Aki (2005)
by Tann Rokka

Simply put, Tan Rokka's Aki is the lovechild of Guerlain's L'Heure Bleu and Shalimar. Aki is a sweet-ish, predominantly amber/sandalwood fragrance with a great deal of powder and a smattering of spices. It is surprisingly strong so be sure to apply it sparingly as this is one of those perfumes that could easily end of "wearing you"! As compared to Aki, I much prefer Becker Eshaya's Golden Amber for amber, or 10 Corso Como or Diptyque's Tam Dao for sandalwood.

Here are Aki's notes, courtesy of The Perfumed Court: amber, patchouli, sandalwood and vetiver.

Smokey vanilla and dirty florals. For comparison, I only smelled Shalimar once in a store and this instantly took me back there. Shalimar repulsed me and so does this. Old lady oriental scent.

It's very nice. It's familiar. I has some spice. It's old lady vanilla meets baby powder. I generally will defend a house I really love (I LOVE kisu/signature). The middle is really comforting and warm, but it's not quite up to what I'd really hoped for from such a cool, quirky house like Tann Rokka. There's the top and middle.

The dry-down. There are elements of MKK and Musc Ravageur in the drydown. It is NOT a dry spicy like you'll find with Kisu, but really a warm, sensual vanillic. I LOVE it. It's sexual, it's raw, it's comfortable and familiar. There's a touch of Givenchy Pi with some dirtiness.

I would give a big thumbs up if you didn't have to suffer through 45 minutes of baby powder. I won't buy it, especially for the price.