Kabuki

[hellomoonglow]

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

Wow! This smells exactly like the description! Strong cherry musk with anise! I didn't get the anise right away, but after it settled I could smell it lurking in there. I like it, but it's not for me. Glad I was frimped with it by a forumite, however.

[fairnymph]

Sniffed in imp: Cherry and licorice.

[Dracoo9]

When I opened an order from a fellow forum member my kabuki imp spilt slightly and it smelf amazing!! I thought I was still in love and kept sniffing it, falling for it again and again. Then I tried it on and I loved it but randomly throught the day the scent got to strong for me and made me feel nausious. Whether or not the nausia was from my head ache or Kabuki I couldnt really tell but now whenever I smell it I just get nausious. *sigh* So strange...love to nausia.

[DARKBEAUTY28]

Whewww the first sniff while wet is ANISE. It begins to turn more cherry the longer it sits on the skin. It becomes sweeter. By far this is one of the strongest BPALs I have ever tried and has good throw. Usually BPALs stay pretty close to the skin on me. Oh wow it almost takes on a sweet cherry candy smell as it dries down. Awesome scent!

[ravenfeathers]

i tested this many moons ago and loathed it, so i never wrote a review. i passed the imp on to my mother and thankfully she's never worn it around me. i had such a visceral ick reaction from it that when i riffle through her imp box, i cringe away from kabuki. i've never liked licorice, but i thought i'd give it a whirl in a BPAL blend.

 

in the bottle sweet anise and sweeter cherry

wet on skin it's all anise all the time, sweetened to cloying pitch by the cherry (almond?)

dry on skin time to wash this off before i heave

 

i am a true licorice hater. anise will forevermore be an absolute dealbreaker note for me.

[Lamia]

Insanely sweet in the bottle. Cherry syrup on skin. Turns to musk, and eventually Chinese grocery store, I mean star anise. Makes me think of Peking Duck.

 

I love this scent.

[kelpsoda]

Wet: sweet cherry syrup. extra sweet.

 

Dry: red musk. (and maybe anise? I'm not familiar with anise). Ok, but not really something I like. I wish the cherry stuck around more.

[AEris]

In the imp, this smells like tart, strong cherry.

 

On the skin, it morphs to red musk with a hint of sweet cherry candy. I don't smell anise at all, and I'm kinda bummed because I like anise.

 

It's almost Red Musk Single Note on me. Sweet, warm, sexy. Simple.

 

3.8 out of 5

[Andrea912]

Bottle: whoa! the smell of jager and cherry cough drops overwhelms me; sticky, dark...

 

Wet: Um, yuck. Cherry Nyquil meets Original Nyquil.

 

Dry: the star anise is rotten on my skin; although the scent has faded, I would never try this again...

[galahad]

In The Bottle

Almond - bitter and strong

 

On Application

As above

 

Dry Down

I get a bit of anise coming through as it dries down. I am not liking so far. Turns to more cherry than almond further into the drydown but this is definitely not me.

 

Rating (0-5)

1

[gchris]

in vial: Very cherry

Wet: Yep, still cherry but now a little rootbeerish.

Dry: I'm smelling the Anise. Cherry and licorice.

[brsis]

Initial thoughts: Hmmm... I was all set up to love this, love it with a fiery passion, and yet... someone pointed out that the ARGHALLERGY note in Black Phoenix might have been cherry. Crap. On a crap stick. Now I'm almost not wanting to test it, which is a real shame.

 

In the imp: Oh man. Licorise and, if I'm being kind, Carte D'or black cherry ice cream. If I'm being unkind, old-style cherry flavour medicene. Awesome!

 

On the wrist, wet: I'm actually testing this on the fleshy part of my forearm, where I figure it can do less damage if I do have a reaction. It's much the same, if slightly less potent, on my skin - cherry and licorise. Yummeh. Now please don't kill me.

 

Twenty minutes later: No itching, no redness - I'm tentative to call it golden, but I don't think I'm allergic to cherry. Hallelueah!

 

Oh yeah, it smells of something!

 

Mmmm... musky licorise. This is really rather good - something bold and sensual without being overpowering. It's the kind of scent you'd notice even if you didn't realise you had. I really like this.

 

Verdict: Provided no nasty flareups in the next hour, keeper and an eventual bottle!

 

Tl;Dr: Bright, medicinal cherry sombers down quickly into rich, sensual musk and star anise.

[Dark Alice]

Thanks to another BPALer I was able to obtain this one in a swap!!! I was really looking forward to this one, red musk, cherry, and star anise! These notes really like my skin and I really like them! However, not together!

 

Wet in Imp: Black licorice which is my all time least favorite candy!

 

Wet on Skin: Cherry licorice !

 

Dry on Skin: The red musk is finally coming out to play but, it still smells like red musk is being whipped by licorice!

 

I wanted this one to work, oh well...off to the swap bin!

 

One quick note: AEris was right, on the complete drydown this does smell like red musk single note. But then it morphs back into cherry licorice! I am going to wash this off and it's still off to the swap bin for you!!

Edited July 4, 2008 by Dark Alice

[Mishinka]

Surprise free imp, but oh, this is fantastic!

 

Right away in the bottle it's a sweet, fruity anise. I'm not really smelling any musk, but there is a subtle incense-y smell to it. It's about the same on. The anise seems to be the predominant note here, but it's a fizzy, spicy smell. It reminds me of soda, root beer or sarsaparilla.

 

The anise stays strong for hours, but it picks up more of a smoky incense smell as it dries. This is not just in my "love" pile, it's in the "oh noes, the liquid is a hairsbreadth below the label and it's almost gone! What will I do?" pile.

[OhioSky]

This smells like nothing but licorice on me. I can't detect any of the other notes at all.

 

I do love black licorice, but I don't know that I want to smell like it.

 

I suppose this is one more to set aside for a few months and try again.

 

Came back to say that no, the licorice never goes away. This is overwhelming licorice. No cherry, no musk, just licorice. Last time I ventured to sniff the imp, I got it on my finger when opening it and smelled black licorice for 2 days. This is so overwhelmingly licorice that I don't think I will be able to eat black licorice again for months, which is sad. I do like licorice.

Edited October 15, 2008 by OhioSky

[anguissette]

Wet it was like cherry cough syrup.

Now it smells like patchouli on me, dull, flat bad leather smell. Weird because there's no patchouli listed, but it smells like every patchouli scent smells on me, overwhelming every other note. Don't know why, but I'm swapping it out to people who I hope will enjoy it.

[dluszcz]

Very very cherry, almost almond, touch o'musk, no anise for me! Short wear length and not much throw. To me, this is a "middle school" scent.

[RachelHell]

In The Bottle: Kabuki smells like freshly baked anise pizzelles that have been ever so lightly drizzled with cherry syrup.

 

Wet on Skin: This smells amazing- I adore cherry scents.. It's warm, juicy and spicy and in the backround there is a light dance of licorice.

 

Dry Down: One word: BLEGH. Eugh. My skin soaked up all the cherry and just left a large mound of black licorice and anise scented fish bait. No offense to anyone that enjoys the smell of anise- but it was the kind of harsh that makes your eyes burn.

 

Hours later: It evolved into this very light, very sweet smell.. It has the lightest hint of anise, I think the cherry may have came back to sweeten up its friend.

 

I wish I could skip the dry down stage on Kabuki.

[mylogicsaysburnsendmeaway]

On me this was cherry flavored cough syrup.

[Moryssa]

In the imp: Is there almond in this? No... huh... must be cherry. I swear it smells almondy, though. Maybe it's the red musk for me, since I occasionally get almond from other red-musk-containing things.

 

First scent, as it touches my skin, is that of Cherry Tootsie Roll Pops. It's got the cherry, but there's something else underneath that gives it an almost chocolate-y scent that reminds me of Tootsie Roll Pops instead of just straight cherry lollypops.

 

A few minutes in, however, the anise comes out to play, and unfortunately, that's all I can smell.

 

And, unfortunately, since I absolutely HATE the smell of anise/black licorice, this is going to have to go.

 

--M

[caitilarkin]

In the imp: Cherry (kinda plasticky) and anise

 

Wet on skin: Cherry licorice, which has thankfully lost the plasticky edge

 

Dry on skin: The anise amped for a few minutes, then decided to play nice with the cherry and red musk. By the half-hour mark, this was a pleasant, simple cherry backed up by red musk, with the anise adding a tiny hint of interest.

 

I'm keeping the imp around for days that I feel some something simple; this has lots of staying power on me and is almost single-note cherry after a few hours.

[crebbsgirl]

I can easily detect all of the notes here. Wet, this is ALL cherry. Almost a cough syrup kind of cherry. As it dries, the musk and the anise come out, and it turns to a cherry licorice scent. It's nice if you like fruity scents. I do not. And so, off to swaps!

[cymbeline]

Ah ah, here is the wicked one that leaked a little in my package

 

Smell alike: ???

 

Color impression: Bright punchy chartreuse green, tempered then by powdery white and hushed pink

 

On me: Ok, first, I have been quite frightened when the samourai star anise just started howling “banzai” all over my skin Hopefully, once dry, the whole scent became softer (Hi cherry !) and far more complex. This one is quite alike Kyoto but far more wearable for me (It is a warmer and rounder scent) thanks to my beloved red musk :3

 

Wearing: Everyday because of its subtle and really smart feeling (Bottle if my bank account stays nice with me)

Edited November 10, 2008 by Cymbeline

[femmefatale]

I don't like this. It smells like a medicinal tea I used too drink (horehound maybe). I like it as a tea, not as a perfume.

[steffanina]

Kabuki-

 

In Bottle: Grape-cherry! More pleasant than cough syrup, though.

 

Wet: Grape-cherry; the musk is very subtle, the way I like it. And something a little minty.

 

Dry: Minty; the musk is just a bit too cloying on me today; red musk does that, sadly!

 

Overall: Sweet, red musky, not for my chemistry right now.