Parfum d’Ete 2002 by Kenzo

This fragrance embodies spring from A to Z: green leaves, freshly cut grass, flowers, dew, and sunshine. It feels classic, fresh, soft, and elegant, refusing to fade; beauty deserves to endure. Although reformulations have taken over, you can still recognise it amongst its petals. On my skin, the green notes dominate, along with valley lily, peony, and musk; the sandalwood is barely perceptible but gives a sumptuous feel. It’s the scent of a white chiffon dress dancing in the wind. Upon application, you first notice the lilies with their glossy leaves, then the flowers emerge, the striking peony without overshadowing the lily. After half an hour, the initial freshness turns creamy, as if flowers and leaves have been crushed into a luxurious cream that melts into the skin. It’s not a ‘youthful’ essence, but one with great personality. If you want to smell of spring or something different, this is for you. It lasts about 6 or 7 hours with a moderate trail that is always perceptible.

I read the previous reviews and regret not knowing about the 1992 version, as I have the 2002 edition and I love it. It’s fresh, with green and floral notes standing out; it feels caressing. It lasts six or seven hours on me; besides, I also have the body cream, so I can smell the fragrance all the time.

Ideal for summer. I bought it blindly, thinking it smelled like Kenzo Summer, which I couldn’t find. I was 33 and found it very strong; the lily and jasmine notes made it seem suited for older women, so I gifted it to my mother and she was fascinated. Over the years, I took notice of it again, read the reviews about how wonderful it was, and bought it again, although it’s hard to find. Now my perception has changed completely. I still sense the strong lily and jasmine scent, but improved, and I find a resemblance to Fleur de Floris, which I also own. It lasts quite a while on my skin, I receive good compliments, and I recommend it for hot days. Perhaps tastes change with age, but it’s a marvel.

A springtime freshness aroma, cheerful and soft. It is green, but with a certain honey or flower jam sweetness. The herbal part is impregnated with lily, jasmine, etc. nectars, recalling that gentle, kind floral tenderness of Acqua di Gio, where the velvety green softness is the standout. Easy, versatile, kind. A luminous, positive spring in a beautiful bottle. A Kenzo for everyone.

Undoubtedly one of the greenest perfumes I’ve ever smelled. Perhaps it has a brief resemblance to Noa, but it is much greener; it transports you and makes you feel unique.

My favourite; it’s getting harder to find it every day, a real pity. Sometimes I’m afraid they’ll discontinue it as people say. Since I first smelled it, I was in love at first sight, and it suits my skin perfectly. No other fragrance convinces me. Nowadays, I find they make perfumes for women that are very sweet and cloying (some give me nausea) or very citrusy. Everyone praises how I smell when I wear it; they recognise me by the fragrance. A wonderful olfactory creation. It doesn’t tire you; you always want more. It smells of clean, subtle florals. It’s one of those fragrances that surprise you because it doesn’t resemble anything else. Valley lilies are one of my favourite flowers, along with jasmine, gardenia, and freesia. At first, it smells more green, then the floral fragrance becomes prominent. The moment I put it on, it transported me to a movie landscape (forest, waterfall, little flowers) on a spring day. It hasn’t happened with others since. I like that it leaves a mark subtly, without overwhelming the senses. Feminine, tender. It smells of a young woman, not a lady.

A pretty, fresh green floral. The opening can be slightly sharp for some noses, with that vintage touch, but it settles in seconds, leaving herbal notes like freshly cut grass with dew. Then the muguet appears, so characteristic… It smells of countryside, spring, and summer breezes. It leaves a clean, soft scent on the skin. It’s elegant and timeless. The drawback is that, although the leaf bottle is beautiful, it needs to be kept lying down. Perhaps you were one of the lucky ones who had it on its acrylic stand. Nevertheless, it’s a delight. Bravo to Kenzo! I only hope they don’t discontinue it as they did with the ‘Summer’ version by Alberto Morillas.

Green that I want to be green! What can I say about this perfume? I cannot be impartial about the perfume of my life, my favourite above all others. The first time I had it was around 1996, the old leaf bottle, beautiful, hiding a marvel. It was a gift from my father for my birthday; we went together to the perfumerie and I chose it from all they showed me at that moment. I felt like a teenager with great personality and elegant using it, truly a privilege for those years, perhaps that is why it became my favourite perfume along with Eden by Cacharel. It is a very green perfume, I feel it creamy every time I apply it, its aroma envelops me. On my skin I feel it all day, even until the next day before the shower. My untrained nose manages to recognise the lilies and green notes, not so much the sandalwood attributed in the description. It is a different, uncommon perfume. If you do not want to go unnoticed but without such opulence, this could be your perfume. One of the best by Kenzo!

Rich, fresh, sweet. But in its dry-down I find it very similar to Narciso Pure Musc or For Her EDT… but softer. In any case, for me it was a very pleasant surprise as I bought it blind and finally I found a soft musky perfume for summer, which gives that clean, creamy but fresh scent that does not oppress.

The Little Leaf. After using Eau de Dolce Vita and failing to find it in my local perfumeries, I decided to try something similar in freshness: Kenzo D’été. It’s so green, so rich, and fresh, yet with a couple of higher notes than Eau de Dolce Vita in terms of freshness, in my opinion, with more intensity. Beautiful.

Parfum d’été… I adore this perfume! Kenzo is a floral genius. To be honest, the first version didn’t appeal to me because it had an ingredient that felt scratchy to my nose. When the new version came out… I fell completely in love and surrendered to its exquisite scent: fresh, green, youthful, authentic, subtle yet at the same time lasting and jovial. When I wear it, I feel refined but discreet; it’s not very showy, but people notice it for its finesse and subtlety. It’s not easy to acquire as it was discontinued in Mexico, like many other perfumes from my collection, so I treasure it; it’s not for daily use. Its trail lasts until the end of the day, but it remains subtle.

Not only does the bottle change compared to the 1992 version, the juice is nothing to do with it. The old Parfum d’Été was a green floral with hints of wet, acidic wood, ultra-greasy and narcotic, starting from a somewhat domesticated nature; over the years it had nothing to do with what we now understand as summer cologne. In truth it was never cologne, but a heavy perfume that took advantage of summer, the green and the natural to represent a forest witch, a swarm of florivegetal notes that left you dizzy just smelling the cap. The current version, whose only beauty is the stylised bottle, has little to do with it. The idea is similar, but they smell different: the latter is more watery, querulous and transparent. Moreover, it is more banal. At some point in the middle phase it gets closer to the original, an explosion of sharp green notes and sulphurous: on one hand the green of wet richness, on the other the very notable muguette, and a tamed young hyacinth that gives speed. It brings me memories of aged vegetation, chamomile, linden, hay… However, what I dislike most is how artificial it feels. A very false muguette, even knowing it always is; the sharp green current recalls the effervescent body of a powder detergent, the hyacinth to fabric softener or bed linen spray. Whoever smelled the original will catch what I mean: it smelled of bottled nature, rich, greasy and with a little bit of sex. You could like it or not, but it smelled like an expensive thing. Before perfumes smelled like an expensive thing as a rule. Here the matter twists with the peony, which is strange that it does not remind me of a reed diffuser. It has that synthetic tone of rose-flower-based diffusers; when mixed with the green and jasmine, it floods the fragrance with a falsish acidulated sweetness, without harmony. The 2002 version seems a capped and lobotomised perfume, a shadow of what it was, tedious, monotonous and with pink-green synthetic notes that is a genuine pain to feel non-stop, besides the longevity is not bad either. One of those cases of disastrous reformulation.

The old version in the matte leaf bottle was something else entirely: super sophisticated, noble, and eager to embrace whoever wore it. The new one smells similar, but the difference is noticeable.

I owned the original and adored it; whenever it ran out, I’d buy the largest bottle until they stopped making it. I hunted for it online a month ago, and I don’t know if I’ve changed or if they reformulated it so much that I no longer like it at all. It has a resemblance, but now it has an unpleasant note I simply can’t stand. I’ll give it to my mother when she visits, as she still enjoys it and says she can’t detect any difference.