Venture deep into the woods with this ethereal composition.

Listed notes

Bergamot, plum, eucalyptus, pepper mint, violet leaf, metallic notes.

Top notes

To call the start of Kimono Vert by Art De Parfum “bracing” isn’t wrong, but it also doesn’t feel quite adequate to describe the multiple nuances and facets that are at play right from the first spritz. Many fragrances are transportive, but Kimono Vert manages to be almost immersive in the way in which it plunges you into a different environment.

Spraying the scent will whisk you away from your desk and drop you deep in a thicket of trees and dense undergrowth, dripping with moisture, deep loam under your feet. The temperature is cool, but you are not cold. For a while you will imagine that you are somewhere familiar, somewhere else on planet Earth, but linger a little longer and it will soon become apparent that there is an unfamiliarity to this place too, an etherealness, and a lingering darkness. Could it be that you have slipped into the next universe along on the string?

The immediate impression upon spraying of this scent is a dense but realistic wet greenery. You can smell the water clinging to fronds and leaves in little droplets. The greenery is rendered in a way which feels very real, very true to life, which is to say that it is full of body but also handled delicately so as to not be overpowering – just like it is when you find yourself deep in the woods. There’s a verdant lushness which will appeal to anyone who enjoys green fragrances.

Heart notes

As the scent begins to relax, an interesting juxtaposition of elements come to play. There is a sharp astringency from the violet leaf which would make your mouth pucker if it were a flavour. The metallic notes cling to this element but somehow – and perhaps unusually – they seem to soothe the violet leaf and calm its bitter tones.

A pepperiness also begins to show itself in the heart of the scent. The mintiness is there in the form of a cool clarity (along too with the eucalyptus) which feels expansive and calming, but overlaying this is the sharp, tangy pepperiness. The peppery facet gives a counterpoint to the moisture we notice earlier on, and overall it begins to construct the idea of snapped stems or celery – perhaps broken as you push your way through the vegetation.

Alongside all this, a soapiness also floats. Clean, fresh, bright, it is more pronounced in the sillage of the fragrance than if you smell it up close, but it gives the impression that this would be a good daytime or office scent when you want to appear composed and collected all day. This soapiness encourages an ethereal feel overall. Like something pure and un-dirtied is floating through a thicket of green.

Base notes

There is a floral side to Kimono Vert, but it is reminiscent of the imaginary scent of euphorbia, alchemilla or green hydrangea, by that I mean that it is a floral based heavily in and constructed of different green shades. This floral feeling is perhaps, in part, responsible for the soapiness that the fragrance carries too at times.

Whilst still mouthwatering, Kimono Vert does become woodier in the base. It is a gradual and subtle shift though. The pepperiness we noticed mid way through a wear helps lead us into this new glade. The trees become larger, the dense undergrowth gives way to more space. The woodiness we smell though is old, wise, and retaining the dampness that the greenery had in the earlier phases.

Is the plum visible? In a strange way it is, but as a sharp tartness that evokes biting into an under ripe fruit and having a rush of sensation as your taste buds tingle. Often plum can be sticky and sweet, but here it feels almost threatening. Have you eaten something from the tree of life, or has a poisoned fruit just passed your lips?

Kimono Vert feels like a scent which might be out of a fairytale. Yes, it is a green scent and will certainly delight lovers of such, but at the same time there is this sense of a mystical sort of darkness lingering around the edges. The woods are home to many different creatures, and who knows if you will be predator or prey.

The other stuff

The perfumer for this fragrance is unlisted.

Kimono Vert isn’t one of those watery green fragrances which disappear after ten minutes, it has a good amount of backbone and staying capacity. We found that it lasted six hours or so following application.

The fragrance projected to around handshake distance and it seemed to be the soapiness which people noticed the most in the sillage (or trail) of the scent. Up close, the greenery was more evident.

Kimono Vert very much feels like a spring fragrance, that sense of sappy greenery is unmistakable and it is hard to divorce that vibe from the spring season. It is also more of a daytime scent than an evening one, and another which would be perfect for wearing in the office as it is unlikely to cause offence with colleagues, but will give you a freshly-washed crispness for the majority of the day.

The brand

Art De Parfum are a modern brand with a fresh vibe and clean, uncluttered aesthetic. Their bottles are round and attractive and the brand strives to be as eco conscious as they can. More information can be found on their Philosophy page.

Buy it

Kimono Vert is priced at £114 for 50ml of extrait strength. It is available to buy from the Art De Parfum web boutique.

We were kindly gifted a sample set of the Art De Parfum fragrances by Mercer Keeble PR on behalf of the brand. Our thanks to them.

Header image by Benjamin Balazs from Pixabay. Images of the product by The Sniff.