Fragrance Reviews by cheshiredave1

Good, descriptive and apt name, and a mini-masterpiece of a square and frosted glass bottle. My favourite Kenzo. Weak, like them all (apart from the medicinal original in the blue-black curved glass bottle), so lasting just a few hours. My impression was of a simple liquorice combined with fresh hay (the hay as in Jicky), fading in a linear fashion to zero. Not sweet. Unlikely to cause offence to allergy sufferers and super-noses. Spring / summer, rather than Autumn / WInter.

All the reviews are right, but for those unable to track it down, I would highly recommend Eau de Rochas Homme. It's much more fleeting, but the first few minutes, then hour, are worth the rather expensive admission price. Initially similar to BG (but better), with gin and sparkling limeade tones, EDRH gently fades and stays constant, whereas BG fades to peppery spice and lasts quite a while longer. Both are 2 of the best lemon / lime concoctions. Monsieur Balmain (a great lemon and liquorice blend), also hard to find, and Acqua di Parma (a great lemon and rose combi) are also both recomended.

I tried this in a store before I read the reviews / pyramid. Immediate impression was 'A Blue Cross (cheaper) Lolita Lempicka', with less finesse. Sweet, vanilla, and not much else, to my nose. (I have not tried Le Male.) Stick to Lempicka - similar vanilla base, but more liquorice and green notes at first; or Rochas Man - similar vanilla, but with unusual cappuccino and lavender tones. These 2 both feature longlasting vanilla.

I thought I'd add a quick summary until the more experienced Basenoters take over and add their own comments. Overall summary = sweet. But not as cloying as some. Difficult to describe, as nothing 'jumps out', which is probably a bad thing - maybe too many ingredients are fighting for attention. It's hard for me to differentiate all the notes. Initially, pretty similar to Yves Rocher Nature Millenaire (the coppery bottle; not the green bottle), until compared side by side - then Tokyo is less harsh after a while. Pretty fleeting, and stays close to the skin, so reapplication is necessary. The idea behind the juice is interesting (each ingredient = a colour = an aspect of Tokyo), and the 'speeding car lights' bottle graphics ditto. The most boring of the Kenzos I have, which are: Air - liquorice and hay with hint of lemon, in square 'window' bottle; Jungle, punk zebra-fin bottle and hard-to-describe lemon mix; L'Eau Par - lemony boring; and Original Pour Homme - medicinal, eucalyptus, distinctive, less fleeting than the others, in the dark blue-black curved 'bamboo' bottle, on which shape the Tokyo bottle is also based.

As no-one's reviewed M&S's EDT sprays, and I recently bought a midi 3-pack, I'll have a quick go on the slightly more upmarket ones...
I bought the 3-pack because, of the 3, I wanted THIS one. No doubt it contains 27 beautifully blended aromas, but I would sum it up as light drinking chocolate with a hint of incense - the reason why I like it - fading to a clean, freshly showered, sweetish, but not cloying, flatness. My description has not really done this justice - if it had a designer label, maybe Rochas, everyone would go crazy for it, and it's a (maybe not close) relative of Rochas Man and its unusual frosted, upside-down glass cone. The M&S bottle is a traditional, classic, angled glass with squared-off matt gold (plastic) cap and a half-invisible, extra-light typeface. I'd expect vanilla, but don't think there is any here, as nothing lingers a day later as I'd expect from vanilla. Collezione is excellent for its (£15 for 100ml) price. See past the label...

Although not in the pyramid, my own impression of this (before I looked at the pyramid) was of a mainly sweet coconut, slightly minty, very pleasant start, followed pretty quickly by a clean just-showered, clean-smelling and soapy, feintly marine-ish base, and not much else until it fades away 4 or 5 hours later. I would probably buy again (at a lowish price) for its relative obscurity. Will not offend many, day or night. Good, classic glass bottle, matt aluminium click-on cap attached with blue cord.

Cannot really understand the good reviews of this. I don't think I have a great sense of smell, but the tinest drop of this (I bought 30 samples which will last until I die) knocks one's socks off, and gave rise to many office complaints and a 1-month long sneezing fit in my wife when a sample vial leaked away in her car. So much pine, I cannot get past it to smell anything else at all. My favourite pine, tempered with other beautifully blended aromas, would be Blu Mediterraneo. My first review, and I wanted to start with an upper, but as I just can't live with Green Jeans, it's got to be a downer, unfortunately. Definitely attempt to try it first.