Comme des Garçons White (1995)
by Comme des Garçons

Peppery, minty, airy, spicy, rosy. Mostly cinnamon and florals with a cool sandalwood and vetiver drydown. Excellent.

A saleswoman handed me a bottle of White when I told her I was looking for something reminiscent of clove cigarettes. After sampling it, this struck me as a fairly close approximation. The clove is definitely present, along with some scents I associate with India, (sandalwood and cumin perhaps?) However, the smoky, boozy aspect of a clove cig is not present in White. Also, the sweetness factor was totally different. A clove cigarette has a subtle sweetness, the kind you might find in a fruit curry. White is sweet in a more synthetic, soda-pop way, which seems exactly how CdG might be inclined to interpret a pomegranate.

I can’t fault this fragrance for not being a fancy cigarette (as that is not at all its intention,) and I respect CdG’s attempt to create an oriental that is light, modern, and cool. Still, I can’t shake the feeling that this fragrance smells just a bit cheap.

Another one I hadn’t been aware of all these years. Somehow I had missed it until a couple of weeks ago I saw it in a small shop and thought that I should check it out. I’m happy I did. CDG’s White opens with a fascinating spice accord that strongly carries the aromatics of the spices with it. I love that medicinal / aromatic element in fragrances: That particular characteristic in White is as good as any I’ve smelled, especially because it takes the pomegranate note with it, and the result is a gentle and near exotic fruit / spicy accord intensified by aromatics. Once the medicinal aspects of the opening settle down some, we have a relatively discreet floral, fruity, spicy accord for the heart notes – so refined, so nicely balanced, with just the right touch of the exotic; and it has quite good longevity – as a skin scent with the accord, yes, “wafting” up occasionally. I don’t get a separate base – what I get is a continuation of the heart accord except that the clove note becomes more prominent and the amber grows a bit stronger as the time passes. CDGs White is a truly accomplished fragrance.

Fantastic juice with a lovely dry down. Powerful and icy from beginning to end with a touch of incense thrown in with the rose. Have re-visited twice, but looking for 888 next time.

Kaern

I like this one's spicy floral zing, but I don't find it to be a distinctively winter scent. It's cool spiciness works as well or better in summer. The lack of warmth in the spice also makes it wear a little lighter than the typical winter spice perfume. The clove note gives a carnation tone to the florals, but this still doesn't overturn the cool ambiance of this fragrance. I don't smell a pomegranate note, per se, so assume it's more of a modifier, to give a pale fruity tone to the spice. I find it quite wearable, lacking a strong sillage, possessing instead more of a wafting quality. This one expands and lives with me more than the original, which merely ran rough-shod over me.

I really wish I detected the pomegranate. All I smell is cinnamon and sandalwood. Very much a winter smell, and quite masculine. Smells nice, but not for me. Far more organic than CdG's 53 and 2.