Kabe Ni Mimi Ga Aru, Shoki Ni Me Ga Aru

[zankoku_zen]

Vanilla husk, vanilla sandalwood, copal, and patchouli.

[starbrow]

Kabe Ni Mimi Ga Aru, Shoki Ni Me Ga Aru, a journal:

 

Day 1: Whoa this is....nothing like I was expecting! Kabe, o ye of two vanillas, smacks me with a whole lotta patch and cola-like copal resin, but with some vanilla on drydown so it's almost like vanilla coke. I thought it was a very fizzy patch, before I remembered that Coffee Beans and Copal (from the Yule coffee collection) had the same kind of thing going on. Curious to see how this develops as it settles.

 

Day 2-4: This was not the foodie wood I signed up for? Not sure if I'm enjoying this. Yet I keep huffing my wrist?

 

Day 7: Okay, the fizziness has calmed the eff down and now, while there is still some colaness, it's smoothed out, sweetened up, and the patch is at manageable levels. The vanilla sandalwood miiight be the slight funk that's lingering here. This perfume oil is a scent cousin to the Hagaromo-No-Taki HG from this year's Lupers (Tahitian vanilla, coconut cream, orris root, sugar cane, and white sandalwood), and what it shares is vanilla and sandalwood. Both have a very earthy, almost dirty sandalwood. And yet somehow it works in Kabe? I'm starting to really love huffing this. It's so strange and wild and, frankly, weird, that it's endearing. d

 

I can tell this baby will continue to morph as it ages, and I'm here for it. Do not expect foodie, expect something pretty funky and crazy, and you'll be ready for Kabe's wild ride.

 

[Casablanca]

O my.

 

Unexpectedly, right out of the decant, I get a glorious, foodie vanilla. I can't stop huffing; nor can I quite identify what's driving this vanilla (or vanillas?) to such a high pitch of attraction for me. Is there a Tahitian vanilla? What I seem to be getting -- for some reason -- is a caramel-beeswax-coconut tone to it, along with the hints of copal and patchouli. Whatever the damn is going on, it's good.

 

As this dries, I get more copal, and the blend as a whole softens considerably. But it doesn't otherwise shift much for me. A nice one.

 

[VetchVesper]

Yet another shunga I'm adoring from this years Luper release.  Beautiful, smooth sandalwood and a rich, verging on foody vanilla at first.  The opening stages smell almost nutty to me.  As it dries down, the copal and patch come through, the foodiness subsides, and this becomes more of an earthy incense.  Finally, the sandalwood and smooth patchouli take center stage.  An unusual incense blend that smells very Asian to me.  If you are a fan of copal or sandalwood, try this one.  This will age gloriously, and a bottle goes on my list.  

Edited April 4, 2020 by VetchVesper

[zankoku_zen]

Sandalwood, vanilla, and a whiff of patchouli. To me, this is a softer, kinder more sandalwood version of Banshee Beat. There, I said it. It's like baby Banshee Beat, but with sandalwood instead of hemp, but there's the sexy vanilla, and enough patchouli to make it dirty enough. Good throw and wear length.

[doomsday_disco]

I bought this mainly because of the vanilla and patchouli notes, even though I know nothing is going to beat Banshee Beat/Revenant Rhythm in that category. But this? This is too dank for me.

 

This features a gnarly patchouli that is so dank that I keep thinking maybe there is an unlisted weed note in this. It combines with the dry, smoky copal to amplify the dankness. If you couldn't do the copal and patch combo in Greed, you are not going to be able to wear this one, either. The vanilla peeks out more with wear, and I think it is kind of a syrupy vanilla. Not the same kind of vanilla that I love in Banshee Beat. The sandalwood, while, present, can't compete with the strength of the patch and the copal on me.

 

This one is for those that love earthy, dirty patch scents.

[yewberry]

Who's a naughty monkey?

 

Sweet vanilla and some very smutty patchouli and sandalwood going on.  The copal adds a little smack of spice.  Mmmm...this one's liquid lust.

[galahad]

In the Bottle:
Copal and sandalwood with a faint whiff of vanilla

 

On the Skin:
Mostly dry copal and sandalwood to start but the vanilla emerges as it warms on the skin to tone down the woody notes.  No obvious patchouli.  The vanilla is buttery and thick, not my favourite form.

 

On the Drydown:
The patchouli rears it's head further into the drydown, adding an earthiness needed to calm the vanilla down.  Nice but not my favourite of the Lupers so far.

[Teamama]

Wet:  Oh yum. Resinous wood &  sweet vanilla are my jam, for sure. 
Dry: a lot like Two Sheep & Two Goats Resting Together in a Field, but without the vetiver's grassy bitterness.  
Verdict: Lovely,  but I don't need a bottle.

[theseagrows]

damn, i don't like foody vanillas and this one is that. it's kind of nutty and a bit sharp with some copal and patchouli. hoping it becomes a...different sort of vanilla soon 😅 i definitely see a revenant rhythm similarity (never tried banshee beat) but it's lighter and less...chewy? about 5-10 minutes in, i get something mildly plasticky...which makes no sense because it's usually fruits that turn plasticky on me. thankfully the nuttiness is gone now though. after about an hour i really like this, once the plasticky thing burns off. it's a pretty warm vanilla and patchouli. i'll definitely have to give it another try and see what i think.

Edited May 6, 2020 by theseagrows

[Rayleigh]

Something in here reminds me of the Antikythera Mechanism? I don't know why.

 

This is my first blend with copal, and I already love it. I haven't had a miss yet on my journey to become the number one fan of resins.

 

But the issue is that Antikythera Mechanism had all the ingredients of something I would have loved, but it went funky on me. This has just a hint of that funk -- which I'm pretty sure was the tobacco there, so I'm not sure what it could be in this one. This is unfortunate, because I really like the blend otherwise. It's an earthy, resinous vanilla blend, which is my jam. Most sniffs are lovely, but that note keeps creeping in around the edges. I'll give my decant another whirl, because this is an almost hit on me, and I think it will be great on a lot of other people.

[Jenjin]

This is rich and has my favorite, rooty patchouli in it, syrupy, with tiny whiffs of something "purple" like sweet grapes or wine. What a warm, spicy treat! The copal is sticky and ceremonial, a luscious little nugget. This isn't the smoke when the resin is burned, but more like the plant itself, deep-green, earthy, husky weeping golden sap. The vanilla is deep, like freshly sliced vanilla pods and sweetens in the drydown, grounding down the velvety sandalwood. All the notes swirl together beautifully into a transformative dream: I am sitting at the base of the World Tree. The fires that burn at the "Gate to Heaven" are being prepared, and I am breathing in deeply as our passage slowly comes to light. 

 

Edited May 19, 2020 by Jenjin

[artisjok]

Kabe Ni is thick and foody vanilla on me, entwined with rich patchouli and sharp citrusy copal. I love the smell of burning copal, yet haven’t found a blend from the Lab that works for me... until now.
This combo of rich sweet and woodsy with the bitter resin is decadent and spiritual and punishing all at once.
The experience reminds me of when I used to be slightly obsessed with these San Pellegrino Chinotto sodas. At first I thought they tasted repulsive, so bitter! Then that bitterness, all sweetened up and sparkling, would just hit this flavor craving so perfectly. That’s the same with this.
A balance of repulsion and desire.

It’s addicting! 

[tinyvulture]

Like a Vanilla Coke, as starbrow said. The copal is really subdued and smooth. The vanilla and patchouli are really sweet and the overall drydown is a sweet, smooth copal/patchouli. Very sweet! But nice!

[Madame Mew]

WOW. This is delicious. Wet, it's kind of nutty and a funky vanilla ice cream thing. The woodiness comes out as it starts to dry, maintaining a slightly nutty, creamy but somehow not totally foodie scent. I suppose that's the sandalwood and copal keeping the sweetness on its toes. Very glad I blind bottled this. 

[Lucchesa]

Kabe Ni Mimi just missed my short list of Lupers I was buying decants of; a super generous forumite gifted it to me.  Similarly, it kind of just misses on my skin.  My first impressions of Kabe Ni Mimi were vanilla, copal and gnarly patchouli.  Now that I know it's there, the sandalwood is obvious, too.  The opening is promising, and the late drydown, mostly that vanilla sandalwood, is gorgeous, but it goes through an awkward phase on me where the vanilla-patch-copal combination is just not gelling on me.  Some vanillas go weird on my skin, and that's happening here for a time.  If I could eliminate the middle, this would be a great scent. 

[DiZZysTARdust]

this is sooo good. Like the perfect vanilla scent. The vanilla is strong and rich when it's freshly applied. A little of the patchouli comes out but i think the sandalwood smooths it over pretty quickly, and the vanilla stays a strong point even into the drydown, which kind of seems to tie everything together. I think i have read copal as like a fizzy bright note in the past, but i'm not getting so much of that in here. As it dries further the vanilla gets a little less sweet but still very present. This sort of reminds me of celeste. Or rather, it's what i wanted from celeste but a little more vanilla and more sheer in some ways. Still, despite that this isn't really like a casual every day scent to me. Saving for special occasions.

[supreme_c0rt]

When I first tried the imp I found the copal and patch to be too dank, with a screechy, scratchy effect I just wasn't that into. But! Letting it mellow for a few weeks, it's a whole different thing now. Just that little bit of extra aging made the vanilla come out much more. On me, this vanilla is a sheer, gentle, sophisticated type. Not custardy or buttery. The comparisons to BB are close, but I would say the vanilla is less foodie here, and the stronger patch and copal make this a more masculine take on BB. In fact I would say this is closer to Goblin than it is to BB. The big difference is that dank patch and resin (this is the second blend I've tried from this year's Lupers that smelled just like my box of raw Tibetan incense). The resinous incense note is what makes this sing for me.  

 

Fully dry, a delicate floral note comes out, the way that sandalwood can sometimes smell faintly floral. Pleasure Boat had something like this going on too. It's beautiful. I'm glad I gave it another chance. Fans of Goblin need this in their life. 

 

I hunted a bit for the translation and found this:

Quote

Today, I will talk about the Japanese proverb "kabe ni mimi ari shoji ni me ari." This proverb expresses that secret things or gossips are prone to leak. The literal meaning of "kabe ni mimi ari" is "there are ears on walls," and it indicates that someone might listen to anytime while placing his/her ear against a wall. The literal meaning of "shoji ni me ari" is "there are eyes on shoji (Japanese paper sliding doors)," and it indicates that someone might peep inside through the door. That is to say, this proverb says that you have no idea when and who listen/see your talks and acts, so you have to be careful whatever you do. By the way, I heard that there is almost the same proverb in English "Walls have ears."

 

Edited August 20, 2020 by supreme_c0rt

[torikitty]

Wow, everyone is saying foodie vanilla, and I don't get that at all. I immediately feel like it's floral. That initial floral note is putting me off. Luckily, the patch starts to cover up the floral note. There's something still funky around the edges. I'm not sure if it's the sandalwood or copal. It eventually goes away, and I feel like I'm left with a sweet patch laying next to some vanilla bean pods that have been scraped clean. But there's still an incense vibe to it. This will smell beautiful on the right person.

[Vaporeon]

This one is special and very Bpal to me. It's a lot of creamy vanilla on me deepened with the other notes. My first instinct was to blind buy several bottles and i regret not doing it. 

The Vanilla is very sticky and gooey backed up by resinous copal.

The patch and sandalwood sharpen it slightly

Its really like nothing else i have

Edited September 12, 2021 by Vaporeon

[Little Bird]

I always want to try anything that lists vanilla and patchouli, but the heavy and baby powdery sandalwood ruins this one for me.  It's cloying, sickly sweet vanilla with a hint of earthiness from the patchouli, and tons of powdery, warm, heavy sandalwood.  Very dry, slightly dusty smelling.

[fairybites]

Vanilla is amped on me, so I can't smell much else besides that when it's freshly applied! If I concentrate, I can smell what I believe to be sandalwood, but all the other notes get lost until it's been dry for about 10 minutes. After that point, I can finally notice the patchouli.

 

The vanilla notes to me are very foodie and sweet. I'm picturing slightly melted, sticky ice cream as I sniff my wrist. And once the patchouli comes out, I see the vanilla Coke resemblance some other reviewers have pointed out. 

 

This is a wonderful scent for vanilla lovers, not so much if you love the other notes as well. As someone who loves the Lab's patchouli, this disappointed me a little considering that note was nowhere near as strong as vanilla. Doubtful I'll pick up a bottle, but I will enjoy the decant I have.

[MamaMoth]

i, too, am getting something "purple" from this.  a syrupy sweet patchouli, dusty purple fruit, and incense.  this reminds me a good bit of the late-day throw of urd.  very odd.  i'm questioning the provenance of my secondhand decant. i may track down another to verify.