Kenzo pour Homme (1991)
by Kenzo

What I love most about this fragrance is its impressive ability to capture the essence of the sea. This scent is not your typical mediterranean, warm water, zesty, aquatic fragrance. This cologne is a northern, marine, woody, deep aquatic with a light touch of a ripe, fruity note in the top, and a brilliant bottom that lasts for up to 10hrs consistently. Not only is this fragrance more complex than your typical aquatic, but it offers greater sillage, greater longevity, and a classically masculine yet beautiful representation of the sea, literally.

However, I can also understand why this fragrance might be an acquired taste. The fragrance's uncanny similarity to the sea lends itself to being too reminiscent of less popular aromas associated with the ocean: the smell of seaweed and sea salt. This fragrance can initially smell of plastic upon application, but once given a minute or two to develop on skin, the fresh fragrance of the ocean and melon appear. I believe it is the iris that creates the seaweed smell that some people don't like. The base is masculine, fresh and woody with plenty of projection. Test it before you buy it.

One of the original calone bomb aquatics, and still one of the best. Why? First because it’s actually more complex in olfactory structure and development than most of what followed it. Besides ozone, brine, melon, and cedar, Kenzo pour Homme cycles through spices, floral notes, moss(!), and iris(!!) in its oceanic peregrinations. Second because it’s at once more subtle and better blended than most of its peers. Too many aquatics smell like products for cleaning shower stalls or chemical spills on my skin, but not this one. Kenzo pour Homme smells like an abstract rendering of sea and sky: expansive, outdoorsy, and uplifting. Of all the mainstream aquatic scents I’ve tried, I recommend either this or the equally good, though very different, Bvlgari Aqva.

I love aquatics... Condemn me to basenotes hell for saying so, but the truth is... I grew up in Central Florida (Daytona Beach). Although I prefer many of the more "substantial" and "heavy" scents, it is just not logistically possible to wear them in 90 degree heat and 90 percent humidity, which we (enjoy?) for almost ten months out of the year. The climate, coupled with the fact that you are never really further than 100 miles from some sort of expansive body of water, no matter where you are in the state, gives you a sincere devotion to the smells of the sea. I adore Bulgari Aqua, respect Creed Erolfa and MI, and pay due credence to so many other "oceanic/beach" fragrances (except CSP Aqua Motu which makes me sick every time I attempt to wear it). I had been admiring Kenzo from afar for quite awhile, and had the opportunity to pick up a bottle in a swap with my buddy Bryan. I have worn this now for four days straight, and I am still respectfully confused at how such a strange amalgamation of notes has delivered such a spot-on representation of a thousand days spent lingering under the whispers of the ocean. I have operated restaurants for a third of my life, and have been nose deep in every representation of the herbs present in the note pyramid, and yet I cannot pinpoint a genuine expressive quality from beginning to end. The top is synthetically green out of the bottle. At first I thought I was going to detest it, as it laid on my skin like some chemical warfare agent, but as the alcohol evaporated the brilliance really started to emerge. As I cannot relate to any of the "notes" presented here, I will try to paint a metaphorical picture of my experience... Imagine wandering through a dense forest of rain drenched and sun dappled trees... The air around you feels "green", but you cannot discern whether it is the boughs wafting down from above or the undergrowth welling up from below. As you move forward through the foliage you begin to sense the piquant smell of salty air, and before you know it you are blinded by sunlight glinting upon a massive beach stretching from reality to imagination. The hot smell of saturated growing plant life is behind you, still a presence, but it is joined by a cacophany of baking silicon, iodized sea spray, and animal matter (living and dead). The enormity of all the incongruent smells is almost overwhelming, but somehow completely peaceful. You cannot help but feel as if you could spend the rest of your life just laying by the shore, breathing deeply the aroma of a land virtually untouched by human hands. Forgive my poetic justice, but this will forever be a staple in my wardrobe. It is not the most amazing thing I have ever smelled, it does not have the best longevity of anything I've ever sampled, and it does not push monster sillage throughout a room, but it takes me far, far away... to somewhere that I will probably not ever have the chance to visit, and for that I give it two thumbs up!

I really want to be transported to the sea and wax poetic about this like everyone else here. I just feel like SirSlarty hit the nail on the head with the fresh dishwater comment. It's not off putting whatsoever, but it's just something that I can't anyone taking pleasure in smelling.

To each his own.

the most aquatic scent I know. Smells exactly like a walk along with sea shore. Salty, sea-weed-like scent that I do not care for but it is very well made for what it is. Comes in one of the best bottles ever: a stylized bamboo stalk.

Sweet, fresh, aquatic. Somewhat strange. YSL Body Kourous, overly full of benzoin, is less fresher version of this particular perfume. I personally like it, but I'm not overly enthusiastic about it. Although I'll add it is special and unique in its way.