Comme Des Garcons Series 4 Cologne : Vettiveru

Simply put, one of the best vetiver scents you can buy, especially for the value. Wonderful juice! I have been looking for this gem in the large 500ml flacon for a long while - hard to believe it is a decade-old! This is an under-the-radar scent for most, even vetiver lovers. The sheer beauty and distinction of a classic Eau de Cologne Vetiver is captured here. Alfarom said it right - incredible bang for the buck (quality-to-price ratio is fantastic)! This is not a clean "vetiver-light" scent at all...it's actually a nice composition that is meant to be applied as true EdC's should - splashed-on with confidence and masculine vigor (but don't count ladies out on this, as it truly is Unisex)! The note pyramid is more (in my opinion) to what is offered by LuckyScent - a nice citrus opening of fresh bergamot (but not too loud, just enough), vetiver makes a nice bright green appearance at first - a grassy-vibe that is sharp and true-to-form (essence of vetiver) and a shade deeper than one would even expect at this point! Wonderful and fragrant neroli enters late in the top and into the heart...a perfect amount for me and of exquisite quality. Incredibly natural smelling - one knows this is a niche-quality Eau de Cologne with exceptional purity and gorgeous, natural ingredients. I like how the vetiver (at this phase transcends from "grassy to more rooty"), with the vibrant neroli keeping it bright and still very invigorating - and a hint of pepper enters at this stage, which is brilliant. That accord could be the slight peppery-vibe of the neroli itself, but regardless, it really shines here as an accord. Integration and blend is just wonderful. More depth than one will expect from an Eau de Cologne - and the essential oils will leave a nice rich, silky texture on your skin. The base incorporates a nice wood note - white cedar. I don't see a phase here of "struggle" between dried brown wood and damp, slightly-dirty green vetiver (as it incorporates a nice, slightly salty vibe that others mentioned) - I see a great balance and integration. The two notes play perfectly together...it's what makes this bottle so good. Balance. Harmony. Nothing off-putting or overly dominant at all - this could not be over-applied unless you poured the 500ml over your head! Even then, you would drown a happy man (or woman). ;-) I have Annick Goutal's Vetiver (as a comparison/reference point some have brought up to the very nice salty nuance you get in Vettiveru). Goutal's Eau de Toilette, not referencing the current EdC, is not for the timid (I adore it, but it is not for beginners or the faint of heart). This is nothing close to the rich iodine/ocean spray-infused Goutal creation...just a few drops of salty water on the dirty roots here - perfect. A natural vibe added to the portrayal of vetiver in this brilliant scent, but not too strong or anything off-putting. It stays fresh & vibrant for the whole wearing while drying down into a wonderful skin scent that one can layer with more serious Vetiver EDT's. After 6+ hours of total wear, it was still there (with a full reapplication after about an hour in as I went light at first to get a better sense of composition, strength, etc.) Then, I stopped analyzing, put down the "pencil and paper" and splashed on half a lid full (anyone who has the splash bottle knows that is a full application). Ahhhhhh!!! I just breathed deep for a while and enjoyed a warm, spring afternoon. Temperature today was around 90 degrees Fahrenheit with low humidity during this full wearing (which lasted nicely on my neck, chest, back of hands and arms for over 5 hours). It was a nice skin scent still at that point. If I had worked up a sweat, it would have returned - the beauty of an Eau de Cologne...the good ones reappear when you need them to in warm/hot weather. Transition to Guerlain ("The benchmark"): At dry down (6 hours +), I have layered both 2000 formulation Guerlain Vetiver (ribbed bottle) and the earlier mid-to-late 90's EdT after a day with Vettiveru...it was perfect with both. But, this is a wonderful scent unto itself and one could just as easily reapply more Vettiveru - although I do prefer this in the day, it is very nice on a warm balmy Summer evening. In the end, it is a scent to be adorned anytime one wants to purely enjoy it. Although I feel it, on my skin, as somewhat masculine - it is entirely unisex on the right, confident woman. Very nice for informal, casual settings. As a true Eau de Cologne, this is for the wearer to appreciate and maybe a foot or so radius of projection. Not a loud, brash, and arrogant scent. This is to be worn with confidence and a bit of attitude. I happened to shave today, but would prefer this with at least two days of facial hair - the scent itself is a bit unclean and brawny on me, but it wears very different on my wife's skin (body chemistry is a big part of all scents, especially vetivers). I cannot appreciate a modern EdC Vetiver more than this offering from Comme des Garcons! Awesome. For the office - I wouldn't, definitely more casual attire. I don't see this as formal...there is too much fun to be had and, more importantly, you want to enjoy the slightly dirty vibe here. This is for someone who enjoys it for what it is - pure pleasure in a bottle, and A LOT of it. For lovers of vetiver - and understand what an Eau de Cologne is and how to use it. Don't overthink it...it's a gem. Fantastic scent for Spring & Summer (daytime and evening) and wearable on fall and winter days (it wears well & natural with rain - but not cold temperatures) - one of the best money can buy and a must for those of us who adore the magical vetiver root - 9/10! Exquisite...near perfection, for what it is.

Once you're initiated into the world of niche fragrances, it's easy to forget that simple can be beautiful. Such is the case with series 4 from CdG. These fragrances are almost criminally undervalued - if only because they are rather traditional and available at such reasonable prices. All three of them are wonderful, but Vettiveru is my clear favorite due to my unabashed love of vetiver. I generally reserve my vetiver fragrances for cooler, transitional weather. Guerlain in the Spring, Sycomore in the Autumn, etc. But Vettiveru is the only vetiver-based fragrance that I really associate with warmer weather; I would go so far as to call it tailor-made for the Summer. Here, CdG focuses on the peppery, grassy nature of vetiver rather than accentuating the woody and smoky facets of the raw material. The effect here is both effervescent and refreshing - who would have thought that vetiver was a perfect companion for neroli? The combination almost approximates the smell of fresh ginger - nice in and of itself. This is very much a skin scent (it's cologne after all) but is also deceptively long lasting - perhaps 8 hours for me. Every vetiver fan should have this, even if only for reference - it's $60 for 125ml! Last, I would note the incredible irony of the Cologne series. CdG was and perhaps still is the leading house of avant garde perfumery - they've created fragrances intended to replicate the smells of ink, wet pavement, gunpowder, ice cream, and virtually every type of wood imaginable. And yet they've also managed to create three of the most natural smelling colognes I've ever encountered. If you smelled these blind, you would NEVER guess they were CdG. I find that impressive, and it reaffirms that the CdG line has substance as well as style.

There's a moment in the life of a fragrance enthusiast when you realize that it's not necessarily the best, most creative, sophisticated, historically relevant and "appreciation-worthy" scents that you end up really, genuinely loving. Some fragrances are just pleasant for you, so you end up developing a bond with them, sometimes unexpectedly stronger than with the ones you think you SHOULD love. Looking back at my almost 20-year-old hobby, there are just a couple fragrances that I've developed such genuine attachment to. Vettiveru is one of them. As a fan of the note, I do appreciate my other vetivers, i.e. Guerlain's, Givenchy's, Lalique's, Chanel's and so on, but it is this unassuming CdG that makes me, well, happy. I guess it just highlights the facets of vetiver that I personally find most pleasant. It's neither super friendly and streamlined like Creed's Original Vetiver or Mugler's Cologne, nor is it dark, brooding and rooty, like, say, Jovoy's Private Label. It might sound like it's the boring middle-of-the-road one-size-fits-all affair, but it's not. I think that Vetiver Extraordinaire and Sycomore EDP are the closest comparisons, but at the same time they are a tad too posh and polished, and I'm usually not that person. To me, vetiver has always been the scent of a handsome yet approachable man, the one who smiles wholeheartedly and may be a bit rugged around the edges, but never to the point of crudeness. That's Vettiveru. (Btw, I'm reviewing the old version, but Vettiveru2 is on its way to me; if I find the differences noteworthy, I'll let you know)

It's been a while since I previously tried this, but I still remember it being sweeter and more floral than other vetivers. It opens very crisp and grassy, with what almost seems like a hint of mint. Much like Bobby Jones, it really makes me think of a lawn or a golf course. It's quiet in a kind of balanced way, which I'm somehow convinced is due to their not using any of the sharper-smelling natural oils (definitely a synthetic vibe!). Later on there gets to be more soil and less grass, almost straying into the violetty woods regime of He Wood and its flankers. It's not as strong as I recalled, but then I guess they're putting it in a "cologne" series since it's an EdC? Toward the end I start to recognize the inky component of the vetiver, but I still feel like I somehow missed something here. I thought I recalled it being more natural, but it's still decent, and it seems to recover strength and return to a more normal vetiver smell by the end. I'm giving it a reluctant thumbs-up in part because of how cheap it is and how long it lasts.

Sex in a bottle. Seaweedy, salty, steamy green, roots in the soil. The vetiver is king here, but it is not a deep dark dank vetiver like a wet hole in the soil, nor is it dry vetiver like a sandy bank with broken ivy. No, this vetiver is from the humid tropics of Indonesia, volcanic earth the bedrock for fresh juicy vetiver roots bruised and torn, bleeding sweet perfume from the sinews of the root mixed with some jungle spice carried on a salted sea breeze. Perfect for hot weather, day and night, work and I must say, to not wear this for play is to miss the whole point - it provides the perfect palate for lovers.