Maker of Soaps and Shaver of Men
Cooperstown, NY, USA
Sweet scents are generally not my thing, though there are always exceptions. They’re generally hard to wear, overbearing, and often borderline nauseating. Kiki Voile d`Extrait (hereafter referred to as just Kiki) doesn’t really reach that last one, but it’s not really my cup of tea either.
Created by enigmatic Swiss perfumer Vero Kern, Kiki was apparently intended to represent some kind of high-speed collision between the famously sweet patchouli-bomb Angel and a softened lavender perfume (lavender can be “softened” and made less penetratingly fresh by blending the oil with linalool and linalyl acetate, which together comprise roughly 60% of its chemical makeup anyway). The result is………well…………it’s honestly pretty weird.
It opens with an intense sugary note. Like pralines and caramel and cotton candy and liquid sugar all blended together and poured straight into the alcohol. There are ostensibly notes of citron (lemon peel) and bergamot in the top of the fragrance somewhere, but I get absolutely zero citrus from this stuff. None.
Once the initial caramel-sugarsplosion burns off a little bit, you can smell the bite of the black currant, patchouli, and passionfruit built into the top of the fragrance. Did I mention that it’s sweet? It’s like being hit in the head with a sledgehammer made of caramelized sugar, then being tossed into a cotton candy machine.
Blessedly, the sugar eventually burns away completely leaving………….lavender. None of the geranium or amber or opopnax described by Fragrantica. Just lavender. A very smooth, well-blended, boring, run-of-the-mill lavender.
About the most interesting thing about the stuff is its longevity; Kiki lasts for about 12 hours on my skin, and 8 of those are lavender. If you’re into lavender fragrances with outrageous longevity, this might be for you, but if you’re not a big fan of sweet perfumes in general, I think I’d pass. Overall, kind of weird, dissonant stuff, and not at all what I expected.
Created by enigmatic Swiss perfumer Vero Kern, Kiki was apparently intended to represent some kind of high-speed collision between the famously sweet patchouli-bomb Angel and a softened lavender perfume (lavender can be “softened” and made less penetratingly fresh by blending the oil with linalool and linalyl acetate, which together comprise roughly 60% of its chemical makeup anyway). The result is………well…………it’s honestly pretty weird.
It opens with an intense sugary note. Like pralines and caramel and cotton candy and liquid sugar all blended together and poured straight into the alcohol. There are ostensibly notes of citron (lemon peel) and bergamot in the top of the fragrance somewhere, but I get absolutely zero citrus from this stuff. None.
Once the initial caramel-sugarsplosion burns off a little bit, you can smell the bite of the black currant, patchouli, and passionfruit built into the top of the fragrance. Did I mention that it’s sweet? It’s like being hit in the head with a sledgehammer made of caramelized sugar, then being tossed into a cotton candy machine.
Blessedly, the sugar eventually burns away completely leaving………….lavender. None of the geranium or amber or opopnax described by Fragrantica. Just lavender. A very smooth, well-blended, boring, run-of-the-mill lavender.
About the most interesting thing about the stuff is its longevity; Kiki lasts for about 12 hours on my skin, and 8 of those are lavender. If you’re into lavender fragrances with outrageous longevity, this might be for you, but if you’re not a big fan of sweet perfumes in general, I think I’d pass. Overall, kind of weird, dissonant stuff, and not at all what I expected.
“You could leave life right now. Let that determine what you do and say and think.” – Marcus Aurelius
Fine grooming products at Barrister and Mann.
www.barristerandmann.com
Fine grooming products at Barrister and Mann.
www.barristerandmann.com
