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Posted by Dain, Sunday, March 30, 2008 1:06 AM (Eastern)
It's true, Jesus was not a white man. It says so in the Bible.
Comme de Garçons' eponymous perfume line is hailed as one of the most conceptual houses, and certainly if you wander into its avant-garde gardens expecting something like the orchestral formality of Guerlinade, then you might be shocked. But then, one must ask the question: what exactly is an abstract perfume?
For now, I'll opine this much: they still have to smell good. Most of the perfumes I've chosen for this series tend to be very divisive—love or hate. There are so many points at which a perfume may be considered abstract: the image it creates in the mind of the consumer (L'Artisan Parfumeur Dzing! and tomorrow's Nuit de Noël), by using molecules that smell strange, unnatural, or synthetic (Le Labo Patchouli 24, Alexander McQueen Kingdom, or Il Profumi Musc Bleu), and finally, the compositionally abstract: Angel's eerie juxtaposition of edible (dark and rich) and inedible (cold and blue) elements, imitated by BVLGARI Blv Notte. Comme de Garçons, the original eau de parfum, is in this last category. Mark Buxton, the nose, was given no brief, no directive whatsoever, in its creation. The result is something thickly powdery-narcotic: spicy-green sandalwood incense in a carved cedarwood box, a slightly honeyed sweetness, and hints of unwashed skin from cumin. Does it "[work] like a medicine, [behave] like a drug", as Rei Kawakubo described it?
Hrm. I'd simply call it: the most interesting incense perfume, as Shalimar is to vanilla. Its unabashed spiciness is not unlike Caron Coup de Fouet (which I prefer, I personally don't care for incense), with a raw, sweaty note that takes it in a compelling direction.
Labels: beauty notes, comme de garcons, perfume reviews
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