Koto Shiseido for women

I bought this blind, partly because of the listed notes and partly because of my successful blind buy with another Shiseido perfume, Murasaki, which I adore. I was surprised that I could not detect any leather as such, however it must be present because the beautiful florals are quite tempered and well blended with a slight underlying spicy note. The whole perfume is SO expertly blended that really nothing stands out to my nose. Koto does turn powdery in the drydown. Go easy on the application - 2 sprays is plenty as the sillage is generous.

I would not recommend this for younger women as it certainly smells a little old-fashioned, having been released in 1967, but at least it isn't a stonking great 80's floral! I'm not a huge fan of florals but I am extremely glad to have bought this. The greenish notes and tinge of spices add plenty of interest to a basically lovely floral. Maybe I'll even try some more Shiseidos given the 100% success rate so far.

Koto is almost a cross between Yves Saint Laurent Y and Paco Rabanne Metal, in a legere version. Mossy, with a hint of the green florals that gives Metal its cool shine, it then becomes folded in glove leather. I can only find this in EDC and a stronger formulation would be highly coveted.

My first acquaintance with Koto was in a department store in Tokyo in the 80ies. Back then, Koto was almost 20 years old already but of course I wasn't aware of this. I liked it a lot but didn't purchase, probably because of a limited travel budget. I always remembered this scent but never saw it again until last year, in a Swedish online store (!) and now I finally have a bottle. As far as I can recall, it smells exactly the same.

Although Koto includes strong notes like narcissus and leather, the Eau de Cologne concentration makes this scent different from other classic chypres. When my wrists demand chypre and the situation requires something quiet, this is the obvious choice.