Relaxing Fragrance

I had a sample vial back in the day (circa 2000-2002) after one of my father's trips to Japan. Didn't care much about the name since I was only a kid, I just know it never failed to help bring me to a nice sleep. I only remember it was greenish with a grass/veggie/matcha top note and bamboo/agarwood middle/base note, not an easy find but here I am. Bought an unused bottle from an online reseller and it's not exactly how I remember. The cucumber was very fresh at the time and it was sublime, now I don't really smell it, but it's already more than 20 years what did I expect. It was squarely unisex when it was new, now it does lean more feminine. It's okay, it's still one of my fondest fragrances: my father's Shiseido Tactics (which is still produced these days, curiously, with the exact scent from the 1980s' version), Shiseido Relaxing Fragrance and the vintage Paco Rabanne Pour Homme, my mother's Sony Crystal Flower (yes it's a thing, Sony used to have a line of fragrances in Japan, like Crystal Flower and Sensitive Lady, I don't know how to add them to the database though), and my Dior Bois d'Argent, Dior Fève Délicieuse, and L'Occitane Eau de Vétyver. (Among those, Sony Crystal Flower is the best one, it's a cold and refreshing pink fruity floral fragrance that never fails to make me happy. I wish someone could make a clone of it, I think its dominant notes are peach, plum, citrus blossoms, musk and agarwood. What's interesting about it is that the peach and plum scents are both gathered from unripe and ripe fruits which gives it a perfect blend of sweet and sour and cool scents. It makes you feel like the winter cold and snow begin to subside and you can see dew drops on the grass as the spring sunshine has come, and you look forward to the end of spring and the start of summer, when the fruits ripen, when you'll reminisce about the winter snow crystals and the spring flowers.)

Fell head over heels with it when I was a student! The first department store perfume I bought on my first year at the University. As far as I remember, the scent was of great suavity, with delightful, silky fresh greenness and tranquility. Not too aromatic, not too flowery, just neat and feminine. While writing my review on Kenzo Amour, I commented how polite that frag was. Same applies to Shiseido Relaxing Fragrance. I didn't know anything about the perfume pyramid and am discovering it only now hahaha. Never would I suspect cucumber (stomach churning), bamboo (reminds me of Lao soup) or cardamome (tends to smell acrid on me) ever levitated me into exhilarating olfactory trips 😂 Especially cucumber, which I didn't recognize at that time, perhaps because 20 years ago, it didn't smell like today's abhorrent perfume interpretation. I would love to sniff that number again just for memories sake 🤭

I like this scent a lot for summer, but on me it doesn't smell anything like what the notes describe. It isn't flowery on me, and definitely no rose. It's very clean smelling and a little bit aquatic (but not in a bad way, like aquatic often is on my skin). It reminds me of Acqua di Gio, but without the sweetness. There is just a tiny "hint" of sweet. On me it is light, clean, and just slightly sharp. It seems almost like a citrus fragrance without the citrus.

such a shame,to me this was an Epiphany, a true zen moment when you spray it on.it didn't last for long so i used to carry it with me in my bag all day long.i was obsessed with the change it made on my mood after a spray or two. a unique gardenia bamboo haven that i wish i could smell again. one of those pick me up scents when you feel a little sickly, sunshine on a cold lake water.i tried so hard to find a similar one but no.allas i miss it so!

I still have a bottle that's so old but it smells amazing. One of my all time favorite scents- my mother wore it when I was younger and it reminds me of those days.So relaxing, with a soft hit of florals. So bummed they don't make it anymore- I'll probably hoard mine until the day I die, only using it on special occasions.