Neo-Tokyo

[Tess]

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 bottle - I'm getting a lot of the florals, orchid in particular, although cherry blossom is making itself known, too. The ozone and the bamboo are coming through behind, giving it a zing.

Wet - Orchid really isn't that bad of a floral to my nose so far.

Drying - ...okay, I didn't SLATHER, but I put quite a bit of this on and it is very, very light. I'm pressing my nose to my wrist to pick up anything. What I -am- getting is quite a lovely, understated yellow floral scent. Somehow cherry blossom (white/pink) plus orchid (white/purple) makes yellow!

Dry (2 hours ) - This has dried down to cherry blossom, which is sweet and powdery on my skin. And very soft still.

Overall - I liked this more than I thought, but it was all so very faint on me. I guess that fits with the idea of a closely packed population where they pack you into subway cars like sardines.

[reynardine]

This is from an old imp that I had gotten, so it has aged. I tried Neo-Tokyo back when I first got it, had a general "Oh, that's nice," reaction, then put the imp away and forgot about it. Dragged it out today for "Wear Your Rares Day" and realized I'd never bothered to review it.

 

In the bottle: Ozone, metallic scent. Very sharp, almost piercing.

 

Wet: Settles down a bit, still sharp, but loses some of the ozone, which is a relief. I remember thinking that the first time as well--I was afraid of the "Nail Polish" smell. But no, it doesn't do that.

 

Drydown: Crisp, clean, very green smelling (if green had a scent, this would be it--light green, though, not dark green). There's a touch of floral in here, too. Almost smells a bit herbal.

 

After a couple of hours, it's still there. Very light, not obnoxious at all. Did not go to powder. I think this is a lovely scent for summer, and a good urban scent. Would work well for business.

 

I'm so sorry this was discontinued. I would have liked to have gotten a bottle. I should have paid more attention back in the day!

[kunoichi]

In the vial this is an unusual scent of bamboo and the sharpness of ozone. It settles on my skin, calming the sharpness down, while the cherry blossoms and orchids begin to emerge over a slight sweetness from fruits in the background, and a vague tinge of metal beneath it all - it is both lovely and unusual! After a few hours, everything has melded and it becomes very soft and faint; there is really only a slight smell of the lovely cherry blossoms left on my skin, almost gone...

[nakii]

I have a much-treasured imp of this. It's half empty

 

In the imp: Bamboo and cherries, with a hint of something else that originally turned me straight off of it. I really, really hate it in the imp and every time I open it I wonder why I still own it.

 

On me, wet: The cherry blossom and the fruit come through. Whatever I hated in the imp isn't present at all.

 

On me, dry: It dries down into a beautiful cherry scent- not too girly, not too floral, not too overpowering. It's beautiful. It reminds me of summer days and blue skies

[sunshinedaisybliss]

First up.. huge to the lovely ifinena who gifted a tester of this to me!

 

I've been wanting to try this for ages, but I didn't really think it was going to be something I'd like - the mention of metallics, mountain air, ozone and electric light had me thinking it would be one of those strange metallic/ozone blends that my skin turns into a stinky mess. However.. those notes are very much a background to the gorgeous cherry blossom and orchid - I could swear there's grapefruit in here, but not the sour kind - a lovely sweet pink kind. The bamboo comes out more when it's fully dry, and together with the fruits and florals it creates a lovely dry and airy mix.

 

I've never been to Tokyo, but this blend does bring to mind the flashy neon and chaotic vibe of that city - it's bright and shiny whilst somehow still managing to be soft, quiet and fresh. Very, very nice.

 

[Diva Urd]

In the vial: Ozone, a green note (bamboo?) and something sweet.

 

On: Primarily metal and greenery. Initially, there is a note in this that smells just a little... poopy in the background. However, as it dries, the odd poopy vibe goes away - I think it was a reaction of one of the florals in this. This is a cool, fresh, green and ever-so-slightly sweet fragrance, very sophisticated. I don't know whether I'd desperately hunt for a bottle of this, but it is very nice.

 

Later: This doesn't morph much as time goes by, but it loses its initial oomph relatively quickly. It's still not too weak a blend on my skin, it definitely retains enough throw to keep me happy. I'm sure I'll be in the mood to wear this once in a while, particularly when it's hot outside.

[Helas]

Like many North Americans of my generation, I have an interest in Japanese cinema and manga, and I would love to visit Tokyo one day. I looked forward to trying Neo-Tokyo because the description made it sound evocative of the experimentalism, the eccentricity, and the vibrant, energetic art culture of Japan. Unfortunately, Neo-Tokyo ends up smelling like a rather generic East-Asia-inspired perfume, like one of those cheap cherry blossom sprays they sell at the drugstore. I get cherry blossom as a dominant note, with a little bamboo and orchid. No ozone, which breaks my heart, since I was looking forward to all that metal and electricity. No fruits either. I'm wondering if the missing elements are due to the perfume being aged (most of the extant Neo-Tokyo bottles must be fairly aged by now, and ozone and citrus notes generally fade over time) or if it's my chemistry, or if the scent itself is just not for me. I'll keep my sample, since I would probably regret swapping it away, but I will not be looking for more.

[Iceblink]

This imp must be 5 years old by now, at least...but it's held together well, as far as I can tell, for something with so many delicate floral and citrus notes. Neo-Tokyo is very metallic/ozone/bamboo in the imp but once it's on my skin I get a lot of what must be yuzu (or maybe grapefruit? definitely citrus) with a touch of cherry blossom. It reminds me of Aizen-Myoo, although this is a more complex blend, since I'm still getting hints of metal and bamboo. It's not sweet at all like some cherry blossom blends tend to be on me; the citrus/fruits are very prominent here.

VERY glad I finally got to try this, as I love the concept!

[amanderinorange]

Received as a frimp, which is awesome.

 

I sniffed this before reading the description and was not sure what I was smelling. It was a bit green, floral and something else, which I now think is the ozone or metal.

 

Applied, this fades fairly quickly on me. In the little bit of time it actually stuck around on my skin, I could smell the cherry blossoms and a bit of the mountain air, but that was about it.

 

I'm glad I was able to try this and will hold onto the imp, but I think this might be one of those scents that I pull out every once in a while just to sniff.

[angelamaria]

In imp: yes on the "urban metallics": a hint of ozone, light and pale flowers, and light fruits. It definitely has that Asian vibe to it (like the shungas) but also a "city" vibe, which is appropriate. I'd assume this light of a scent needs a bit of slathering.

 

Wet on skin: very pretty, although it's a bit dusty on my skin--something like ozone and dusty crisp air. Aside from that, the rest of the blend is very evenly balanced and well-blended--it's hard to pick out specific notes but looking at the list and sniffing, I can pinpoint each note--the orchid, the vague fruits, the bamboo.

 

Dry: this doesn't change from the wet phase for me, although it feels even lighter somehow--but that may just be my skin chemistry. This rather reminds me of The Unicorn, which has the same kind of "ethereality" but The Unicorn is sweeter, and this is dustier and a bit more fleeting. Closer to it would be Unseelie, if my memory serves.

 

Verdict: I can tell why this is so sought-after, but I'm somewhat relieved by the dustiness, as I have managed to dodge a bullet!

[ObliqueRed]

I liked it a lot when wet, but it went to super baby powder on me when dry.

[LizziesLuck]

Wet: Odd. Fruity, sort of creamy. Kind of "grainy" if that makes any sense. And also chemically. I think that's the ozone, ya bamboo and ozone, the more I sniff the more that makes sense, I think I just don't care much for it.

 

 

Dry: It gets better, though it's still not something I care much for. It's tough to describe. Sweet, green, creamy. That's about all I got.

[torischroeder9]

In the imp: Cherry blossom, orchid, metal, and ozone. 

 

On my skin: 

 

Wet, the cherry blossom and orchid are the most prominent. I also get a splash of the wet fruits. For the moment, at least, the metal and ozone notes disappear. As it dries down, the bamboo also becomes apparent, mixing with the florals. I think I also get a touch of the ozone at this point -- at least, there's a breathy, airy quality to the scent, so it's there in spirit. 

 

(Here's where I went and prepped meals for the work week and so did not keep track of incremental transformations -- sorry!)

 

The final version has metal, creamy orchid, bamboo, and cherry blossom and/or fruits. It's a light, delicate, close-to-skin scent on me. However, the metal and bamboo both show up enough that I wouldn't categorize this as necessarily stereotypically feminine. 

[Brigdh]

In bottle: Bamboo and ozone. A green, clean, fresh scent, just beautiful.

Wet: The only word I have for this is “green”. It’s light and complex and fresh and spring-like, and just green. There’s a hint of floral (orchid, probably?) and mixed fruit in the background, but it’s mostly just green. It really has a vibe of a rural mountain scene.

Dry: the same as wet, there’s not a lot of change in this scent. It lasts for hours and hours, which I wouldn’t expect from a perfume so light and delicate and fresh, but it does. This is one of my all -time favorite BPAL scents, and I’m so sad that it’s discontinued.