Kusunoki Tamonmaru Masatsura Surprising a Fox Ghost

[Invidiana]

Deep blue musk, olibanum, passion flower, galbanum, immortelle, and sweet myrrh.

I feel blue musk is one of those notes that is often underrated. The blue musk in this I feel is deeper than that in the Blue Moons though still with that lovely ethereal quality that blue musk tends to have. It evokes the endle intanglible expanse of night sky or the crystalline depths of the ocean without any aquatics. The floral element here is surprisingly sexy and seems classically Oriental to me, but is given a unique freshness by the blue musk. I'm not too keen on what passion flower and immortelle smell like on their own, but together they are highly sensual, with an almost sandalwoody quality but not quite. There is even a tinge of an orrisy quality to them. The flowers and musk are grounded by the sweet resins, which still remain light enough to retain the gauzy dreamlike spirit of the blend, which is appropriate seeing how it was created to compliment a painting involving a ghost. Like a glowing vision of a phantom, this really beautiful and almost otherworldly.

[AmyO'Shields]

This is a beautiful, ethereal perfume. Blue musk lovers really should try this one! It is also the thickest oil I have ever put on my skin - very thick!

[mxtine]

This is my first experience with blue musk. It smells "fuzzy" and has a ghostly ethereal feel. I can recognize the resins--they remind of Jacob's Ladder. I'm not sure I've smelled immortelle or passion flower before. I love how this smells deep blue but isn't aquatic.

Edited April 7, 2011 by Shollin

[calivianya]

I smell... Sea Breeze?

 

 

This isn't quite Sea Breeze, but on my skin it's a kissing cousin. My maternal grandfather always used Sea Breeze as an aftershave. I'd forgotten about that until just now. For me, this is a comforting smell for that reason - it brings back good memories. However, I really think my skin does something strange to blue musk, as the blue moons smelled like aftershave/astringent on me, too.

Edited April 7, 2011 by calivianya

[marared]

You know how they say scent is a powerful memory trigger? Something in this has kicked me back about twenty years, and I'm not 100% sure what it is. It's making me think of this "create your own lotion" thing I read in a magazine or something once, and I have no idea what the ingredients were to do so, but it smells just like the results of whatever I made. It's very odd. It's kind of a combination between "clean cotton" and aquatic - very murky, musky floral. Pretty, but noooot my thing.

[edenssixthday]

This goes on my skin with a strong blast of sweet resins and beautiful and ethereal blue musk, but as it dries down on my skin, the olibanum takes front-and-center, and gives the scent a very dry, dusty scent, like incense, which is only compounded by the other resins in the blend. I don't smell the floral note at all. It's got an interesting almost woody-scent about it, that I often get from olibanum. I adore blue musk, and it definitely lends this scent a hint of sweet wispiness, but overall, it's still an overly-dry and heavy frankincense scent, as the musk doesn't sweeten it up quite enough for my taste.

[Gin]

Oh my gosh, this oil is like syrup. It goes on a little sharp, but the drydown is beautiful. Beautiful, crystalline blue musk and resins.

[Dark Alice]

Oh I am a sad panda today. This is the one I was sure was going to work. Deep blue musk is amazing on me and this just smells like gingery mandarin with red pepper sauce. *sigh* Off to the sales bin with you my pretty.

[Blood onmy hands]

I like blue musk, but I don't get a strong or really noticeable musk from this scent. Surprising a Fox Ghost is pretty much all gorgeous incense/resin on my skin. It's like a mix of syrupy sweet resins and a dusty-dry, warm incense smoke with a drydown that smells as though it added in some dry herbs of some sort. It reminds me most of blends like the original Midnight Mass, but is somehow lighter, like incense caught on a cool night breeze (which might be the blue musk giving it more of that airy feel). Very pretty, and I might have to track down another full bottle of this.

[jkfagtongpun]

Oh my gosh, I am in love. This is my first ever LE buy and I'm so glad I ordered it!

 

I adore thicker oils (seems more decadent) and this one is syrupy - yes! It starts quite sharp and crisp - almost bitter but in a good way. Then olibanum/galbanum/myrrh takes a step back and lets the blue musk creep forward - and it's a nice blue musk, soft and, as mxtine says, 'fuzzy'. I wish the olibanum was a tiny bit more assertive but this is definitely a new favourite and the Husband loves it on me, too.

 

Now to order a few more bottles!

 

It lasts a fair while but goes very soft after a few hours so that I have to sniff my wrists to smell it...

Edited April 22, 2011 by trumpette

[Aldercy]

Dark resins, lots of musk, a faint aquatic note and hints of medicinal herbs. It's a slightly odd combination-- the olibanum, myrrh and blue musk form this dry, rich base, but the top notes are thin, cool and bitter. I keep waiting for one layer or the other to ultimately take over, but neither ever does-- one just sort of floats on top of the other. The overall result is like dusty, rather severe incense. A little astringent. Not a warm or comforting scent. It's not exactly what I was expecting, but I don't dislike it.

[filigree_shadow]

Blue musk...? I'm not sure what that smells like. I don't know what I'm smelling here exactly -- it smells like a licorice-y musk, to be honest. It doesn't smell really very "blue" to me, but there's something kinda shimmering about this scent. As it dries, it seems like it gets sweeter and a bit more floral -- it ends up being quite sweet.

[milo]

Three words, French Milled Soap, the kind that you get wrapped up in hotel rooms that makes your skin feel really tight. Not sure what is the culprit here, but I don't need a blend that smells like soap on me.

[thekittenkat]

In the decant: Myrrh and musk.

 

Wet: The blueness of the musk appears, as the myrrh recedes a little.

 

The dry-down: A slight touch of the other notes, but this is mostly a blue musk and sweet myrrh scent on me. It's nice, but I don't think that I need more than my decant.

[Voleuse]

Incensey! This is all myrrh and galbanum (I think) on first sniff--a very deep and churchy sort of incense. I don't smell the blue musk on its own, but in combination with the incense notes, this becomes a very masculine sort of scent, heavy with the faintest echo of licorice-sweetness.

[grrrlennyl]

On: Sweet, light, a bit powdery, musky.
1 hour in: This is sweet, but also sort of dirty and musty.
5 hours in: Powdery with a vegetable-like note.
7 hours in: A slightly soapy floral. Sharp.
Overall: This is amazing at first, but goes weird on me.

[zankoku_zen]

I get the dreaded Sea Breeze comparison...

 

This is a heady aquatic with a definite Asian spice going on. I get big aquatic and incense hits, and its an interesting dichotomy. Definitely more masculine than anything else.

[angelamaria]

In decant: sweet and musky. It's almost citrusy, but not quite. It's a very oriental kind of floral, sweet and tart. Interesting.

 

Wet on skin: this is a very complex blend! I like it. Musky. Sweet and floral, sometimes fruity, sometimes almost citrusy. I can get faint whiffs of the myrrh at the end, but it's not strong and doesn't overpower the pretty florals.

 

Dry: the musk is amping up. I've never smelled blue musk, so I'm a little unsure about what note it is, but it's an interesting blue-ish note. I don't exactly know what I feel about this blend--it's a very different, unique scent. Some whiffs make me think of wood varnish, however--and this kind of keeps amping up, so that after a good while the scent is just plain incense and resins to my nose. A bit sad at that, I liked the florals here.

 

Verdict: definitely a blend that needs to be aged, and I will have to do that and come back to this. The florals were very interesting when I was able to catch them, and while I'm not instantly in love with those florals, I'm very curious how they will behave aged, and if the varnishy note mellows down.

[Penance]

Origin:

 

Partial 5mL bought on LJ.

 

Preconceived notions:

 

I passed on this one at first because of all the florals. I really don't like floral scents. But the reviews sounded fairly promising, so I bought a partial of Kusunoki on impulse. Hopefully it works!

 

First sniff:

 

This is...not good. This smells incredibly strong and perfumey. Very perfumey. And sharp. This is like everything I hate in commercial perfume rolled into one.

 

Wet on skin:

 

Never let it be said that I don't give scents a fair chance to prove themselves. In spite of hating the smell of Kosunoki in the bottle, I gamely dabbed some on. And it's still intense, sharp and perfumey. It has to be the combination of blue musk (which I'm not sure if I've smelled before...I know I've tried, and liked, indigo musk) and florals.

 

Dry down:

 

No change at all. This one's all perfume all the time. It sounded promising from the reviews, but I guess my nose is just interpreting it differently than other people's.

 

The bottom line:

 

It's rare for me to genuinely dislike, let alone hate, a BPAL blend. Unfortunately this is one of those rare scents. Thankfully I only bought a low level partial rather than a whole bottle.

Edited June 1, 2011 by Penance

[Roogna]

blue and soft with a hint of something lighter and almost tangy sweet, yet white. this becomes stronger and I can tell it's a floral. it's not bad, but it's too white and clean for me..though the blue musk makes it quite nice

[Diva Urd]

In the vial: Hm. Fresh, a bit sharp, with an odd note underneath. If I had to compare it to anything, I'd say... my grandma's "4711" splashed over a band-aid. Strangely, this scent is not really repulsive. Just odd.

 

On: Still the same - 4711 plus band-aid *scratches head*. As it dries, the band-aid starts to go away, but as a result, the whole scent becomes rather faint. What's left still has this almost-cologney sharp booze-like vibe.

 

Later: Faint, vague, after-shave-y. This ain't meant to be.

[crebbsgirl]

Yes, this goes very soapy on my skin! I'm not sure what the culprit is here. I get hints of musk underneath the soapy smell.

[Monday]

This smells of...frankincense. Ah, olibanum is frankincense . Why u no say so?

Frankincense goes to soap on my skin and not in a good way.

[mymymai]

ITI: It's masculine, but pleasingly so. It reminds me of a nice man's cologne.

 

Wet: The musk, galbanum, and olibanum are certainly strong, but it's the immortelle that starts to peek through and soften the scent about a minute after application.

 

Dry: Once dried, it sits very close to the skin. The myrrh and musk take over a bit, but the galbanum and olibanum are still dominant elements here.

[LizziesLuck]

I don't know what Sea Breeze smells like....this is nice though. I do agree it's masculine, but I think it would smell good on a guy. I don't find it aquatic. It's a resinous, slightly smoky scent. It does smell a bit "clean" but not in the aquatic sense to me. Not really getting the blue musk. It's interesting, but not for me.