Reviews of Comme des Garçons 2 Man (2004)
by Comme des Garçons

Love the opening! Smokey incense that takes me back to burning leaves as a child. A very light smoke mixed with pantry spices and vetiver. The smoke burns off too soon and the whole mix turns into a lighter version of Encre Noir after a couple of hours. Too bad as that smoke is why I like it.

I had high hopes for 2 Man but this is absolutely loaded with smoke and nutmeg (I believe). The first 1 hour of this was quite bad to me. Later on the vetiver comes in and the smoke goes away and it turns decent.

Reminds me of eating grapes when they're still very small, tough, and sour. It's well made and unique - I do not agree that it smells like Gucci PH - but still not for me.

An inoffensive wisp of wood smoke and vetiver. This begins meekly with a dry nutty edge, but there is little to enjoy, no nuanced notes tantalizing the palate, just more of the same. This has negligible sillage, below average longevity, and has almost nothing to say.

I loved this years ago when it was first launched, but I find it a bit flat now, as though it has been rinsed through. I would take White, Palisander, Kyoto and even Vettiveru over this nowadays -- they may have been tinkering with 2.

First I get a dry, astringent, aromatic opening that smells strongly of rosemary and dried lavender. Incense and tarry notes soon follow, along with a sweet artificial fruit note. The overall impression is relatively stark and gray. The only color comes from the air freshener fruit note, and that color is glossy hot pink.

The sweetness doesn't last long, but it somehow manages to leave a ghost of its synthetic edge, so that the remaining accord is spare, harsh, and oddly "mechanical." Powdery elements in the base contribute a dry, musty component to 2 Man, and I'm suddenly reminded of the dusty, metallic interior of a well-used CPU with its cover removed for repair.

The incense note becomes more and more tenuous over time, and as it fades it uncovers a dry, smoky leather in the background. This is not the cowboy boots and barbecue smoke of Lonestar Memories, or the velvety suede of Eau d'Hermes. Instead it is the harsh, bitter smoke of an electrical fire. After an hour or two what remains on my skin is mostly mineralic dust dust and smoke, as if someone had recently burned an electronic device on a concrete floor. 2 Man's sillage and projection are both minimal, and the scent is not among the most tenacious that I've worn.

When I look back at what I've just written, I realize that 2 Man is far less intriguing and provocative than my description makes it sound. Yes, it's odd, but I don't find it as challenging as many Comme des Garcons scent can be. It's bleak monotony is ultimately dull, and wearing 2 Man only reminds me how much better this house has done in the past. In the end 2 Man is nothing more than a protracted yawn.

just ok. interesting though...smells like a salon. like all the products melded into one.

Three days ago I got two samples of this scent. For the first time I'm testing something from CdG. After the first spray I felt my self in a church. I guess there is a lot of liquidamber orientalis in this fragrance. I have Gucci PH, but it is way different than this. After reading the comments here, I ran to my room and tested my Gucci PH. No way it gives me the feeling being in Church. By the way; I'm coming from Turkey, Catholic and Greek-Orthodox churches smell almost the same as 2MAN in Turkey. Not that it is a bad smell. I like it and it gives me a fine, relaxed and peaceful feeling, but I still can't think of it as a fragrance on me. Maybe it is just in my mind, but at leat it would be a good fragrance that you can use with religious occasions or while going to a church. A nice fragrance but not somethink very special or original to me.

I'm a big CdG fan, but this one falls flat for me. I'm willing to try again, but I found it rather derivative, both of other CdG scents, and other lines' creations as well. I got a very synthetic opening, which wouldn't surprise me from the house that made "Tar," "Garage," and a line inspired by sherbert.

CdG2 Man is very masculine, I'll give it that, but it's an arid, dry, creepy masculinity, not a welcoming virile masculinity like Chanel's Antaeus. I get an imagine of a somewhat sickly (menthol, benzoin) man who's got a latex fetish (that weird rubber note that Dzing! also carries), sweating it out during a session in his basement (dust, mold).

I love aldehydes in the openings of fragrances—they so beautifully capture attention and provide an irresistible sparkle to the fragrance if the notes and accords are good. The danger of aldehydes for the fragrance is that, when they disappear, the normal notes of the fragrance need to work very hard to keep the momentum going, and often they fall flat. The first thing I noticed about Comme des Garçons 2 Man was that it almost disappeared on my skin once the aldehydes gave out—that’s not a good sign.
Noticing the similarity to Gucci Pour Homme (Duh…), I did a side by side test: 2 Man lost on all counts. On my skin, Gucci is superior, so I will just stick with it. That’s okay, though, I wouldn’t buy 2 Man anyway because I much prefer CdG’s incense series to it. I agree with MMM that this is a rip off.

Very similar to Gucci PH and that is my 2nd favorite, so I would never buy a bottle of this, as I feel it is inferior to Gucci PH.

From the house with 1000 different and strange scents, comes this most mainstream creation. I remember thinking if you mixed Gucci pour Homme in a three or maybe four to one ratio with L'Artisan Pasage d'Enfer, this is about what you'd come up with. Granted, I only tried what was two wearings I could squeeze from a purchased sample vial, but still. Though I've never purchased a CdG created scent, I've always respected their dare to do anything sort of flare. For those who like metaphors, imagine Tim Burton churning out a Spielberg.