Kisu

Recently I bought the second bottle of it, because I really missed it after the first had been emptied within a few weeks time. It's hard to get in my town. So I was lucky to find a bottle of it in a nice little boutique selling niches-perfumes. I got the last one, but they promised always to keep one in store for me - obviously I was the only customer who bought it. It came in XXL and was fitted with an old-fashioned pump-handle spray-nozzle which reminded me of my mothers toilet-table. Now the black and opaque bottle sits like a jewel on my white and innocent-looking dressing table. What a delight, what a contrast! This picture resembles the very essence of this ambigious scent. Innocent and tender, yet with a dark and mysterious edge. Though it's intense it's ephemeral like a kiss, doesn't last too long, at least not on my skin, but on wood and clothes. Everytime I think it has vanished it comes back eventually, unpredictible like the wind, and kisses me again and again, each time offering new sensations, at one time it's a strong and woody whiff of cedar and rosewood,as if I was opening an antique treasure-chest, then suddenly it smells like the sea. Amazing! These sensations recall a perfectly relaxing visit in a Japanese spa, many years ago. Between taking baths in the onzen I lay in the shade of cedar-trees with a view to the sea. The wind intermittendly carried the strong smell of the sea (algae and salt and fish) and the warm odour of the trees, now and then tinged with the scent of sweet flowers. So everytime I use Kisu I remember this feeling of happiness, calm and wellness. It's my most private perfume, never to be used in the office or everyday life, exclusively enjoyed in erotic moods or relaxing hours after having done some workouts. With this scent I feel like a goddess of nature, it's like an eternal moment, experiencing a sensual and spiritual wholeness, similiar to the Madelaine-experience of Marcel Proust, which makes it a sacred perfume for me. Moreover it's consolidating all ambiguities of my soul, because it is strong and soft, bright and dark, male and female at the same time, like yin and yang. Asian philosophy and lifestyle in a bottle!

This is one strong perfume! Apparently I’m allergic to something in the top notes because I couldn’t stop sneezing for a good 5 minutes after applying a little bit of my sample. I did like the fragrance, though, at least what I could smell of it in between sneezes, so left it on and am glad I did. At first this is a warm, fluffy, powdery, woody, musky scent. I can smell the cedar, but nothing else identifiable until a little bit of ylang-ylang breaks through, darting in and out among the other notes. I also smell something like plum, and something spicy. Later on there’s a distinctive and unusual note in the sillage that I think must be ambergris-like. Whatever it is, it’s salty, iodine-rich, and animalic, like sea creatures washed up on the beach. The cedar note is the very best that I’ve ever smelled, like the wood in a red cedar chest, but it comes and goes. For a perfume this strong, the longevity is only moderate. I put it on in the evening, but when I woke up in the morning there was not much left except for a slight hint of sage on my wrists and sage and possibly a little patchouli on my clothes. I did have some interesting dreams, though! I love the scintillating variety of notes, the cedar, and the smell of beached sea-creatures drying out and releasing salty iodine in the sun. A little goes a long way, and I’ll remember this the next time I use it. Note: The sample that I got was labeled Tann Rokka and was sold as their “signature scent”. Apparently it is the same as the perfume formerly sold under two other names, Kisu and Aki.

Tann Rokkas Kisu starts herbal and woody with pretty strong Ylang-Ylang, intercepted by lovely Rosewood and soft Aquatic notes. The first sniff transfers you straight into a relaxing bath. The burst of Ylang-Ylang quickly fades away, but it is gentle present in the background. Wonderful Cedar notes are dominating this scent bit by bit. The Asian Musk gives Kisu a hint towards memories of bygone times. All in all this fragrance is pure relaxation, especially because of its gorgeous combination of Aquatic notes and Cedar. Furthermore it is very unisex in every way. Kisu is as its name says not long lasting, maybe about three hours on my skin.

Yes it is herbal and woody but there is also something powdery-sweet about it. Definitely not an every day scent for me. It feels very luxurious. Especially when I attach the vintage-style perfume pump that it came with (however it doesn't spray as nicely with pump attached). There is also a hint of a clean soap note present in the smell. I would say this is more of a winter scent than a summer scent, and more of a night scent than a day scent, but really depends on your look and sense of style.

The perfume is really herbally and it would fit perfect to a Zen center!