8 88 by Comme des Garcons

I own three fragrances from Rei Kawakubo, a house I adore, along with several garments, and I recognise that this is the most challenging of the trio. All three possess humour, life, and personality; they are scents that accompany you rather than designer products you simply wear. The first thing I notice is coriander, yet not the culinary kind: it seems treated in hydrated cotton, tested in a beaker, and cared for under cold light. Then there is Egyptian papyrus, a combination so rare it defies understanding. Once it settles, it is chameleonic, shifting according to your mood, much like watching a Banksy painting as a child: intriguing, you acknowledge it is art, yet you fail to grasp the message, which makes it unique. Finally, the amber notes caress the patchouli as if giving it little strokes of affection. I took three days to write this because I have smelled three distinct perfumes in this same bottle; I feel incapable of explaining this work of art. As my girlfriend said: they are not for a specific type of person, but for personal enjoyment and not to please others. It reminds me of Fight Bite’s ‘Never Let Go’: beautiful, incomprehensible, and full of emotion.

This is my third review of 888, and every time I try it, I feel something new. It is one of the strangest perfumes I have ever tested. Now it smells to me of boiled tiger balm, complete with the plastic bottle included… Also like an infected piercing, yet perfumed and beautiful. It reminds me of dressing room lockers full of sweaty clothes, as if they had extracted the suggestive side of recent sweat and locked it away in something sweet, spiced, and sexual. Occasionally, there is a burst of vegetables, and you swear at the artificial adobo of Avecrem and the delicious, coarse dust of Doritos. It still smells of super-worn, soft leather with floral spices and a mentholated ointment. Surprisingly, despite being an alien creation, it is incredibly easy to wear; it has something that transports you to the great perfumes of the past.

Well, I had no idea that geranium was associated with rose in La Dame de Noir.

At first, it smells like penicillin mixed with Vicks VapoRub: unpleasant and artificial. However, after ten minutes it settles, revealing a subtle, cool, spiced cleanliness with a faint gourmand touch that is not cloying. A prominent expectorant, balsamic, mentholated base stands out. It is like a Tic-Tac mint caramel: sweet and spicy yet soft, creamy, and far from sickly. I was surprised by this 8 88 from Comme des Garçons; it is very wearable and pleasant. I would not wear it myself, but it amused me how strange it is to categorise it. Do you know the taste of low-calorie sweets? That is what I feel with the 8 88: a cool, light, laboratory balsamic sweet with medicinal afternotes. It does not carry rose, yet I cannot stop making the association of a creamy, Martian rose. I have thought of Gres’ Cabaret despite having nothing in common; something tells me they are related. It is a pleasant surprise that makes me think of 1999 or 2001, not 2008. The bottle is poorly crafted; the gold and red combination is chaotic and dirty, leading to error and failing to do justice to the warm, inoffensive fragrance within. It would have gained much from the polished stone of Comme des Garçons in an almost white green tone, reminiscent of hospital or school furniture. That is what it reminds me of. A very pleasant surprise.