Comme des Garcons Series 2 Red: Harissa

Harissa has a unique kind of freshness created by chilli pepper and tomato leaves, it balances just like that, very on the edge to be not too food or michelada like. It has a faint fuzziness and good a zing while not loosing Comme de Garcons abstractness in one of the few lighter examples of this without incense or wood. Please bring it back CDG!

Bam!!! Harissa opens with a stong, soapy powder of miscellaneous cleaning products which sounds bad right? However my experience of fragrances tells me that this is the effect of not seeing the wood for the trees and these usually make for complex and unusual perfume. Harissa certainly didn't disappoint on that front, bags of character then developed, such as the tomato vibe which reminded me of Blood Concept a little. The exception being that this composition has a warm breeze of spices which are harder to pin point although I swear I can smell the myrrh of palisander here too especially in the drydown. I'm at the drydown right now and honestly I can't stop sniffing myself. The tomato vibe has become less vegetable now and it's just a lovely soft scent. Again the longevity is average projection is a low skin scent, there's definitely a time and a place for scents like this. Like when you want to enjoy them yourself without others even catching wind of them. Once again another wear would be beneficial to suss out exactly what is going on. Verdict is good from me...Comme des Garcons are such a cool house!

Imagine a tomato leaf between your fingers, tear it, smell it - this is how Harissa starts! Fresh summer scent, green and strong, but not like forest green, no.. it's so tasty "green" and I like it a lot! I can imagine on a hot summer day this is all you want :) It's not an obvious freshness, it's spicy and even sweet (when develops) but it stays kind of fresh (like recently gathered vegetables) - sounds weird, right? But it is nice, unusual and very modern fragrance. PS. I worn it couple of times and I like it more and more. It's not a winter fragrance therefore I'll save it for the warmer time, but definitely an unusual FAV!

For me this is the best fragrance of the RED CdG series, It's warm and spicy, yet with strong fresh/spicy opening that is just right and amazing for one EdT! Drydown is light, but there. And sweet, but not too much. This is because of the saffron, it gives certain dash of urban luxury. Overall, love this scent, ideal for everyday use, lovely spices. Fresh, but not too much so it can be worn all year. I even think it's perfect for fall. My rating: 8/10

It's a nice, warm, spicy fragrance, but I actually wish it were a bit more potent. This is very enjoyable, but in terms of heat I was expecting hot sauce, and got ketchup instead. This perfume is much more subtle and approachable than the notes would have you think.

Bertrand Duchaufour is one of my favourite perfumers and I love many CdG fragrances. I wanted to love Harissa too, but I just can't - no matter how much I try. I've tested it several times hoping that one day I'd have a right state of mind for it, but every time it feels a little off on me. Maybe it's the blood orange together with tomato leaves or maybe the weird combination of soapiness and spicy foodiness. Imagine crushing tomato leaves between your fingers while cooking something spicy and then washing your hands with some synthetic-smelling citrus soap. I also get some warm powdery whiffs when I'm wearing it. I've never smelled anything like it before. It is definitely intriguing and unusual, but it's not wearable to me even though I'm a fan of many fragrances that are considered weird and not easy to wear. Harissa makes me feel a bit too uncomfortable. There's still a tiny hope inside of me that one day Harissa would feel right on my skin, but probably I should just give up already.

Spicy, juicy and sweet! How can it be possible? Don't know the answer, but after a few seconds I got an image: ketchup. The opening of this perfume may well be called ketchup. It smells like something new and original, but I wouldn't say that I feel comfortable wearing it. I think this is a avant garde scent, not for a shy person. If you feel comfortable being a wallflower, then skip Harissa. This fragrance will get you all the attention. I could smell the pepper, which in the opening is like right in your face, but also the tomato and the blood orange. Then the cardamom and nutmeg add more spice to this fragrance but in a tamed way. Not sure about this one. For sure it smells unique and fun but it's too much for my taste.

I get a bunch of tomatoes with very light spices. I was expecting something like Mugler TOF but I was wrong. I am a big CDG fan but this is a no for me.I sprayed 5x from my decant and after 2 hours it's a skin scent. It leans towards being more feminine than masculine. Not my cup of tea at all!

Do not fear Harissa because you are not going to smell like ketchup or tomato sauce. Yes, there are tomatoes and peppers listed as notes, but they are so well blended with the spicy and floral notes that the end result is a nice and lovely scent that is hard to be described. It's green, spicy, slighty floral and aromatic. A must try (if you can find it)!

Once again, I am falling in love with an other fragrance by CdG. This fragrance brings back memories of being on vacation and sipping spicy bloody marys. This is a nice light fragrance, great for the office or just when your in the mood for a little spice in your life. The tomato and nutmeg truely come to play with this CdG fragrance.

Interesting, light, aromatic. On my skin it smells like fruity-spicy-nutty fragrance. No distinct tomato smell here. Pleasant and fresh, leaning towers feminine fragrance. Dry-down: some generic floral scent. I like CdG fragrances but this one smells cheap and synthetic.