Kenzoair (2003)
by Kenzo

Opens up smelling like sand, dirt, and that smell when ya bite into a licorice jellybean and smell it inside. Fresh, black licorice. The combination eventually develops into a fishy/rusty smell.

The vetiver dry down is nice, but it doesn't make up for the strange elements in this one. Whether I am smelling rust, fish, metal, rubber, sand, dirt, or that smell when you walk into a hair salon. It's just very off-putting.

30th November, 2011.

To me Kenzo Air smells a lot like Eau de Rochas pour Homme: they both share the same myrrh-licquorice-like atmosphere. Very nice!

13rd August, 2011.

I tested this woody-aromatic for the first time inside a Sain Petersburg's parfumery a frosty sunny winter morning and i remember to have deeply inhaled, while smelling my wrist barely outdoor, a sort of tangy, balsamic, mentholated smell of vetiver blended with anise (angelica). I agree who with writes that this vetiver accord is energizing and prickly (even because of the usage of pepper). This minimalistic fragrance grounds its foudationon over an accord of citrus-vetiver-anise-ambergris-spices which turns out as a sort of incensey aromatic smell of herbs, roots, humid woods and liquorice. Very airy and woodsy as the smell of wet wood in a wet forest. Sant Petersburg, with its golden domes, was majestic that day while i was observing the glaring iridescence of the ice's gleam and the sparkling drops falling from the wet branches.

13rd July, 2011. (Last Edited: 14th July, 2011.)

It happened by accident that I layered two perfumes. I was testing Encre Noir to write my final review and instead of spraying it on an unscented smelling strip, I sprayed it on a piece of paper on which I previously tested Etro's Anice.
What a suprise to smell the anisic aspect of vetiver amphasized by the real anise note. Especially in the drydown when the two perfumes blended perfectly together.

Well, I found Kenzo Air Intense / Kenzo Air to have a very similar vibe to the above layering and despites it's not as well refined as Encre Noir, it still has a great charme. Peppery anisic vetiver. Funny.

If you're wondering about the differencies between the "intense" version and the original, well, I haven't found a substantial one. The "intense" is exactly like the original version but a little bit stronger, that's it.

11th May, 2011. (Last Edited: 5th September, 2011.)

Like most Kenzo men's frags, this one is a quiet, minimalist creation. The opening of anise moves towards a heart of peppery, vetiver and a lightly sweetened base of amber. There's a great angelica note that tames both the vetiver and anise. Similar to Etro's Vetiver but not as edgy and much smoother. Hard to believe that Roucel had a hand in this one.

The bottle/case is superb, a work of modern art. Will surely stand out in your collection. Worth the price for the bottle alone.

20th March, 2011.

The first thing that struck me about this scent was that it's linear and seems to be more simply constructed than most other scents I've owned. The second thought was that it made a welcome change from the usual fruity, citrusy or aquatic summer fragrances for men. I was especially impressed with the way it smelt cool and refreshing without the need to resort to mint.

Kenzoair has a typically unusual smell (I get mainly a medicinal-liquorice-vetiver-cedar smell) and arty-surreal presentation that I tend to associate with Kenzos - BTW I like the remarkable-looking 'sculptured' bottle. Like Kenzo Pour Homme, this is an interesting, distinctive (it smells a lot like how I think I remember Bogner Deep Forest smelt) and sometimes demanding scent that I think lacks any real sensuality - but could make a good signature fragrance and is great for office/business use. Unlike many others on this site, I've found the scent to be strong & long lasting with good sillage that works particularly well in hot weather.

I bought the 90 ml EDT but was alarmed to notice that the bottle was only about 60% full when I first opened the box leading me to think I had been conned by the retailer. However I noticed from another Internet site that all Kenzoair bottles are made the same size and volume irrespective of the amount of scent they will eventually be filled with. This explains my partially filled bottle which could clearly hold at least 150 mls compared to the 90 mls it actually held when new. This also leads me to ask why wasn't it simply sold like most other scents as 100 mls in the first place instead of as 90 mls...typically wacky Kenzo !

In summary, a really good scent - my favourite of all the male Kenzos and a thumbs-up also for being so different!

28th May, 2010. (Last Edited: 18th March, 2011.)