Maruyama

This is lovely but weird. Normies will be very confused as to why anyone would want to smell like this. But I think for people who don’t like perfume bc it’s too chemically perfumey and smells the same they will be pleasantly surprised and intrigued by how u smell. Those are the kinds of people I usually find love the smells I wear. People who are moderately into perfume tend to clash with me because they have some experience and are into perfume because of the designer stuff. It’s easy for them to find what they like bc it’s the popular vanilla ambers or clean citruses. Stuff to make themselves more attractive to the average man/woman. This is for someone that loves the smells of the world around them but has been repulsed by perfume bc they think it’s only sauvage and no 5 etc. now onto the scent it’s very similar to Bogue’s OE. Pretty much identical but with the citrus muzzled. Which is what hurt OE to my nose. Though that scent becomes beautiful over time this one jumps straight to that heart note stage to my delight. Very raw herbs bitterness lovers only can appreciate this. Though there is a soft spicy furriness here too. Like ur sniffing Tarzan’s handmade leopard fur loincloth after he’s been swinging through the trees and foraging. Well that imagery was a lot sexier than I thought it would be when I started that sentence. But obviously I could inhale this all day Edit: the longevity and sillage really disappoint me. Might try selling this bc at 30ml the amount I have to spray to smell it a few hours later is crazy Edit 2: okay I was buggin it ended up lasting forever on me and I mixed it with something else and it completely dominated that scent can’t even remember what it was it got swallowed up by this thing instantly and it was hitting my nose all day. For a minute I thought this was the only blind buy mistake I’ve ever made but nope it’s kinda the shit lol

a splendid camphor green scent. angelica gives an almost musky sweetness, marjoram an almost spicy spiciness, mugwort is very bitter and strong, after camphor is the main protagonist. the rest is a mix of resins and well orchestrated herbs, very powerful is the Amyris that gives a touch of pine smell. otherwise fantastic scent. 9/10 super performance.

Defiantly strange, utterly unique herbal extremity. Even by the barnstorming standard of eccentricity that Prissana can set - which is, in itself, fantastically weird just on average - this one is an oddball in a league of its own. A wise witch's brew of tangy, bitter, acerbic, almost-acrid leaves, buds, roots and seeds: it has a bracingly medicinal, no-compromise tang of long-steeped potions that you might flinch at drinking, or even wince before you dare to rub on skin. And there's definitely a sense of some sort of liniment - or even some kind of nearly-creosotey wood stain? - to it as well. There's real sharpness and earthiness lying beneath the (slightly) mellower aura of angelica and camomile up at the top; it might be the first scent ever to make me appreciate the deeply dark, almost sweaty kick of strongly present ambrette, smelling nearly like burnt coffee beans, right down at the bottom end. (Yet more proof of the house's skillset, because ambrette often ruins scents I otherwise love, whereas here, it all just adds to the character.) Marjoram and artemisia kick seriously hard here, conjuring yet more herbal-medicine-teabag vibes - even shades of the kitchen cupboard. So, while deeply green, it is not lush or gentle at all; for me, if it conjures a colour it's a no-messing-around khaki, even yellowish-green, the shade of long-dried bunches of stuff hung up in a herbalist's shed. (And while speaking of colour: don't buy it just for the startling blue of the liquid in the bottle, as it'll fade: my small, aged sample in a plastic 2ml sprayer was just standard perfume yellow). This may all sound way too much like hard work, far too no-compromise hardcore organic style to be fun, and way too austere to be entertaining; but like all Prin Lomros's products, Maruyama does have a magic of its own. It all hangs together, certainly; nothing clashes or cloys; and it brings the outside in, in a most fascinating way. If you really wish to smell like a wild woodsman or woodswoman, who knows where all the best stuff grows in the forest, it'll work like a charm. For me, just a little too bracing to get truly comfortable with, but like Olympic Orchids' Arizona or Durga's El Cosmico (it doesn't smell like either in any way, but the effect is similar) - it gets you back to nature and opens your nose to real, deeply rooted things.

Folk medicine brew. A mediaeval pantry with hanging bundles of spikenard and chamomile, lovage roots as both medicine and broth flavouring, and camphor to deter the beasties.... Lovely muskiness, with an only slightly sweaty ambrette. It’s fresh and uplifting in a green, herbal way. I have a few Shoyeido incenses, and I can smell the earthy, turmeric-like base of one of them here... Maruyama's incense has the same clean and subtle quality of Japanese incense. I received this sample, and bottles of Haxan and Mal-Aime all in one day and it’s making me batshit craaaaaazy :)

A bitter and herbal scent with surprisingly smooth camphor. I struggle with camphor, and usually it is too medicinal for me, but here it ties everything together in a very pleasant way. The rose with a bit of incense comes through in the dry-down. I actually quite enjoy this fragrance, much more than I expected. Even marjoram in the opening did not put me off, and I normally do not go for kitchen herbs in perfumes. This smell is unusual in the best way possible.

Very good performance. very earthy, herbal. It is ok but I'm not sure when I would wear this. Received as a sample but not bottle worthy for me.

You're dining at an Indian restaurant on a hot day, eating some fresh naan dipped in spicy chicken curry. Maruyama by Parfum Prissana.

The herbal opening is nice except for the menthol-like camphor, which I hate passionately. Fortunately that fades and it changes completely to a fresh spicy scent after dry down. Very different, smells like a kitchen spice cupboard, probably because of the marjoram, angelica, and artemisia. For me, smelling a spice blend is just not something I'm looking for, and I've been known to adore herbal smells. If you, however, adore the scent of the mix of herbs and spices produced by opening whatever cupboard or drawer you keep yours in, this is definitely the fragrance for you. Decent sillage, the warmer spices have good lasting power in this fragrance.

Start green, sour, citrusy, acid like vinegar. With strong camphor, strong marjoram, free-range chamomile, astringent angelica, to then move on to acid roses, vetiver, bitter woods, olibanum and ambrette with a somewhat... antiquated aura. Not for me. Step.

For me this is an overload of wood shavings, ash and strong woody herbs (like, umm Benedictine maybe). Making my headache worse by the second. Not for me.

Sometimes we are able to respect a fragrance even if we do not love it. For me, this is one of those. As per the perfumer's website: "Maruyama (丸山), an aromatic symphony that captures the essence of an aromatic Japanese botanical journey. A gentle breeze of Summer air carries the scent of blooming flowers. A lush verdant garden surrounded by vibrant petals and lush green foliage, Aromatic herbs captivating the senses and weaving their magic aromatic experiences. Each herb tells a unique tale and its benefits, offering a glimpse into the vibrant world of fragrance." I'm not sure about that, this is not the beautiful scent that wafts over to you whilst you are sitting in the middle of a fragrant garden - this is as if you are pushing your nose into each and every plant and smelling it in it's purest form. On the opening it is very camphorous, heavy chamomile, artemisa, vetiver. Dries down into a much more approachable, herbal, lightly floral scent. To me nose this would suit either (a.) a hippy, or (b.) a reclusive witch who lives in the forest. Not for me, but I can see why people might like it. 5/10

Maruyama from Parfum Prissana. Fragrant tree bark, bitter green herbs, a sweet, musky loaminess, a dusty oddball spice of some sort, and a botanical balsamic, almost maple-y nuance. If this were a color, I think it would be a hazel eye, or maybe Pantone 3995 C, a sort of cross between olive and smoky topaz. As a Taurus, my blood type is probably the sweet earthiness of Maruyama As well as some combination of briny green olives and lustrous golden brown topaz. If it were an OG cottagecore power couple, it would be beloved friends, Frog and Toad. Although...I might say this scent leans a little more goblincore. Either way, if you’re a country mouse or an earth mama or I don’t know, a secret gnome or whatever, this scent is lovely and you’ll enjoy it.

Sharp, camphorous and thick, but still really wearable in warmer weather if you spray less liberally. Has a reasonable longevity, and is a super interesting herbal scent. I wish the chamomile came through on my skin as much as it does on paper, but I still really like this!