Comme des Garçons X Undercover

Holygrace

Holygrace is a bright, transparent, sweet dusty-incense scent, with a cozy sort of cashmeran-like accord on the base (sandalwood, cedar, both heavily synthetic and clean). Soft, sharp and luminous, with a fresh tart opening then gently fading into a spicy-sweet central phase (ginger, red pepper). Overall silky, balsamic, kind of “plushy”. Sweet, but sharp too in a way, as it’s (as most CdG’s) quite “modern” and artificial. A bit dull too, honestly, and therefore soon boring in my opinion, but I won’t say it’s unpleasant. Just too light, too bright, a bit uncreative perhaps, and too ephemeral.

5,5-6/10

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Holygrapie

Holygrapie opens as a creamy-green scent with bright floral notes (bit à la Wisteria by the same brand), slightly spicy too, fresh and crunchy with a general feel of synthetic and clean abstractness, well blended with a subtle musky “wet soil” base accord which “darkens” the scent, providing a sort of “humid concrete” feel on the very base (not sure what this may be due to, though – I guess styrax and woods). Apart from this gray shade, a “white” scent indeed. I also get the rhubarb note, kind of melting with the green notes. Then, after one hour or so, Holygrapie almost unexpectedly “opens” blossoming up in a brighter, minimal sort of powdery blend, sweet and slightly soapy, with sandalwood, ylang and orris root emerging. It becomes softer and sweeter than the initial stage, with pink nuances blending with white and grey. All still much clean and tamed down with a bold sort of “contemporary austere” feel, yet really nice. I enjoy the transition between the initial and quite sharp greenish-sour-crunchy accords to this second phase, much more on the silky-sweet side. I also quite like the fact this scent may appear almost dull or too light (well, it’s a bit light indeed...), while instead I find it clever and refined – just a “whispered” kind of refinement. Nice!

7/10

The three scents I am wearing the most at the moment

Quite a self-explanatory title. I reviewed these on Fragrantica and Basenotes in the past months, but surprisingly not here yet.

And the winners are...

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Jil Sander Man by Jil Sander

Year: 2007
Nose: Thierry Wasser & Annick Menardo

A nice surprise for sure. I blind-bought this for 20 EUR at a sale, and I must say that if I could have tried this before, I'd have probably paid it even a bit more. Jil Sander Man is a discreet, refined, contemporary, a bit trendy but classy enough scent, basically a woody-leathery violet scent with vetiver and cedar ("pencil") notes and a slight smoky fog. All quite polished, satin and restrained, as you would expect from a mainstream scent with no "creative" pretenses – and I say this with a totally positive meaning, as being creative is surely not mandatory. A safe "office scent" for sure, but a particularly pleasant and well-made one, and if you ask me, also quite distinctive and memorable in its own discreet way. What strikes me the most here is the leather accord, which despite being quite delicate and almost unperceivable, smells unexpectedly elegant, rich, mellow and soft, polished and quiet but without smelling like pure, un-elaborated safraleine (as it happens so often with far more pricey scents). It smells materic, substantial, like a new pair of shoes, and its softness is cleverly enhanced by violet and resins, while woody-smoky notes of vetiver and cedar provide an elegant, manly, crisp darker counterpart, especially in the drydown, which is quite darker and woodier – always keeping it discreet and utterly pleasant (and well, with an unpleasant hint of norlimbanol, but just if you carefully look for it, so... nevermind!). A perfect undemanding yet elegant and compelling fragrance which I'd dare to consider a remarkable evolution of the concept of masculine "eau de cologne" - that type of unpretentious everyday fragrances good for any time, any situation and any mood.

7,5-8/10

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Gucci pour Homme by Gucci

Year: 2003

Nose: Michel Almairac

Gucci Pour Homme I opens with a really delicate, subtle, sheer, yet captivating and interesting appearance which definitely whispers "2000s" to me – the era of creative, elegant synthetics like Cuiron and Yohji Homme, with which in fact Gucci Pour Homme shares some slight and general affinity, although tending more towards a trendy elegance, less experimental and less avantgarde. I must start by saying also that I've never been a fan of Gucci (considering the other two "holy grails", Envy for Men and Rush Men, I find them barely decent/nice), so what follows is not really ruled by "hype" enthusiasm. Anyway: Gucci Pour Homme I is basically a sophisticated, spicy woody-incense scent, quite linear and simple, with ginger, cinnamon, a little tonka rounding the base notes, slight floral powdery notes, and obviously the two main characters – woods (cedar) and incense, that is to say a "pencil sharpener" effect achieved with a remarkable dose of Iso E Super. Clean, sharp, "brown" as its colour. Other notes I smell and I see in the composition are patchouli and a more-than-subtle leather note, after a while also a (synthetic) vetiver note, and a darker woody note which comprises a nice coffee nuance. I don't get the rest of the notes listed, but Gucci Pour Homme I is actually a really tight and dense scent, and it's quite hard to dissect it into notes and accords – so in other words I guess all the rest is there, somewhere, blended and conceived so well I can't even notice it. It must be the fact this scent was one of the first to have this approach to masculine scents, this postmodern clean, sharp, sophisticated elegance, understated yet totally unique, but it's undoubtedly, terribly good, with just... something more than dozens of others which subsequently imitated it. I can't explain why, but despite showing some rather common notes, you just feel terribly good and elegant wearing it, and you keep coming back to smell it. It may smell "generic" at first, but instead this modest, clean discretion hides a beautiful, perfectly executed blend of nuances and notes. I love this ability to "hide" the complexity behind discretion and whiteness. Nonetheless, I would not consider this the masterpiece it appears to be, and I personally find the prices quite insane. Just a good, almost great scent to grab in case of good deals.

8/10

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Black by Comme des Garçons 

Year: 2013

Nose: Guillaume Flavigny

Black opens with a black pepper explosion on dark woods, a licorice note synthetic yet earthy and powerful, perhaps vetiver, a hint of sheer leather and a heavy dose of Iso E Super, really concentrated and dense, to recreate CdG's signature "urban incense" feel. A good scent indeed, not challenging and quite versatile, but with a bold personality – artificial, but in a creative way, as CdG (sometimes) managed to do so well. Black and martial, woody and smoky, gloomy and sophisticated but "safe" and trendy enough to gain a broad appeal. The futuristic black brother of Fumerie Turque (or... the son of Bois d'ascèse, with more nuances – and far more pepper, which is quite the main character for hours.). Well done, and honestly priced too.

7,5-8/10

Update: just for the record, this grew incredibly on me to the point I finally bought it (I don't buy new scents so often). It has the same genius, versatile uniqueness of masterpieces like Yohji Homme - it smells so simple, so synthetic, yet so unique and addictive. I'd rate it 9/10 now!

parfums*PARFUMS Series 3 Incense: Kyoto EDT by Comme des Garçons

Year: 2002
Nose: Bertrand Duchaufour

A martial, quintessential smoky/incense meditative scent, linear, grey and green, simple but comprising and bringing to life an entire heritage. Cedar and burning incense with a balsamic breeze, a splendid vibrant evocation of the Japanese traditional milieu, in a rarified, thin, oniric but palpable ambiance like in a Mizoguchi fairytale, with those "suspended", out-of-time foggy settings. Ambergris on the base and a green breeze, really light but palpable, with perhaps a tiny note of tea or some similar aroma, which gives a slight sweet-syrupy feel at the very microscopic heart of the scent, to kind of emulsify the blend. Really elegant and wearable, perhaps the most delicate and cozy among the line, and also the most "close to skin". Basically, coming back to Earth for a second, a bomb of Iso E and other aromachems, but Duchaufour manages to make you forget about it: it's superb and powerful - the proof that anything can turn into unforgettable gold in the right hands. Another beauty from a milestone series (and a milestone perfumer, which however I often do not like much, but I venerate his contributions to this line).

9/10