Blue Encens

To me, Blue Encens is the smell of November in a bottle. It’s warm, dry, spicy, and cozy. It’s also a little bit mysterious, and is the scent of a person who’s travelled a bit and is comfortable in their own skin. After a few wears, Blue Encens has become one of my favorite fragrances - another beautiful and totally unisex offering from Comme des Garçons. On my skin, Blue Encens is totally linear. There’s no change or development to the scent after initial spraying, and I don’t think that’s a bad thing in this case. There are no surprises here, and every note is on full display. It’s got a pleasant powdery and smokey sweetness to it that really lets every spice shine in combination with the overall incense scent. Oddly, Blue Encens also manages to be familiar while being like no other incense fragrance I own. In this way, it’s a classic Comme des Garçons fragrance: Playful, contradictory, just a little weird, but also very, very comfortable. I think it’s strictly a night scent in the warmer parts of the year, but Blue Encens was made (in my view) for all day wear on cold days. For being such a spice-forward and incense-based scent, I think it’s surprisingly versatile in terms of appropriate settings too. It wouldn’t be my first grab for a day at the office, but it wouldn’t be an unwelcome scent in a professional setting either. One of the reviewers below got it exactly right when she wrote that Blue Encens envelops you in a scent bubble without being loud. I’m not sure I’ve encountered that effect too often. Longevity is easily 10 hours or more (especially on clothes), and sillage is, well, I don’t know? I can smell myself clearly at all times, which usually means others can too, but somehow, Blue Encens doesn’t seem to work that way. In any event, you, the wearer, won’t have to spray too much to enjoy the scent. The bottom line? I doubt very seriously that anyone would regret purchasing a bottle. I know I’ll be getting another as soon as my current one runs out.

CdG made an incense-based fragrance that is totally wearable and nice even for those who are not into perfumery, but, at the same time, with quality ingredients and a fair dose of uniqueness and identity. If that's what you expected, you can rest assured that's what you'll get. Now, I don't know what they wanted to say and do with those 'frozen' spices(there is a detectable metallic vibe that may be that frozen thing though) but the opening is spicy indeed, with a load of black pepper which is strong in the opening, but fades earlier, and a solid amount of cardamom that will stick for a long time. Later there is a heart and base of incense and some of the spices(mostly cardamom), which gets slightly ambered in the drydown, but is incensey all the way. They could have easily made this one a part of Incense series, albeit it is a bit safer than all five Incenses. For the record, I didn't get even a trail of cinnamon and/or artemisia or davana. It's all about pepper, cardamom and frankincense, all of that with a noticeable metallic undertone. Longevity is not the issue with Blue Encens, as it's pretty solid - much better than, say, some of Incense series fragrances - Jaisalmer and Ouarzazate in particular, and on par with Kyoto and Zagorsk. Projection, though, is, as it doesn't really exist - the scent is as close to the skin as it gets. That is something that makes you wonder whether to purchase this one or not. The scent itself is awesome - I kept sniffing my wrist every time I tried it, and it can be a compliment getter if someone, somehow, could feel it. One certain way to increase sillage is to overapply, and that can make your bottle empty sooner than you could even imagine. Naturally, if that's fine with you, then go ahead! You will get a very, very nice perfume to wear whenever and wherever you want. 8.5/10

I thought all the talk of "frozen spices" here would have been marketing nonsense, but I was wrong - despite all the typically warm spicy notes that make up Blue Encens' backbone, there's also something undeniably mineral and cool (and yes, BLUE) that stays alongside them for the whole ride. The result is something that manages to be both hot and cold in equal measure, giving it a refreshing, comforting effect in any kind of weather. Honestly speaking, Blue Encens as a whole package doesn't reach the complex heights of, say, the Incense series or the legendary 2 Man, but as a trade-off it manages to be more versatile than any of them - where you might struggle to find the right occasion or weather to bring Avignon or Zagorsk out if storage, Blue Encens is something you can pull off effortlessly. (Despite someone else's review to the contrary, I also enjoy the typography on the bottle, which managed to pre-empt the look and feel of Instagram's story feature three years earlier!)

The review below nails it really, except I don't feel there's a great deal missing here...I really enjoyed Blue Encens. Some other reviews are a little harsh on this one and if Blue Encens is Comme des garcon doing a 'fresh... aquatic' then they've succeeded in making a highly original one. I can just about see why someone might think that it does have a slight aquatic feel but it's more of a warm spicy amber to me. Cardamom is very present in the opening and something slightly sweet(whatever the incense consists of maybe?)and warm against a backdrop of amber. It's that amber warmth and the pepper which makes me think of Prada Luna Rossa Extreme. I first tried these in the summer(before LRE was even out) but got a little confused by the similar bottles now I have samples of each so I can review them properly. Longevity is acceptable and projection is soft but present. Personally I love this!

I love this, definitely not a blind buy, but it has almost an aquatic/spicy incense vibe... super masculine in my opinion, it hits you with a peppery/ incense-y, fresh kick that after it airs out and opens up leaves a fresh spicy scent bubble, almost like a darker more peppery drakkhar, I really like this scent, it’s different, it has decent projection and longevity, I seem to have a scent bubble around me all day, it’s a scent that you don’t want overpowering anyway, I can still smell it on my clothes the next day albeit faintly, but 12 hours later still smells nice on my clothes, lasts less on direct skin, but def a thumbs up for me