Murasaki

“紫のひともとゆへにむさし野の草はみながらあはれとぞみる。” Murasaki, Japanese name むらさき, meaning is purple. In the Heian period of Japan, clothes dyed and woven with pigments made from dried comfrey roots were only available to the imperial family. Because comfrey cannot be cultivated artificially, and the roots of comfrey are sensitive to high temperature, at that time, in order to dye beautiful purple, the temperature must be controlled below 60 degrees Celsius today, which is very difficult to obtain. As a symbol of noble status, purple combines the enthusiasm of red with the coldness of blue, so purple also links love and karma. Shiseido names a perfume after "purple", what special meaning does it have behind it? When I was wearing むらさき, I turned to the page of The Tale of Genji. beauty and sadness are vivid on the paper, which makes me like むらさき more and more. The Tale of Genji, also known as "Purple Monogatari", was written by the author, Shikibu Murasaki. The three beautiful women in the book are all related to purple. My むらさき is the earliest version of EDP, the floral fragrance is even and gorgeous, deep, depressed, melancholy. I don't think any floral scent stands out, except for hyacinth, which is so high-key that it's hard not to notice. The dusty feeling of orris root is suppressed, expressing "quietness". The rich roses, jasmine and lily of the valley express "elegance". Shiseido's fragrances are restrained in temperament, and perfumers are good at expressing subtle feminine moods. In the courtyard, the flowers are gradually charmin, that was a beautiful woman walking towards me with a smile.

I discovered Murasaki in the late 1990s thanks to a tipoff from a perfume store owner who lamented that it was her all-time fave and she couldn't find any. Well, a phone call or two to Hawaii, and my first bottles were on their way. When Ebay came on the scene, I again used that to stockpile more of it. It is a fabulous wet (ie not dry)green floral fragrance using an oakmoss base. It is not a dark scent as someone above described. It isn't leathery either, unless the orris note is what someone thinks of as a leather note. I cannot wear leathery perfumes so the fact that this is such a favorite must indicate something. It is not as dry and ascetic as Chanel #19 or Vent Vert. The only scents to which I could compare it somewhat are Heure Exquise, which has a bit more rosy quality, possibly Goutal's Passion, minus some thickness in the base (maybe vanilla?), and fragrances probably no one here has ever heard of. Other positives for me about Murasaki are that it does not have a predominant sandalwood or cedar component. Ivoire is somewhat similar, but contains a more elaborate floral note as well as a bit of the pencil-shaving aspect of cedar. When I wore it to work, people commented that they were sure I was wearing Chanel #5, so perhaps they smelled the aldehydes in the topnote? I don't like Chanel #5, have never been able to smell anything floral in it at all, for some reason, and have never been able to see what the fuss was about. I'm hoping these comments will help someone with similar skin to find their way to this lovely iris fragrance.

Okay, I'm a wonk and had to look up the word "murasaki" since perfume has both a deep, almost primitive, sensual appeal and enough chemistry and history to be intellectually interesting. "Murasaki" translates literally as "purple" but also refers to the 11th century royal court figure who wrote "Tale of Ghenj" a complicated love story. Okay, got that out of my system. This perfume is green, green, green in its opening; razor sharp and cold for a few minutes. After this clears the orris and amber come up, enriching it but still cold. After about half an hour the other flowers, vetiver and musk came in, making this rich, complex and challenging. After two three hours it's settled into a close powdery floral with some skin warmth. What's only notionally here is the oakmoss. This is probably what the vintage lovers are mourning. Since I haven't smelled a good version of the vintage I'll say my experience with this is: I like it a lot and I generally don't take to green scents. I'd recommend it to anyone experienced with perfumes. If you're new to green scents I'd suggest a sample since the ingredients are good and it's somewhat expensive. (I'm wearing non-vintage EDP after a disappointing go-round with a spoiled vintage bottle.) I now need to go add the lovely watercolors and block prints of the Lady Murasaki I found while looking it up to my Facebook page. Sillage: initially big, pulls back to skin after an hour Duration: mediocre, 2-4 hours Fabulosity: the Northern Lights Value to price ratio: reasonable 6/10

Got this one blindly on a whim...the price was too good to pass it by. The bottle looks so cute and innocent....but what's inside the bottle is some serious stuff! Wow, this fragrance had quite an impact on me. There is something slightly reminiscent of Zen, that mossy note, but to me Murasaki is very along the lines of Niki Saint Phalle, but with it's own unique personality. This is a very intriguing and mysterious fragrance, complex and rich. I would say it can be easily worn by men. Imagine standing in the middle of an Amazonian rainforest early in the morning when everything is enveloped in mysterious mist. You hear the spound of water, some exotic birds and animals in the distance, but you can't see far through the mist. You feel transfixed,mesmerized and disoriented. You take a deep breath and you get light-headed from the freshness and pureness of the air. That's how Murasaki smells like to me. Excellent sillage and longevity!

I think I first acquired this lovely fragrance in the mid-80s, and have since collected a couple of the lovely vintage bottles (nearly full), much prettier than the new packaging, and I haven't smelled the current version so I don't know if it has changed, but I don't care as long as I have the vintage. The perfect scent for a Springtime afternoon. The dry-down is wonderful.

Used to be addicted to this clean, green floral by Shiseido. Still miss the original bottle, and was devastated when I could no longer find in stores. One mothers day my husband then gave me not one but two bottles!! Purchased from Hawaii. What a delight. A lighter cleaner scent for daytime use. Unlike anything out there, you won't smell yourself coming and going.

I loved the original Murasaki in the Tall deep purple bottle. For awhile that was my signature fragrance, the clear bottles while still lovely don't match the perfect green of the first formula. I can't say what changed, but they're not identical. Special scent.

Murasaki is my favorite perfume ever. Subtle, gentle yet warm, because in the heart notes orris root is very felt. Really beautiful, almost unique scent. Unfortunately disapperead from the market in Europe.

My most favorite perfume of all time. I miss it dearly.

Beautifully warm and subtle floral oriental perfume - first had this in the late 80s, then briefly again last year. The formula seems a little different to me now, weaker, perhaps or more powdery? Still the same gorgeous essence though. I love Zen edp now as it has a similar heart but still with some strength to it. mmm, Shiseido knows how to turn out a great perfume, that is for sure - not your run of the mill smells...

I have a purple bottle that look like a hairspray and the scent itself also remind me of the Elnett hairspray. It might sound bad but It doesn’t smell bad at all, it’s smell florally fresh and clean. I’m not gonna lie it smell dated and you have to appreciate the fact it’s actually belong to the 80s, florally aldehyde era kind of perfume.

Cacharel Anaïs Anaïs's green ethereal cousin : a quiet yet noticeable presence. A perfume of tenderness.

Liked it from the 80's unique smell, it used to be in a purpleish bottle.

I got a splash bottle from eBay (the more horizontal clear glass bottle with the purple cap). I wish I smelled all the green and floral notes people are describing, but all I smell is powdery aldehydes. I love green, I love floral - the notes on this looked like a home run for me. Maybe my bottle is funky with age or a scam, but I get no green at all. It smells like a clean, scented diaper to me. I love the current Shiseido skin care products (their face creams smell so, so lovely!) so I thought that this was a safe blind buy. Alas. I'm hoping it mellows over the wear, but we'll see. I would be happy to sell my just about full bottle to you if you love powder and vintage scents. 3/10.

Murasaki intriguered me for a while, for wanting to get my hand on it, as I find older Sheseido perfumes carry a certain type of Asian charm. Thanks scorpiosheep for a lovely sample of it! Murasaki opens in a really nostalgically light scent, actually I couldn’t smell much except for something slightly dry-aldehyde and like a piece of white soap which has been dried up and has cracks in it. It does not smell anything like the conventional Floral Green to me, but the dryness and quasi-nature quietness in it somehow infers to the Green aspect of this Floral Green. Then the scent comes to life after about 5 seconds, it is more a aldehyde for a while, which really reminds me a lot of aldehyde-soapy perfumes like White Diamond, but much quiter, as if mixed with something powdery, cold, slightly incense-y, like the feel you get from Prada Infusion D’Iris, but in much discreet way. At these stage, a flashing back of Shiseido Zen Original, comes to my mind, both of them has the certain type of calming, centring, meditating feel there, as if it was a type of incense, but not that much a smokey, thick incense; also, Mitsuko comes to my mind too, I guess it’s the peach here, so dry and lovely in a charmingly knowing manner, instead of those sweet peaches high in sugar which I’m so tired of from smelling floral fruity pink perfumes these days. Similar to Zen Original, Murasaki hits the base notes rather fast, and stays like it, from normally what should be the middle phase of a perfume these days. It smells of the middle phase plus a swirl of leather, powdery, sweet, and leathery. Somehow it strikes a balance in between a Chanel.19 fermenting to a even more business-like leather version; and Zen original been leatherified. Murasaki does not have a big sillage, somehow I find it a good thing, as you cannot smell too much of the leather, it wouldn’t bother people that much, and you might be relaxed from a mist of it around, just, you. However, not been a fan of leather, Murasaki is slightly more animalist than my usual taste, I guess I’ll be happily stick to my Zen Original; nevertheless, a beautiful, really Shiseido/Asian scent from Shiseido.

Shiseido MURASAKI is a classic floral chypre perfume with a fairly big dose of oakmoss and galbanum. There is a greenish cast to the whole composition, but it's dark green, and ultimately the chypre character dominates to my nose. There are many other perfumes of this type, and I do not think that this one is unique, although it's good for what it is. If you like Chanel no 19, then you'll surely like MURASAKI. If, on the other hand, you find dark floral chypres old fashioned (or old ladyish!), then this is not for you. This is a classically composed perfume with a ton of notes and a fairly imposing presence. No surprise, really, since it was launched in 1980. For serious perfumistas only!

Like other Shiseido's scents, Murasaki got reformulated in the 90s. New version is much lighter, less mossy or woody. The result, a watery green floral one, is a typical scent that people will mark it with "contemporary Japanese style", "zen-ish" or maybe "minimal". However, when Murasaki first launched in Japanese market in the 60s, it's a dense woody/mossy floral scent with aldehyde top, sometimes it almost goes balsamic (incensy or leathery in later phrases). "Dark" and "sophisticated" will be the words people use to describe it. If you compare the scent with fashion trend, the new version will be like a light silk shirt, while the vintage version will be a most elaborated junihitoe.

A floral green fragrance is not normally my style, so I was amazed by how well Murasaki works for me. A lovely Fragrantican bestowed me a sample of this fragrance(thank you scorpiosheep!), and I'm so pleased to wear this. The scent began very vividly, but burnished down into a beautifully clean floral scent. From its initial burst from the atomizer, this seemed a classic fragrance to me with its elegant balance and harmony of a great many disparate accords. Very lovely and very ladylike. [Update] Well into the latter stage of drydown, I can smell a faint, very refined amber. Beautiful!

Got a splash bottle from the flea market. $5.00 ! Thus as a "splash on" -- Is this from the 1980s ? Smells nice - nothing amazing though. Points for smelling very NATURAL . I can feel the nice quality ! Has the vibe of a "classic" powdery GREEN rose.

like many others, this was a favourite in the 80's and it sold well in our pharmacy. I too was disappointed when it disappeared but there are many other fragrances to explore in order to find a new favourite.

Does anyone know if this came in a splash version? The seller says it's vintage, but as far as I can tell, I've only come across people mentioning atomisers. Thanks.

like fruity at first (apple + pomegranate), then turns into this clean floral vibe with a bit of woodiness. It’s feminine but not too sweet or basic...

-Grandma's dressing table. -Soapy, powdery and brings to mind very conservatively-dressed women in their mid forties. (-)

Where can I buy the 'old' bottle from 1980? I had a smal purse spray in violet. A very oriëntal fragrance!

If you like Murasaki, you may like Silences from Jacomo as well.

Old Murasaki seems to me very similar to Chanel 19 edp.