Reviews of L'Eau par Kenzo pour Homme (1999)
by Kenzo

L’Eau par Kenzo comes on with a gentle sweet / sharp citric opening featuring a beautifully refined and clear yuzu and a soft slightly minty green note. It is delicate but quite sweet—a sweetness that fooled me because of the fragrance’s lack of strong notes. The lightness of the fragrance can be misleading. Over spraying can lead to becoming Mr. Cologne Guy just as much as over spraying more notorious fragrances. The fragrance is well constructed: The water pepper provides a water note and there are ozonic notes—more ozonics than watery notes, I would say, and those ozonics are kept from the all-too-common synthetic ambiance. The green notes are too sweet and unsharp for my taste, I would rather have some of that inherent bitterness that comes from leaves and stems. Until a half hour after application, the notes project a slight feminine feel because of the extra sweetness IMO. The dry down is green / aquatic combined with white musk. The dry down, too, continues the soft ambiance and lasts longer on my skin than many white musk accords that I’ve worn. The longevity is good for a citrus fragrance. L’Eau par Kenzo is a tiny bit Zen; it is genteel and calming. It works for hot summer days, but don’t let its seeming mildness fool you: it can cloy if too much is sprayed. (Edit of 28 October 2005 review.)

This is a very light-weight citrus aquatic. It is pleasant and very easy to wear casually, but that's about it. There isn't an edge or punch in this that will wow. If one is looking for a scent for freshening up after sports, this will work perfectly, apart from that, I don't see myself ever using this on any other occasion.

A beautiful lemon scent that comes off medium strength and then steps down to a creamy lemon-aquatic. There is one use for this and its exactly what I use it for: scorching hot days where I know I will get sweaty. There is no better fragrance I've tested yet that is more suitable for extreme heat than this.

beautiful bottle, nice aquatic, sweet and lemony scent. i love it every time i give it a sniff, though on me it's just a little too linear and, eventually, boring.

There's really not much to this one. A thin lemon eau de Cologne with an enormous barrel of calone dumped over it, and about as necessary as plantar warts. What was I expecting? The stuff is blue.

I'm on my 3rd day of sampling this.Reminds me of clinique happy for men, but a little lighter and more orange.

Anyways, it starts off very light and refreshing. I get a hit of orange. Think of your hands after you peel an orange and get juice over your hands and just wiped it off. That same smell lingers. However, linger is all it does. After an hour at most the scent is gone.

As with most light citrus scents longevity is pretty poor. Try it on your own skin first before buying.

This was one of the first fragrances I purchased after joining BN. It practically became my signature I enjoyed it so much. It is definitely an "acquatic" but much more interesting and aromatic than most. Love the opening freshness and the smooth transition to the smooth musky drydown. Longevity is not a problem with my skin and the humidity here in N.O. Defintiely a summer favorite.

Simple, refreshing citrus that dries down to an aquatic musk. Not a groundbreaker, but I like it much better than others of its kind. Topnotes are addictive. Though it's made for men, easily unisex. I like to wear it on hot days or when I'm exercising.

This does not work for me. Fresh start, but then the fragance vanishes almost instantly. I thought it would be o.k. for a summer party, but I was wrong.

Lots of people mention lemons, I get oranges, with a little peel. Then it gets bitter (still sweet) over time and fainter. Its linear, does not change much. Hot days are incomplete without this.

Lemonaded perfume. Too tart and needs little sugar added but some people don't like sweetness. Either way, it's still a good scent.

On paper, and for the first few minutes on skin, this smells extremely refreshing like freshly squeezed lemon juice. No, not pure juice, rather lemon water. No rind in sight. Briefly, I wanted to own it to bathe in it on hot days. Sadly, after those few minutes all the lemon freshness is gone and it smells vaguely and faintly like some kind of perfumed sanitary product...

When first trying this, my expectations were moderate. However, I walked out of the perfume shop with my wrist glued to the nose. For economic reasons, I tried to convince myself that I didn't need another aquatic/fresh scent, but with little success; the memory of the beautiful and "happy-energetic" top notes stuck in my brain.
It is very easy to wear in most situations; non-offensive and office friendly (except that repeated invocation of the wrist-to-nose reflex may be disturbing and confusing your office-mates), and my wife loves it.
This is now my favourite scent for casual summer days.

Love it! Very very very FRESH, and CLEAN! Great in the summer, in the morning right after a shower. Maintains a clean feeling on my skin. Very lemony, and some might say it smells a bit like bathroom cleaner. But in a good way. Smells wonderful!

Gourmet Pool Chlorine.

Starts off with a really wonderful citrus accord, but somehow ends roughly (maybe it’s just me). I wish it ended just as well as it started! It’s one thing knowing how to take off…it’s another thing knowing how to land the sucker!

Really great fragrance, but it does not last long.approximately 2 hours, then you can not smell it again.

well..i love the Yuzu scent...it is delicious actually, this perfume had already in my hand just now, an hour before i write this comment, and the first time i smell it..the first time i melt on it!!

I really like the fresh, citrusy, aquatic smell of this one. It's lemony and sweet, but not overpowering. Admittedly, its longevity leaves something to be desired, but overall, it's a very nice scent. The bottle is also one of my favorites :)

I picked up this scent among the collection of the fresh smells. Just it's a share masterpiece by Kenzo and Cresp. Nice fresh and bright citrus with the hint of aquatic notes-this is different from other fresh scents that most of them have been overrated by people. It's refined, polished and so loud--I've really enjoyed it so far. Highly recommended.

Nice frangrance but not masculine.Lemony Yuzu notes and flowers makes o good smeell but I think it is more suitable for girls.
Also not very strong.

Pure sensuality and peace of mind.A light sweety scent with misterious yuzu lemon. It can be worn anywhere,everywhere as it has something subtle and elegant with it, compared to other citrus scents.Take it as an alternative to Acqua Di GIO.

From spraying to drydown it's steady smell is stable in my nose.
it is proved for me L'Eau Par is the only consedirable perfume by Kenzo.
it's very simple and this simplicity is not bad.
overall it was not surprise for me.

I can´t understand how some reviewers found this fragance boring!, with all my respects.
I´m a A fan of aquatic perfumes. I been trying several times different ones, but nothing like that modern, transparent smell of ozone, water, yuzu, mint and the androginous note of water lilly :)
Now, this one have everything that suit day/night, all seasons, fresh, airy, invigorating and a Yummy factor.
There´s nothing like that around on similar fragances on the same family
Highly recommended, (and last long for hourrssssssss).

One of my favorites! It's at the top of my summer list. Definitely a strong lemon accord, but a sophisticated one - I get not only lemon, but also the lemon peel, and combined with the other fresh notes, it's intoxicating.

Very fresh and cooling.

Cold Lemon dominates the top notes... and yes, Yuzu is a type of Lemon... green floral middle notes and a very soft Vanilla drydown. Unlike others, I never seem to have longevity issues with LpK, as it lasts about 4-5 hours on my skin. Classy.

This is the only one of the fresh scents that I truly like. It is a clean breath of fresh air. I am sure someone else has said the same about this. But it is true.
benb

Fresh and Cool. It's a real invigorating scent. Great for summer time.

I liked it at first but now I am starting to feel that the "candy" sweet accord in the tops is sickening and cloying. I will have to do more testing.

boring. too much damn lemon, yeah, yuzu, my ass!
don't go there!

lovely freshness that grows with each wearing..it was a gift from a then girlfriend and took me by surprise..i only owned it once but i can recall the scent readily..the unique top notes (back then) really set this off and apart form the competition and it even had some staying power..lush..long green grass somewhere in the orient beckon.

This is the most fresh fragrance you will experience. fantastic for summer hot days, feels like continues cold shower. only outmatched by Paco Rabanne Pour Homme(the old version).

Very tough to review for me. I like Acqua di Gio, and I like the smell of this, it's just that the citrus in here seems too strong, the whole thing is somehow out of balance. This and the hint of soapiness in here reminds me too much of dish liquid, and the somewhat low longevity makes this almost a "down"-verdict. The other reviews are overall pretty good, but I would still suggest to check out other aquatics, like maybe Sun Men by Jil Sander, there are a number of fragrances to choose from in this category.

Smells like classier and more subtle version of well-known aquatic scents like Boss Elements Aqua(which is in my opinion very good too). Sparkling refreshing "green" notes, not only watery, but also slightly
ozonic, lightful,gentle and pleasantly inconspicous on te wearer's skin. Perfect casual wear, day- and summertime scent.

After falling for the women's version, I was pleasantly surprised that the men's was just as enjoyable and just as fresh and dewy. A staple for warmer weather that makes great use of Japanese yuzu inthe topnotes!

It took a while for this scent to grow on me. At first I was overwhelmed by the almost sickly-sweet citrus. However, after wearing it a few times I grew to really enjoy this unique fresh fragrance. I think part of the reason I was overwhelmed in the first place is that the initial spray *is* pretty powerful, but this potency quickly fades, leaving a light, pleasant aroma on you. I can't wait to try this one out in summer.

This is the best citrus I have ever smelled. It starts off a bit like L'eau D'Issey, but (thankfully, IMHO) it mellows out to something absolutely amazing. The perfect summer scent.

An aquatic scent that is different from all the other aquatics which are uninspired mishmashes of various citrus and aquatic notes. L'eau par Kenzo has titrated doses of citrus, fruitiness and aquatic notes to be the best of its kind.

This is just barely different from everything else on the market, just barely. It’s a very soft and very subtle aquatic and citrus fragrance. It’s very fresh, and has some interesting notes to keep it from being boring. I will agree with Matt; this is a much better made fragrance than most other summer offerings.

This is my all time favourite fragrance. I just cannot get bored of this scent. L'eau Par just simply awakens my senses and rejuvinates me. I love the yuzu top note that really reminds me of a fresh lemonade and it's just so heavenly. I use everything from L'eau Par range and there is nothing more refreshing than using the L'eau Par shower gel every morning. I hope this wonderful fragrance will stand the test of time.

I've done a 180 on this since my initial impression. It's Perfect. Yuzu done right. This is what Happy, Tommy and countless other recent launches aim for but fail miserably to deliever. Light, fresh and original just like Kenzo's signature ph. Good stuff. The old samourai-katana bottle is so superior to the new rectangular though...
MMM

Fresh, but soapy and doesn't last too long. I don't know if the lady's would go for it, IMO.

This fragrances really rullez! It makes me very happy every second,minute,hour I wear it.If you want a clean scent,watery yet fruity try this one...you woun't be dissapointed!Not to mention that girls are mad about this one...

I love this scent during the summer. It is about as aquatic as they come and is neither overpowering nor too close to the skin. It's a very fresh and clean scent that elicits many compliments. Haven't smelled it on many others too which is a plus.