A Scent (2009)
by Issey Miyake

This starts as a very pretty, floral-green scent. The jasmine and hyacinth are rendered accurately, and they are framed by green herbal notes from the verbena and the galbanum. If the scent was a bit edgier (rather than soft) and a bit less floral I'd be quite interested. The dry-down is less attractive, basically a synthetic moss/musk combo which seems quite uninspired.

9th July, 2011.

A Scent by Issey Miyake is possibly one of the most intriguing and dislikable fragrances I've ever come across.

There are certain scents that remind me of my childhood and the opening of this fragrance certainly takes me there. Although nostalgic, I would prefer not to wear it on my skin.

Fellow Australians will perhaps recall the scent of dry grass in the Summer and dandelions, those pretty yellow flowers that seem to pop up in places where you least expect. When I was little I would lie amongst these bitter smelling flowers, and this is exactly what A Scent by Issey Miyake smells like. Dry grass and bitter dandelions.

Of course the scent does develop beyond this intial bitterness into something quite fresh and lemony. However the drydown reminds me of a shiny, metallic kitchen sink, recently scrubbed until it shone using lemon-scented cleaning solutions.

Disregarding the connections I made through smelling this to both the backyard and the inside of my home, A Scent by Issey Miyake could be described as a green aquatic. Grassy, metallic, salty scents don't appeal to my taste, however I don't doubt that some people will enjoy this fragrance's unique qualities.

26th June, 2011.

For me, it is just like a fresh, classic Cologne - not bad, but nothing much more. Maybe, I would prefer it on a man.
A fragrance of this kind I find more inventive and charming, is "Purple water" by Asprey.

29th March, 2011.

After the distinctiveness and originality of L'Eau, 'A Scent' is a huge, huge disappointment. Although its top note is very good - a lively green/citrus which is reminiscent of Christelle - it soon fades to a cloying and (for me, at least) headache-inducing galbanum /cedar base note which reminds me of nothing in particular. This is a fragrance which lacks character and in any event has no lasting power. It fades to nothing in no time at all.

The brand new 'eau de parfum florale' version (same bottle; different coloured logo) is a little better but not much. Like the original, it has a good top note - spicy and floral and modern - but, also like the original, it dries down very quickly to a weak, nondescript and short-lived base note that can only be described as 'pleasant, but nothing special'.

These are not bad fragrances, just nothing to write home about.

8th July, 2010.

The first minutes on the strip were incredible. So very green and fresh, but not too chemical as often happens. That beginning green freshness - a bright green cologne - brought a distinct vision: the efficient wife and mother I'd be wearing "a scent". I'd rise in the morning, dress and put on full makeup, and then descend to the kitchen to prepare eggs and bacon for my Mad Men style husband, wafts of "a scent" complementing my retro housewifely perfection and energy. As I wandered the shopping mall with the strip to my nose, I actually anticipated a change in lifestyle thanks to "a scent". (I currently breakfast in pj's.)
But an hour in, "a scent" becomes Maurice Roucel's Envy. And then the drydown is boring and weak. I love Envy, and it lasts a lot longer - and I don't need another plummy green scent.
Also, the bottle isn't all that original - look at CKone - the citrus version of "a scent", with a similar bottle.

4th May, 2010.

On the test strip, A Scent smells just like the summer fragrance to make you happy, fresh without being sharp or synthetic, a refreshing, iced cocktail of grass, citrus and perhaps a tad green tea. Once on skin it fades and turns stale almost instantly, however.

16th March, 2010.