Japanese-forest-like, but let's give that impression the credibility it deserves.) Mastic and seaweed at first, then osmanthus, olibanum and ylang-ylang blended to perfection with beautiful yuzu essential oil feel like a more exotic extension of the already pretty exotic shop. Or like a shrine, a place of worship for mother nature. Awe-inspiring and meditative. The minty-bright freshness of balsam fir intrudes the peace first, and the sharpness of moss completes the soapy accord with clean, earthy-green vetiver. The cedarwood whips the lot into a fairy forest foam that resonates with the child in me. So joyful and innocent. A balm to the soul. Forest-bathing, indeed. I feel grateful that this scent exists and for having experienced it. There's a full bottle of Hanzo in my future for sure. (Guerlain's Aqua Allegoria Forte Oud Yuzu is beautiful too - though much more mainstream - and comparable in the yuzu and cedar combination, but sillage and longevity are both better here in Hanzo as well as, most importantly, the ingredients! The naturals in Hanzo are much appreciated, even if it causes the price to climb that little bit higher.)

I'm surprised the rating on this is so low - but also, I'm a sucker for earthy and funky-seaweed scents. I LOVE this - I initially came across this when buying a batch of decants, none of which I planned to buy a full bottle of, but when I smelled this I just loved it too much and immediately ordered a full bottle. For me this would be signature scent worthy and I could see using this almost year round, probably not in the high-heat of full summer or the depth of winter (but I live somewhere with a fairly mild climate, so for me this would likely work much of the year). As others have said this is therapeutic, meditative - truly conjures up the feeling of forest bathing. For me, this scent is truly evocative of being in nature and far less "perfume-y" than some of the other Japanese-inspired scents I have been sampling. Sillage and longevity is fantastic without being overpowering/beastly - this is a strong yet balanced scent that will linger with you throughout the day. If you're into earthy/green/woody scents but want to try something unique, give this a go!

This thing to me is being a samurai in japanese pine forests, relaxing, meditating, the oakmoss is the most prominent note of it, it is there the whoole time and gives it a very chilly feeling, pine and cypress compliment themselves perfeectly and the litchi gives it a bit of a sweeter? vibe. It has a fresh seaside air feeling that the seaweed creates, ylang yalng and yuzu make it kinda fresh too. If I had to choose a scent to get relaxed, to enjoy the scent for the artistic side more of a wearable side it would be this, it is not for everyone, but most people compliment me rather than get put off by it when I wear this to school or just when I go out with my friends. I will also add a detail about Kintsugi Perfumes as a brand, the bottle has a crack in the label on the bottle to symbol how noone/nothing is perfect but still can be great, enjoyable and that it is okay to not be perfect and everyone has their own flaw. This message is very moving for me even tho it might not make you wow.

I am in a complicated relationship with this one. Imagine a nordic seaside spa with all the luxurious shower gels and goodies, that you wish you could bring home with you, make them more sophisticated in your mind and this is the vibe I am getting from Hanzo. I was looking for a "walk in a forest" scent like this for ages, but at the same time I cannot decide if this one is maybe too masculine for me. Maybe I will just get it for my husband Honza (what a magical play on words) and steal it from him once in a while :)

I love this so much! This is the smell I want when i say "flowershop" or "my shelf where I store substrates and plant stuff". Please do something with the longevity, because 2 hours maximum of this absolute beauty is a crime! I know you, Kintsugi guys, are able to do it, you just did it with Kingdom Come Deliverance II. Then you will definitely have me and my purchase :)