Ao

I met MIKMOI at Tigerlily Perfumery in San Francisco. In a nutshell, I want to visit San Francisco again and again, just for the sake of checking on MIKMOI and Tigerlily Perfumery. I've fallen in love with almost all of Michael's creations, but AO tops all. I couldn't agree more to the first review down below that this is anything but what you would imagine from the descriptions or note lists. I've never quite liked any of the aquatic notes; either they were too salty, or too artificially-aldehydic, but this, oh my, THIS is different. Upon opening the bottle, I smell sun-lit ocean waves, topped with embracing scent of tuberose flowers. The sea of Thailand is warm, sunny, not-menacing-kind of nature; it gives a sweetly optimistic prospect towards life. From the background, hints of coconut and sandalwood emerge, but not overwhelmingly. Previously I hated the way coconut was expressed in other aquatic perfumes - too sweet, too creamy - but Ao isn't like that. The Plai ginger, too, isn't spicy or piercing, but seems to embrace and melt together with the gentle cream of coconut in the background. My first love-aquatic perfume. Two at least and many more thumbs up. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Longevity: moderate to long lasting Sillage: moderate ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Personal Impression: - Sweet but not overly, - positive and optimistic, - warm, flowery sea side, - well balanced between woody, flowery, sweet aquatic Makes me think: "Missing a faraway place I've never known"

This did not smell anything like I expected from the listed notes. The written explanation gives a much better overview I think. This might just be the first aquatic frag I have ever fallen in love with. Ao manages to be fruity, floral, woody, aquatic and fresh without ever falling into any of the usual 'tropical frag' clichés. There's no suntan lotion here - the coconut is a shimmering, green background note adding a sweet-green counterpoint to the singing white woods and soft citrus that take centre-stage. Ao is soft salt breeze and warm sun on tropical gardens. Likewise, the ginger here is pale and green, not spicy-oriental as might be expected. The entire frag oozes a lightness and pale glimmering warmth. Absolutely perfect for warmer weather. Longevity is between moderate and long lasting, sillage is moderate at best, but projects gently but consistently throughout the entire wear time.

Ao is an enigma. Although the scent notes sound like they could be heavy or cloying, nothing could be further from the truth. Everything about this scent is a suggestion--a whisper of tuberose, a tendril of scent from the bonfire down the beach, the warm breath of coconut, and hovering above it all, ginger. This scent is masterfully done, and one I plan to purchase before summer arrives, because it will be perfect for a warm summer day. It is lovely, unique, and light without being fleeting. It makes me eager to try out other Mikmoi offerings.

9th With all this heat yesterday, we had a tropical thunder storm in the early morning hours-4-am. Thunder and lightening for hours. Image tossing all night from the heat and then a tropical downpour like I have never seen in 25 years living on the west coast in Northern California. It was like Kauai! Beautiful and fresh!!! This morning a sauna but a breezy coolness too...it's VERY unusual for this area in August and in general! So a tropical flower scent seemed appropriate and tropical it is. AO-intensely fruity, creamy, and strong humid tuberose. I would love this scent if it was not for the annoying PLASTIC note... Regardless, I will be wearing it all day because it does smell like Kauai COULD after it rains, then warms up to a sauna, with all the lingering tropical flowers(perhaps ripe fruit) in the air (and it does rain there so much every day-more than once). When I was there, I made sure to buy leis and hang them around my neck for that tropical flower infusion experience. I just wish it did not have that plastic note, which really does take away from its beauty-it's irritating, bothersome. If you love very fruity tropical flower scents, this is one of them. Almost edible. It reminds me a little of Toukka-House of Matriarch- without that sea smell (just the tropical fruity florals). 8/10-nice, just wish it lasted beyond 1-hour and projected more.

Way more spicy than I was expecting. It's aquatic, but it's a spicy ginger aquatic? I cannot smell any coconut which is too bad as I think that would have really helped smooth things out and add a creamy base to the spice.

At first I thought I’d hate this because I find coconuts to be gross - I mean the taste, smell, texture, etc. I received it as a free sample and on my first wearing hated it. But, to be honest, after a few times, I would say I enjoyed this as much as someone who doesn’t like coconut can. Ao has good note quality and great balance. Longevity on this is pretty good. I could still smell this after 7 hours or so. There’s definitely a lot of woody notes in this, and the coconut lasts the whole fragrance. It gives one the impression of a small island in the middle of the ocean - uninhabited, but beautiful. So, though I wouldn’t purchase this myself, I have to say it did grow on me and I would imagine most people would really like it.