Odeur 71 (2000)
by Comme des Garçons

A very hard to wear fragrance or better an anti-fragrance, as written, the scent of the chaos over the planet, the odour of the dust on a lightbulb. This is a scent for amateurs, collectors, confrontationists, Naturalism's followers and sons of the Postfordism. I  wish to pubblically express my gratitude to my friend  Alfarom for the Odeur 71's sample that has sent to my address. There is  a lymphatic and grassy note of wild weeds barely cut and rubbed on human skin not so easy to get the feeling with (this is the main feel i smell) and there is an irony sheer characterizing tone whose many wrote about. The clash of the two opposite vibes plus an insertion of smoke  produces that sort of electronical effect that seems a sort of plastic-burnt smell after a short circuit or better a sort of synthetic xerox-toner smell. On the side of this metallurgical smell you can detect something of musky, soapy (i mean like a bath foam) and delicate in a sweet and melancholy way. I smell also wood or better smell of fornitures and shelves with plastic and paper inside. I detect the smoke, the moss, the air but not the incense. Some mysterious flowers are cleverly blended in the chaotic mix. The outcome is a unique and weird smell as yellow as the schizophrenia.

24th November, 2011. (Last Edited: 25th November, 2011.)

When this came out back in 2000 it was totally revolutionary and I'm not talking about the provocative marketing concept behind the fragrance notes, but the scent itself. It was incredibly recognizable, unique and absolutely stunning. I always try to avoid hypes but couldn't resist Odeur 71. In the end, we can spend a lot of words and time talking about really well crafted fragrances, filled with top quality ingredients, and super professionaly balanced aromas but we should never forget that first of all, a perfume has to give you sensations and feelings and whether you'll like CDG's Odeur 71 or not, it won't leave you indifferent. My suggestion would be, just for one time, to try to avoid any description, comment, notes pyramid and and just smell.

A very distinctive mix of clean incense with a minty vibe and a strong xerox-toner note. Abstract and airy. An all time favourite.

Also, this is one of those scent that really needs to be collocated in its historical period to be properly appreciated. It surely belongs to the chemicals fragrances family, modern in a "contrapposition mode" to the classic, provocative and avanguardist, unconventional, but you can appreciate Odeur 71 and at the same time go mad for a Santa Maria Novella's original scent from the early 700. It was one of the first "barrier-braking" scent to (almost) make the cross-over from niche perfumery to the mass market as it became an huge cult for a whole generation.

5th March, 2011. (Last Edited: 14th October, 2011.)

Odeur 71 is a weird, creepy-smelling hybrid: on the one hand it has a green character with notes of lettuce, peppermint and grass; on the other, an arrangement suggestive of printed matter, electronic hardware, burning dust and the office stationary cupboard. One purpose of the greenery is to foreground the bizarre technico-industrial notes, or the 'anti' part of that inseparable 'anti-perfume' tagline.

Some might think it's mischievous or droll to make oneself smell like an overheating photocopier. I think it's deranged. At the risk of sounding like that Marxist killjoy, Theodeur Adorno, isn't Comme des Garçons' 'anti-perfume' in fact pitifully conservative in its compliance: this is a scent that makes you smell like a piece of technology, indistinguishable from the equipment. Odeur 71 smells to me like alienation in a bottle, masquerading as savvy parody.

Or – to plug myself back into the Matrix – Odeur 71 is a moderately refreshing scent of aluminium foil and celery.

13rd February, 2011. (Last Edited: 18th April, 2011.)

Okay, I get a bit of the electrical short but frankly little else from the list of sci-fi "anti-perfume" notes. To me, this has an opening burst of sharp, tart, herbaceous aromatics and dries down to a cloud of fuzzy musk. This is a combination I just love. Horrors! Is Odeur 71 just another 80's powerhouse men's fragrance? Oh wait, I like 80's powerhouse men's fragrances.

9th February, 2011.

I love this. Why? It smells so new, something fresh out of the box. Not a fresh grassy smell no, but that of a person maybe with some robotic parts that have caught fire. Extremely interesting and it's deep on a different kind of deep level.

As the book I read says "Smells like a fresh clean shaven guy who came out of the shower and is chewing gum to hide the smell of tobacco"

10th December, 2010.

Electronic smoke. Blown speaker. "Oakmoss".

26th August, 2010.