Kabuki

One of the most beautiful and sweet fragrances I own, and I have many! This is so reminiscent of luscious Japanese fruit candies, which is a more accurate association than the Kabuki theatre, but... Luxury and sensuality sell, I suppose. It is clean, dewy, and juicy litchi but not too ozonic, with just the right touch of a sweet grapefruit. And as someone who used to eat Texas ruby red grapefruit every day when it was in season, it is intoxicatingly magnificent. But the litchi prevents the extreme tartness and citric acidity of grapefruit and elevates her to a cane sugar fruit confection. She remains steadfastly light and ethereal throughout her composition and never becomes too heady or cloying. The bon bon lotion has a lighter, less sweet scent than the EDP, if a more airy nature is desired. I personally bought the lotion first, then purchased the discovery set of dabbers at an attractive discount. And let me tell you, if your "gas station" truly has "pink soap" that smells as good as this, you must be living in Scarsdale, NY— or you have phantosmia from a brain or nose tumor. There is no alternative for a truthful response, unless you're a bot. Here in the real world we have pink soap that gives people hives and smells of cheap benzaldehyde, which is a slightly cherry-almond scent, but worse than food and perfume grade. And I'm saving this description for when anyone else makes this ludicrous claim about a completely unrelated fragrance. If it doesn't cause skin abrasions upon contact, it's not a public restroom disinfectant. Now back to the actual fragrance: I hesitate to say this is a good one to layer. I appreciate that she likely would be a cooperative scent, but she is just so perfect on her own! A light and warm vanilla scent could cut a little of the zesty fruity sweetness, if one so desired, but she could easily pair with fresh, woody, or other sweet citrus or gourmand scents.

I REALLY love this one!! It is definitely full of sugar, but there's a pleasant tartness from the grapefruit and lychee, and just the perfect touch of jasmine. There is definitely NOT any vanilla scent, despite what previous reviews have stated (perhaps some noses associate "sweet" with "vanilla"?!), and definitely no almond. I keep this beautiful little bottle on my desk at work, and spritz myself (once, on the neck), when I need a cheerful pick-me-up. And, I have had coworkers stop at the door of my office to tell me how good it smells, so the sillage is pretty impressive! I think that if you like Michel Germain's fragrances, you would probably enjoy "Kabuki". I will 100% repurchase this when I run out! The rating I give it is 9.3/10.

I bought this on my honeymoon in Kauai and whenever I wear it I am instantly transported back to that beautiful, lush island. I sprayed it on my wrist as my new husband and I walked through a shop. We left and walked next door and within minutes I was so in love with the smell I had to go back and buy it. It is very sweet and gourmand, so if you don't like food fragrances this may not be the one for you. It is very fruity and distinctly tropical, but with a warm, musky base. It morphs with my body heat and becomes totally irresistible. Does not induce headaches for me either, which a lot of perfumes do. My absolute favorite smell.

This is the most syrupy, sweet, silly, girly, almost childish scent I own. It had no real depth. It might give you a cavity. And unlike every other Tokyo Milk Fragrance it has the audacity to last. I love it. It's nothing like anything else I have or would normally ever pick for myself, but it was love at first sniff and I've never changed my mind. I love wearing this to bed despite it not being a soft or particularly relaxing scent. It makes me want to eat myself rather than lulling me to sleep. Nothing about my relationship with this perfume makes any sense whatsoever, but I will never give it up. 20/10 all around

I love candy type scents. This is candy without any burnt sugar or plastic or musk! I am in HEAVEN! I LOVE this. I bought a 2nd bottle immediately upon receiving my first. This scent opens just as the note description appears. "Sugared grapefruit, lychee and sweet jasmine crushed and distilled to perfection." It is the way I imagined that FRESH Sugar Lyche Perfume would be (but isn't). To me, this Kabuki scent is very close to the FRESH Sugar Lyche lotion (which is much better then the FRESH perfume that is supposed to match) ! PLEASE make this forever! Lasts about 3-4 hours on the skin.

I love love love this scent. It is a delicious fruity floral. The sunny citrus notes make it very good for summer. I did not like it at first spray, it was initially very sweet-tart but after about 15 minutes I could not stop smelling myself and went back for it. The grapefruit wears off some after a few minutes, letting the jasmine come through. I will admit that something about this reminds me of a fruity hard candy - thank goodness the floral notes balance it out. It mellows well. Lasts pretty well, too, a few hours on me. Very uplifting, always puts me in a happy mood.

I own this in perfume and in hand cream. I will admit that the other reviews are so very far off. First this perfume does NOT smell like play dough Second it does not smell like generic candy or chewing gum Its notes are true to its advertising. It’s a crisp and effervescent scent that showcases the sugared grapefruit and lychee wonderfully almost to a bright cherry scent but toned back a bit with the jasmine and vanilla. You will definitely smell the warmth of the vanilla as the base note. So far it’s my favorite of the Tokyo Milk products.

Ok, when it comes to Tokyo Milk scents, I never have any idea wtf I'm even smelling. I got Kabuki in a discovery kit and I don't like it, but I do like it. It smells strange. I def get that grapefruit at the beginning and then it turns into some weird spice, vanilla and play-doh. I dunno man, but I just bought a full bottle of it lmao Edit: 02/18/2021 Just got my full bottle and this fragrance is so out of my element, but I love it! It's an odd, interesting and foreign frag. I'm hoping I love it as much during the warmer months.

Kabuki reminds me of Juicy Fruit gum. Ironically, I love it! I have to admit, when I first received it, I was a bit disappointed. Grapefruit? Where??? I don't get any citrus in this at all. It is very candy-like, not a sweet-tart, but just soft and sweet, like litchi candy. On second try, I realized it's a keeper. And it really lasts!

This is probably my favorite fragrance that I own! It's a fruity sugary vanilla scent that's just so intoxicating. Smells playful and fun like candy, but doesn't come off as juvenile at all. With a lot of fragrances I can't really detect every single note, but I can easily smell all of them here; nothing is overpowering!

I was actually pretty bemused when I read what is in this, becuase to me it smells like a batch of sugar cookies with hints of almond and cherry. I finally bought a bottle after weeks of spraying the tester on and I am so happy with it. Its very comforting and lasts for hours. :]

Sweet and delightful. I was told "you smell sweet, like Dairy Queen." Idk if I smell like a Dairy Queen while wearing this, but I'll take that compliment and all the others because this really is a nice scent. Unfortunately, as a brand, it doesn't last as long as I'd like.

Yes the name is unfortunate. You know those candies they have at sushi restaurants? This is completely that sweet and sour candy and jasmine. Or at least that's what it opens with. I could love this. After about 3 hours it transforms into a nice vanilla scent

Total Sugar bomb! Love it. Reminds me of something Barbie would wear. Sweet and Delicious. The fruity notes stay on my skin for about an hour and the dry down becomes a yummy almost vanilla mixed with jasmine scent that lasts for several more hours.

This fragrance is incased in a beautiful bottle. It perfectly emulates the beautiful, lush, refreshing yet sweet smell of Lychee.

This makes me think of beautiful women in silk pajamas brushing my hair and giggling as they keep putting fruit in my mouth.

kabuki is very powdery, and although i really love this perfume i wish the litchi and grapefruit were brighter

love it! so sweet and delicious! sparkles on my skin! truly amazing!

I was pretty geared up to have this one be my favorite out of the whole line. All of the notes listed are among my favorites, and I could imagine a way they'd be interesting together. Unfortunately, this is actually the first in the line that I actively dislike. Grapefruit, even sugared grapefruit, to my mind should smell crisp and tart and fresh. This doesn't. I'd heard that it smelled more like orange or lemon than grapefruit and I'd have been fine with that, but to me it doesn't smell like citrus of any kind. I can't really make out lychee at all, and, well, I know and love lychee pretty well. I'd also heard it was a candy scent, which is fine with me. And it sort of is, but to me this comes out smelling like bubblegum rather than a fruit candy. Maybe that's just the way it works with my chemistry, but I couldn't get past that impression. All that being said I can see how lots of people would like it. It's very feminine and sweet and playful. It's not really bad, just not to my taste and really, really not what I was expecting. On the other hand I've found that I quite like Tokyo Milk's Lapsang Su Chong, which I've never seen anyone review and I've never seen any store stock. Seeing as I impulse-ordered that one without ever smelling it and decided to wait until Kabuki came in to a local store so I could test it first, I'm glad that it wasn't the other way around.

Margot Elena has a gift for creating scents I enjoy despite using notes I dislike, in genres that generally don’t appeal to me. This makes exploring TokyoMilk especially fun. Kabuki was a risky blind buy for me. I don’t like sugary scents or gourmands. However, TokyoMilk made possibly the first vanilla scent I really like and the only aquatic fragrance I love, too. So, I stepped out of my usual lane and decided to try Kabuki. I’m happy to say I don’t regret it. It opens with a distinct, clean sugared grapefruit note. The litchi adds a different tone of fruitiness and an aquatic balance to the sugar, preventing it from being headache or toothache inducing. The jasmine is a subtle presence at first, but lingers through the entire drydown, taking a stronger role as the sugared grapefruit balances and settles down. The composition takes on an airy-light sweet tobacco undertone in its final form. I am not about to jump into this genre, but it is nice to find something so different that I like and that my husband really likes, too. Very feminine. Long-lasting (surprisingly) with a moderately-strong projection that settles fairly close to the body.

I’m going through an uncharacteristic sweet perfume phase right now and it’s made me really, really appreciate Kabuki. It probably helps that my bottle is a few years aged so the sugar is much richer and more syrupy than I remember it being at first, too. This is beautiful, sticky sweet, slightly effervescent, happiness in a bottle. The grapefruit is slightly sour, the sugar reads as really thick crystals on top of juicy fruit slices, and I’d say that the lychee reads more as candy than fruit. All together this perfume is one of those candies that’s hard on the outside and gummy on the inside. Wonderful mix of tart and sweet. Will last literally all day on my skin, especially in the summer. Great for the rare occasions that I want to smell sweet with minimal effort. Does dry down to a vanilla and candy smell, but not as overwhelming as other candy inspired perfumes. Also yeah, the name sucks.

Don't waste your time reading the notes attributed to this scent. Perhaps that's actually what went into the bottle but it has nothing to do with how the perfume smells. It's delightfully sweet with a bit of alcohol bite but none of the usual tartness that comes with citrus, none of the "juice" that litchi usually brings. It's also extremely smooth without any layering--once it warms on your skin it will remain constant until it finally fades (lasts well BTW). The closest I can come to describing it would be a martini with pomegranate or blood orange in it. If you like perfumes with a liqueur note (Lacroix Absynthe, Ungaro Apparition, etc) you will almost certainly like this.

Oh my, this is a lovely scent. Sweet, yes, but sweetly exotic. The initial notes are citrus, but they are not very clear. Is it lemon, is it orange? The ingredient list says grapefruit, but that's not what I get. There is no sharpness to the citrus. After about ten minutes, it turns mellow and the initial sweetness becomes warm honey. I like it. Where would I wear it? It's a perfect day scent for spring or summer. Not too loud for the office or anywhere you'll be in close contact with people. It stays close to the skin, but not so close that you don't know it's there.

so interesting how theres no incense or anything that would allude to smoke or amber, because as others have mentioned its definitely there . a quite authentic grapefruit with a slightly “dirty” scent you get when you peel one . found this almost full at an antique store then got somewhat tired of it, the sweetness from the sugared litchi doesnt nudge a bit but it does have a cutesy soft spicy moment so i keep it around to just spray my curtains now, and catch the whisps of scent from the A/C draft

You know what I smell in this one? Almond (not the alcoholic "maraschino cherry" kind). The fruits are only in the top notes. This spends a great deal of time smelling like an almond cake of some sort. The drydown is vanilla with a hint of almond. This has good projection. This is a very likable fragrance if you like things that smell a bit like almond, but don't buy this if you're looking for a fruity, litchi-forward scent.

This smells exactly like a particular type of incense that I used to get at Nirvana. I think it was called “dragon’s blood”. It smells really sweet, almost juicy, oriental... the jasmine is quite strong on my skin with this one. A slightly strange scent but I like it EDIT: tried it again a couple of months later - not liking it so much anymore. Sadly it gives me a headache

Very sweet, not sure about it. Got it by mistake, I meant to get the rosewater and gin one! So, it's clean, refreshing, very lush and dewy. Addictive juicy fruity notes. Doesn't project very much, longevity is moderate. Nice, sweet and fresh like a yummy cocktail- very summery. This will go fast too I think, will keep in my purse as a refresher on hot summer days.

Unique and lusciously sweet. Like smelling the breath of a girl who just ate an entire bag of bright red hard candy and topped it off with a few spoonfuls of sugar. There’s a delicate jasmine sitting just below the lychee. Upon immediate application, it evoked a bit of a fruity air freshener smell, but after a few minutes it settled into sugary-sweet lychee.

If you were a kid in the 80’s this might make sense... It smells the way I remember strawberry shortcake dolls to smell. Like soft plastic and fruity candy. Don’t get me wrong, I love a sugary perfume. And I really love this fragrance. The big but is the longevity. It’s a delicious opening and becomes a barely noticeable skin scent within an hour.

This is really nice. What I like about Tokyo Milk perfumes is that they are derived from natural ingredients, and never a smell of alcohol. I def smell all the wonderful notes, Sugared Grapefruit, Lychee & Sweet Jasmine. Lychee sticks with me the most. I think this can be worn by anyone, at any age, at any time of the year. :) Enjoy!

Super sugary sweet, with some fruit and florals rounding it out. It's the type of lychee that comes canned in syrup, and the grapefruit is candied peel, leaving only a trace of tartness. Still, a very flirty and yummy fragrance, probably a good pick for those with a sweet tooth.

The opening is strongly reminiscent of a mixture of Play-Doh and candy, but after an hour or two, it reduces to sweet vanilla with a lychee note. Has very minimal sillage on my skin, so even though it's very sweet, it doesn't feel overpowering.

Spicy orange gumdrops (in a good way). This is so different than anything else that I have a hard time describing it. It reminds me of a childhood Christmas for some reason. Not a sophisticated scent, but a fun one!

At first I thought this smelled like sprite or dr. Pepper but this smells exactly like a super exaggerated version of lust from lush. Indolic jasmine, and somehow sour candy?

Powdery Lemon cake! I love it but sadly every single time I spray it on myself I sneeze for the first few minutes.

This is such a unique sweet fragrance! There’s a creaminess to it too, excited to try this in the summer!

Honestly so sweet that it almost reminds you of play do, but in a good way.

This one a bit odd, good if you like lychee and poundcake.

my highschool ex girlfriend wore this and i thought she had sprayed like incense room spray on herself (not in a good way in like a grandma-y smelling way) but also we were like 17 so she probably just doused herself in it before we left for our date lol. i ended up liking it but in a pavlov's dog way... it had to grow on me. and even then i dont think i would wear it myself its very strong and sticks around for a long time.kind of a spice smell but floral very warm and autumny to me

This smells like either Jolly Ranchers or Starburst candies with a little bit of tartness and sugary dust. I don't get the Kabuki reference. It reminds me of straight up Halloween candy, which sadly makes it juvenile. I can picture a teen wearing this perfume. In the beginning it smelled more like gummy bears, which wasn't that pleasant. But after sitting for a year or two, that gummy bear smell got less strong. Smell: 6 out of 10 Strength: 7 out of 10 Feminine

Today is my second wear of it. It reminds me so much of refilling those public bathroom hand soap dispensers of aggressively fragranced bright pink janitorial soap, but stimulates my gourmand appetite unlike the soap. After lunch I decided to put it with Savage Belle (with its gingery char) to get something more out of this. I wanted to like it so much and have it be one of my signatures based on how much love others have for it.

I'm unsure of this scent, but ultimately, I think I'm not a fan. I don't get any lychee, which is disappointing. The grapefruit mixing with vanilla is nice but the citrus dissipates quickly. All that's left is an ultra sweet, slightly synthetic sugary vanilla.

I had been eyeing this perfume for so long SO LONG. And I finally took a plunge and ordered it and I smelled the cap before spraying it and thought "Surely it will smell better when it's on skin?" so I spray it and I take a whiff..."Maybe it just needs to settle into the skin...." I let it settle, nope. I thought I would like all the notes together (I love lychee, I love jasmine, I like citrus, who doesn't love a bit of sugar?). And the most accurate description I can give is that it smells like a gas station bathroom. That gas station that tries to keep their bathroom clean by spraying a lot of air freshener and using those toilet bowl deodorizers. It's nauseating and I regret purchasing it. I should've listened to the negative reviews on this and instead of desperately trying to justify the purchase. So disappointing.

Kabuki was definitely not what I was hoping for. I had this idea that it would be very Japanese, elegant with light woods like bamboo, soft florals, and a touch of lychee. Instead it was some kind of confused vanilla having an identity crisis. It was slightly creamy, slightly candy, slightly synthetic. There just wasn't enough conviction in any particular direction. And vanilla is not even a note, so I'm pretty lost as to why it smells predominantly like vanilla. I love lychee, and while it might lend to the sweetness, it's not distinctly lychee, leaving me to wonder if it's only sugared grapefruit giving a candy-like effect in the top notes. Sorry if this review is confusing and not particularly well-written, but I guess it reflects the tone of this hodgepodge perfume.

I thought this would be an elegant girlish scent but I was instead hit with the smell of play doh trying to go undercover as vanilla. Don’t pmo 🤡 What could’ve been a fresh scent was instead a disappointment. I don’t know what’s worse, the headache or the lies. Like a bad ex, lacking in depth and creating a nauseating sickness from sugary lies and broken promises. Where is the lychee and grapefruit pray tell?

at first i liked this scent when i sprayed in on some tissue and it was different, but the i sprayed it on myself and it was really sugary smelling. it was like i was taking a bath in a mixture of burnt sugar and sugar and i found the smell overwhelming. Minutes passed and the smell just grew worse. It smelled like i was in a candle store and paper was on fire. It's not a very pleasant scent to me or on me.

I don't smell any citrus or sugar, just a nondescript food smell that is not especially pleasant. The only way I can describe this on my skin is that it smells like the very last dregs of a cup of coffee that had a lot of creamer in it. I don't like this at all.

Cough syrup. It smells exactly like medicine I took for respiratory infections as a child. And it's very tenacious. I can't get it off my hand. This is unlike anything else I've tried and seems to show that grapefruit notes can be tricky.

reminiscent of sweet dental alginate. artificial candy grapefruit followed by white sugar and plastic. mostly sugary plastic. glad i only have a sample.

I try to be open to fragrances but I HATED this perfume. I don't know what I smelled in it when I bought it from the store but the first time I wore it I knew it wasn't for me. Dried down to smell exactly like vanilla extract and gave me horrible migraines with how strong and awful the scent was and it seemed to linger forever. I ended up giving away the whole bottle (FOR FREE!!) because I didn't want it around anymore.