Concrete

Comme Des Garcons have done it again! Another ring-a-ding-ding of a scent, which defies and defiles all of perfumery, as it presents the unadulterated scent of wet concrete. It is a truly excellent piece of olfactory art. I am a massive fan of CDG, and it's scents like this one that explain why. They take a simple, normally dull concept, and they elevate it so much, that they turn it into something fascinating, stark and highly artistic, which transcend the norms, and break all of the rules. In fact, they rip the perfumery rule book to shreds, before burning it's remains. If you can't understand what is good about this perfume, then you are no better than the slugs that buy Shitvage, and I feel sorry for you. It is definitely unisex, and better used during the day. The sillage and longevity are not the best, but as the subject matter is something that doesn't really have a discernible odour, it's performance is irrelevant. My only gripe - the fucking bastard bottle doesn't stand upright. Ever. That really pisses me off, but I can appreciate how it also sticks up two fingers to normal concepts - even the bottle is a cocky, challenging little cunt. CDG do have a few perfumes that are utter dross, but Concrete is not one of them. Buy it. Now. 9/10. Not quite enough horsepower to be a ten. EDIT - 23.02.26 I now have a full size bottle of this and have decided to nip back on here to upgrade it's rating. I absolutely love how they present the full size bottle ; each bottle is unique in either shape, finish or texture. It also comes with a card that explains this, and that it is kept in a bubble wrap pocket. I didn't have the heart to separate the bottle from it's boxed home (partly because the cunt doesn't stand up on it's fucking own - it has to lay on it's fucking back like a wounded seal) so it now sits atop my perfume cabinet in it's box, where it will remain forever. I must say, now that I have been able to spray Concrete with less care (I was very careful with the 2ml sample I had) it has only improved. What starts as a wet concrete smell, quickly mellows into a warm, peppery, spicy treat. It has very good sillage when worn properly (five sprays - two on each side of the neck and one on the back of the neck) and it lasted a 2 hour dog walk in fierce winds, so it has some pretty decent longevity too. I hereby upgrade Concrete to 10/10. Yes Sir.

I have read reviews here for years and I know very well how precise and articulate this community is. I don't quite have those skills perhaps but I do have strong opinions on scents and often find agreement and also no correlation to what others do experience.. so heres my 2 scents ;)... My experience with concrete is limited because it is obviously new and not even officially released to stores yet but ive acquired a sample from the brooklyn event and have been wearing it for 2 days(with separate application) As others have noted elsewhere this smell evokes nothing about concrete or even NYC to me and since I grew up there I think I can fairly say this.. BUT as with CDG, of whom I am a big fan of some scents, this is a unique and strangely wearable unisex fragrance. I think a bit more feminine but its close either way. I cant pick out each note element like many can but overall my feeling is that I dont get a whole lot, if any woody notes. Sandalwood perhaps but mainly it feels to me like a softer gentler powdery version of "Happy Pillow" with a Magnolia in it that stays until drydown..I have edited my 1st comment because in drydown the soft powdery sensation really takes over here like a fluffy soft cloud... I'm sure this is intentionally and playfully ironic by CDG creating the exact opposite sensation of what concrete is. Anyway, its really nice in drydown even if it is still more feminine. Theres also in the beginning a tiny touch of the Standard Artek opening vibe in here i think as well, (without the cedar drydown later of course). In fact Concrete doesnt change very much until it's late powdery chrysalis... in CDGs seemingly random synthetic style this one remains fairly consistent many hours in and then the soft clouds float in.. the good news it is pleasant and mysterious and I find myself repeatedly smelling it. Happy Pillow is much stronger in longevity and sillage and it is also more complex so it remains in my top CDG but Concrete is going to be well received by most people! While I wont wear it very much it will certainly be in my rotation for when the mood strikes. I could have written more but being my 1st review I will keep it simple and just share with you my general impressions since there isnt much actual feedback out there yet. Cheers!

When I tried this in the CDG store, for some reason I really loved it. Like, seriously. It was one of my favorites! Then I looked up reviews for this and people seem to really dislike this. And I get it. It's super sweet, powdery, almost cloying and in warm/hot weather it's basically unwearable. There's no real wet concrete note to it either. To me it has a strong shower gel type but not an ordinary shower gel, more like a special, expensive one. It smells super "dry" and is extremely powdery, almost to the point where I'd consider it more feminine. Like smelling makeup basically. There is no concrete note to this but the powdery thing kind of reminds me of concrete, so I see the association here. Although that's more interpretation and less actual smell. The bottle is cool but the price is crazy. It's more expensive than most flagship scents from CDG and I'm talking the 100ml ones. This one only contains 80mls, seems less refined and doesn't really have that CDG DNA. It seems rather experimental, which CDG does a lot. But this time it doesn't seem like something truly different and daring. Instead it's one-dimensional, extremely sweet and not very challenging. I see why many people dislike this. Totally. But for some strange reason I still really like it - and I hate myself for that because of the rather low quality. I'm not sure if I'll own a full bottle of it at some point but I have the feeling that I will. It's not good. It's not even experimental or weird enough to justify the price. It's simply overpriced and the performance is rather poor. From an objective point of view I'd say don't buy it. Don't even try it. If you try it and you like it, you'll hate yourself for it because you want to buy it. Even though you know the quality is bad. It's a dilemma. (If you want something more concret-y and something of better quality, try Serpentine from CDG. Much better!)

I am really shocked to see so many bad reviews about this perfume. I instantly loved it. It’s fresh, clean and musky, creamy sandalwood, a bit of rose, yet metallic/dry and cold, all at the same time. I find the perfect balance for a person that loves woody spicy notes, this one is so light. I doubt it was intended to literally smell like concrete. At first sniff I feel the dryness, chalkiness, and coldness—it reminds me more of the look of concrete, not of how it smells. Then I notice the Rose Oxyde which adds to the chemical feel, it's even a bit metallic. But then the spices and woods kick in, and god, it is so good! All those are enveloped by the musk that make it fresh, clean and crisp. It's a balance between cold vs warm, flowery vs spicy, chalky vs woody. That’s also why I think is great for each season. It does give me this freshness during the hottest summer days and has a cooling effect. And it does work for winter too, because of the sandalwood and spices. It is true it is not super lasting but it does activate strongly when you warm up during sport etc. I absolutely love it and think it doesn't deserve all the negative reviews. I think there are way more overhyped and overpriced scents out there that literally disappear after 30 mins and never reactivate (looking at you Tam Dao). Notes are: Top: Cumin, Cardamom and Clove Heart: Rose Oxyde and Jasmine Sambac Base: Sandalwood, Cedar Wood and Musk

I got sold. This is such a nice blend. There's something romantic about the Rose-oxide note, the dry rose scent is centered as the whole blend just feels so beautifully dry, not chalky dry but softly dry. It's like cemented flowers, in reminisce of some age when forests were no-mans land and now the same green full of life forests are big cities with skyscrapers, choking on cement and the color grey. If you think of it, this scent is exactly what I just said. Grey. And I can't comprehend how hard that was for the perfumer to manage and to do such an accurate depiction of this. The scent is beautiful, I can agree on some degree about what people say, it too monotone for you to wear it the whole day, but you wouldn't expect something else from an Avant-Garde way of thinking of CDG (And that's a good thing), CDG portrayed (Not a masterpiece) but definitely an art project into a truly niche worthy creation. Note: In the packaging comes a note that reads: CONCRETE by CDG Is a precious scent contained within a shell of concrete and glass, hand-finished and held within a pocket of bubble wrap. Each bottle is totally unique with subtle differences in texture, deformity and finish. Concrete is a natural material which may change and evolve over time. Please avoid contact with liquids which may stain the surface. That's just fricking awesome.