Kabuki

[LiberAmoris]

Compelling, complex, and utterly enigmatic: a luxuriant, exotic blend of cherry, red musk, and star anise.

Kabuki smells like cherry, black licorice, and red musk to me. It sounds like a strange mix, but I find it surprisingly appealing. It reminds me of, pardon the comparison, my favorite Scratch n' Sniff sticker when I was a kid. I think I might have to keep the imp for that reason alone.

[forspecial_plate]

Interesting. This is somewhat similar to Blood Kiss to me, not as earthy but both have a sort of sassafrass feel to me. I wanted Kabuki because it has anise which I love, and unfortunately I can barely smell it. It has a candy sweet sassafrass flavor that is nice but I don't see myself wearing it very often. Also it's not very powerful, it fades from my skin pretty quickly. I put on some Blood Kiss in a different spot, just to compare, and the Kabuki is pretty much overpowered. It's like.....where did the Kabuki go?

[space girl lost]

i wouldn't know red musk if it came up and smacked me in the face. i was hoping i'd figure it out since one of the CD blends has it and i'm most interested, but ... alas!

 

in bottle: cherry cherry cherry! thankfully it's juicy cherries and not medicinal syrup cherries.

wet on skin: whoa. the cherries disappeared and it's all anise/licorice. completely. hrm. while i've grown not the hate the smell, i'm not sure i want to smell JUST like it.

dry down: the cherry comes back out again and the anise is still there. a little more balanced on the anise side but still not bad.

 

this is VERY VERY close to what i'm aiming for.

i'll probably come back to amend this later as i tried it on before bed and am not sure about staying power or throw. plus i'm on the peak of that time of the month, so ...

Edited August 13, 2006 by space girl lost

[indicolite]

Kabuki Review

In Senryu

 

Kabuki Theatre

Is this much like Kyoto?

Why Jap-anise, why?

 

At first quite different

Lovely, sexy, fruity musk

Perhaps a fav'rite?

 

But no, not for long!

Before I log in to here

Anise has come out.

 

Anise, star anise!

You are no demon, I know;

I just don't like you.

 

Fairest Kabuki

Joins compatriot Kyoto

Into the swap box.

[Nekomata]

Wow, so much like black licorice in the imp and on my skin. The candy mellows out to musk in the end. Very light throw, noticeable but not overwhelming. A nice scent, but my hubby hates licorice. However, I know someone this will be perfect for! Yay enabling!

[birdiefu]

Wet, this is cherry overload! Medicinal cherry cough syrup that makes my teeth hurt. The cherry blast calms down quickly, but the cherry, anise, and lovely red musk keep fighting for first place. Oddly enough when dry, the mellowed cherry+anise seem to equal grape flavored cough syrup to my nose. Sniffing myself, I can identify the red musk hiding in the corner, but the medicinal grapey note takes it all over. This scent has a ton of staying power and resisted my attempts at washing it off. Sorry Kabuki, I must let you go.

[supremegoddessofall]

Really vile cherry cough syrup, with some plum. Blech. Do. Not. Like.

 

Score: 1 out of 5

[fiddledragon]

Wet: CHERRY! And a touch of anise, and a little bit of musk that seems to behave itself.

 

Dry: The sledgehammer of cherry tones down and lets the anise and musk shine, but it's still *very* fruity. Not my thing, but it does tell me that I can wear red musk sometimes -- that used to be my nemesis wherever it appeared.

[opheliaslily]

I feel badly because this scent is just awful on me. It smells to me like the devil's licorice whips and it gives me a headache. I can't figure out if it's the musk or the anise but regretfully this is one that I have to wash off asap.

 

 

First time that's happened.

[buzz23666]

I so wanted this to stay cherry.

 

wet - all cherry - big fat juicy ones

 

dry - the anise come a-blazing and the cherry is left in the dust.

 

Ugh

[girl_android]

In the imp: eeeep! cherry/almond! (I think more almond, than cherry. Maybe I think almond because it makes me think artificial cherry?) Something musky, something in there that makes me think faintly licorice, which would be the anise.

 

Wet on skin: Hit me with the almond stick? Although, it's starting to turn more cherry-like, which is nice if you want to smell like cherries. The anise has gone into hiding.

 

Dry: Cherry with a twang. Anise if I think about it, is the twang. It's starting to smell warmer, if that makes any sense. I'm not thinking almond anymore now that it's not wet.

 

 

Overall: I don't know if I'm big on smelling like cherries and anise. It's more cherries with a capital C, with a little bit of anise on me. it feels like it's missing something on me. A deeper note of something? Maybe my skin ate it.

[Concupiscentia]

This is not something I would have chosen for myself, but I got it as a freebie with an ebay order I thought the cherry would be overpowering, but this smells sexy, fruity and exotic. It's very quirky and individual, a good once in a while scent.

[arachne]

This was a free imp. Thanks lab!!

 

At first, when I smelled it in the vial almond jumped out at me. A note that I absolutely detest.

 

I was immediately turned off and so I left the imp's ear for my husband to try. (He gets everything I don't care for and usually they smell great on him). He put some on and a few moments later I exclaimed "WHAT ARE YOU WEARING? OMG! IT'S FABULOUS." He told me Kabuki and I snatched that baby right back to try. Once passed the smell in the vile and applied to my skin a delicious, spicy, musky, licorice blend started to emerge. I was in love. Thankfully, I detected little or no almond and very little cherry once the fragrance was on me. Have you ever tried Kush? It reminds me a LOT of Kush.

 

My husband thought it a little too sweet on him but loved it on me!

 

This just proves that everything, no matter what it smells like in the vial, should be tested on the skin at least once. I just may have to buy a larget bottle of Kabuki.

[sofiaviolet]

Cherry cough syrup of doom! Now with added anise for confusing Sofia's nose! I smell no red musk and that makes me sad.

[theseagrows]

at the beginning, all i get is a cherry-medicinal smell after it finally dries down it's a sweet cherrified-red musk. it's not too fruity once it dries down (which i like), but there are other similar scents that i like a lot better, so i am afraid this isn't a keeper.

[fruitycake]

I mainly smell big, luscious cherries. Even though that's the main note I pick out, there's an underlying licorice scent that rounds it out.

[azhure]

In the bottle: OMG cherry cough syrup. I cringe.

 

Wet: The cough syrup scent stays for a few minutes (during which I panic). I should know better - BPAL's cherry always softens on my skin. The cherry blends beautifully with the red musk into something deep and exotic. No star anise, unless it's very subtle (which knowing Beth, it is).

 

Drydown: This goes into all musk, as most blends that contain this note do on me. I'm not complaining - I love the musk.

[dreago]

Kabuki:

 

This one was very popular at work. I mentioned to the other SW's that if I didn't like it, I'd gladly pass it on to them. I even had an SW call me later and ask, "hey, didn't you say you would pass it on to me?" I said "hold on, I wanted to try it on first!"

 

In the vial: Sweet, noxious cherry

On the wrist: Luscious, juicy cherries with a hint of licorice (which I don' t like, but it isn't overpowering here).

Dry down: Oh, god, what is that smell? I know that is supposed to be licorice but the oil has turned into a scent highly reminisint of cherry and tobacco. It gives me a headache. I had to wash it off. Too bad, it started out so promising.

 

At least I know one lucky SW who will be very happy!

[Quiara]

In the vial, this is all cherry, all the time. Cherry, cherry, cherry. When I first apply it, it's cherry for about a second and then it goes through this appalling cherry cough syrup stage that I abhor. However, if I am feeling patient, the drydown is worth it. The cherries disappear altogether very quickly and I'm left with a lovely blend that must be the anise and red musk playing back and forth. Traditionally, I am not a musk lover. Guess I can't get past the idea of smelling sweaty. This, though, is truly nice -- not at all "musky" in the traditional sense, just nice and soft and warm. Lovely. I swapped for this hoping it would stay candied cherry, but I'm happy with what my skin does to it, too, so I'm not complaining.

[n1k1ta]

When I first put this on, I smelled the star anise immediately. It almost overpowered the musk and cherry. Slowly, the licorice scent mellowed out and it became more spicy and musky. The cherry came out with the red musk.

 

I smell delicious. Weirdly, the oil I put on my wrists smell different than what's on my neck. It's a wonderfully subtle difference. I really, really like Kabuki.

[DangerInRed]

I decided to try something a little different (for me) and I must say, I am pleasantly surprised!

 

In the vial, Kabuki is very cherry, almost candy-like.

 

On the skin, the musk really comes out and blends nicely with the cherry. Feminine and sophisticated simplicity. I didn't catch any of the star anise, but that doesn't mean it wasn't there. Maybe my skin ate it, I really don't know.

 

The scent isn't all that strong, but I only put a little bit on, which is probably why it faded fast. Well, when I get the bottle I can slather all I like!

[jasmine]

Very fruity when first applied, with a hint of sourness. A peachy smell manifests immediately... which would be great on someone else, I suspect, but my skin (I have rapidly learned) does not accommodate peach scent well. On me, it promptly starts smelling like dubious fruit syrup. Hrmm.

 

The syrupiness of it peters down, but it’s still not a convincing peach. Instead, it’s sort of sweaty and overripe. How unlovely.

 

Checking the notes, I discover that there is no peach. Undeniably and unaccountably, it still smells like peach... in fact, it smells almost exactly like Imp, with more syrup and less pastry. Since I got this imp straight from the Lab, it can’t be contamination, so I got nothin’ to explain this. I give up.

[little_galaxie]

Like the first poster said, a big red artificial cherry lollipop, the kind wrapped in cellophane that they always give out at kids' birthday parties.

 

Only this lollipop is tempered by what I can only assume is the anise, making it smell like freakishly strong cherry incense. Nice scent, but not for me.

[AmyAngel]

Kabuki: In the imp: GAH! Cherry Nyquil!!! On: Still cherry Nyquil. It's not even SIMILAR, it's the exact smell. I could TASTE the stuff smelling this! As it's drying, though it's turning into “black jellybean”. I LOVE black jellybeans! (My grandmother and I are the only ones in the family who will eat them. I wonder if there's a genetic component there?) There's cherry, too, like eating red and black jellybeans together, but not so super-sweet as that would be – it's not really fresh cherries either, but a really good quality candied cherries maybe. After another 15 minutes or so, I think the musk is coming through just a tiny bit, to warm this up. I'm really liking this. It's very unusual, and the notes seem perfectly balanced. I hope this bodes well for the imp of Absinthe I ordered...

 

After nearly an hour, this is not smelling like much close to my wrist, but I'm still getting wafts of it. The anise scent is also helping clear my slightly-runny nose. It's still pretty well balanced, but a little less sweet.

 

After 2 hours this is just barely there on my wrist, but I think I'm getting whiffs of it now and then. What's there is a little more of the warm musk scent, with just a hint of the cherry-anise smell from before. There's something that makes me think of tea when I smell it. It's still very nice!

 

This is on the cooling side to me, I think it would be a great summer scent, with the fruitiness of the cherry and the cooling anise. I don't know if I'll get a bottle, I'll save the imp and see how often I wear it in the summer. I do like it quite a lot. I just have to remember not to sniff at it until it's dried a little!

[siggster]

Vial: Sweet and syrupy cherries!

 

Skin: Black licorice and musk.

 

Dry down: Black licorice and musky poo.

 

I love black licorice. I love anything flavored with star anise. Yes, I am that person!

 

Be that as it may, I apparently do NOT like wearing it. It is not a scent for me. I was hoping this would be a better blend but the anise is pretty dominant. Ah well...another swapper.