Concrete by Comme des Garcons

Rather undefined, but certainly not leaving anyone indifferent. It opens fresh, and in my opinion, with too much cardamomo that initially reminds of industrial soap (mind you, it’s not unpleasant), which is surprising given it’s synthetic from start to finish with that strange cold-warm sensation that makes it interesting. It’s explosive and addictive, yet it stays there; it evolves very little into promising talc-like nuances that disappear quickly with poor longevity. The wood is barely noticeable and turns slightly bitter. It has something that makes it sticky to the point of spraying non-stop until the bottle flies. It’s that surprising fragrance you like but always hesitate to buy again.

Very spicy scent (the cardamom and cloves are very noticeable), talc-like and sweet. The sandalwood does come through, but personally I find it odd to mix it with spicy notes.

This perfume really goes ‘its own way’. It’s true it smells like freshly mixed wet cement. I don’t know what they did to the sandalwood to end up like this. It’s a pleasant scent that gives a fresh, even cold, sensation, a curious effect starting from a wood note. On the other hand, there’s something citrusy, something ‘soapy’, but soft, which also adds freshness. The result is a totally unisex, very neutral and flat smell. Versatile in its own way, of course. Nothing remarkable in performance. I think the best thing is that it’s quite original.

I judged it very quickly upon launch and tried it, because I had some preconceived notions about the bottle-concept-name. It wasn’t bad, but it was indeed incoherent. And sometimes I get annoyed easily. I’ve been wearing it for a few hours now, a friend showed it to me, and since I wasn’t expecting much, it surprises me a lot. It boils down to a dry, musky sandalwood, sweetened with something ‘chemical’ (shick) that is pleasant and quite genderless. But it has more bite. It seems linear, but the first two hours have a chilled, decongesting accord of medicinal and herbal cardamom-mint, with some strokes of rosemary that have left me crazy. It focuses on laboratory sandalwood, very strange but pleasant, moving between cold and warm (not hot). Suddenly appears what is so much criticised: a smell between cardboard and cement dust, just like when you open a huge bag of this material and breathe the dust that gets in your eyes; but it contradicts with a mineral-wet smell reminiscent of preticor that has completely thrown me off. In the end, the protagonist sandalwood follows, with a slightly honeyed patchouli at the base. I’ve noticed and felt many things, but the general sensation is of a wood-sweet perfume with little evolution. The feel of the bottle is a treat.

What will surprise us? Smell of wet cement? Builder’s perfume? The photos are priceless xD