Neo-Tokyo

[Pixie-elf]

A scent that captures a meeting of the serenity and elegance of ancient Japan, the vibrant, shining, neon-lit and ultra-modern splendor of today's Tokyo and the fantastic electric fantasyland of post-modern manga fantasy. Urban metallics and an ozone-tinged breath of electric light mingled with reedy bamboo, crisp mountain air, cherry blossoms, delicate orchid and a splash of playful, wet fruits.

In the Vial: Slightly Soapy and fruity.

Wet: I smell the Cherry Blossum and something in it is not agreeing with me I don't think. It's making my head hurt, I think it's the Ozone maybe. :/

Dry: The Ozone is gone now.... But the Cherry Blossum is here, making this a nice scent, and the freshness... it would be perfect in bath and body products!

Conclusion: I'm gonna keep it and maybe later on try it in Lotion to see if it would change it, and make the Ozone stay away ^^

[SyringaVulgaris]

This is bright emerald green neon to Ultraviolet's purple neon.

 

It is an herby, grassy green (bamboo) and though it wisps out to florals on me in a short time, it seems it would be a great keep-you-cool-in-the-summer scent.

 

It is very clean and very bright and very, very green.

 

I do agree it is better in its wet state, but I dig it much.

[kythryne]

This smells like spring to me. I'm wearing it today because it's a gorgeous balmy day and I wanted to wear something equally light and crisp and fresh.

 

It stays pretty much the same on me as it smells in the vial. I can pick out the bamboo quite clearly (growing up in south Florida, we had a little stand of bamboo growing near our house, and when I'd grab a handful of leaves and crush them, they smelled EXACTLY like this does) and also something slightly floral. I'm not noticing any mint or lemon or fruit at all.

 

The only reason I don't wear this more is because it smells a little more like soap than perfume to me. It also doesn't last very long on my skin -- I've had it on for about two and a half hours, and it's faded down to where I can't really smell it unless I sniff my wrists really carefully. I may end up dumping this into lotion or an unscented soap, or maybe putting it in with my clothing. It'd be lovely as a room scent, too.

[sarahmarie]

This scent was much better on my skin than I expected - I was afraid of the metallic, ozone aspect in the description. But it comes out on me as a very light, clean, soapy-in-a-nice-way scent - lightly floral, lightly fruity. It's delicate and light, and very pretty. I'm not sure if it's me, but it is definitely very pleasant and clean smelling.

[shadowsong]

very green and floral... the ozone is probably what makes the green smells so sharp. it's nice, but definitely not me. too floral. i like my scents to have more kick to them and less soft floral sweetness.

[surf-tormented]

Fresh city smell...wet sidewalks and cherries. More wild cherry than cherry blossom though. It smells like sidewalk after the rain. If Beth could mix this scent, minus the cherries with a strong non-citrus ozone, I would buy a gallon of it...but the cherry becomes too strong on me and overpowers what I enjoy about it. Pity.

[thespring]

I wanted a light cherry and this one is certainly so. I dislike the bitterness cherry has most of the time and in that aspect it's not bitter at all. However, it is much more soapier and ozonic than I expected which prevents me from falling in love with it.

The green, fruity and even the metallic notes are great but my skin wants to hate ozonic soapyness...

Fresh and clean.

It's nice.

[anmorata]

Neo-Tokyo:

Wet: light ozone. cherry blossoms. a hint of fruit that fades -very- quickly.

Drydown: This scent turns moderately green (bamboo, perhaps?). It's very light, clean, and sweet. It makes me think more of Japanese manga (particularly shoujo) than the bright, glaring lights of cybernetic Tokyo.

Long-term wear: Neo-Tokyo is a very well-blended scent, but it's not in the running for a personal perfume/fragrance for me. I agree with whomever said that it would make a good linen spray is spot-on, though.

[Nemesister]

This is another one i have difficulty describing beyond "I like it"!

 

In the vial I can smell a green, frosty coldness. That makes it sound that I'm smelling a Scandinavian scent not one from Asia!

 

On my skin I cannot pick out what the green smell is but for the coldness I keep thinking of neon signs. The big, buzzing, flickering neon signs that have a certain smell to them; like a faint sharp smell.

 

It really makes me think of manga. especially the more futuristic kind.

 

Think pink haired young girl with green eyes and a metallic bikini type suit of armour that barely covers her over developed breasts. She'd wear this perfume

Edited April 10, 2005 by Nemesister

[Sienamystic]

I'm new to BPAL, and this is the scent that taught me how much chemistry makes the difference. When I opened the vial, it smelled soapy - this was reinforced by my little sister, who compared it to the kind of soap you'd find in a public bathroom. We both tried it, and disliked it very much - it had an odd chemical tang.

 

I was talking to a friend about BPAL, and showing her the imps I had purchased, and she made an "Oooh!" noise, tried on Neo-Tokyo, and fell in love. On her, it smells fresh, and clean, and bright! So I gave her the imp - it was obviously destiny!

[joseybird]

I can definately smell the ozone, but the greeness and cherry blossom keeps it from going all detergent on me =) This smells to me like a fresh clear spring day in a high-tech city.

 

I agree with nemesister about the anime chick This is very much a futuristic smell--a bright and sassy one.

[amberlox]

Neo-Tokyo is a BEAUTIFUL scent. It's wet, it's bamboo, it's ozoney goodness. It smells masculine to me but in a very clean way, rainy. The flavor of the city of Tokyo definitely comes out in it. I've never been to Tokyo but smelling this on my skin made me feel like I was there.

 

It is to me the smell of fresh rainfall on bamboo outside of a beautiful city structure.... a temple, a sacred place. Everything about it is clean and exotic. The color of the fluid is actually an ambery yellow.. and I noticed it seems thicker and grainy compared to the other scents... it has substance. It immediately made me want a whole bottle of it.... it smelled 'blue' to me. A soft blue like the color of rain in a softly-colored manga.

 

This is a very calming and tempting aroma. It beckons to you. I can't help but inhale deeper and deeper when I smell it as if one breathe were not enough. I guess if I could describe it in three words they would be: deliciousness, handsomeness and tranquility.

[Aurelius]

I don't like cherry scents, so I was scared by this one, even though it said cherry blossoms. Hey, it has cherry in the name. This is so lovely! It's light and crisp and calming. And it lasts about two seconds on my skin. As soon as it touched my skin the scent morphed into bliss and then poof! Gone! My skin ate it! I hoped it might do the scary thing Snake Oil does (it disappears only to reappear much later as if from thin air). Sadly it did not. It was just gone. Damn, it's really lovely, but it's not worth wearing if I can't smell it.

[tsarina]

At first, the scent is strongly bamboo and fruits! I'm not sure what fruits, but they seem juicy. There's a whiff of something like ozone, a lightness. It's a peculiar combination and it make my nose twitch. As it dries down, the cherry blossoms predominate. The bamboo and fruity notes meld into the background.

 

Very unigue, very curious. I think some of my anime loving friends would go nuts over this oil.

[quimerula]

Wet all the airy notes come out: ozone, metal and bamboo in cheeky way.

The bamboo is green and unique, standing in the first line screaming "Here I am!", with the cherry blossom following it but in a very shy way.

 

Dry all the flowers come out, this is the cherry blossom turn, along with the orchid (I could bet it's white orchid), and as the flowers go down a bit it remains a light and bright perfume. Just precious.

[Fillanzea]

This is very bitter and cold and green--but bitter in a good way, if that makes any sense. I think I can pick out the bamboo and ozone. It doesn't smell especially oriental or remind me of Japan, but it's a fresh and pretty scent, light and herby, with a little cherry blossom sweetness as it starts to dry.

 

I'm very fond of this, but unfortunately, it disappears to nothing on me in an hour or so. I will try this as a room scent, though, because I'd love my apartment to smell like this.

[cuervosueno]

This was a freebie, and I opened bottle, smelled something faintly ozone-ish, tossed in my swap pile and forgot about it.

But now I'm working my way through swap pile reviews, and huh, I kind of like this. Not enough to by a big bottle, but maybe enough to keep the imp.

Wet: I have no idea what this smells like. Wet floral? Slightly green or acquatic?

About a minute into drying--wow! lemons! Like wet fruit. I kind of like it. It also has a slightly brittle, crystalline scent which is interesting to me.

After it had dried down, the lemon topnote faded a bit (I believe all citrus topnotes tend to fade quickly) and it has slightly creamy floral note. Once I read the description, I realized I was smelling orchid. for me, the bamboo comes across only as a green note.

I enjoyed this, though it didn't remind me of Japan at all. Still, its an interesting, summery scent.

[LiberAmoris]

Neo-Tokyo really does transport me to a Japanese garden: bamboo, cherry blossom, orchids, running water, terraced sand and those perfect rocks that are mountains in miniature.... The metallic tang reminds me of the proximity of the ocean or a early morning rain. I also smell white tea in here, or perhaps my imagination is just working overtime.

 

For me, Neo-Tokyo is a BPAL blend that has spaces within it. The notes have air around them, and silence. It reminds me of reading haiku and tanka poems, in which the volta (or turn) at the end of line allows the reader to take a breath.

 

On my skin, this plays across much like Vinland, which I also love. I have so many bottles already, but I think this might eventually have a space in my big bottle collection.

[ianastar]

Very sweet and fruity. Crisp and fruity. Its not bad, but lighter fruity notes are not my favorites.

[pensive]

Preconcieved notions: I wonder what bamboo smells like?

Imp sniff: Green, zingy. Utterly light and beautiful in a air sort of way. I wonder if my skin will just eat this - it is lighter than every other air scent I've got my hands on. It floats.

Wet Skin: Oh! Lemon! But not for long. Smells very clean. But it isn't a bad lemon. It's like a lemon you squeeze in iced tea.

Drydown: Well the lemon peeked out, said hello, and settled into the background. Smells very green and unique. I can wear this on a hot day - and there are a lot of hot days ahead.

Impressions: It goes perfectly with my outfit for work, in a green and khaki way. My futuristic anime chick has green hair though. And I need to watch those anime DVDs a coworker loaned me.

Verdict: Would make a great lotion, with a little dab on top for go-power. I want to experiment with this - lotions, sprays.. That makes it a keeper, put on the bottle list.

 

Thank you lokelani!

Edited May 12, 2005 by pensive

[yummysushitoo]

I put this on, and something didn't seem quite "right". It was as if the notes, at least on me, clashed terribly. It might have been the addition of the metallics and ozone, but it did not agree with me. I never caught the fruits, cherry blossoms, or orchid, as the metallic and ozone bulldozed over everything else. Darn. I thought this had sounded so fun.

[Galen]

On skin - I get citrus-y green tea. Funny, there's no tea mentioned in the description.

 

Minutes later - somehow both warmer and sharper at the same time. I can't get a handle on the notes here, just something really sharp and an under-current of something softer.

 

A little later :sniff: are you sure there's no green tea in this?! It's reminding me very much of Embalming Fluid - citrussy green tea

 

I don't like the smell of tea at all, which is why, to my disappointment, this blend really doesn't work on me...

[tinyvulture]

Clean and invigorating, great for after a workout. The tiniest bit soapy. The ozone reminds me of a gentle rainstorm, and it is indeed reminiscent of the cool, crisp freshness of mountain air. A hint of mint adds sharpness and bite, but that is tempered by sweet florals (I can especially smell the lilac), bamboo, and fruit – pear, maybe? Complex and wonderful.

[cupide430]

Neo Tokyo

I've gotten frimps of this with two of my orders.

 

Fresh and grassy plus something very perfume-y/cologne-y that has tinge of citrus. The grassy note-- I'm sure its the bamboo-- is absolutely gorgeous but the cologne-y note is overpowering and sorta headache inducing. Its drying and blending together so that the citrussy cologne and the grassy notes aren't as distinct or as strong. Its a fresh and fairly clean smelling scent. Its also pretty strong on me. It reminds me of the perfumes the Gap used to make (Grass, Earth etc). It is ok, but when I want fresh, pretty and green I'll probably reach for Amsterdam not Neo Tokyo. Neo Tokyo is getting smoother and gentler and better as it dries longer. It isn't my favorite, but it is pretty good.

[k00kaburra]

In bottle: Wet like light spring rain, and mint. There's the green of the bamboo and orchids, and a sweetness I attribute to the fruits and blossoms. In the bottle, this reminds me somewhat of Blue Moon.

On me: The resemblance to Blue Moon is still there, but this is greener. The bamboo stalks are fresh and growing in fog; flowers delicately litter the ground. The beauty of Old Japan is here, and it is wonderful. Close your eyes, and when you open them the Bamboo-Cutter's Daughter will smile at you in her moon-maiden glory. Swirl the bottle and inhale again and the dizzying pace of Tokyo life will dance before you, as schoolgirls and salarymen bustle past you on crowded streets.