The box contained a 9ml bottle of Comme des Garcons 2, a unisex fragrance I confess I’d never heard of until I opened the box of other grooming goodies to see what was inside.
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| Comme des Garcons 2 came in the silver packaging |
If this was actually a lemon it would have the saving grace of having a nice citrus aroma, the blunt truth is that it’s overpriced, way too feminine and has the staying power of a car on the slope of a mountain with the handbrake (parking brake for my American readers) left off.
It started with such promise, a whiff from the bottle and it doesn’t seem that bad but that doesn’t last, oh no, it dries down, and down and down in the same way my expectations plummeted through the floor.
Comme des Garcons 2 Eau de Parfum is a unisex fragrance marketed as an aftershave/purfume that has a powerful presence (hmmm, yes, for about 45 minutes and not in a good way).
This is the first time I’ve tried a fragrance with ink in it - the ingredients list like they have thrown what was left at the end of a shift into the mix in an effort to get to the pub while the sun still shines. With baldheads, orange, mandarin and magnolia it also combines the ink, patchouli, labdanum, amber, vetiver along with cedar and juniper.
The full notes are:
- Head: Aldehydes, Orange Mandarin, Tea, Angelica, Mate
- Heart: Nutmeg, Ink, Magnolia, Coriander, West Indian Bay, Cinnamon
- Dry down: Patchouli, Cedar, Vetiver, Labdanum, Amber, Incense
Considering that a 100ml bottle of this will set you back between £55 to £75 it isn’t cheap so I was expecting class, style and quality like you get from established fashion houses such as Bvlgari, Ralph Lauren and Prada. What I got was an assault on my senses.
I used about 2ml of it the first time I tried it and my hand to god I gagged as I splashed it on. It’s like a combination of old gran smell. In fact I had a flashback to being younger trying to escape the clutches of a ‘huggy’ gran welcoming her not so favourite grandson into her house.
Vile - you can pick up strong hints of the magnolia straight away and the labdanum comes through far too much. After 5 minutes my eyes were streaming and I considered washing it off.
As it started to settle my ability to smell it diminished but the cedar was still evident. However, after 45 minutes of wearing I asked a friend to tell me what she thought of it. Her response - “are you wearing any aftershave” which made me think “what they hell”.
Undeterred by this (and stupidly) I tried to apply even more thinking I hadn’t put enough on. Again the gagging and streaming eyes until it clamed down a little. I asked again, what do you think after an hour to get the same response. Not good, not good at all!
I asked for thoughts about 30 minutes after applying in the hope that I’d get some decent feedback on how it smelt on my skin - the pick and most positive of the comments received was:
“You could spray that to keep flies away from the door.”
In summary, this takes the mantle for worst aftershave ever to enter my sizeable collection. It’s overpriced, smells like my gran used to, dries down to give an Old Spice vibe and lasts as long as a candy bar in Death Valley.
It’s a massive no from me and it’s going in the bin.
AVOID AT ALL COSTS
What’ has been your worst aftershave/perfume experience? Why not tell me in the comments below. I always try to respond.
