Comme des Garcons

Think of any fragrance you've ever sniffed that was reminiscent of syrupy resins, spiced honey, Chinese traditional medicine, sweet incense, thai tea, potpourri, or mulled wine, blend them all together, distill them into a thick smoldering sap, and you have a rough approximation of Comme Des Garcons' original EDP. A bone dry cinnamon and clove blend gives the opening a spiciness that almost comes across savory in its strength. It totally avoids any autumnal dessert connotations with sheer power. Shortly thereafter I begin to detect soft, warm florals, mostly rose and labdanum, with a pulsing undercurrent of desiccated fruit, maybe berries. As the umami of the opening wears off, the sweetness of the honey becomes more prominent and it makes it's way to the syrupy, golden drydown. It's mostly honey and resins and leftover spices (mostly cinnamon, but with the opening's edges worn off a bit), but theres still the floral edge, and a strong frankincense note that pushes it far out of gourmand territory into a more peppery, woody direction. It somehow does not become cloying despite it reaching slumberhouse-levels of critical density. The drydown will hang around for days if not scrubbed off, and as such this is probably the best CDG from a value perspective as one 50 ml bottle could easily last a few years. At first I didn't see the connection between this and the later direction CDG took, which I associate with post modern woody-incensey "futuristic" fragrances, but I think the more I discover within CDG EDP the more it seems to make sense. The subverting, boundary pushing spirit of the brand was certainly there from the first fragrance, but whereas the later work seems to revel in marrying the synthetic with the natural and the futuristic with the ancient, the early work was more about pushing the concept of olfactory warmth, density, and medicinalia to its absolute limit. Its also impressive how much of a conceptual leap seemed to occur between the original EDP and CDG2. TL;DR: A deep, dense masterpiece. 10/10

This one is the perfect example of "Don't be misled by the opening if you test it." The fact is I don't really dislike the opening, I actually like the smell, but I find it weird to wear pure cinnamon, but that's my personal opinion. I mean that's weird for me to smell something that you usually eat ! (exception for coffea, chocolate and vanilla, which are usual so it doesn't shock so much) So, I was going to catalog it on my dislikes. But, because there's one, the drydrown is way more complex, surprising and original. The cinnamon stays throughout the life of the perfume on your skin, but less present, less agressive. And this one is for me a REALLY 3 sides perfume. Top > Cinnamon, and cinnamon with cinnamon. And a very light "medicine" combo (cloves and cardamom) ... almost undectable. The main defect of the composition... Cinnamon is way too strong at the beginning ! Heart > Becomes interesting. Cinnamon less sharp, delicate flowers appears, making a clean break, resulting an oriental/floral side, both soft and spiced, unexpected and make it very unisex. Bottom > The true originality and interest of this marvel. "Don't judge a book by its cover" is so true with this one. Cinnamon, again, but on a background this time, on a sweety way this time, thanks to the honey. The flowers still here, leading the way now ! (To my nose, rose and geranium first, despite the small number on votes) Accompagnied with the cyprus incense, hallmark of the brand. Voila, a very deep, complex and extremely-built perfume, a masterpiece that should not be smelled in a hurry. You have to take your time to discover what this perfume really is ! Don't be fooled by the cover, smell the perfume as if you read a story crescendo. I really don't know if the bad opening (imo) is a default or a quality... Because thanks to it, the surprise is much more bigger after. But well, the opening could daunting one. (As it was almost the case for me)

sheer CHAI TEA with no milk and no sugar... very strong the first hour, then it stays forever a bit more subdued but still heavy. I like this a lot but can't think of it as a strange or wow original scent... it's indeed a powerhouse ( the balmy aspect makes it milder though which helps a lot to make it actually wearable). I can see that perhaps this was "new" in 1994, but still... it's a very recognizable smell... a handful of cloves and cinammon sticks all together with a clear sandal base. Go and smell a strong chai tea and that's exactly this! Exotic but too common place... not bizarre at all. Now... although I quite like it and find it somehow attractive, I think this is not for everyday's use nor for everyone... you should give it a few testings before you buy. It may stay for years on your perfume cabinet otherwise. I think this works better in winter but it should bear some interest in hotter moments as well... don't feel intimidated by the first moments, it gets much milder. Still... unlike some other orientals (or chypre in this case) this has no versatility... it's plain spicy chai and you'll have to work hard to wear it and give it your own allure instead of it wearing you... look at that walking cinammon tea there! or "look at that hot clove bomb there!"

To imagine that Comme des Garçons flagship fragrance was released in 1994, the year of Versace Blue Jeans, CK One and L'Eau d'Issey Pour Homme. Yet, this was also the year of Lorenzo Villoresi's Spezie, L'Artisan's Premier Figuier, and the legendary Iris Silver Mist. The realm of niche perfume could be seen on the horizon, and I can only imagine the sheer excitement of scents so leftfield and dare I say avant garde, as this one. The bottle itself, the first in a series of emblematic pebbles from CDG, must've alone been striking, but then to be greeted with this Faberge Organics Pure Wheat Germ Oil and Honey Shampoo blast that is so nostalgic and addictive to my nose: "it was so good I told two friends about it, and they told two friends, and so on and so on and so on." The opening has super shine, super body, but the "so on and so on" is a glow that tapers into a drier, yet still sticky clove and cinnamon, a smoky cardamom and peppery geranium. With the dry down feeling like a hot toddy, calmer and more sheer, with an incense undertone (which would become a CDG hallmark), the original CDG is a soothing tonic for cold winter days. It is a must for both lovers of honey and spice. Kudos to Mark Buxton for being one of the pioneers in niche perfume.

Is it discontinued? Really hard to find now (at least in Europe, even at the DSM eshop it's not referenced anymore...); that would be such a shame! That was my signature for several years back in the late nineties. I didn't wear it often since, but I've always kept a bottle with me and I like to smell it times to times. it doesn't smell like anything else, and unlike other CDGs, it seems to be less synthetic, with a more natural aspect. According to my girlfriend at that time, the scent seemed to melt completely into my skin, into my own scent. Maybe a bit harsh at first, it quickly evolves into something warm & spicy, perfectly blend. with a less trained nose at that time, I thought there was some lavender oil in it but now I believe that what I perceived was the geranium and rose notes. I think it gives to the wearer a signature that is refined, original, modern and bold at the same time, with a "speculoos biscuit- like touch that is very exhilarating to smell on the skin. Plus, the seminal design of the bottle is the best of all the CDG collection. My first one was the non-spray one, with a smaller cap, wonderful imo. (I’m sad I didn't keep it). Please Comme des Garçons, keep this jewel still available!

Comme des Garcons is stunning & very distinctive. A warm winter time powerhouse of spices. I do believe this reacts differently on different people. I know someone who wore this & it was mostly Christmas pot-pourri type dry spices on them, on my skin the rose note is really prominent. In both cases it smells wonderful though - very rich, lively like a kind of human (or homely) sort of smell . It's like a cupboard in your kitchen full of lovely spices- bit it's not at all "foody" or sticky sweet. Honey is not at all prominent (to me) - it has a sort of medicinal "cleanliness" to it due to strong clove note.. I'm surprised there is no mention of it's medicinal properties. Comme des Garcons say it "works like a medicine & behaves like a drug" I use it whenever I think I'm coming down with a cold. I have a hot bath & then spray this one generously before going to bed. It somehow seems to generate a sort of healing warmth to me - & I swear it works at warding off colds. The silage & longevity is excellent. It is a bold perfume that lingers for hours, & people will comment/notice. Other perfumes come & go, but this is one that I'll always want to have in my collection. A really lovely underrated unisex perfume.

I read the notes list and a few reviews before I tried this and expected not to like it, but I actually really do! It's got a very spicy opening. There's lots of cloves and cinnamon in here. On my skin, this gradually becomes sweeter as the honey comes through and the fragrance becomes a spicy, slightly smoky honey perfume that's actually very pleasant to me. It's not too spicy and not too sweet. I can imagine this being really lovely during very cold weather. It seems like this scent could last forever too, which is always a good thing in my books. It is a very strong and bold fragrance, so don't spray too much of this. It isn't the most universally likeable scent in the world either, so I definitely suggest trying this before you buy. This fragrance really isn't what I expected. Judging by the notes and reviews, I expected something very spicy and medicinal. I was very surprised by how pleasant this turned on my skin. I believe that you should always do this with fragrance, but I definitely agree with CDG's press release that says "this has to be tested on skin". It seems that from other people's responses to this scent that it does become something different on each individual wearer.

I have both Lush/Gorilla Perfume The Smell of Weather Turning and Comme des Garcons Comme des Garcons. While they do not smell alike, they are very similar in structure and performance. They both start out with top notes aromatic, medicinal, and reminiscent of tea: Smell of Weather with herbal mint, nettle, chamomile and CDG with spicy cinnamon and clove. Throughout their wearing, they both wind down to a warm honey-like scent: Smell of Weather with a more polite cinnamon beeswax, and CDG with a sweet and animalic honey. I find them both to be very well suited to Autumn and perfectly androgenous. Smoky, aromatic, and sweet. One difference is in the effect of shelf-life. I have personally found that fresh bottles of CDG have bright and mouth-watering top notes, while the opening of older bottles becomes a bit muddy. On the other hand, fresh smell of weather is EXTREMELY pungent and can be offputting, while older bottles may be more mellow.

This is the first perfume I've been compelled to buy immediately after trying. Personally, I find that many popular fragrances do not live up their rave reviews, but in my opinion this one does, spectacularly. The opening to me is a a burst of freshly cut flower stems, spices and bee pollen. You can find packets of bee pollen in health food shops, so I would recommend sampling some (if you haven't already) to get a better understand of this scent. The sticky, almost resinous bee pollen takes centre stage in the dry down, which gradually becomes quite dirty, animalic and, to my nose, pheromonal and extremely sexual. A very unisex fragrance, although not every man or woman would suit it. For whatever reason, I'm picturing a carefree Bob Dylan fan at an art exhibition opening with a glass of Martini in hand, or someone that dresses like a 1950s film star in clothes they've bought from charity shops.

Comme des Garcons (Original Eau de Parfum) smells like nothing else on earth, and nothing like the notes. It goes on like fire and hits like a cooling-spicy, medicinal herbal blend, with a strong woody core. Transparent yet vividly colored. It becomes slightly sweeter/more ambery half an hour in; there’s an amber-wood scent in addition to the spicy-medicinal one. Still going strong at 8 hours but now a dry, warm, woody scent with a touch of spice and incense. This is the ultimate spice-potion scent, the fiery phoenix in perfume form. Mark Buxton has a unique ability to make modernist weirdness smell just plain good. CdG 2 is a silvery alien woody-floral that’s cuddlier than it has any right to be; CdG Man is the world’s friendliest bonfire; CdG Original is a comforting tonic, a magical courage-enhancing serum, the power of the sun in the palm of your hand.

I have the mini splash packaging of this fragrance. I'll preface by saying that I have sentimental memories of design college visits to the CDG store in Manhattan with my dear friend, this or a similar fragrance permeating the air, a gallery room filled with some of the most incredible clothing on the planet... I love the opening and heart of this. Bright, fresh, nutty, spicy. But the dry down is sweet, thick, almost cloying or sickly on me. Perhaps what I've heard described as "indolic"... Edited to add: Despite all of this, I have this listed as a favorite. Unafraid of itself and well-executed. I will probably have some format of this perfume around for the rest of my life. In summary, a modern classic that brings up sweet memories, and my first foray into niche/designer perfume. Look forward to trying the later versions.

I have two bottles of this perfume. One is from the original French production and the other is the modern Spanish production. I love both. French: Darker liquor. Very strong blast of spices. Cinnamon and cardamom is more pronounced. Smaller sillage and less longevity; however, this may be due to its age. Spanish: Lighter liquor. Still strongly spicey in the opening; however, the honey is more to the forefront. In fact, the honey takes over here. The sillage and longevity is better, but it's not as strong as others here have indicated (any advice on how to improve this outside of lotion are appreciated). It lasts at most 6 hours on the skin, usually less. This is my favorite of the two. Overall, the two productions are very close, but not quite the same. I believe this may be in part the result of aging.

Ohhhhh, lovely. Cardamom, nutmeg and pepper with coriandre are soloists, cinnamon and cloves are rather shy and more echoes than full bloodied notes. At first this scent smells like my spice chest in the kitchen. I like that it's dry slightly bitter spices I hear, not sweet like I expected - for I already have Arabie Lutens. Then it differs even more by starting smelling of smoky labdanum and incense with a tiny touch of rose, then honey warms the concoction. A joy to wear in colder weather. CdG is not a very projecting scent, it stays rather close to my skin, and I can smell it strongly only for a couple of hours maximum (I'm not spraying it, mine is a sample, maybe out of a full bottle the smell will project more). Just if you love to walk in a perfume cloud, this one might not be the right choice.

Quite complex. User Alfarom said "...surrounded by huge amounts of other spices" the surrounding complexity makes it very intriguing. If you want to try something only slightly on the sweeter side, this could be good. To me, the cinnamon isn't quite as strong as portrayed by rest of the users here. Maybe not as contemporary as the newer CdG fragrances. If you want something more of the moment, explore their other options. For example this scent would not have much to do with CdG PLAY styled sport attire and so on and so forth. Not a scent to wear with sneakers. This has a little grandma-ness to it; geranium and rose are definitely in there. But also a little grandpa- clove and pepper are in there too. It's interesting. I think would wear well with a blend of vintage clothing and subdued basics.

Bought at Barneys NY in 1995... Wow! My go to switched from 90’s Antaeus that day. Sooooo strong. Cinnamon/cloves -clove cigarettes/~ as if NY had its own XMAS version of lanca perfume. Nothing like it at the time. April 2025: just bought a bottle and like my Antaeus the CDG edp is a slightly different scent from the 90’s version/formula. Still love it to bits, (unlike the new Antaeus) In fact it’s a more sophisticated composure now...slightly less powerful. *** 20 years of insufflating crushed pills may have altered my sensorial capacities. As it dries down it definitely reminds me more and more of that Art fragrance. 1994/95 was an onslaught of Novita’. P.s. if YOU start to “turn” (i.e. BO) Edp will not be pleasant on you: take a shower and spare those around you. Ty

The opposite of a "clean" fragrance, this stuff will basically nullify your most recent shower. People talk about it smelling like saliva or ass. I don't get either of those, but it's very "bodily" in a very human way. Warm honey with a clove-dominated cacophony of prickly spices, like golden yellow static. A floral baby wipe used in lieu of bathing. So bitter and medicinal that it almost feels as if it will cure something. The advertising gimmick of likening this perfume to a medicine actually makes a lot of sense once you smell it; it has a certain utilitarian quality to it, as if it isn't even supposed to smell "good." It's just here to do its job. This stuff is vile. It's incredible. You wouldn't catch me dead wearing this. What a masterpiece.

This is my all-time favourite perfume. I used to walk past the Comme des Garcons shopfront near Bond Street regularly when this was released and the window display featured Amazonian manikins wearing the most wonderful floor-length rainbow, knitted dresses. There was no way I could afford the dresses but I could afford the perfume (and the original orange packaging matched those knitted dresses, in my mind). It smelled like nothing I had ever smelled before and was adorable. So many perfumes have an off-putting note but this original CdG scent is just a wonderful, linear, warm, spicy, sweet smell that perfectly encapsulates the essence of those willowy manikins. Thank you CdG for this wonderful perfume, it's the love of my (olfactory) life! :)

It smelled very frenetic and medicinal off the sprayer, which intrigued me, rather than deterred me. On my skin, however, it was a much more focused and seductive fragrance. The opening notes are green and spicy (mostly cardamom, cinnamon and nutmeg) on me. Only a few moments pass before cardamom and pepper take center stage, with cinnamon and nutmeg retreating. It quickly dries down into a slightly peppery cardamom-incense skin scent. It's soft, spicy, and sexy, in my opinion. I usually have trouble with cinnamon and cardamom notes, but this fragrance feels exceptionally well balanced on my skin. Definitely full-bottle worthy!!! I would recommend it for those who enjoy full-throttle fragrances.

The Byredo before Byredo became a thing. And yet, Byredo could only dream of making such a masterpiece. I cannot believe that I waited until 2023 to smell this. Shame on me. I guess the reason I stayed away from CdG, but also Byredo, Le Labo &Co is that I never identified as a "hype person". I always hated anything that rhymed with "those people" But anyway. This to me screams North Africa; sweet honey, cloves, rose and light touches of incense. It smells familiar, vintage(90's), but totally wearable today. There's no compromise here; it's either love or hate it. It's very heavy on spices, especially cloves. Do yourself a favour, give it a try! Not a safe blind buy!

The honey is extremely prominent for me, and just barely avoids overwhelming the other notes, which are primarily warm spices, pepper, and some weak floral notes hanging around the very back. A sort of luscious, deep warmth that would be obnoxious if it had been paired with, say, vanilla; the bite of pepper and cinnamon is really what gives it its personality. I feel like the 'medicine/drug' thing might be more literal than it sounds- it smells like an old-timey tincture for colds, maybe, something an apothecary would whip up. I like to take deep whiffs of it when I feel like I'm coming down with a cold- if any scent would cure you, this is it.