Miyako

I must admit, if it hadn't been for Mr. Turin's getting back to blogging i wouldn't have heard of Miyako or Auphorie in 2016, although the fragrance won The Art and Olfaction Awards that year. I like to believe I'm not insusceptible, but despite (my) many divergent thoughts on Mr. Turin's ways of criticism, I'm not going to lie, his impressions had and still have quite an impact on me, given we seem to share almost the same taste when it comes to perfumes. A simple entry on the man's blog meant a click on the buy button from yours truly. That's how i ended up with the Auphorie sample set, in oil formulas back then, of which many are discontinued by now.

 Miyako, the "complex and dramatic fragrance to treat that idiosyncratic soul within yourself", fully displayed to my olfactory receptors the richness of osmanthus. Years before Miyako, Nombre Noir timidly introduced me to osmanthus' nuances, albeit concealed by the presence of damascones. I was looking forward to exploring more tonalities of osmanthus that were left unrevealed, until Miyako appeared and pointed out to each piece missing from the whole picture. It had a visceral impact on me that i couldn't shake.

Unarguably, a fragrance by itself, osmanthus unveils a bidimensional scent, interplayed between a more delicate vegetal, sweet, fruity, tea-like, honeyed, dried apricot feature and a headier side, where a velvety suede flashes its castoreum undertones to jasmine's greenest blooms and mild geranium. In Miyako all of these facets are exposed and upgraded by complementary  ingredients, like lactones, aromatic humid woods, salty skins and musky furs.

Unlike its oil version, the alcohol based formula doesn't showcase the prominent dark leather accord or a overwhelming sweetness and i like it better this way, it's even more balanced and it doesn't cause any conflict among the other notes and accords.

Miyako by Auphorie will definitely go under the "Bury me with it" category of fragrances, yet I must manifest my discontent with the brand's direction ever since their well deserved success, back in 2016. In my humble opinion it has gone to their heads. Well...