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miladka – :
The camphor opening mixed with the apricot smells a bit like cough syrup, unfortunately. It smooths out and transitions to a heady blend of incense, osmanthus, apricot and camphor. I really wish they had left the camphor out. I love apricot and osmanthus, but this take on the classic pairing is very sticky and artificial. The camphor and sweetness makes it seem like a cheap scented product rather than an expensive perfume. I like it in the drydown when it’s osmanthus and suede, though. Overall, a mild dislike.
cocobass333 – :
Opens with a burst of dusty strawberry, then is accompanied by a salty popcorn accord before finally settling down into something resembling a strawberry desert eaten in a dusty tea room. Fruity, musty. Very “head shop”, but in an unpleasant way-the worst aspects of the head shop are vividly present. Artificially fruit flavored tobacco, as mentioned by LoriAlyse83. Fruit flavored incense that gets caught in your throat. Strawberry flavored Swisher Sweets. It’s very heavy. Reminds me of a room that someone ought to open the window of.
I love buying oils from Etsy and flea markets but I usually try to avoid anything with a fruit accord because it is *this* kind of fruit accord. Generic, gaggy, neither fresh nor sensual, just disturbing and unappealing. It smells familiar, and then you realize it’s because it’s been used in so many cheap swap meet candles and incense sticks. Now, of course Diptyque isn’t buying their ingredients from some head shop catalog, but what they’ve produced here is reminiscent of that with, I suspect, ingredients of a much higher quality. It’s kind of funny.
I tried a sample of Debaser by D.S. & Durga recently that reminded me of this, except replace everything I said about “strawberry” with “dusty rose”. Perhaps perfumers are attempting to usher in a new age of luxe fragrances inspired by low brow 2-for-1 swap meet oils. Who knows? It’s like Balenciaga doing a $3,000 version of the Ikea bag.
siam77 – :
I think I am going to have to try this one again because I sampled this thanks to one of my best buddies and I nearly died at how awful it smelled! Pungent, sharp and horrible!
Now that I have looked at all the notes here I can barely believe it!
Maybe it was the camphor and the leather?
bonzay – :
I received a few small samples of Kimonanthe and sampled this fragrance a few days ago. Upon initial spray, I noticed the apricot instantly. The scent is soft and warm. Almost like a warm apricot tea. It reminds me of opening a bag of dried apricots but added is some spiciness and florals to add some depth. It is also very linear and didn’t change too much over the wear.
As far as my opinion on this goes. This can definitely be pulled off by a man but you’d really need to love it for this to really make sense as a purchase. I enjoyed sampling it, but I don’t think I’ll be purchasing a bottle. Simply not my style. The scent however is gorgeous and the performance seemed to be very good. I’d suggest sampling it. It’s worth a try.
7.5/10 in my books.
prip – :
Kimonanthe opens with a strong tart milky apricot enrobed in a supple, plush leather. Although I can definitely relate to osmanthus, Kimonanthe does not smell like the real flower if you happen to be looking for a realistic osmanthus. Underneath the leather, there’s a soft cinnamon ambery undertone, which makes the fragrance take on a more opaque texture, therefore lacking the transparent jelly quality of real osmanthus flower. However, this does not diminish one bit of Kimonanthe’s beauty as a deconstruction of osmanthus.
I’ve never had the opportunity to smell zu-koh, the Japanese incense that inspired Kimonanthe, nor do I recognise any significant incense note. Kimonanthe on my skin, is primarily a warm, ambery apricot leather fragrance. At around 3 hours in, the sweetness of apricot reaches its peak and becomes almost syrupy, which is a bit disappointing to me. But once it calms down from then on, its fruity leathery character is quite delectable.
The dry down begins roughly 5 hours in. I can occasionally detect a very faint camphor note bringing an unusual freshness. A grainy sandalwood also starts to emerge, and the leather gets sidelined as a result, resulting the fragrance becomes more luminous and suave.
I get a close sillage and a 9-hour longevity.
I was really excited about the opening of Kimonanthe. Because most osmanthus fragrances choose to refresh it with transparent tea, even Parfum d’Empire Osmanthus Interdite with its suede note feels quite cool. Therefore, Kimonanthe’s warm ambery apricot leather feels to me wildly different but unmistakable about osmanthus at the same time.
However, the heart and dry down, while undoubtedly pleasant, seem a bit too monotonous on my skin. It’s not out of character for a Diptyque, but I did have higher hope for this one.
Nevertheless, Kimonanthe is worths a try, especially if you’d like a warm, plush apricot leather.
oksanastasiya – :
I used one official sample and was on my second one when I decided I need a full bottle of this. Unusual, I can smell hint of apricot, really depends if it will agree on your skin. I always get compliments, staying power is quite impressive and I don’t say that about many perfumes!
Toshiro412 – :
Kimonanthe starts off with a blast of apricot/osmanthus. These two notes are the spine of the fragrance, intertwined with a subtle incense that burns quietly in the background. There is a slightly medicinal, Tiger Balm-y camphor in the opening which burns off only to resurface later. The fruity spine is enveloped and overcome by a dash of heady spices and clove. It’s a scent that feels both indulgent and contemplative.
barmen_1293 – :
Just coming back from Paris …. with Kimonanthe!
If you like Plum Japonais from Tom Ford. It’s homethings for you!
If i bough it only after 3 days, it’s as men … i got the fist feeling of a peach fragrance.
But it changed after a couple of minutes to give something more warm spicy and powdery!
Just like Oud Immortel from Byredo that starts with a alcohol Prune and changes quickly in a incredible warm powdery oud!
Definitively, I like this one!
sdm7373 – :
The description of this fragrance sounds intriguing. I would def love to try this.
MetTank – :
Sounds good: balsamic + warm spicy … Bottle similar to Scales by Dior
asias – :
I was so excited to try this and almost blind bought after reading about in in Elle. Thank goodness I ordered a sample. I love incense but I hardly detected any here. This smelled like super sweet peach black tea to me, probably the candied apricot mixed with some very sweet osmanthus. I was shocked at my dislike.