Enchanting Diversion with a Wakashu

[zankoku_zen]

Hinoki wood, vanilla husk, brandied apricots, and dark musk.

[starbrow]

Dark musk, how I love thee! The collection of notes in this blend was very appealing to me, a black musk fan. I've enjoyed the smoky oaky wood of Hinoki in previous Shungas (Visiting the Sumida River, Woman Dragging Her Aroused Lover, Exhausted Sailors), but it's almost always been in an aquatic setting of some kind.

 

Here, the Hinoki wood warms up the foodiness of the brandied apricots, not intensely boozy but quite vividly fruity: smelling this, I can almost taste the sticky-sweetness of dried apricots surrounded by wood, like standing in an oak pantry nibbling on dried fruit and tippling a little brandy. The presence of dark musk or more vanilla would definitely have tipped this into bottle territory for me, but sadly, I didn't get much of either note. I still think apricot fans or Hinoki wood lovers will enjoy this immensely!

[marared]

In the bottle and the first minute or two on the skin is a lovely fruity musk, but within five minutes the hinoki wood starts to dominate. Virtually no vanilla to speak of. I wish the fruit stayed longer, but this is still lovely and delicate, like high quality Japanese fruity-wood incense.

 

ETA: This aged really nicely. It's less musky; the apricot and the vanilla are more noticeable now (and I can tell it's specifically apricot), and I get some of the sticky brandy behind the wood on a deep inhale. It's low-key sweet.

Edited January 11, 2021 by marared

[Dark Alice]

Wet: The apricot and vanilla take over and give me a minor headache. Dry, the wood, vanilla, and dark musk swirl together in a dark and sensual dance. This is what you wear when the one night stand you never wanted but needed in your life takes place.

[muined]

Today's the day I admit to myself that the lab's vanilla just doesn't seem to work for me. It always goes pear-shaped. Here it's just a little off, as usual, and overpowers the apricot and wood for most of this scent's lifespan. Eventually the dark musk takes over and fades to the same baby powder that the dark musk in Hecate becomes on me. Here's to consistency! But I gotta track down an apricot scent without vanilla...hmm, March Hare or Aristocratic Couple...?

[zankoku_zen]

Dark musk, apricot, and a hint of vanilla. This one is a sexy apricot blend. It sticks pretty close to your skin, but its like a skin musk with a low throw. Meaning, someone has to come up and snuggle you but once they do, they'll fall prey to this scent's charm.

[white_jenna63]

Very similar to one of the past Peaches (black musk and North African spice), but with apricot instead.

[Janis]

Wet, this is all apricots and vanilla brandy, but as it dries it becomes primarily vanilla, with whispers of dark musk. I'm not getting any Hinoki wood at all! Like many blends with vanilla or cream notes I'm left with nothing but a sweet, slightly 'off', slightly synthetic creamy vanilla on drydown.

 

(I think I might have similar skin chemistry as @muined, as Hecate and dark musk do the same thing on me as well.)

[doomsday_disco]

A brief of splort of brandied apricot, and then, WHOOSH! A wave of dark musk hits so fast that it quickly becomes a predominantly dark musk and light hinoki on me with just a touch of the brandied apricot. I am getting zero vanilla from this, sadly.

 

It was nice to get to try this, but I was really hoping for more apricot and vanilla.

Edited April 12, 2020 by doomsday_disco

[artisjok]

Enchanting Diversion was one of my top three to try out of the Lupers in the beginning.
It’s not how I pictured...

First, I get a rich waft of vanilla-smothered apricot. It doesn’t last long alone. The musk and hinoki wood march in to join rank, pushing vanilla apricot into the dust. The wood isn’t working for my skin chem, I think. I get an almost plastic effect that is just off. The whole scent is rather soft, though.
Where’s the brandy?!
I wonder if it just needs some age... will have to revisit after some time. 

I’m so glad a lovely forumite sent me a decant! 

[Lucchesa]

I love the discontinued GC Grand Guignol (apricot brandy) and was hoping this would be a woody, musky variant on that theme.  On me it starts out as FRUIT.  Not even specifically apricot -- I would have guessed there was some berry in there as well.  Fruit poached in a lot of sugar with a dollop of vanilla.  Within a few moments I can recognize it more as apricot in heavy syrup -- nowhere near as boozy as Grand Guignol.  And as it develops, the musk and wood come out and the apricot recedes.  The final impression is a skin scent of vaguely apricot scented, slightly woody musk, and it doesn't last all that long on me. I may hang onto this decant to see if a few months of aging helps bring the various components into better balance, but Grand Guignol wins this round.  

[LizziesLuck]

Wet: This is a light skin scent on me, mainly tart apricot and dark musk. It's getting a bit stronger as it warms on my skin. It's different than any of the other apricot scents that I have, much darker. This is the only Luper I got this year, because I have been on such a strict low-buy, and I think I gambled wrong.  it's just so faint on me!

 

Dry: The musk is nice, but still really faint. I enjoy this, but I don't love it. And at this stage when I have more perfumes than I can even wear in a year, I think I have to love it to keep it. Sad I picked wrong! But hopefully someone else will love this.

[Casablanca]

On me, freshly applied, this is a slightly drunk and deeply maudlin apricot. This apricot has sunken down to sit on the curb, hunched over a bottle of Spanish brandy, staring simultaneously at black asphalt and at some faraway place of distant memory. This is a warm, sweet, dark apricot and touches of booze and dark musk. 

 

Dried, I get a little impression of the wood and vanilla. The vanilla seems like a dark one, but that could be the darkness suffusing the blend. It's really all a sweet shadow overhanging our sad apricot friend.

 

Poor apricot. 🤗

[Rayleigh]

Love the brandied apricots, which are heady and tart and not at all syrupy on me. The woodsy notes overtake the apricot shortly, with the smallest splash of vanilla. I'm sure the musk is there, but it isn't very prominent. For how strong it went on, this faded away fast. I enjoyed how realistic the apricot was, but it didn't stand a chance of lasting against my fruit-eating skin. Pass on a bottle, but a fun one to try and think about apricot season.

[torikitty]

I don't think the apricots are easily recognizable. But I think my nose isn't picking up a bunch of nuance at this point. I wasn't impressed with this as much as I wanted, but I'll have to test it again later.

[Vaporeon]

The apricot in this smells a lot like Depraved to me. But while the patch in Depraved can go a little musty on me, the dark musk in this reminds me of cola. Pretty much exactly what I was hoping for

[garbagewitch]

My skin just eats this one up, which is a bummer, because it's one of my favorites out of the Shungas I snatched up from this batch. Starts out as a soft, almost soft, almost powdery vanilla musk and syrupy apricot, with the brandy coming out to give it a boozy touch. It's soft and powdery and sweet, but in a dark, shadowy kind of way—it reminds me of The Cat, almost, but smoother, not as raspy. Makes me think of drawn curtains, kisses stolen in dimly lit, out-of-the-way rooms, sweetened with a bit of liquid courage.