Kabuki

[malibusunny]

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

That's funny, Pynki, because it was ZOMG CHERRY on me and the anise was the part I was worried about.

[frecklestars]

In the bottle: artificial cherry, of the big wet lollipop variety, combined with the rich almost-minty star anise and some sort of heavy wood. that candy sweetness is overwhelming what would've been a lovely woody sort of anise. though the wood smells like maybe it has mildewed a bit - it's a wet wood, like the wood used for shipbuilding perhaps?

 

On my skin: GAG CHERRY COUGH SYRUP NASTINESS! that horrid cherry drowns out everything else once it's on my skin, resulting in me smelling like a pharmacy exploded somewhere nearby. oh god, I just can't do it. *washes off* it's oversweet and powdery and sticky and icky and gooey candy that's combined with otherwise good-smelling things.

 

Last thoughts: artificial cherry in sticky wet lollipops beating wet wood and anise into submission. ICK! stupid cherry notes...

[Ghost of a Rose]

In the imp: Oil is a golden yellow. The fragrance is 100% cherry cough drops. Ugh.

 

On me, wet: Cherry cough drops, with the licorice scent of anise WAY in the background.

 

On me, just dried: Most of the cherry fruitiness dissipates within minutes, leaving a much milder licorice-and-cherry scent behind. A little muskiness keeps it from smelling too much like red licorice sticks. Much better.

 

After 20 minutes: The licorice note is now much stronger than the cherry, and the sharp spiciness of true anise has appeared. It's getting less and less like candy all the time. All three scents are nicely balanced.

 

After 2 hours: It now has the scent of an elegant classic perfume (the same scent I noticed in the oil warmer.) The cherry is there as a faint lingering memory. I'm really loving it now!

 

I also tried this in an oil warmer. It's not the best blend for that, as the oil is quite volatile and most of the fragrance burned off immediately when exposed to the greater heat of the burner. Not only did it not scent the (small) room, but I couldn't even smell much with my nose right up above the warmer only ten or fifteen minutes after lighting the candle. There WAS a faint scent like an elegant classic perfume that lasted for about an hour if I smelled it right up close - perhaps that is the red musk?

 

I prefer KABUKI in the drydown, but it might be interesting to wear it in a scent locket to draw out the cherry top note if you like really fruity blends.

 

This goes to show once again that you can't judge a perfume by the way it smells in the bottle. I never would have bought it if I had smelled a bottle of it. But as it turns out, I do quite like it on me.

 

My rating: 4 stars

[KittyHawk]

I had high hopes for this one, despite the star anise. Well, all I got in the imp, wet, and on drydown was cherry cough syrup and Jagermeister. Off to the swaps with you, Kabuki!

[RedRoseMaze]

In the bottle: Eww, it smells like cherry-scented play-dough... However, if I pay attention, I can also smell anise and some musk.

 

Wet: At first, I get a lot of anise, but I also smell something sweet, like candy, and cherry.

 

Dry: Cherry and anise candy, literally. I also get a very faint note of musk. It gets better and better as hours go by.

 

Verdict: At first, I tought it smelled too much like licorice; but now, I really like it. It turned into something feminine and sensual.

 

 

[biocarolyn]

Kabuki smells so red, bright red cherry laquer, that I am shocked the oil itself is not red! It just seems like it should be...anyway, in the imp I can smell all three notes, with the cherry dominant, followed by the star anise, and then the red musk. However, they settle in on the skin and once this dries they smell blended in equal parts to me, with the cherries receding as the day goes on. Really neat and different!

[stellamaris]

I thought I would love this, I love anise and I love cherries, Red Queen is one of my most favorites.

However, with this one the gorgeous cherry was there just till the dry down and then it was Licorice Candy. Bleech.

[schatzibot]

In the imp: Whoah, cherry! Very artificial candy cherry.

 

On wet: Very cherry, but now the anise appears and it has the dreaded cough syrup effect. Pretty nasty and overwhelming.

 

On dry: Still overwhelming cherry cough syrup. Then goes through a period of strong anise and licorice scent.

 

After an hour: The cherry subsides to the background, letting the musk and anise take the fore. Now it's a pleasant, delicately spicy scent with faint fruitiness.

 

 

I'm just not sure about this one.

[Alethia]

Thoughts before testing: I love cherry scents. They tend to stay true on my skin and not turn into nasty artificial cherry/cough syrup. But this has red musk, which only very rarely works on me, and star anise, which is one of my most hated scents. However, I'm trying really hard to skin test everything that comes my way to break out of my comfort zone, and since this was a Lab frimp, I had to try. I'd be willing to bet big money that the anise in this will wreck the whole scent.

 

Wet: Pure cherry. Ooh! This is nice, but surely it can't stay that way forever, right?

 

Dry down: Ah. Anise, we meet again. It drowns out everything else in this blend.

 

Dry: Soap and anise is all I'm getting now.

 

Thoughts: Well, it was worth a shot, right?

 

Verdict: No thank you. Kabuki gets shuttled to my swaps/sales box.

[Rho]

This was one of the imps I got in my first order, and probably the scent that got me interested in BPAL in the first place. When I got it several months ago, my untrained nose translated Kabuki as nothing but cherry nibs candy from start to finish.

 

Several months later, I still can smell cherry nibs if I'm thinking about it, but Kabuki has a lot more going for it than I thought.

 

Wet: The fragrance is an interesting subdued cherry, nestling on a minty anise base. The red musk is the kind I've come to love from BPAL, even though it smells slightly greasy on me.

 

Dry: Similar to the wet phase, though the minty side of the anise comes through more. The mix of mint and red musk is so exotic to me. It's also pretty.

 

Later: This fades away into a haze of anise and red musk. The cherry bows out several hours before the scent wears off. It feels elegant.

 

This is a good example of a scent that I've changed my mind on over time. I really wasn't impressed with it at first, but now that I've come to like red musk, I think this is an enjoyable and unique oil. In particular, I think it's a fun alternative to Scheherazade, which I love.

 

Overall: 4/5.

[Redillon]

I got this frimped from the lab!

In the imp it smells like cherry. A black cherry with a hint of anise.

 

On the skin the anise comes thru even more. And within minutes it smells like......root beer bottle caps! Wow. Root beer.

 

It doesn't last a long time and that's okay. Once it fades it just smells like a sweet non-descript candy.

 

I'm not a big fan of cherry but it was a fun scent that brought a blast from my past in the form of candy bottle caps.

[Pynki]

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

 

That's funny, Pynki, because it was ZOMG CHERRY on me and the anise was the part I was worried about.

I think my body eats cherry. I LOVE cherry so much, but every BPAL I've gotten with cherry in it, the cherry scent just disappears on me almost as soon as it gets on my skin. I'm a saaaad panda.

[ResinManiac]

First Sniff: Straight up, no nonsense, pure cherry.

 

 

Wearing: Cherry muzzled by soft anise breezes, it becomes like smelling a quiet, pleasant puff of temple air.

 

Drydown: It really tames what for me would otherwise be a really gnarly red musk note. Pretty, but I don't think it's for me.

[Vaudevillain]

In the bottle: Nothing but maraschino cherries. Sticky sweet, gross, cherries.

 

On skin: Still cherry, but man, this is a crazy morpher. Initially stinky sweet, and then the cherry leaves until it's jsut the finest hint, leaving this sexy anise and musk blend. I quite like this, actually. 4 out of 5

[AmethystDahlia]

In Bottle: A strong, sweet scent. Definitely getting both the cherry and anise notes.

 

On Skin: Smells like licorice candy! Getting the anise more than the cherry, but it still smells sweet. It also has much more throw than the other samples I've tried, but isn't as overwhelming as I expected it to be.

 

Dry-Down: This one certainly lasts longer than some of the others I've tried! About four hours later I can still faintly smell licorice on my wrist.

 

Final verdict: This was another sample from my friend captnklaus. I actually tried it on once before and found the anise a bit overpowering, but this time around I enjoyed it, so I'll definitely be keeping it.

[loubric]

IIn the IMP it smells like Cherry flavoured medicine. On my skin? LICORICE with hints of cherry and chocolate. Reminds me of The Lampades but less musk. Very very sexy.

I didn't think I'd like it, but I do

[milica]

This bottle is at least five years old, I got it as a gift, so I don't know for sure, but it has an old label.

 

In the bottle, cherry candy, bleh.

 

On the skin, all absinthe and a little bit of cherries, then it quickly evens out, and then goes to red musk, cherries and a little bit of anise. I find these quick changes really pretty and fun, and I like this red musk finish it's a pretty scent. And it fits the description, it really is complex and enigmatic.

 

But I still can't decide if I really like this scent as a perfume or not, and I've had it for almost two years. Just can't decide.

[mymymai]

In the Imp (ITI): Cherry cough syrup, eww.

 

Wet: I still get cherry cough syrup, but there is the tiniest bit of musk.

 

Dry: This doesn't last too long, honestly. After 6 hours of dry time, I just get red musk.

[yakiguri]

All cherry and red musk, no anise whatsoever. If I want red musk + fruit I'll stick with Hollywood Babylon.

[virusq]

In the bottle and wet on the skin, Kabuki was overwhelmingly sweet and red. It was definitely Cherry Twizzlers and I was not amused. It didn't take long to mellow out, however. As soon as the anise started to poke though, things got a little better.

 

On my commute to work, I was catching whiffs of spicy anise with a sweetness from the cherry, but nothing definitively CHERRY.

 

A few hours later, it has settled into a soft/sweet anise smell with a soft/musky undertone. Not my favorite anise option, but it's a keeper.

[boomtownrat]

Kabuki is cherry-dominant in the bottle.

 

When I first got it, I didn't have the patience to wait a couple of days and let it settle from shipping. That was a mistake because it was an unpleasantly licorice-dominant, stinging scent.

 

Today, a little over a week later, I'm giving Kabuki a longer skin test. As it dries, it's smoother and more blended than it was fresh out of the mailbox, but I still think it needs a bit more time to age and mellow. Unfortunately for me, I want to smell like cherry Twizzlers but the star anise is amping on me. It's odd that the star anise is a little too sharp to my nose, because Butterscotch Balls & Black Beetles is one of my best scents, I like anise as a flavour, and I'm one of those people who loves black licorice.

 

Red musk is a note that my skin amps in nearly all of the several scents I own that contain it, but in this blend it's a supporting player. Likewise, cherry stands out pretty well in Blood Kiss but not in Kabuki. Star anise wasn't quite as noticeable on me in BB&BB, but maybe that's because the patchouli whipped it into submission. Maybe with more age on the bottle, all the notes will become more integrated. Until then, I think I will try layering it with Dragon's Musk or Smut.

 

My colour impressions of this scent are red, black, and white in that order. You'd think the black would be top because of the dominant star anise, but no.

[ToThineOwnSelfBeTrue]

Kabuki is cherry sweetness with anise throw. After it dried down it became warm and more anise was present than the cherry. I kept smelling something so very yummy and realized it was me!

 

Throw is nice and not too strong, lasts a long time on me, unlike some of my other favorites. This will make an amazing bath oil and bomb.

 

Thumbs up on this one, I could never tire of the scent.

[vthesiren]

In the imp, it was round, full, syrupy cherries and awesomeness. On me, it's black licorice and red musk, with a sour/tart undertone. Nooooo thanks.

[anastasia]

i finally got to try this as for some reason it is never at the top of my list but always there. the lab sent me an imp!

this is very cherry almond in the bottle and wet but after that not anything like it. there is a predominant camphor almost dusty undertone to this that immediately flashes me back to theatrical costume smells. the cherry and anise in conjunction make it perfectly evocative of theater makeup and costumes. i have a feeling the fall weather is not its best foil but i can see using this for certain moods regardless and suspect it will be a spring winner. it is definitely not strong anise or cherry singly for me but smells influenced by those ideas. there is a whole little world going on here.

[Lucide]

This was a frimp from the lab

 

In the imp: super sweet candy cherry

 

Wet: Hmm.. the cherry smells different now, still sweet but more of a dark, ripe cherry not the candy kind. I love this smell.

 

Dry: Noooo cherry where did you go?! When it's dry the cherry smell disappears completely and I am left with only anise. Now it smells a bit like absinthe to me; a boozy anise (the real deal, I've never smelled BPAL's perfume of it). Not bad, but I want the cherry back!

 

Later: And now the anise is gone as well. I smell a faint red musk. It seems like the notes disappear one by one.

 

I like this one, but it is gone very quickly. I am going to find a way to make it last longer.