Hai Karate (1967)
by Leeming

all of the rancid and nuclear waste comments are dead wrong. This frag is actually pretty soft on the drydown. I actually am in the process of looking for a smell alike.

1st August, 2011.

A collector friend of mine owns an old bottle and after many claims (i used to beg him with insistence) he allowed me to inhale the juice even if just from the glass. It's not enough for a complete review. All i can write is that  perceive a sort of cold, metallic bit anicy strange kind of smell. Something rancid comes to mind which reminds a trait of the initial smell of Salvator Dali Pour Homme but less dark, colder and more herbal. I read that the fragrance becomes powdery at the end of its development. What i can do for the moment is to express a neutral rating.

6th March, 2011. (Last Edited: 16th March, 2011.)

Got a small plastic bottle of this with a toy electric razor in my Christmas stocking when I was a kid of about 6. Was my first introduction to aftershaves. Invokes fond memories of my childhood when I smell it. Tends to offend the noses these days that have become used to feminine aquatics. I have a reproduction version of this called New Generation Hai Karate and it is spot on to the original, but has very poor longevity on the skin.

13rd August, 2010.

Talk about kickin' it old school boy !

The original old school classic...

Folks behind the frag are also trailblazers in advertising the product. People often compare the Hai Karate TV ads (marketing schemes) from the 60's and 70's to today's TV ads of the Axe line.

If this original frag was an ass kicking ninja it would only have one name...

MAN - LI. ! ! ! Wooooo Weeeeee ! ! !

This is a pretty strong scent indeed.

Drydown not as strong after the powdery notes set in.

Only some men can pull this one off. ;)

Soak in it and the scent will karate chop other peoples noses for miles.

HAI YAA ! ! !

24th April, 2010.

Vile, disgusting synthetic creation that should have been aborted before birth.

I couldn't agree more with tvlampboy's thumbnail: "All that is vile and hellish in the world, but captured in a bottle...." and Tropirock's Ephitet "RIP, Hai Karate. Return to the bowels of hell from whence you came."

By all means use it for removing biro ink marks from fabrics but wear rubber gloves, you wouldn't want to get any of this stuff on you.

26th March, 2010.

This has the distinction of undefeated champ for bad 60's/70's colognes. I laughed out loud when I read tvlampboy's thumbnail: "All that is vile and hellish in the world, but captured in a bottle....". I guess that about says it. RIP, Hai Karate. Return to the bowels of hell from whence you came.

4th September, 2009.