Scent Three: Sugi

This is probably the most beautiful woods-based fragrance I own and have ever smelt. Sugi, as with anything minimal, is actually really tough to describe. The opening is a sharp, angular lemon cypress note that sticks out quite vividly and sets the tone for the dry-down. There's a tiny bit of spice from pepper, but it's not strong and doesn't last very long before it sits way, way back in the overall fragrance. As the top settles in, a creamy Iris that feels a little old skool and soft cedar dominate, whilst the lemon cypress just rests in the background. The pine is there throughout giving the whole thing a lovely coniferous vibe but the vetiver is very minimal. I love vetiver but here, it's no bad thing that it's not at all dominant as I feel like it might have been way too heavy for this fragrance if it was stronger. For the most part, that's due to the lightness of scent 03, it's simple, traditional but modern and extremely ethereal. That's about it really. It's extremely transparent and minimal and that may sound boring, but it's anything but. It's pure class in blending. I have to admit, there are very few fragrances anymore that move me the way this one does. Utterly beautiful. In an effort to be objective, this is far and away from anything "beast mode", so if you're looking for that, you'll leave disappointed. It's a very light fragrance. Whilst it does project quite well, it isn't dense or bold in any way. It also doesn't last very long, three, four hours tops. Very safe for office wear and possibly one of the best work fragrances available. I'd also dress it up for the evening, though I think it works best during the day. It's expensive for it's poor longevity, but I still love it.

Perhaps from the three Monocle - the most daring. The first "audition" in my head has jumped the thought - who is put on this one? For a long time in puzzled state I bypassed this fragrance... But it turned out in my future favorite! A terrible bitterness and acerbity of the first notes (Cypress? - by the way, Japanese sugi smell is not so; have checked!) scattered on the skin in about fifteen minutes. All that can I hear in the beginning - it's sharp needles of cypress, freshly picked carrot cobs and jets of strange citrus. Then flavor unbanal disclosed in the dry pine forest on a sand spit. Feel dry long needles under the bare feet, thirty-degree heating, a strange speech and soap root under the nose. After 5-6 hours, when it seems that the scent flew finally, gently but firmly out of the coniferous cypress flooring starts to crawl mono-iris flavored with vetiver (I understood it lately). Here, iris delicate and at the same time, coniferous. Noble and slender iris. And totally unexpected. In general, it is difficult to describe this fragrance. So it is unpredictable in its disclosure, but depressing its apparent instability. After 8-9 hours, even at low dosage application, being in a small airspace it unexpectedly sharply back, reminding me of themselves with pristine vigor. *** After a while, looking at the pyramid, I come a little puzzled. So much wood, and a "no woody" in the aura. Fresh, sharp at the start, the composition is like no other. And in later notes it combine in a special way the softness of vetiver and astringency of needle. And the most important task for me - it's not annoying and does not exhibit, Sugi cope perfectly well.

I wore this daily for a while. it is perhaps not the strongest, or my personal favorite, but maybe the "best" of the four cdg x monocle fragrances. if you can only get one, and your reason for wanting one isn't simply to Smell like Wood, you might want to make it this one. it immediately grabs the attention with black pepper and cypress, not much else, and it does so in a way that is more forward and bold than other peppery fragrances, but that is sweet and aromatic enough to keep it from feeling abrasive. it then dries down to a more subtle, cooler, woody, floral scent. it is simple, but bold, and in my experience, it lasts the longest and smells the most broadly appealing of the cdg x monocle line. Yoyogi probably projects more, but this smells less niche. i think hinoki smells the most perfectly like damp cypress wood, and that one remains my favorite, but it dries to a skin scent very quickly - nobody will really smell it an hour after it's been sprayed. this is a wonderful, appealing fragrance, that will get you a lot of compliments. most niche scents don't get me many compliments - this is the biggest exception. I tend to wear this more at night, and more in winter and spring - to me, it doesn't feel right wearing a simple, spicy fragrance like this during the day or during extreme seasons.

My absolute favourite from CdG and one of my most favourite scents. Don’t expect a thick dense forest, Sugi is a single ancient cedar tree that stands in an open space full of light in the middle of a very quiet forest, and you can see little rays of sunlight peeking through the canopy. It’s undeniably a woody scent, but not the typical dry woods. Its the type of living woods, a branch of tree that still have the sap running through its veins. I also like its soft and minimalistic and modern character of the scent, and from all monocle scents, this one may represent best the style and the aesthetics of the magazine. Its definitely a scent for fashion-conscious crowd with a tendency for scandinavian/japanese minimalism. The projection and longevity seems poor at first, but after 7 hrs i still occasionally smell a waft of sugi. Many reviewer has stated this very strange property of the scent, its somehow lurking underneath and catch your nose by surprise, and not necessary when you look for it 10/10

Cool, pale wood with what smells like Asian bathhouse to me. It has a soapy quality, but not in the usual sense. It actually reminds me of Japanese soap; softer, cooler, and almost aquatic. This is a fairly quiet fragrance, even after immediately putting it on (and a fairly generous amount). Etheral and abstract. It also has a very strange quality of smelling differently up close and further away; when I hold my hand to my nose it has that Japanese bathhouse quality, when I'm just going about my business it's more of a spicy/woody fragrance. Up close, this is overwhelmingly cool and wet, with pronounced minerality. Further away it's dry and almost incense-like. It also diverges weirdly in it's longevity depending on if you're smelling up close or further away; even though I can barely smell it when close, it's strangely persistent when you're not really paying attention to it. Another fascinating modernist offering from Comme des Garcons.

The first icy blast of the top notes from this fragrance remind me of a bracing, ice cold Gin & Tonic. Juniper and quinine, thirst quenchingly then immediately dry. That's literally the first second of application then it becomes a combination of bright pine, dry cedar and sappy cypress, with earthy peppery qualities of vetiver. This woody combination makes for an uplifting, cerebral, incense like scent which stays close to the skin in a peppery laid back drydown. These are all fairly common elements in perfumery but when brought together in such a way they sing, it's a very good achievement, akin to writing a hit song from three common chords. I didn't get huge projection or superb longevity from this fragrance but I enjoyed it for what it is and will be sampling again properly soon.

It opens very fresh and lemony. No lemon listed. But I enjoy the lemon and green herb opening blast. It's rare that you smell a true lemon in fragrance. So it's unique here. I'm always looking for a good pine or evergreen fragrance. Here it smells mostly synthetic. You can't pick out the pine and cypress distinctly. But it's a pleasant synthetic smell. There is a vague iris smell and something maybe peppery. It's a well crafted and unique cheepo fragrance. A bit overpriced for what it is. But I like this better than most designer fragrances. PS: My smell was only 70% when I got this. Now after 20 months since having covid and smell loss, it's almost back. And this smells better. It's cypress and cedar pencil shavings, with a nice lemon and Iris. Rating: 7/10 God bless. John 3:16

This perfume played on my mind for a long time. I developed an obsession with finding a perfume that would surround me in a mystical Japanese woodsy air and I had to try this. Tested it in Liberty, the opening was a little sharp and dry and I felt sad, but moments later a beautiful waft hit me and I thought about purchasing it for weeks. Finally gave in this week and I’m so glad I did. It’s a beautiful scent, it’s sheer but definitely there - an ethereal woodsy cool scent. I feel like I’m walking through a Japanese forest on a cold day at times, at other times it’s soothing and musky with a hint of citrus. It doesn’t last that long and is rather overpriced but I adore it anyway. I also find that it comforts me.

The perfumer has done some greats such as Burberry Brit and Armani Code and plenty of other work as well. None of the notes will jump at you at once but it's more like one of those collaboration CD'S. A few Isley Bros hits, some Smokey mixed with some R.Kelly and Brian McKnight. Very smooth and laid back. I get a piney woody and vetiver drydown in which neither sticks out but they all play it's role. For thise that like woody but not too woody,piney but not Polo, vetiver but not too dirty this will appeal to you a it does to me. I have only had it on for about 2 hours and it's not a projection beast but will appeal to Liquidnight fans I think.

i think this might be one of my top favourite woodsy-aromatic fragrances. The iris really comes out to me and gives this a slight soapy/clean touch to the cypress and pepper (two notes I've surprisingly really come to love in a fragrance). I love the smell of the forest as someone from the PNW but I don't really want to smell like straightup trees and dirt. This is a great inbetween. I see some people aren't stoked by the lack of projection but I personally like that it sits close to the skin.Too bad it objectively lacks longevity.

A bright woodsy composition designed to evoke the ambience of the Japanese Cypress (Sugi) this airy beauty from CDG has a central cypress note which is beautifully layered with cedar, pine, pepper and vetiver to create a modern, immensely wearable and unusual fragrance. The bright lemon colored bottle is a masterpiece of modern design in itself. This is for wood lovers and those who are into unusual orientals. Moderate sillage and projection, so try layering. Beautifully done without being overbearing, true Zen like experience.

The rave reviews posted here are spot on. This is a beautifully nuanced serene perfume. It's like a personal trip to the wildwoods, and quietly floats up and around you all day. It captures a mysticism like that experienced when you've spent a day with nature and come back centered and calm. Gorgeous wood and conifer.

Beautiful long lasting cedar and iris scent. Anyone can wear this..very unisex. A scent for fall and winter in my opinion and one of the best from this house.

Interestingly, this smells like mango skin on me with a hint of pepper and fresh, sappy woods. I love it and only wish it lasted longer on the skin!

Every review below is accurate. It smells like all those things: pepper, woods, ice, magazine, vegetables, iris, soapy water, carrot sexy. Yes

A cedar scent with a refreshing feel, but it's a bit too faint. Both the diffusion and longevity are not very good.

vegetal smelling....but in a good way To me its smells like if you were planting a carrots garden

Sugi has an incredibly beautiful, elegant opening of cypress, pepper, and iris. It almost sparkles! I love what the subtle floral does to the clean, refined woody notes, and the pepper gives it just a little kick without being as intense as many other peppery CDG top notes (Blackpepper especially). The cypress shifts into cedar and the iris sticks around for the heart notes as the pine starts to creep in, but—as most of the other commenters here note—the longevity on this fragrance is truly weak. You get to enjoy just a couple minutes of top notes, maybe an hour of the lovely iris+cedar heart notes, if that, and then it virtually disappears, leaving just a touch of pencil-shaving cedar and the faintest hints of pine and vetiver. By the second hour, you'll be lucky to still detect anything at all, which is really a shame, because I would otherwise say that it's my favourite of the CDG x Monocle line.

It's really comforting, woody, fresh, i coud easily imagine it fir the daily wear — but probably I'd need a whole bottle or two, and spray it 5-7 times on skin, and renew throughout the day over my clothes and hair. Currently I got a sample, and 3 sprays disappear completely after ca. 90 min, I can't even find the spot where i sprayed it. Such a shame, because it's actually lovely. But too expensive to use it as a "body mist".

Honestly Sugi smells great, but the performance is very weak. Black pepper and fresh pine trees combine to make it smell like you just woke up in a forest at the base of a mountain. As for the performance, it lasts maybe 3 hours for me and the projection is very weak. After 30 minutes I can barely smell it on myself and that's with 4 sprays. Overall 7.5/10. Definitely a great scent, but the peformance brings it down for me.

If you like Sugi wood, this is it. To me Sugi is a soft, lemony cypress that dries down to pine-sol. It’s a spring day scent, through and through. 100% unisex. I’m more into masculine woods so Hinoki is naturally my favorite Monocle x CDG, but this is probably an objectively better scent. It’s an extremely pleasing scent, just something that I don’t particularly wish to smell like.

Opening is gin and tonic. The cedar? The dry down is freshly opened magazine. The pine? There's nothing earthy or resinous at all about this. I'd say it's more akin to reaching up and grabbing a branch to pull down and smell the evergreen needles inches away from your nose. It's beautiful. Though too fleeting. What I was looking for in this i found in J-Scent's Wood Flake.

I finally nailed it! The scent that signaled fruit. Freshly peeled mango. Sugi is fruity, dense with lovely turpentines from warm moist trees. Spicy of course! The saliva flowed and I got hungry for a glass of juice with mango. It was just the perfume that tempted me. I will keep this in mind for the summer.

The color of the bottle is perfectly matched: it resembles a fresh, tart, unripe mango, which I did not find by notes, yet it strikes me the beginning. And then it becomes subtly piney, I can smell turpentine and hot resin. Pleasure itself!

Cypress, pepper and pine - green but also sort of chemical. Very close to the skin, very poor longevity - less than an hour on my skin and it is hardly noticeable. Almost non existing but still very interesting and I like it a lot.

Fresh cypress and pepper, that isn't a lie. Not reminiscent of cypress, actually smells like cypress. The first 30 seconds of this are fantastic and then fades into oblivion. Depressingly short wear, I love those top notes.

really really wanted to buy a bottle of this but it’s just too weak. i repurchased a 2ml sample and dumped the entire thing on my arm and i still could barely smell it even with my nose directly on my arm

Now this is a camphor woody grail scent right here. I imagine lush Japanese forests when i smell this, super smooth and this is worthy of being a signature scent for a classy, dressy guy.

I really enjoy this scent it's so fresh. The only downside is that it's not very strong and does not last long so it's just not worth it.

It smells so great wished it projected more , I get 4-5 hours from this. In orcer of favorites 1) Hinoki 2) Sugi 3) Kyoto

Powerful gin and tonic. After a few hours it almost smells like Tabac 28 without the tabac. The cedar?

Read reviews before buying a fragrance, but take them with a grain of salt. Everyone has their own opinion regarding smells. Some people love it. Some people hate it. My advice is for you to get a sample of ANY fragrance before you ever buy it. That way, you can assess it yourself and have your thoughts, rather than strictly going off someone else's thoughts and opinions. I agree with E.H.Tersono. I only smell a clean, laundry-like scent. It smells great. It's green, soapy, woody, and a bit powdery, but it's not lipstick-powdery in the manner of Iris scents. CdG's Sugi is good, but it's not great. Luckily, I only brought a sample that I will continue to wear, but I am not going to buy a full bottle.

This is fresh green woods at its best. The whole Meditteranean cypress tree as note done in a minimalist clean woody interpretation. CDG is at its best when doing woody perfumes and if someone wishes for such a smell then this brand is the place to go. There is nothing dark in this interpretation everything is polite, clean, laquered, civilized and mannered. Perhaps, that's what personally makes Sugi not a perfume that I would own since it leans a bit too much on the hipster and Swedish furniture vibe (for me not very Japanese, although minimalist it is). Other than that very good.

Take Hinoki, pull of the camphorous facet, and bring in a sweet piney base: here you go. Basically the unisex version of Hinoki. Pass for me, but who feels Hinoki is too sharp or dry might like this one.

Has a VERY strong opening. Too much pepper for me, its a little overwhelming. Its still a good scent, though!

Heavy black pepper, peculiar, not artificial enough for me. I love chemicals

Definitely get cypress and pepper; kind of a cool, herbaceous morning feeling. However, this fragrance is weak—almost no longevity at all, and completely intimate skin scent that evaporates almost instantly. Huge bummer, but the scent is fairly forgettable anyway.

Smells lovely, but not on my skin sadly. What is a subtle, fresh spicy green scent, unfortunately smells like turpentine on me

To my nose, this smells like rotten or wet wood. And not in a good way. I just can't handle the wet/rotten part.

Antoine Maisondieu at his best. It's absolutely incredible how little elements it takes to create something special when you have a solid concept and an incredible artistic direction. Sugi is minimalism at its best as opposed to the plethora of simplistic pranks we are too often asked to buy as minimalistic and modern forms of *art*. Sugi is an entire composition based around the most fascinating synergies amongst otherwise pretty common notes. What comes out is something unique, novel and totally plausible at the same time. Something that doesn't need to try so hard to be unique. Something that is refreshing for its natural simplicity. No make up, no gimmick, no special effects and no hype. The fragrance opens with freezing dark green notes (cypress) paired to pepper. The pepper here is not of the most usual quality but, instead, it verges towards the aromatic spiciness of Long Pepper which is a lot hotter than the more common Piper Nigurm. The opening is quite something for anyone into CDG's quirkiness as the pairing of these two notes, give birth to something extremely novel. Sharp, freezing and nose tingling. A rooty orris note breaks in right away and together with vetiver and smooth woody notes, start fascinating synergies between all the elements that strike for being both gentle and sophisticated as well as abstract, futuristic and rough-ish. There's an overall earthiness going on that brings to mind of wet concrete as well as an outdoorsy vibe that feels both naturalistic and industrial at the same time. Sort of a futuristic urban agglomeration surrounded by a forest. The fragrance is simple yet anything but simplistic. A gem of minimalism from people who know their stuff. Longevity is extremely good (yes) while projection is a bit tricky. Definitely not a projection monster but sort of like you think it's gone and then BAM. One of my favorite fragrances of 2013 and the best in the Monocle Series. Rating: 8.5/10

A highly unique and original scent that doesn’t rely on an overly extravagant composition or any gimmickry—it fact, the ugly-ass bottle even undermines the possibility of smoke and mirrors, leaving the fragrance itself to do all of the talking. Out of the gate, it smells crisp, refreshing, and more than a little like a carrot juice smoothie. This comes from the combination of peppery notes merged with the slightly bitter facets of cypress. It’s sharp and spicy, but keeps from becoming an overly culinary affair—it stays very natural and plant-like. I don’t get much iris personally, and I’d assume that it’s there for structure and smoothing of the more jagged notes—of which there are a few. Last, it drifts into a fairly sharp vetiver scent—not unlike Encre Noire, but not quite as dark or gritty. And that’s about all it does. But it does this very well indeed, and stands out from other coniferous scents through nuance. Whereas with other CdG scents in which you often get a playful side-by-side merging of something industrial against something natural, the impression here is less of a merger and more of a study—as if a natural object were placed onto a disinfected surface, fluorescent lights serving to amplify the natural facets even more. The sense of something artificial is present, but is never insincere. This challenges genre expectations; it’s a scent that’s “safe” and “accessible” for a wide reception, yet it’s interesting enough for a more discriminating nose to enjoy as well. In that sense, it’s a success.

wow...that's my first thought. wow wow wow... i just got back from a holiday to japan over the easter holiday. went with my wife to the northernmost (major) island of hokkaido where, even in the middle of april, it was still snowing lightly. whilst there, we took part in some onsens (heated pools/bathing). the outdoor onsens are especially a wonderful experience; it's near/below freezing point in the air and the water is warm forty-something degrees (above body temperature). the outdoor onsens are usually made from either hinoki wood or sugi wood. this smell took me RIGHT BACK to those outdoor onsens. i was back in sapporo, watching the snow dither its way down as i relaxed... this has captured the smell of sugi wood amazingly well. scent and memory and all of that. now, if you want this smell, well and good, but if it means nothing to you, well, then, whatever. for me this is an instant teleportation back to that wonderful outdoor onsen...

Oh no.... I read the recent reviews to indulge myself in the beauty of this perfume, to fall in love again - one of my favourites. Unfortunately, devastatingly, I was and must agree... the formula has drastically changed. My new bottle lacks the power, the mystery, everything that made the perfume stand out. It feels watered down, boring and flat. What do you perfume-lovers think? Did this change happen behind the back of Antoine Maisondieu? Did something go wrong in the production? Or is it my nose...? This perfume in the bottle of one of my favs is a waste. So... I'd give it a 10/10 for what it is/was/might be and a 1/10 for what it became. Did it change? Or did the world change around?

If you happen to be in Tokyo, go right away to Tokyo Hands, in the home improvement department and get yourself a stick of sugi wood. The flawless service in this store also affords it to be cut into as many little cubes as one requires. Sugi wood has an incredibly fantastic smell, which is all there in Comme's Sugi and much more, it is, even amongst Comme des Garçons' ongoing embracements of wood themes, one of their best covering this area. I do get flashbacks to a similar beautifully concise construction of Blue Santal every once in a while - recommended !

This is kind of a weak fragrance. Strong in the beginning but it fades quite quickly like most of the CDG fragrances I ́ve tried. So I usually apply it on my clothes for increased longevity. It ́s not a bad concept in my opinion though, as I find it very light and enjoyable. I do not mind applying it twice a day instead of once when using it on skin. It might not be the best fragrance I ́ve tried but it ́s surely not the worst either. I like the transparent aspects of it, the Cypress is dominating the start. A bit boring drydown.

From the notes, this should be a good fragrance. However along with the huge pepper and cyprus opening notes comes something faintly nauseous that I can't identify but that I certainly would not want to wear. The cyprus fades and a woody note continues in the drydown, but faintly - along with the whisky a earlier reviewer noticed. The whole composition does not last long, and fails to be very compelling at any stage. Also FWIW I would not consider this to be unisex. It is a man's fragrance. Just not a very good one.

This is a wonderful, intriguing scent. Not sweet at all, and yet not austere: balanced between dry and not so dry, cool and warm. The woods are blended so well that they become something else entirely new. The pine adds an almost bitter-lemon aura to the cedar and vetiver. Lovely. The first moments are sharp but very brief. Projection is minimal, much less than Laurel from the same Monocle series. Longevity not enormous, but fine. Unisex without being bland. Yes. Bravo M. Maisondieu. Rating: 8.5/10

Should have been a stone love - a distillation of many of the things I like best in solution - but unfortunately this is one of the CDG's which my skin kills stone dead instead. From what I can get of it, Sugi is a lovely, spare, bright outdoorsy conifer - but honestly this one makes its presence felt on me for all of about 30 minutes before disappearing entirely into the ether. A lovely scent but not worth the money if it vanishes so fast on you too. Try before you buy...

At first, a blast of fresh green sap of cypress. 30-40 seconds later, a very nice bourbon whiskey on ice (you don't believe me? Try it!) Then it turns into something which feels totally organic, as if it were not a human creation but a natural vegetal substance newly discovered. It stays very very close to the skin (Japanese discretion), but has a good fixation. Base notes come as pure cleanliness. Beautiful.

The "15 minutes and it's gone" claims on here are silly but I do desperately wish this wasn't so ephemeral. At about 2.5 hours it's a pretty close skin scent that I'm veeeery occasionally getting a small waft of. It's a really beautifully clean peppery, woodsy, piney scent where the iris serves to make it come off even drier and is probably contributing towards the very clean vibe that this has.