Reviews of parfums*PARFUMS Series 3 Incense: Kyoto (2002)
by Comme des Garçons

An incense scent with a fruity side. Its fruity side somewhat similar to Terre d'Hermes. It does not last very long but has good sillage.

Incense and woods. Very dry woods. Like in an old temple with large wooden crossbeams. Has a sweet tonka bean like base to it. Great but not impressive enough for a bottle.

After all the hype surrounding this series, I decided to give Kyoto a go (primarily due to it being the most popular of the Incense line and NOT because of Ricky Martin). On first application, I smelt almost nothing at all. However, based on advice from a fellow Basenoter, this was something I was expecting.

It wasn’t until the second application that I actually smelt something on my skin. However, all I could detect was something synthetically green – I could hardly pick out any incense in this at all. Its sillage was pretty good and its longevity better than I had originally expected but, at the end of the day, Kyoto came across as too soapy clean for me. It’s a very pleasant scent but it miserably failed to overwhelm me.

Bright, woodsy, and natural smelling. It's like sitting at a temple in a forest on a crisp cold morning, with your nose being the catalyst to the rest of your senses. There's a prickly note of pine that gives way to Japanese incense with the slight hint of smoke to it. There is a dry coffee note in there to further strengthen its woody and green personality. I was somehow expecting more, but still it's not bad fragrance at all.

At first I like it, a very pleasant incense scent, quite exotic and quite sweet. Unfortunately it goes sour on my skin with time and and up with a note resembling mosquito repellant. It's not the first CdG to do this to me. However I have only tried it once and I need to try it more.

Still undecided after the third sampling.
It really kicks off like the lovechild of Messe de Minuit and Sequoia - clear medicine heights close to cough syrup, along with a strong incense base.
While the mixture is quite interesting and it works quite well, I wasn't too excited about it because I felt it was really similar to Sequioa, which I already own.
Time passed but this unique cough sirup scent did not pass nor developed any further. What a surprise, though, when it reached its base after 2 hours - the medical touch was gone, only leaving some minor fresh note in the midst of a very smooth, soft wooden incense base. Very comfortable, very pleasant. Nothing sharp here, nothing offensive. I see this in autumn and winter or early spring and while it is wearable as unisex scent, it is clearly more masculine. Could be worn as niche formal scent but could also work as more passive scent for evenings or even clubbing. It works more as ambience, not as offensive "in yer face" scent.
Coming from club culture I would compare it to a good remix of a good track [Sequoia], but if you did not like the original you won't find too much new here for you. Although my gf digs for Kyoto and I got similar comments from other female colleguages I still did not buy it because for me it shares too many of Sequioa's notes in the first 2 hours to make it really unique. Great drydown, though.