Issey Miyake
A unique visual signature based on accords, character, and seasonality
Frankincense immediately establishes dominance, arriving slightly sharp and resinous, accompanied by spice notes that prickle rather than bloom. Within the first five minutes, the fragrance establishes its nocturnal character—there's nothing soft here, nothing designed to ease you in.
The woody base gradually reveals itself as the spices recede, and suddenly you're breathing in warm cedar and the creamy-smooth cashmeran that transforms the composition into something almost candied. Tonka bean edges forward, not as sugary sweetness but as a subtle caramel backbone that supports rather than dominates, whilst patchouli and labdanum add earthy depth and the faintest smoky whisper.
What remains is a sophisticated melange of sandalwood, leather, and vetiver—the spice long gone, the tonka reduced to a ghost of sweetness beneath woody amber. The fragrance becomes increasingly parchment-like and intimate, clinging close to skin rather than projecting, which suits its introspective character perfectly.
Nuit d'Issey Pulse of the Night arrives as a deliberate contradiction—a fragrance that insists on warmth whilst dressed entirely in shadow. Loc Dong has constructed something genuinely nocturnal here, where frankincense doesn't float ethereally but instead settles into a resinous, almost medicinal backbone. The spice accord crackles with black pepper and cardamom-adjacent warmth, refusing to dissipate into the sweeter registers one might expect from a fragrance featuring tonka and vanilla.
What distinguishes this composition is how the woody-amber skeleton dominates everything. The cashmeran doesn't whisper—it anchors, lending a slightly powdery smoothness that prevents the patchouli and labdanum from becoming oppressively dark. Cedarwood threads through like smoke from an evening bonfire, pencil-shaving dry yet somehow syrupy when it encounters the tonka's caramel undertones. The leather accord emerges not as a sharp animalic note but as a suede-soft texture, almost a translucent veil over sandalwood and vetiver.
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4.2/5 (195)