Aizen-Myoo

[Esatres]

... Yuzu, kaki, and mikan with cherry blossom and black tea.

 

In the imp: Bitter citrus. I find it refreshing, but it's definitely not for everyone.

 

Wet: The bitterness pretty much goes away and is replaced by a sweet citrus that's tempered pretty well by the tea. The cherry blossom is coming out, but subtly.

 

Dry: Cherry blossom + some tea. But mostly cherry blossom. For some reason, it's reeeaaally dark and brooding on me. It's got an undercurrent of bitterness, but it's not citrusy at all.

 

Conclusion: Florals hate me.

Edited January 24, 2007 by Esatres

[euterpe414]

Aizen Myoo pulled a magical diappearing act on me! I smelled a very sharp, true citrus for about 10 minutes, and then all of a sudden it was gone. I actually liked it a lot, too, since grapefruit and yuzu are my favorite citrus smells and tastes. Now all that's left on my skin a a little hint of sweetness. Ah well, maybe this one will fare better as a room scent.

[Laurel the Woodfairy]

This sounds like it could be a lovely spring scent, based on the notes. In the imp, I smell the yuzu clearly--it's a fresh, sweet citrus. On me, Aizen-Myoo blossoms in a really interesting way--like one of those tea-flowers that you drop in hot water and watch unfold! Warm, sweet yuzu unfolding over floral. But the only thing is...something about it is a little disturbing to me, after the first couple of minutes. It gets a little cloying, a little powdery, and just sort of weird. Sorry I can't pin it down any better than that! I don't really get tea, which is a note I love, so this one is off to swaps.

[black_and_bloom]

Sharply citrus at first, I sorta felt like I had doused myself in grapefruit juice. But that's good - I love grapefruit. After a few minutes, Aizen-Myoo started to mellow and the light floral scent of cherry blossoms intermingled with the citrus. It didn't morph much from there, and I'm not sure I ever really smelled the tea note. Still, it's a great scent - unusual, fresh, and perfect for my raging case of Spring Fever.

[roenim]

I don't know how any of the notes smell like, so this review is going to be vague. Upon application, it was citrusy. Actually, grapefruit-y. As it dried down, it was this wonderful fresh scent. I think I'm going to wear this for summer! There's a very vague floral note in there, but I could just be imagining things. It still smelled fruity fresh and there's just something in there that is setting it apart from all the fruity fresh scents I've smelled. I love it! Everything is well balanced, each note preventing the others from getting out of hand. I might just buy a bottle of this.

[lightgatherer]

Wet and for a while afterwards, this smells like soap on my skin. After being dry for an hour or so, though, this is the most uncanny scent - it actually smells exactly like cherry blossoms. It's spring right now, and I've been burying my nose in lots of tree blossoms lately, so the scent of cherry blossoms is clear in my mind. The blossom smell, slightly hinting of the cherry it will become, and the soft musky smell...this is cherry blossom through and through. Granted, this isn't something I would want to smell like myself very often, but it's uncanny how perfectly the scent of cherry blossoms is captured here.

[DifferentDances]

In the bottle: Yuzu! Yuzu yuzu yuzu...

 

Wet: Sharp mikan and yuzu with a weird alchohol twang. And rinds. Lots of rinds.

 

Dry: Wow, this fades fast. Half an hour later the tea is peeking through, tempering the citrus with an almost 'playdoh' quality (not bad or strong playdoh, just that dampening effect, you know?); I don't think this is going to last too long on my skin...

[Peaches 2]

I was afraid to try this on my skin, first because the grapefruit smell was so overwhelming, and also because my blood pressure meds say not to eat grapefruit at any time while taking it. Pushing all my fears aside, I decide to give it a whirl. What I smelled in the bottle was what I got on my skin: Grapefruit and rind. STRONG grapefruit. Too much grapefruit. Which then became in smell what raw rhubarb is in taste. Mouth-puckering sourness. Fortunately, it was then gone, so I didn't have to take the trouble to wash it off. I wonder what it is about my chemistry that makes the most popular scents hate me???

[vylit]

Wet: Black tea, sharp bitter citrus, and something a little spicy under that. This scent is citrus-y but it's definitely not any citrus fruit that I know. Citrus scents are great during the summer, but this is a citrus scent with a kick, with attitude.

 

Dry: It mellows and softens a bit, taking on a floral note underneath the citrus, but it's still a bright orange, summer-y scent. I definitely need a bottle of this.

[dorothy humbird]

In vial, and on skin: Very, very citrus straight on. Smells to me of grapefruit: fairly sweet, but with a bitter edge.

 

{I put this on my wrists earlier today in the hope of noticing it throughout the day, but I forgot I had it on once I left the house. Later, when I was at work in the afternoon I noticed an odd, non-citrusy smell on my wrist and tried to figure out if it was Aizen-Myoo in late-late-late drydown, but was baffled as to how it had gotten there. But now, I'm thinking it was. It must be the cherry blossom and tea that are left; a little dry, a little sweet.}

 

Dry-down: The citrus has settled down quite a bit, and I am getting much more of a soft floral note -- I think this is the cherry blossom. It must also have tea grounding it, or just be a naturally non-bothersome floral, because it doesn't make my head twinge like some can. There is still something fruity about this... I could eat something that smelled this way.

 

I can tell that this earlier drydown is the precedessor to what I was smelling on my wrists at work today. There is something about it that reminds me of a cupcake doll I once had (her rubber skirt flipped up, and she had a hat that was made of icing, with a cherry on top - so she literally became a cupcake) ... sweet, and a little powdered -- like powdered sugar rather than baby powder. It's not at ALL what I expected from the initial smells.

 

I still have to decide if I want to keep Aizen-Myoo around... it's nice, and definitely interesting, but we'll see if I wear it.

[mellie]

Bottle: Citrus. Happy, lovely citrus. I don't smell the cherry blossom or the black tea yet.

 

Application: Definitely a light, citrus scent. So far it's lovely. It's not too sweet, and it's not too tangy or bitter. It's a perfect combination, and it almost smells like grapefruit.

 

Dry: The citrus faded a bit and the cherry blossom and tea came out and mixed well with it. It's still a very light scent. My friend described it as almost a light musk.

 

I really liked this one from the start, but I can't tell much about how long it lasted because I spent the day walking Manhattan. I'm going to try this one again when I'm not doing as much crazy stuff.

[le fey]

In the bottle:

yikes, sour citrusy floral! No tea, but this does have that cherry blossom scent I recall from DC in spring.

 

Wet:

nope, no tea, but some seriously pollinating floral action here and citrus so bitter it makes my jaw tingle. Its the sort of scent I don't mind smelling on the breeze from a distance, but I don't think I care for it up close and personal. Still very sour.

 

Dry (15 min):

Huh! The bitter, bitter citrus has transformed into something sweet and tart, and now I get the cherry blossoms. No tea, but this does have that cherry blossom scent I recall from DC in spring.

 

Later (45 min):

aha, there it is - cherry blossom and black tea with a hint of citrus. Wow, did this change drastically. I thought I hated it - now it's nice. I'm not sure I want to have to go through all that to get to this, but nice.

 

Wind Down (2 hours):

Almost gone already - just a very faint lily and indistinct floral scent.

 

Verdict:

This was a strange scent - strong and bitter, then just a moment of goodness before it poofed. And I never did get the tea. I don't think this is for me.

Edited April 28, 2007 by le fey

[sedona]

In the imp - Whoa! Immediate citrus high with maybe a hint of spearmint.

 

Wet - The same with an edge of wood and very tart. I'm not familiar with a lot of the ingredients in this

 

Drydown - Still mainly grapefruit but very strong, almost like the zest. As it dried there's another note appearing, possibly tea.

 

Four hours later and I can still smell this one. Typical as I don't hink it is a me scent and it will be off to the swap pile!

[Lunaratu]

ok, this started off as a definite tangerine citrus scent (i guess it's the mikan or the satsuma tangerine coming through at this point). it has this kind of sweet but tart citrus quality to it.

 

and then it gets really bitter for a few minutes there. very very citrus bitter--like the rind of a grapefruit. which is not exactly my thing but i'll hang in for a few more minutes because I would love to start smelling the cherry blossom here.

 

it sweetens back up after a bit but it's still extremely citrus-heavy with only a tiny bit of the cherry blossom coming out. Aizen-myoo seems to be a scent for those citrus lovers out there. it's just a shame i'm not one of those--i was hoping for more of the cherry blossom in this. the waft is a pretty, fresh, and sweet scent but the direct sniff is what does not appeal to me so much.

 

Rating: 3.5/5

Edited October 7, 2007 by Lunaratu

[nikkoblue]

Just awesome. Immediate strong notes of yuzu, bitter grapefruit, and somehow, tomato leaf come out at me. It's refreshing, it's almost a cold citrus that gives you a sense of clarity right away. Yet magically, 20 minutes later, there is a very light, beautiful soft cherry with skin musk. I love this and will be wearing it all summer.

[cvelis]

I'm soooo sad this didn't work for me. The notes call out to me but I just can't get over the Lemon Dawn smell. This made me gag along with a headache. I couldn't wear it long enough to wait for the dry down.

 

Edited May 31, 2007 by Himsa

[asciident]

Wet: Citrus and ... pine?

 

First on: The pine is really grapefruit or similar, I think, but it does give the vibe of pine. Weird. It's bright, bittersweet, and juicy.

 

Dry: It's throwing pine, or something strange and woody, but I get in close and it's all pretty citrus. Karl commented on it too; he doesn't like it from a distance, but he likes the citrus if he can smell it up close.

[LadyCrow]

In imp: Bright, bright citrus.

 

Wearing this, I get sweet, yet tangy citrus, which slowly recedes to make room for the cherry blossom and tea. (I'm pretty sure there's not any significant amount of pine here. I've been wearing this for a couple of hours, and by now I would have had to go for antihistamines and possibly my inhaler if there were.) Because so much of the wearing time is dominated by the citrus and persimmon, I tend to classify this as fruity, rather than floral -- but it's lighter even than Tweedledee; it's not sticky-fruity, but sharp and clean.

[jasmine]

Wow! This is remarkably sharp off the wand -- a clear, concentrated scent that brushes the cobwebs straight out of my brain. The citrus is very strong, and it smells like peel instead of fruit, as there’s no sugar at all here. (To catch everybody up to speed: mikan is another name for satsuma tangerine, and yuzu is Asian grapefruit, so those are combined in the citrus that I smell in the top of this scent -- and they’re in perfect combination, since I can detect them both uniquely.) Beyond the citrus, there’s a hint of non-citrus fruit, but just a hint. After some quick research, I think I’m smelling the kaki beneath the citrus, as kaki is apparently a kind of persimmon. The cherry blossom doesn’t really have its own presence, but fills out the rest.

 

And presence there is. This is a scent with a serious aura of command. It’s exotic, beautiful, precise, unusual, and I’m enthralled. I’m not sure that it fits its name very well, since it doesn’t strike me as a sexual scent, but it’s so gorgeous that I don’t really care. It doesn’t just refresh me -- it energizes and exhilarates me. This would be the scent to wear dancing if I just wanted to bleed as much energy as I possibly could, and it would keep me going till dawn.

 

People talk about “big bottle” scents. Except for disasters (broken imp caps, etc) I typically don’t think, “I’m buying a big bottle of this”, because I haven’t completed any imps yet -- I wear a lot of different scents, and I’m not a slatherer. But when I get toward the end of this, I’ll be in line instantly for more. This is amazing.

[naeelah]

Wet, this on is almost all yuzu, and it remains that way as it dries.

 

Aw, this makes me so nostalgic for Japan, and for the many hours I spend in cafes nursing yuzu-cha to nurse the colds I got every month and cheer up. Yuzu cha isn't actually tea, but it's so many kinds of wonderful. It's just yuzu peel with a little bit of yuzu flesh mashed up, steeped in boiling water, with sugar. It's so amazingly fragrant and delicious.

 

This blend is sweet yuzu, so of course my thoughts immediately turn to the drink.

 

So, as made abundantly clear, yuzu is the top note here, and I think the other fruits mostly serve to sweeten it up (yuzu is a bit bitter) and flesh it out. Once dry, the sharpness of the yuzu begins to recede and I can smell just a touch of sweet, delicate cherry blossom, and a warm rich backdrop of black tea.

 

Unfortunately, the components of this blend are not things that last a long time on my skin, so within about 30-45 minutes, this was completely gone. I'll give it a go in a scent locket. I'm not sure if this is a 5ml candidate for me, but I'm definitely keeping an imp!

 

The throw was light to moderate while the yuzu was strong, and softens as the citrus fades. On the skin, this is more of a personal scent, I think. It's so nostalgic for me that it's sadly comforting, so I appreciate that it stays close to the skin.

Edited June 26, 2007 by naeelah

[PurpleHeather]

In the bottle: Grapefruit and peach; very strong. Currently this is not for me.

 

Wet: Just like the strongly scented wooden peaches we used to get at craft fairs as a child. Strong throw, which sadly in this case is not a good thing.

 

Later: Still all peach, and not like the lovely, fuzzy ripe peach of Chaos Theory CCLII, more like peach room spray. Sad. I may give this one a week or two and try it when my skin chemistry will be different, as I really wanted to like it from the description, but my skin chemistry has messed it up

[joojifish]

Whoa, this is way strong and sharp on me! I definitely get the yuzu, mikan, and cherry blossom. Each of the notes sounds good on its own, but when they're combined, I get...citrus bathroom air freshener. There is nothing subtle about this scent. Sorry, swapped this off!

[aestien]

Bottle: burst of orange and citrus, I can almost smell the rind

Wet: like a Satsuma orange, not bitter, round juicy citrus sweetness with a hint of the cherry blossom

Dry: cherry blossom moves forward, a hint of black tea blended perfectly with the orange and fruit

 

I wore this constantly through the spring, its freshness brought sunshine and blossoms to the rainiest April days. The cherry blossom adds a creamy note to keep this blend from getting too sweet and the tea helps with that as well. It’s a very happy flirty scent.

[mystery213]

In the imp this is a nicely blended, ever so slightly sweet but very tart/sharp citrus.

Wet on my skin... Holy grapefruit! OMG tartness with the slightest touch of mandarin orange hesitantly lurking in the background and barely preventing my sinuses from tart overload... And I LIKE tart stuff!

As this dries, the bitter, pith-like edge to the tartness fades a bit and the mandarin orange hesitantly peeks it head out to see if it is safe to come out yet. Apparently deciding that it is, it comes out to mingle with grapefruit, who seems to have come to the conclusion that it does not want to kill me, and is now sitting under a cherry blossom tree, casually sipping a cup of a nice, faint smelling tea (still eyeing me up somewhat meancingly, nonetheless)...

At a later drydown I get more of a scent similar to the smell when in the imp- a very nicely blended (but tart- still very tart) citrus with a nice sweetness (I think this is the cherry blossom) balancing the zing vey well. Really quite lovely on the drydown, and not in-your-face at all, but a very non-traditional, clean fresh type of scent.

[modernsaints]

Eugh black tea.

 

After about 45 minutes, the sharp-sour black tea smell fades off, leaving a soft pleasant citrus. Not worth waiting for, though. Blech.