Shiso
by Aftelier

To me, Shiso smelled like camphor wood and powder, and then drifted down in an hour or so to level out into a soft cinnamon incense fragrance. I could definitely envision an ancient Kyoto teahouse (where geishas typically entertained). It smelled like something that a dignified, sophisticated Japanese lady might have worn years ago.

Shiso parfum is said to be based on a Geisha powdered-perfume formula, and it does not disappoint in that way. Shiso smells immediately mysterious and dark tea houses, where the accentuated facial features and expressions of pale-faced Geishas wrapped in many mysterious layers of silk kimonos wrapped in obis that were stored in protective camphor closets and smell of such. It smells of shiso, that unusual Japanese herb used to wrap meats and sashimi, and that has a complex aroma that is both green-herbal, powdery and spicy (it has a distinctively cumin-like nuance about it). Other apparent notes are camphor, agarwood and spices, but they are all blended to a powdery, woody, herbal and spicy-warm concoction that it’s difficult to smell any note in particular besides the shiso, camphor and agarwood that realy stand out.This is exactly how I would have imagined a perfume that dusts a Geisha’s artfully-made-hair to smell like.