Inouï (1976)
by Shiseido

I absolutly LOVED that perfume. It's hard to believe that such a great smelling perfume was discontinued. I miss it and wish it would be produced again. I'd be first in line to buy the perfume!

BEST parfum ever made.
discontinued, but pure genius.
Beautiful, sexy, sophisticated, like tones upon tones of velvet rapture.
Rip.

How can a fragrance be both pungent and subtle? By being Inoui -- which in French means "unprecedented." That tags this fragrance well. It opens with a crisp, even acrid pronouncement, and potentially scares away the timid. But stick around, because the soft subtle base is both demure and provocative. If this fragrance weren't so masterfully composed, I'd say it was trying to accomplish too much -- but actually it achieves everything it sets out to do. It drily informs and then softly insinuates. Complex, not sweet, but nevertheless able to induce a sigh of longing and pleasure.

Unfortunately the original fragrance is getting hard to find (as well as ridiculously expensive in some places), and sources differ in their freshness. Best to obtain samples, and compare the scent. Your nose will notice the difference between the slightly soured version of Inoui that has degraded, and the soft subtlety of the perfume which has been stored well. It's very much worth the hunt -- and you *can* locate relative bargains. Be patient and alert!