Kiseru

[Seajewel]

Red sandalwood, vanilla husk, and tobacco smoke.

[feyofthefellwood]

Absolutely gorgeous! I have a feeling this one will be popular. Foremost to my nose is the heady vanilla husk note from scents like the Vanilla Husk, Hay Absolute, & Nutmeg trio and Cognac-Stained Sheet Ghost. The red sandalwood is smooth and the tobacco smoke is just this light tobacco haze, not acrid or woodsmoke-y at all. Glad I blind bought two bottles. This is fresh out of the mail and could change a bit, but so far this is exactly what I'd hoped for. ❤️

[saralaughs]

I agree heartily with the above review. This is a gorgeous blend.

 

The sandalwood is smoooooooth with a bit of a lemon edge (or is that the vanilla husk?) with the vanilla husk providing warmth and a round creaminess. The tobacco smoke isn't too forward and comes around later, providing just the right amount of haze. This reads as an oriental blend to me and just continues to deepen as it wears.

 

It's definitely a keeper. And I may get another bottle.

[asterope]

Wow. I just got my decants yesterday and all have been fantastic but this one..this one may need to be a few bottle back up. 

 

No sandalwood thus far that I'm really getting, just a very pale love child of pediophobia and cognac stained sheet. It is gorgeous and will be hunted down in the future. Would pair well with hag grey hair gloss as I feel the same melancholy grey vibes. 

Edited March 25, 2023 by asterope

[MamaMoth]

oh, this one is special. 

 

that wonderful vanilla husk note. happy sigh. i'm here for it. you're probably here for it. it shines in this one, and it's absolutely gorgeous. don't let the smoke scare you, there's no harshness to it.  this is so smooth. 

 

i've been trying (and failing) all day to think of how to describe this, so let's keep it straightforward(ish): dry, woodsy, vanillic incense draped in a light gauze of sweet tobacco. deceptively simple, devastatingly beautiful. familiar enough to be comforting, unique enough to be utterly compelling. 

 

my inner hoardy dragon is rearing its head for this one. it'll be fun to see how many bottles i end up with. 

 

Edited March 27, 2023 by MamaMoth

[emkathol]

This is gorgeous. Not what I expected from the notes - no smoke, and the sandalwood is very gentle and smooth, not at all sharp or overly woody. The vanilla husk is very recognizable with a slightly lemony, creamy aspect, like vanilla mixed with lemon cream. Not gourmand, but lightly sweet. This is maybe a bit faint, but a lovely skin scent. I expect the throw will improve a bit with more rest/age, but even relatively fresh this one is fantastic. 

[doomsday_disco]

This is mostly about the vanilla and tobacco on me, backed by the red sandalwood. If you're wondering how this compares to And Though They Are With You, They Belong Not To You: well, this one is a lot different because of the inclusion of tobacco and it being a different sandalwood (think, like, Morocco and Inez sandalwood and not like, Kit sandalwood). The vanilla is the same, though, and it's that Antique Lace 2017 vanilla that's been popping up in more blends recently (like the Vanilla Husk, Nutmeg, and Hay Absolute Trio). The tobacco note is really lovely and might be the French one, but I did not dig up my decant to confirm. But I can at least say there's no horrible smoke in this tobacco smoke.

 

I think this is really nice, but I'm going to be a little heretical and say that I'm a little burnt out on this vanilla note at the moment.  I'll retest this before it goes away to see if I need more, but if that's the case, I may have to get rid of one of my other scents that also features this vanilla really prominently.

[amoray]

Even though the sandalwood is mentioned first, it's mostly in the back of the scent. Vanilla and smooth tobacco. I get no lemon as others mentioned. The edginess seems to be coming from the "husk". It has a dried husk, like a corn husk smell around the vanilla. Like a dry summer smell when all the corn is harvested and husks are lying out in the fields. Also, the vanilla note is one I've smelled before...but I haven't smelled the vanilla husk trio or cognac sheet ghost. I wonder if this is similar to Pandemic Vanitas? It might have been used as a bit of the cotton note due to the husk giving it that dry cottony feeling. It's quite comforting in the same way Pandemic Vanitas is, but without the foodie notes. I may have to buy a bottle because it gives me the same calming vibes. I would wear this to bed or to lay around on a lazy day. 

[Mufasa]

This is powdery and the red sandalwood makes it very oriental incense smelling. I’m not very impressed with this one unfortunately I loved the vanilla husk trio but I stupidly only got one bottle which is why I bought this one but it’s so powdery to be honest the powder just drowns out that vanilla husk and it just slowly morphs into a baby powder and oriental antique store on my skin.

[jensdays]

 

Brand new, got it in the mail yesterday.  In the bottle and on application it is absolutely gorgeous.  Mostly vanilla, a completely non-foody vanilla.  1 ½ hours or so… Something has joined the vanilla, but I don’t specifically recognize it as either the tobacco or sandalwood.  Maybe it’s the smoke part of the tobacco, I don’t think I’ve run across that before.  It’s toned down the sweetness of the vanilla and given it a slight woodiness (ah, probably the sandalwood then!)  It’s pretty light, but there’s a decent throw I can smell around me. 4+ hours, it’s still there, almost entirely vanilla.  I don’t think it morphed at all once it was dry.  But I can still smell it both on my skin and in the air around me, which is really rare.  I can’t wait to see how this ages.

I don't get anything lemon at all, and very little sandalwood.  I'm hoping the sandalwood gets stronger as it ages - it usually does.  And the comparison to the Antique Lace vanilla is spot on.

Edited April 4, 2023 by jensdays

[deadlyves]

Equal parts vanilla, tobacco, and sandalwood. The vanilla is light, sheer, and creamy. The sandalwood and tobacco are fairly dry and warm it up. As it wears, it seems to rotate between which of the three is most forward.

 

Very much what it claims to be and very satisfying. Low-medium throw. It was particularly nice on a rainy spring day today.

[pinkgyrl]

Kiseru smells exotic, sensual, oriental - it seems deceptively simple mostly comprising of a slightly “dirty” vanilla probably from the husk descriptor or from the tobacco and creamy sandalwood on my skin.  The tobacco is so difficult to pick out on its own but rather a tinge of it is left on each of the other notes.  This scent does smell “red” to me if I try to ascribe a color.  It smells expensive and feels more “grown-up” than I feel inside.  As it fades into my skin, I actually like it more - it has the unique duality of *feeling* like an intimate skin scent when you try to smell where it was applied but actually harboring an amazing throw - Kiseru weaves its way into the air around me and holds on for dear life.  
 

Gorgeous 

Edited April 7, 2023 by pinkgyrl

[geophagustapajos]

I feel like a downer but I guess after all the hype I was a little underwhelmed by this one. It's reading to me as a lotiony body butter, skin musk, non foody vanilla and just the barest hint of sandalwood. Low throw and strength. I was hoping for something more spicy sandalwood and tobacco but this is not that.

[Minh Scent]

It would be hard for more to deny that this is a pretty scent.  What is not to love about those notes? Unfortunately, this is way too delicate of a perfume for me.  If anyone is looking for an office perfume that can't annoy co-workers, but will make you smile, this is it!

 

(Disclaimer alert- I am so in love with White Chocolate, Sandalwood  and Lemon Peel, that I am now hard to please with more gentle sandalwood notes!)

[ND¢]

Another 'power trio' winner. Beth knocks it out of the park really consistently with three-note blends if you haven't noticed. Vision of the Courtesan, Kitten With Shamisen.... Rope Pulley... matter of fact go down the Luper reviews and you'll see what I mean. This is like  Vanilla Husk, Nutmeg & Hay Absolute and Zorya P had a baby, and if you love those you will love this. I will say the sandalwood/tobacco smoke upon drydown as the oil warms up on my skin are really something special. A delicate but absolutely sexy blend. 

[WoolyBee]

I’m just going to echo everyone else. It’s gorgeous and sexy. The vanilla husk is extremely reminiscent of the vanilla husk/hay trio, but the sandalwood/tobacco reeeeallly works wonders to set it apart. I love this one, it’s super wearable and I always always get compliments when I wear it out. 

[daemonrabbit]

It seemed to take a month or so for all the notes to settle on my skin, but I agree with asterope that this has some serious Pediophobia vibes. It doesn't seem to be as strong or lingering, maybe slightly less nuanced, but it is definitely similar enough to give people who missed out on Pediophobia a current alternative! I'm keeping both scents because I love this combination.

[Weirdgirlpilled]

This is a melancholy, grey scent. it’s smooth and beautiful, very adult, very pretty, very alluring. the throw is good, the sillage too. it’s perfect for a day where i’m feeling empty inside despite the happy external circumstances. 

[PumpkinGuts]

I'm happy I listened to reviews and grabbed a bottle of this before it went down, it's stunning. I can't really add much more than what's already been said -- this is smooth, sexy, slinky sandalwood and tobacco. It smells expensive. I need more blends with this vanilla husk note, it's to die for.

 

Definitely similar to Pediophobia, but I like this even better. Instead of a frilly porcelain doll, Kiseru is a geisha doll carved from fine wood. I only wish the throw was as strong as Pediophobia's, this is more of a skin scent.

 

My favorite of the 2023 Lupers! 

[Little Bird]

When I first got Kiseru, it had a baby powder and plasticy lipstick scent that I hated, but I kept wearing it on different days to try to get a good impression for a review, and I think it needed a few months to really settle into itself.  I noticed it was more vanilla-y and enjoyable every time that I wore it, the powder became more elegant and noticeably of dry sandalwood rather than baby powder, and a lemony tone developed in it while the plasticy cheap lipstick smell completely disappeared.  It's sort of an elegant wood glossed with a creamy lemon polish and creamy, but not very sweet vanilla.  Quiet and elegant.