Basala by Shiseido

minimalist

However I remember many years ago when this was launched, it was called BasaRa. Am i going mad?

guest_xman

There is something very manly about this fragrance that makes people turn when you pass by.

I first smelt this fragrance in a GQ magazine ad in 1997. Since then I was hooked on it and I kept asking people to help get one oversea. They thought I made up the name. Eventually a friend went shopping and she stumbled upon it. She bought two bottles for me. I just finished the first bottle and the second bottle is tucked away somewhere.

It is truly a classic fragrance and I wonder why they stopped making it!

guest_Olaf

The best perfume from Shiseido!!!Very peppery and unique scent.Maybe come back in future!!!I'm waiting!!!!!

raverdudes

This is an extremely powerful and masculine fragrance. It has a very strong personality. Too bad it's SO hard to find. HIghly recommendable for evenings.

Maddyrain

Somehow similar to Xeryus Rouge,which means, fantastic, spicy... I just wish it could be easily found... and with reasonable price!

hernie

Delicioso, muy masculino. Pero aquí en Argentina está discontinuado!! Una lástima...

shamus1

Certainly a complex fragrance, actually too complex, as if it wants to be all fragrances to all people. The main thing I liked about Basala was it's deep base note of oakmoss. However, all of the intense synthetic spiciness added to it just flattens the oakmoss, pushing it way into the background. Smells like it wants to be Egoiste, Polo, Eau de Monsieur, Eau d'Issey and JOOP all at once, and not really good at being any of those. An average fragrance at best. I bought this about ten years ago, got so sick of wearing it, I threw it in the trash after a month. I've heard it's been discontinued, and I don't miss it.

Kultakutri

I found it in the local department store, under a major layer of dust. After long trying to hunt it on eBay, where the prices are mad.
When my heart rate got back to passable 200, I tried it. In ten seconds, I fell in love. Lavender, mint, pepper, whoknowswhat, unidentifiable herbs - the memory last week's trip to botanical garden was kicking my shin all the time - rosemary, I suppose.
Ten minutes later, I fell in love again. Some dry spicy notes that vaguely reminded me of Asja surfaced, with a bit of lemon and something sweet. Asja and mojito would be a decent equivalent of heaven.
The drydown is warm and spicy and cooling and vetivery at the same time.

The fragrance changes at least three times, I've never smelled anything like that - there are notes that are almost contradictory - pungent and smooth and soothing, spicy hot and sweet... Tomorrow I'm going to buy it because I just cannot live without it.

Now, judging from the other reviews, I gotta be a big tough guy.

vertigo

Chypre-spicy.

Japanese word 'basala' stands for a sanskrit word meaning 'gem', a talisman which daunted the chaos and bad spirits, held by Buddha .
In XIV century, when Japan was in a bad condition, the name 'basala' was given to men of a great spiritual strenght, able to nix the chaos and renew the world.

The originators of the fragrance felt that the last decade of the XX century, with its rush and mess, resmebled the Japanese middle ages. They wanted to create a scent that would help a contemporary man in spiritual rebirth and assert his strenght, intelligence and sensibility.

A man using Basala is not afraid to look at himself critically, he is intelligent, free and sensitive, respects beauty and art.

The red bottle may resemble the silhouette of a samurai.

fqjcior

This one was a dissapointment for me. After a really great and one of a kind begining it changed in the direction I didn't like. It was going weaker and weaker. It lasted - that's true. But I don't like the way it smelled after 2 hours. So I sold it...

Mitsouko

Warm, friendly, sound, rather oriental smell. I like when men wear it. Smelled of Basala is a truthworthy and very attractive.

cpk

Magnifiscent... The top notes are trully scary. And I mean it. Don't let that put you off though. The drydown is sweet, leathery, warm and it lasts...