Serpentine

This is a fun little offering from CDG but it's not essential. Opens up totally naturalistic and grassy and then seems to get more and more synthetic and urban as it dries down. Theres a note that comes out at the end of the drydown that I recognize from CDG 2011, sort of a slightly chalky, somewhat sweet concrete note that I really enjoy. It's somewhere between fresh cut green grass and freshly poured concrete and Its very nice! The issue here is performance. It opens up strong but it's gone within 2 hours on me. I enjoy the 2 hours, but when I can wear the much stronger CDG 2011 (which come to think of, is a concentrated distillation of the best aspects of this) I don't see much of a need. 5.5/10 Edit: After wearing this a few more times, it's really won me over. While I still get performance issues, I've found that there is much more going on than I originally thought. Its a very unique and worthy offering from CDG. The clean grassiness in the opening that I originally described as naturalistic is actually interestingly futuristic. It's like grass that is somehow so grassy that it becomes some sort of dystopian replicant of grass. The individual elements are combined in such a clinical way that they make up an entirely new scent. The drydown still contains traces of CDG 2011/a new perfume, and it does lose some of it's fun as it goes but I think its worth a sniff for any CDG fan. 7.5/10

I absolutely adore Serpentine. I briefly had a store near my work that stocked CdG scents, and I spent some days sniffing them all and wearing a few before buying this one. A beautiful and brainy scent. Immediately attractive, but also intriguing as you mentally pick it apart - a garden of flowers, green stems, asphalt roads surrounding, cars and city smells in the distance. A completely personal reference: this always brings to mind a line from Steven Jesse Bernstein's harrowing spoken word piece, Face. He is being tormented by a school bully and "misty lavender donuts of shame" appear before his eyes. I think of this not because of anything harrowing or shameful in the scent, but because I see these holographic lavender-coloured misty donuts of idealized "pollution" when I smell this. A cautionary note: I returned to the office after spraying this on my wrist at the store to test it out (hopefully discreetly as scents were not common in my workplace). As I sat down, my coworker suddenly had a panicked look in her eye, and said, "what smells like shoe polish?" I quickly went into the washroom and scrubbed it off. I still bought it later that week because I'm a freak like that. But it goes to show how niche scents can bother, you know, normal people. I've since gotten compliments on it but I see this and other niche scents as something for me and people in my life who appreciate them.

Did not expect to love this, but I do. There’s something familiar in here that I recognize from certain sandalwood scents that makes them smell like sexy sweat, but instead of being sandalwood-adjacent, it’s wafting around with green and soapy notes. The green soapy note I can see how some people compare to Mugler cologne. But compared to Mugler this is airier, 3-dimensional, grittier yet cleaner, where mugler comes across as very flat (and a little disgusting when you discover the “semen note”). The asphalt plays the part of that gross cigarette smell a lot of modern men’s fragrances have but without making you smell like a closeted smoker. But the magic here are the aldehydes. It’s easy to screw up an aldehydic fragrance and make it smell like grandma or grandpa (looking at you, yuzu soda). But here they just augment the soap a bit and lift all those green notes into the air and make them sparkle. It’s easy to go nose blind to these and that’s why some reviews say it doesn’t last for them. If you find CdG Soda magical and want a green soapy scent with that magic, this is it.

Chromatic scale Serpentine evoked: White / Fluo Green / Silver / Black / Pale Pink / Dark Grey Some random impressions. Boatloads of aldehydes, *gunpowdery* spices, musks, incense, woods, iris-y notes. It evokes brand new spaces as opposed to brand new objects. Big warehouses. Concrete, wet white paint, linoleum, immaculate walls, industrial lighting, cars, subways, ads... To all of the above, add a smooth powderyness probably linked to some orris-related accord which provides a subtle perfumey vibe necesseary to preserve the fragrance from becoming a mere exercise in style. Absolutely wearable, novel and modern...which I guess are all adjectives to describe CDG. Once more, Austuguevielle's artistic direction doesn't let me down and, when it comes to modernism, CDG is confirmed to not fear any rival. A big winner. Rating: 7.5-8/10

It smells like bitter pine and a walk in a forest during late autumn. You have asphalt and fallen leaves which are starting to slowly rot under your feet. It is quiet, the air is crisp, as it just stopped raining. You're alone. But you are perfectly happy with that. My brother gifted me this fragrance when I was very young, it was... 10 years ago. Since then I switched countries and places and I didn't take Serpentine with me when I was moving. Recently my mother sent it to me via post and... it didn't change one bit. It still smells the same way it used to smell when I was way younger. I find it impressive the original scent survived this long. For me this is best worn when it's chilly outside. It's a beautiful, high quality, complex and unique fragrance. And, like almost all CdGs, it's not for everyone.

As literal as it gets in the best way this scent captures the environmental story of car crash - the choreography, the set, not the vehicle. you are the vehicle. It isn't gruesome, it's like a ballet, or a stunt for a movie. It's meticulously controlled chaos. straight grass clippings. clean pavement that has been baking in the sun so long its radiating waves of heat. fresh air - this note I am most impressed with tbh. to capture literal fresh air. nothingness. incredible. finishing back in sweet grass with a whisper of sweet florals. like an out of control car that serpentines off an empty highway into the open field of a median before catching air to land upside down in fresh grass on a perfectly sunny day. pure art.

Makes me think of a laundromat at dusk on a main street where the fresh clean steam from the dryers meets the warm (not hot because it's dusk) asphalt. Remarkable really how the main notes of this one are present and accounted for. Avant-garde enough to pique and keep my interest while still being totally comfortable. Very cool how the synthetic notes eg asphalt smell so natural. Average performance. Leans masculine. Also, CdG is quite price-friendly. Highly recommended to fragrance fans foraying off the beaten path. Rating - 7.5/10

fresh grassy aldehydes. don't really get the asphalt in here. this is the perfume that brought me here, i had never smelled anything like it before. beautiful beautiful scent of urban grass. a sterile but maintained lawn with dew in spring. there are moments when i spray it and it comes out like a spicy artificial green, like a sharp uncool mint almost. other times when it lasts a bit longer, i smell the iris so clearly. i really wish it lasted longer than 1 hour.

I love a lot about Comme des Garcons, particularly how boring they find the concept of "pretty". For me, the opening of Serpentine is very soapy green in a good way, very much a city park grass on a cloudy morning. And the dry down on my skin remind me of the first drops of rain landing on hot pavement on a humid day. I love the atmosphere of it and I love wearing it at work especially on hot days. It's refreshing.

Another masterpiece from comme des garcons. I do get the “park in a city” vibe but to me it smells more like a futuristic, clean and slightly metallic green scent. It smells very fresh but with some edge to it so it never gets boring. 9/10

Love this! Fresh air, wet grass & asphalt! Opens very bright, fresh & dewy but the asphalt becomes more noticeable as it dries down. I personally didn't have major issues with performance, constantly got whiffs for around 4 hours.

A weird one, no doubt. To me this smells like New York City in June. A friend once told me it smelled like CURRY. (!!!) I don’t wear it anymore, but can’t bear to get rid of it.

Grassy like sticking your nose to the ground, on a morning where there’s still leftover dew.

Soooo good. Green and noxious in such a nice way

Applies mostly thick wood with a lesser green streak. Brisk plant contrasts pillowy soapiness that's not powdery and only adds texture. Sappy wood twigs with a faint leafy bite. Mellow and creamy. Surprising how it lives up to the name in not an off-putting way. Top note is the highlight while soft woody base takes time to develop. As others noted, more city park than wild nature with the scent of fresh cut grass on a mower and damp streets nearby. Light skin projection, but not the worst. Clothes deliver more airy green that's still soapy/creamy, but in a realistic way. As wood becomes more refined and warm, everything harmonizes much more delightfully on skin. It becomes more fresh and natural with a needed gentle sweetness. As an aficionado of green scents, much of the opening felt pretty mid but settled into an impressive blend. Alas, by that point, the skin application fades a bit. It's close! Definitely benefits from heavy application. The clothing spray is still going milky green, which is a good trade off. I suppose it's worth trying as that dry down is pretty damn nice and unique, despite being on the weaker side.

I have a great relationship with atmospheric scents, and this is one of them. It opens with a note that reminds me of grass and lemon balm. It is green, fresh and bursting with life, but like many CdG scents, this one also has an industrial and slightly dystopian side... In the middle; that liveliness suddenly stops and everything around you turns grey, a kind of greyness as if nature has been stripped of its colours... You find yourself among rain-soaked stones. Everything is still and everything is unhappy. Like the phase transition in Silent Hill, the atmosphere suddenly becomes muted, and you feel as if you are inside a computer game, in an artificial environment. Everything is there, the trees, the grass, the flowers, the benches, but they are not real. Someone has placed them there for you. The moment you bend down to smell the grass, it is no longer green and alive. It smells grey and clean, as if stripped of all the dirt of life. Tag(s): citrusy, grassy, muted, grey, wet stones, aldehydic-fresh, industrial

Serpentine opens with same smell as a dewy park that has dandelions and a variety of other weeds growing in it and this fragrance stays very close to my skin... and somehow it just keep staying. About ten minutes after spraying, I began to have to touch my nose to my wrist in order to still smell it, but it has lingered all day as a skin scent, even after I took a bath! It smells less and less green as the hours have passed and a bit more like concrete and wood. I think it starts out smelling like a wet unkept lawn, but in the nicest way. I love the smell of my front garden after it rains and Serpentine's opening is very similar to that. The scent's dry-down is less wet, but still fresh and green, and its longevity has astounded me. If you like that, this is a fragrance you'll probably enjoy, but keep in mind that there is little to no sillage with this one, especially if you're used to wearing "compliment-getters" that others can detect.

kind of disappointing honestly. a pretty basic green vegetal scent, not bad by any means, don't get me wrong, but there really isn't much depth to it. i was super excited about the asphalt accord, but it doesn't come through at all, at least not on my skin. maybe it's just a body chemistry thing. i don't usually care much about sillage but i have to say the performance on this scent is not great, especially considering the price point..... oh well. you win some you lose some EDIT: I'm really coming around to this one.... I was pretty underwhelmed at first but the grassy green with the lightest ashphalt undertone is super nostalgic and summery. I was expecting it to lean more heavy on the synthetics but I quite like how fresh and clean this is. The grass is by far the standout note here. Smells like taking a leisurely walk on a hot August day after your neighbors just got done with the mowing.

A modern abstract by the ever eclectic CDG House, this grassy woody synthetic beauty designed to accompany an art exhibit is only for adventurous modern perfume lovers. The notes are grass, green leaves, galbanum, iris leaf, aldehydes, asphalt, musk, nutmeg, labdanum, cedar, benzoin, juniper and guaiac wood and they create a nice green woody feel that evokes big spaces like open fields, large warehouses, modern skyscrapers, highways, very ultra modern and futuristic. As one reviewer correctly points out, nature meets metropolitan perhaps evoking the artistry it was designed to accompany. Beautifully composed and moderate sillage/projection, this is an eminently wearable perfume for those who appreciate modern abstract perfumery art.

Very nice wet, dewy grassy note, though I feel like it's more present smelling it up close nose to skin than in its projection. Further out, there is still a sense of green but the aldehydes are more prominent. They smell a little violet-y, a little potpourri (but in a good way). I'm not sure I get straight up asphalt, but there is something a little sticky and tarry about it, again in a good way. I like this for sure, and it's a good value for the price (currently ~$100), even if it's not an essential addition to your fragrance wardrobe. It's perfect for the beginning of spring. 8/10.