Comme des Garcons 2 MAN

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Comme des Garcons is one o those beloved niche perfume houses that outputs a wide variety of excellent smelly specimens. While I don’t like the style of their haute couture, I do like the way their perfumes swing.

2 MAN

In Bottle: Smokey with this smooth nutty quality that I presume is coming from the nutmeg. There’s a strong woodsy presence to this fragrance too. Very masculine, very empowering too.

Applied: 2 MAN opens with a woodsey incense that makes me think of old buildings with creaky floorboards. It mingles in that area for a while before it grows a bit more complex, taking in this smooth nutmeg scent as it ages and starts to deliver a wet grassy feel to it that I hope is the vetiver at work. The fragrance itself remains masculine, projecting this sturdy old building quality to it. Despite its powerful notes and what I suspect is a blend of cedar, mahogany and a touch of sandalwood, 2 MAN does all this without amping up the cedar note and smelling obnoxious. It’s strong but light and subtle. It projects a presence instead of simply projecting a smell. It’s a bit difficult to describe except that people will notice 2 MAN but they’ll notice it in a subtle way like you were meant to smell like this instead of an, “Ah, you need to tone down your fragrance” kind of way.

Extra: 2 MAN was composed by Mark Buxton, who was also responsible for a fragrance line that bears his name. He’s also done other fragrances for Comme des Garcons such as Comme des Garcons’ White and Original. You can purchase 2 MAN for a, all things considered, reasonable $120 per 100ml.

Design: Comes bottled in this offbeat flat glass flacon with the fragrance name written on it complete with an upside A that you have to look at the bottle twice to notice. A haphazard ‘2’ is scrawled on the glass and somehow pulls the entire look of this fragrance together. The bottle itself, thanks to how it’s shaped, cannot be stood up like most perfumes, so you’ll have to lie this baby on its side. It’s off-beat. I like it.

Fragrance Family: Smokey Woodsy

Notes: Incense, white smoke, saffron flowers, nutmeg, vetiver roots, mahogany, leather.

On my travels around the internet researching this fragrance and how it reacted on other people I came across a woman bemoaning her husband informing her that the bottle of 2 MAN she got for him smelled like urine then proceeded to refuse wearing it. Her son, being an avid connoisseur of Axe body sprays similarly rejected her offerings. While I cannot account for the tastes of others, I can guarantee you all that 2 MAN does not in fact, smell anything like urine.

Reviewed in This Post: 2 MAN, 2008, Eau de Toilette.

Estee Lauder Pleasures

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When I first smelled Pleasures, the only Estee Lauder perfumes I was aware of were White Linen and Youth Dew. I was afraid of Pleasures and other Estee Lauder perfumes because of the iconic status of some of their fragrances.

Pleasures

In Bottle: Pleasures is actually a very approachable modern fragrance set as a dewy floral. It’s light and gentle and highly wearable without the need to understand it first.

Applied: Starts off a sweet little kick from the pink pepper and the violets. Freesia adds a jolt of clean and sweet to the opening too. I can barely smell any tuberose in this. In fact, aside from a slick, creamy quality that settles close to the background on the opening I can’t even get tuberose. Pleasures evolves into peony and rose. The rose is a modern interpretation, clean and fresh and coupled with a crisp set of lily and lily-of-the-valley. The fragrance is such a benign blend of florals. The dry down doesn’t move too different, introducing a soft sandalwood mingling with cedar while clean musk keeps everything lumped together.

Extra: Pleasures and the Pleasures line of flankers is like Estee Lauder’s modern floral attempts. And they succeeded. Pleasures is a great clean, fresh floral. There’s not a whole lot of personality to this but it is successful for what Estee Lauder tried to make of it.

Design: I’m always underwhelmed by Estee Lauder’s bottle designs. They tend to be simple, which I like. But for some reason, the designs also remind me of the 80s. And not just the 80s in general but shoulder pads in floral print dresses. Pleasures is no exception to this. The bottle is simple, easy to hold and easy to spray. It just isn’t really imaginative.

Fragrance Family: Fresh Floral

Notes: Pink pepper, violet, freesia, tuberose, berries, poeny, rose, lily, lilac, jasmine, lily-of-the-valley, geranium, patchouli, sandalwood, cedar, musk.

I’m all right with Pleasures. I think it’s a very well done floral that could be a good contender in the modern fragrance arena. I just don’t find it interesting at all.

Reviewed in This Post: Pleasures, 2010, Eau de Parfum.

Givenchy Organza

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My mother owns a bottle of Organza that she’s been slowly whittling down for a number of years. I wouldn’t be surprised if her bottle was approaching its tenth birthday she’s had this for a while. Organza is sensual, classic-smelling, and a bit difficult to like at times for me. But it is beautiful.

Organza

In Bottle: Amber-like. Warm and sensual with a little bit of dirtiness in there. Organza is spicy, sophisticated, and a touch sweet layered with woods.

Applied: Citrus on the opening with a rather sudden dirty note showing up earlier in the fragrance. This smells rather personable while at the same time it projects the fact that it’s a fragrance as put on as anything else. The citrus dries off rather quickly leaving me a spicy amber coating a bouquet of jasmine, tuberose, and earthy iris. The mid-stage is where Organza’s dirty note amps up a bit more, taking this fragrance away from what normally would be a simple clean perfume to a dense, rich amber-like fragrance with florals to temper the warmth a bit. The dry down is an interesting affair. Amber is the star of the show here and the drydown is no different. It play on the amber is a powdery woodsy scent, a bit like wood dust in a way.

Extra: Sometimes I associate my mother with this fragrance but she wore No.5 before she ever knew about Organza.

Design: It’s pretty obvious what the bottle is trying to reflect here. The curve of a woman wearing a dress. There’s elements of column structure here too. I rather like Organza’s design. It’s elegant and like the fragrance itself. The soft, gentle curves and line work on the bottle remind me of Art Nouveau.

Fragrance Family: Oriental

Notes: Bergamot, orange flower, gardenia, nutmeg, tuberose, honeysuckle, jasmine, iris, peony, walnut, cedar, amber, vanilla, guaiac wood.

It’s funny how tastes change over the years. When my mother first got this perfume I couldn’t stand it. It was too strong. Smelled weird. Now I can see why she liked this.

Reviewed in This Post: Organza, ~2003, Eau de Parfum.

L de Lolita Lempicka

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I’m always drawn to this fragrance because of the bottle. It’s a whimsical little mermaid motif with adorable little charms attached. I find the whole thing just adorable and hard to resist.

L de Lolita Lempicka

In Bottle: Warm spicy citrus with a sweet vanilla creaminess creeping around in the background. It’s a bit like a decadent vanilla-scented spice.

Applied: Opens with a flare of citrus where the bitter orange mingles a bit with a sweetness that hovers on up and eventually sends the citrus away in favor of a warmed up spicy scent that hangs out with a vanilla that wafts up in the mid-stage. This is a comforting warm fragrance in the middle, a bit of a strange decision given how the bottle looks but it’s a lovely little journey that reminds me of autumn and bundling up. The vanilla in this fragrance isn’t too sweet that it makes this scent a straight up gourmand. When you reach the base, the spice and vanilla settle into with a clean white musk making this smell a bit more like spicy vanilla soap before everything fades completely.

Extra: L de Lolita Lempicka was composed by Maurice Roucel whose other claims to fame have been for houses like Amouage, Bond No. 9, Frederic Malle, and Guerlain. He was the fellow who composed one of my favorite modern Guerlains, L’Instant.

Design: I adore the bottle and it appeals to me even though I normally shy away from stuff like this. The bottle is reminiscent of the ocean, mermaids, and fantasy. It’s a bit awkward to hold though I tend to forgive it because it makes such a fantastic little conversation piece. If this stuff weren’t filled with awesome smellies I’d be leaving it out just as a decorative objective. It is just beautifully designed though a bit impractical when it comes to being used.

Fragrance Family: Oriental

Notes: Bitter orange, vanilla, cinnamon, musk, amber, tonka bean.

L de Lolita Lempicka has a small hedge of gourmand but the musk and the mixture of citrus revolving into the spicy vanilla mid-stage doesn’t scream gourmand to me. It is a gloriously done oriental. Even though I wouldn’t call it ‘yummy’, I’d definitely call it fabulous.

Reviewed in This Post: L de Lolita Lempicka, 2009, Eau de Parfum.

Animale 1987

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Animale is an interesting fragrance to explain. It’s sort of a chypre, it has all the classical stylings of a chypre but with an extra added jolt of pure dirty, animal smell. Oh, don’t get me wrong here. It’s fantastic stuff.

Animale

In Bottle: Heavy, heady, powerful. Three words you’ll probably used to describe animale. Even in the bottle, this stuff is strong. I get civet immediately mixed with a blend of florals. It has that decidedly unique chypre scent to it as well.

Applied: Starts off with a big of bergamot. Barely enough to even detect as Animale develops the civet slowly and carefully but the civet is strong and the civet definitely makes this scent smell dirty and animalic. The animalic notes in this creep up rather than blast you full on right away like it does in the bottle but you’ll be smelling full-on animal before you know it. On skin, civet takes its time at first as the fragrance moves into a mid-stage that’s incredibly reminiscent of a chypre with jasmine making a loud proclamation as the civet creeps in more and more, amping up the volume. The rosewood, adds even more dirty with a little woodsiness in case you didn’t think civet was enough. This is a chypre but it’s a distinct dirty chypre that will march to its own beat if it wants to. As the fragrance dies down, there’s a smooth patch of oakmoss and vetiver layered over that civet note that I had been too distracted to notice. The civet’s used rather well here, but the dry down does bother me a bit with this slick, almost oily scent. I imagine that was the coconut making its way in. So opening and mid-stage are fascinating. End stage is great save for that weird slick scent I got. Still, Animale is fantastic if you like heavy, powerful, heady fragrances.

Extra: Animale, the brand began in 1987 which was also the time that original Animale (reviewed in this post) was created. In 1990 the company was sold, and in 2004 it was sold once again. Sometime during the 1990s, Animale shifted away from being a chypre and became more of a floral oriental. I liked it a lot more as a chypre.

Design: Very 80s! Brings back fond memories of elementary school, and TGIF shows. I’d huddle around this tiny TV with my cousins and we’d watch Family Matters, Full House, Fresh Prince, and a whole host of other family-friendly sitcoms. Long story short: This bottle reminds me of late 80s and early 90s aesthetics and fashion. I think the word I want here is ‘funky’. Not necessarily well-designed as I imagine people these days would consider this kind of aesthetic hideous. The bottle design hasn’t aged well, that’s for sure. As for me, I grew up in the late 80s and 90s so I’ll let someone else harsh on this bottle.

Fragrance Family: Chypre

Notes: Coriander, hyacinth, bergamot, neroli, carnation, honey, orris root, rosewood, jasmine, ylang-ylang, lily of the valley, rose, patchouli, coconut, oakmoss, vetiver, civet, musk.

Now that the review and nostalgia are all over, would I wear Animale? Probably not. The civet really turns me off on the fragrance. I’m a big baby when it comes to civet, almost always I find it too strong and I’m no where near confident enough to rock civet. That doesn’t mean Animale isn’t fantastic. I like it for what it is, but maybe that’s part of the nostalgia talking.

Reviewed in This Post: Animale, ~1989, Eau de Parfum.

Bvlgari Jasmin Noir

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Jasmin and almonds, two of my favorite smells combined into one awesome fragrance? That’s Jasmin Noir from Bvlgari.

Jasmin Noir

In Bottle: I get light florals and a heavily licorice-infused almond and jasmine scent.

Applied: Light jasmine on the opening as the fragrance quickly mixes the jasmine and florals with the warm, licorice-sweet almonds. I love the progression. It starts off no-nonsense and like the no-nonsense fragrance that it is, goes on to its mid-stage almost right away. Now the mid-stage is marked mostly to me as a floral almond licorice mix. Reminds me a bit of Lolita Lempicka but with less gourmand and more floral. A great mix, for sure. It’s sophisticated and different, a little discordant but in a good way. The dry down is marked with more licorice, faint woods, and a hint of something smooth that might be the tonka bean or even a vanilla at work.

Extra: Jasmin Noir was composed by Carlos Benaim and Sophie Labbe.

Design: Jasmin Noir is bottled in a dark glass flacon with the signature dip in front. It has a golden cap with the house name on the top. And the fragrance’s name and house are written on the glass on the low point of the dip. I rather like the design, it’s simple and the look has–to me–been distinct and popular enough that I do see this bottle a lot and it is immediately recognizable.

Fragrance Family: Floral

Notes: Gardenia, jasmine, almond, licorice, woods, tonka bean.

I really do like Jasmin Noir. It did the jasmine note very well and the almond note was just a bonus. I don’t like licorice much myself but the licorice is well used in this fragrance to the point that it may have swayed me from the licorice-haters club to the licorice-lovers club.

Reviewed in This Post: Jasmine Noir, 2008, Eau de Parfum.

Narciso Rodriguez For Her

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For Her’s note list might look a little intimidating. I mean, it’s got this thing called Egyptian Musk and some fragrance buyers see the very mention of the word ‘musk’ and are turned off by the prospect of smelling ‘dirty’. But that’s just not what For Her is about.

For Her

In Bottle: Fresh and clean. Also very light. Like catching the scent of soap in a light breeze.

Applied: Clean and citrus like citrus scented soap on the opening with the citrus and soapiness giving way to a warm, very sheer musky scent in the middle. For Her is a light-wearing clean musk so far as the fragrance takes some steps to develop the florals that are supposed to be in the composition. Most of what I smell is the unique quality of the Egyptian Musk and if you’re afraid of it being ‘dirty smelling’ because of the presence of musk then keep in mind that the opening is very clean and the musk is treated in a muted way in this fragrance. It might be the majority of what you smell in the mid-stage but it by no means broadcasts muskiness. I think a lot of people who would normally shy away from musk should try For Her. The dry down approaches with a warming of the musk and a little drop of vanilla to round things off.

Extra: For Her comes in two versions. An EDT and an EDP. I’ve only smelled the EDP and that’s what this review is for. Word on the perfume street has it that the EDT and EDP are different monsters and that the EDP goes on much lighter and is a skin close fragrance while the EDT is louder and has more longevity. Something interesting to keep in mind as you’re trying to decide which to go for.

Design: For Her’s two concentrations come in the same bottle shape. A tall glass cylinder in black or pink depending on the concentration you want. The EDT is a black bottle, whereas the EDP is a pink bottle. These colors are reversed on the boxes so make sure you read which one you’re getting instead of relying on the colors.

Fragrance Family: Clean

Notes: Bergamot, orange blossom, coriander, musk, osmanthus, amber, vetiver, vanilla.

For Her is a very nicely done skin close scent. It’s clean and works the musk in rather well. I actually like this a whole lot more than I thought I would. The EDP is, definitely, worth a considering sniff.

Reviewed in This Post: Narciso Rodriguez For Her, 2009, Eau de Parfum.

Donna Karan Pure DKNY

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So here we go, Pure DKNY was slated to be one of the finalists for the 2011 FiFi Awards. Now, I don’t put too much weight into the FiFi awards as a means to determine “best” and “worst” as fragrance preferences differ a lot from person to person. But the FiFi’s certainly are a spectacle. But when Pure DKNY popped up in the ranks I set the spectacle aside for a bit and had to wonder why. Why Pure DKNY? There were other Luxe fragrances released this year that did things so much better.

Pure DKNY

In Bottle: Waifish is probably the best word I can come up for the in bottle experience. This is a light airy vanilla floral treatment that lacks body and personality.

Applied: Bit of creamy sweetness to open up with the vanilla note that quickly devolves into a floral breeze. There’s not enough words in the English dictionary to describe how light this fragrance is. It’s so light that there’s barely an opening, a mid-stage, and drydown. I got the impression of vanilla opening and there is vanilla there but it’s so fleeting and light that it might as well not be there–just like the rest of this fragrance. The mid-stage has a hint of jasmine, something rosy with that bed of vanilla and the drydown is a single burst of air from someone fanning a branch of sandalwood at you. Everything about Pure DKNY is light and waifish. It’s not just a delicate, quiet, little lily of a fragrance in the bottle but it’s also an invisible force on the skin.

Extra: The interesting part about Pure DKNY is the use of Ugandan vanilla which is sourced by a humanitarian organization called CARE that fights poverty. The CARE organization’s goals and visions are fantastic. This perfume is not quite so fabulous.

Design: Pure is bottled in a clear bottle with a clear liquid and the simple word, “Pure” written on the glass. It resembles a bottle of water and the design of the fragrance is fairly decent for what it is and definitely imparts the concept of “pure”.

Fragrance Family: Sweet Floral

Notes: Ugandan vanilla, flower petals, lotus, Bulgarian rose, jasmine, freesia, orchid, amber, sandalwood, vanilla.

Now I like light fragrances but Pure DKNY, for what it costs, should at least smell like something more than vague sweet flowers and vanilla. Make no mistake that while I’m not at all partial to Pure DKNY, I appreciate the humanitarian visions that CARE strives to achieve. Check them out, but skip this fragrance.

Reviewed in This Post: Pure DKNY, 2010, Eau de Parfum.