Comme des Garçons 3 (2002)
by Comme des Garçons

CDG 3 strikes as one of the most easily approachable compositions in the house huge range. It's light and transparent with just a slight dose of weirdness given by the usual mix of naturals and synthetics that became an hallmark for all the CDG's lovers.

3 opens green and sour with angelica and unripe citruses joined by slight spices and white floral patterns. The overall effect is energizing and weightless but at the same time unmistakeably CDG with its tremendous futuristic vibe. A woody-incense base strats to remarks its presence after a while turning, little by little, CDG3 into a transparent and radiant woody-flowery compositions that could be the perfect alternative to CDG2 for anyone who don't like rose. Perfect for summer.

Downside: weak lasting power (I bypass this issue by simply over-applying).

20th October, 2011.

Off the beaten path, like so many other CdG scents. This one is subtle, not very sillage-heavy, though noticeable on a quieter level. An unusual mix of largely unfamiliar green notes, spices, light florals, woods, and orientals. This is not going to be everybody's cup of tea, but it does something magical in spring and summer for me. There's just some kind of leafy freshness that seems to fit those times of year, to my nose.

8th August, 2010.

Love it!!!
This has been on my list of CdG's to buy and now I have it.
I think it is what CdG does best and that is to create something great out of nothing or something new out of something familiar.
I always refer to the scent as "grapefruit" - sweet but not overly sickly sweet more natural than manufactured with a bitter tinge
I have a few other CdG perfumes in the cupboard - lately they seem to bring out perfumes which kinda smell similar to each other but this being an older scent smells like nothing before.
I hope they bring out something truly inspirational like this one soon!

14th January, 2010.

I don't know when I've been as disappointed in, or as disgusted with, a particular perfume, as I was when I put on this scent. I'd heard Jaisalmer described as a "rich, exotic" scent; with "smoky incense notes"; "blended with cardamon and cinnamon warmed by a strong hot pepper note" that dries "somewhat sweeter". All sounds pretty good, huh?

I've tried scents I couldn't like before, scents that I guess just didn't react well with my skin, but I've never experienced quite such an overwhelmingly negative reaction as I had to Jaisalmer. Jaisalmer is smoky all right, but not in a good way. If you'd like to smell like a wet ashtray, then Jaisalmer is right up your alley, but when I put this scent on my wrists, I was immediately reminded of a crowded subway ride on a muggy, rainy day, when I was trapped near an unwashed man whose damp clothes were permeated with cigarette smoke. Admittedly, I couldn't wait for the allegedly sweeter and perhaps more floral dry down; I had to get to a restroom to scrub off this scent, and thank God for Yardley's oatmeal soap.

I'll gladly give most new perfumes a chance to grow on me, but Jaisalmer smelt like something that had been growing in someone's gym clothes. Dreadful.

22nd December, 2009.

Hmm. Comme des Garçons 3 comes off as a whole lot simpler than all those notes in the pyramid suggest. It starts out smelling of some odd sour candy-style fake fruit, acerbic green notes, and one small, sweaty sock. It's an aggressively harsh, synthetic opening, but purposefully so: an olfactory challenge rather than an accidental miscarriage. Come to think of it, Comme des Garçons 3 has the kind of off-kilter, confrontational opening that's often ascribed to Caron's much less iconoclastic L'Anarchiste. I kind of like it - too bad that what follows is a lot less interesting.

The Jolly Rancher top notes bow out once their shock value is exhausted, and their place is taken by a more conventional citrus note. The dirty sock meanwhile softens and blends into a well-worn shoe leather and cedar background. The tart citrus plays against the leather and woods not so much in harmony as in olfactory polytonality, or maybe an oxymoron in scent.

The effect is terribly clever, if also a bit self-conscious and stagey. Comme des Garçons 3 goes on this way for an hour or two, until the citrus quits and leaves the drydown to some cedar and animalic leather. In the end it strikes me as mildly absurd, like a self-regarding college drama major in a silk scarf, with delivery that never quite lives up to his theatrical entrance. Just like that drama major, Comme des Garçons 3 projects reasonably, but does not last.

12nd December, 2009.

When I first tried this, I remember thinking that it smelled like rubbing alcohol. I was not impressed. I was really let down by the "imaginary flower" hype. This fragrance taught me not to read too many descriptions of a scent outside of its notes.

I know CDG is known for its synthetics-- were many of these notes artificial, then? I am not keeping this sample. If you are sensitive to synthetic smells, beware of this one.

I wonder why I cannot smell anything!!

28th November, 2009.