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

Revisiting CdG2 Man after a few years, I'm struck by how classic it smells. Perhaps this cross-over-from-artsy-to-mainstream CdG creation will survive all the other, more difficult ones in the CdG line-up.
I also got the shower gel, which is very bright and invigorating - everything I want out of shower gel.
This is truly one of Mr. Buxton's enduring gems!

Comme des Garcons CdG2Man

Back in 2004 Comme des Garcons asked Mark Buxton to create a male version of their very successful CdG2. As in so many art forms the sequel is not as interesting as the original Mark Buxton creation but it does carry its own charms. The top dives straightaway into the olfactory spice cabinet as cumin takes the lead along with saffron and nutmeg. The latter two are really there just to soften the rough edges of the cumin. The progression into the heart is where this one really comes alive as the spices slowly recede and a smoky wood accord takes over. This has been compared to the smell of a fireplace in other reviews and that is a spot-on description of what I get. It is like the memory of last night's fire on your sweater, very unusual and very comforting. Vetiver takes the lead as we head into the base and the woods become less last night's firewood and more today's log, ready to be thrown on the fire. Mark Buxton is becoming the perfumer who I think I should like much more than I do, his creations use many of the notes that I appreciate but for some reason don't mesh to make me go all giddy with praise. I can't say that I've found any of his compositions boring they just haven't lifted my spirits as high as I expected.

Begins as peppery smoke, turns to plasticy smoke, then settles into powdery smoke--as if a candle were made to give off the smell of talcum powder. If that sounds terrible, it isn't. It's more refined and less acrid than candle smoke, smelling a bit more like oil than wax. Hints of citrus tease the nose throughout. The powdery aspect mellows out in the dry-down, which is a dry incense. Unusual, but quite wearable, and good for both men and women.

Fiery at first. Smokey woods with a persistent vetiver throughout the whole thing. Damn sexy. Very much like Gucci PH but this is far better. I find Gucci unwearably woody and loud. If Gucci is the guy physically escalating way too fast on girls at the club, this one is the man who locks eyes and holds that tension which speaks depth about his sexual power - but it is not blatantly shoved around. I also find this somewhat similar to Azzaro Visit due to the nutmeg. Thank goodness it is controlled nutmeg, unlike Visit.

A striking warm, smokey scent. Perfect for winter. The spice notes are well balanced and not too dominant. Decent longevity. Recommended!

this, to me, starts off like burning wood or leaves. like my parents' fireplace when I was a kid. however, when it starts drying down it gets smoother and woodier, still retaining a bit of a spicy edge. I like the bottle, too.

Wow. Something that is definately in a class of it's own. Very good and deep.

Very nice. Shares for sure a lot similarities to Gucci PH but is still reasonably different after all.

CdG 2 Man is very smooth, spicy (cumin, nutmeg, saffron), woody (vetiver, cedar) and beautifully smoky. Incensy with distant feel of dusty orris root to it. Drydown developes some soapy accords, but it remains very warm and woody all the way through.

Personally I prefer Gucci over this, but I recommend this warmly for everyone who enjoys smoky wood fragrances with churchy, spiritual incense feel to them.

When I first sniffed this fragrance I was instantly reminded of Le Labo's Vetiver 46. Both are very masculine fragrances, both are a little astringent, and both are growing on me. After the initial top notes though, the similarities fade. More of the smokey incense notes come out on my skin as this fragrance develops. I like it!

A dry smoky woods with a soft sweetness to it. I clearly smell the vetiver intermingling with the rest. A very encompassing warm scent.

Warm, smoky, and woody. The incense shadows the top notes. This juice evokes an image of an elegant setting during a winter evening. It manages to be formal but modern, dark yet surprisingly this fragrance gets compliments from women. This stands unique in my collection, furthermore it is a keeper to be sure.
Colossal!

I definitely think it's a great fragrance. I didn't hang on to my bottle simply because I really enjoy woody scents and have quite a few that I found myself putting ahead of this to wear. I would highly recommend trying this to anyone.. the combination of wood and earth is blended nicely with white smoke for just a touch of light incense and sweetness. Very casual and not at all overpowering.

It's CdG. So it's like noother. Can't compare it with Gucci things. 2 Man is masculin, soft, sweet, yet modern, unique and really strange. Somewhat metallic like CdG parfum, but this one has its own metallic, that makes 2 Man is incredible! Totally energy and sexy. I totally love it.

Foetidus said somewhere that one sign of an exceptional fragrance is the way it evokes polarized opinions. That seems to be the case here! I like this scent very much, and don’t get any of the so-called synthetic, metallic or problematic elements. To me, it is a luxurious and beautiful scent. It is not heavy nor sweet, there is no vanilla (thankfully) and its powdery elements are restrained. I find it to be masculine and suave. I think it would work well as a date scent: it has exceptional sillage (as some have noted) and women love it! I think one reason that women like it is that it does project a ‘masculine’ aura. Having just read the excellent article “What Makes a Scent Masculine?” by Ayala Sender [ayalasmellyblog.blogspot.com/2007/06/what-makes-fragrance-musculine.html] I agree with her point that the natural smell of a man’s body includes elements which have a similarity (inter alia) to cumin, wood and vetiver… precisely what we have in this scent. This starts with a brilliant overture of all its elements: there is smoke and incense, spice, a creamy power/leather note, and very good dry wood. The scent settles into a dry spicy-wood vibe that is very enjoyable. The cumin is noticeable but IMO well-modulated, restrained, and combines well with the wood. I find the incense to be a minor note, lovely but not as mysterious and evocative as that in the CdG Incense line. Excellent!

WOW! THis is the first Comme des Garcons I have ever tested, and all I can say is wow. As many have mentioned, it is a close relative to Gucci PH, except waaaaay better. Gucci PH is very one dimensional, it is smoky amber and that is it. THis stuff here goes beyond that. At one point, it smelled like Gucci PH plus Versace Man eau Fraiche (or Polo Explorer or Paco Rabanne Black XS). SO I tried to mix said fragrances to see if I can reproduce CdG, but failed. If you've sampled Gucci PH but can't stand the campfire smoke in your face thing, CdG is the answer! Thumbs waaaaaaay up!

Oh how I love it. Oh how I deeply love CdG 2 Man. How can one not love resins, woods, incense, and VETIVER all rolled into one? It's earthy, fascinating, burning, smoky, sensual, warm, abstract, and a true work of art. In terms of sillage this is brilliant. In clubs, smoky bars, and, well, everywhere, you will be noticed! Please as a personal favor to me, allow this to unfold until you get the vetiver note. Holy lord, when the curtain of incense and woods parts, the vetiver takes its bow and it deserves a standing ovation. Yes, it's that good.

Yes, this is kinfolk of Gucci Pour Homme, but that is no big crime. (How many citrus colognes has the world seen in the last two hundred years? The devil is in the details.) To my nostrils, 2MAN is both distinct and distinctly Comme des Garçons. In fact, I agree that it has a "Best of CdG" feel to it -- the medicinal spices of the original CdG Parfum, the smokey inkiness of CdG2, and the monstrously good incenses of Series 3 (particularly Avignon and Ouarzazate, in my mind). Unfortunately for me, it also retains one element from CdG2 that I've never been fond of -- namely, the "perfumey" direction of the drydown. (Is it aldehydes? Tonka bean? I'm not entirely sure.)

This one is hard to describe. I guess woodsy with bits of everything else mixed in is the best I can come up with. My wardrobe covers a wide variety of scents but I think this one will always be in my top ten. I have bought many blind, using BN reviews to guide me. I never would have bought this one blind off BN recommendations. I'll always be glad someone sent me a sample of this one. Once I sampled it I was hooked.

Having worn Gucci PH for over a year and loving it, I must give this thumbs up. I would probably even prefer this to GpH as it seems a bit more complex and not as sweet as GpH. It is also more smokey than GpH which is always a good thing and it's pretty long lasting on me as well. An exquisite fall/winter man's fragrance.

I love the hardness and coolness of the fragrance. It evokes the feelings of independence and loneliness, of sitting in a train on ones way to nowhere at a frosty winter's day. It's a somehow monodimensional incense fragrance (o.k., it's a light coffee scent in it) with a sweaty but nonetheless clean drydown. Very unique.

As many others have said, the topnotes on this one are very, very similar to Gucci PH. As it dries down however, a few hours in, it gets more of a powdery/soapy scent than Gucci PH. On me, it lasts longer than PH (though neither last all that long). Also, the basenotes in Gucci PH seem to have more caramel and burnt wood, whereas CDG 2 Man has a slightly more synthetic (probably intentionally synthetic) basenote scent. Someone said CDG Man 2 has a burnt plastic basenote...that might be it. Or maybe it's burnt treated lumber as opposed to PH's burnt cedar. I like it, just no need for it with PH in my collection. I like PH's clearer (read: non-soapy) dry down. PH is maybe classier, more "gentlemanly" whereas CDG is more urban, more hipster.

Thumbs way up! I'll always have this in my collection. It is a piece of art. I think it is different from Gucci PH. Same farm, different pig. I own both and use Gucci for more casual mettings or work. CdG 2MAN is for a night out on the town when you want someone to know you're comming. What a scent. Although I am a bit suspicious of Gucci and CDG marketing. Same box/ bottle color...same smell-ish....same time premiering...hmmmmmm???? I know there's a story behind this. It's killin' me.

If you want really woody, like living inside of a tree woody, than this imo is the best option. While it is incredibly woody it also conveys an inviting warmth. I find this scent to be very alluring, though I don't think I'd wear it myself.

I bought this in the summer, but couldn't really wear in until fall/winter. At first I thought it similar to Gucci PH, but 2MAN evolves more and moves in different directions. The first thing that struck me about 2MAN is that it seems to combine pieces of other CdG scents. There are bits of CdG 2, Odeurs 53 and 71, Avignon, and Vettiveru all lashed together in this scent. If you are a CdG enthusiast, you will be able to pick these parts out. Sometimes I have a hard time deciding which CdG to wear out, and 2MAN lets me wear more than one in a way. My brother said it smells like "yellow Dial soap, and like a "stick", but in a good way. If you think this scent is a rip-off of Gucci PH, then do an A/B test. Spray each on a separate arm and wait about five minutes. The Gucci gets sweet and vanillic, but it stays within a certain narrow band between top to bottom, as a whole.The 2MAN seems to blossom in that the top notes spread out and the bottom seems to get deeper and it has a wider range. Plus the 2MAN has more quirks... I really detect alot of the oddball metallic things that Odeur 71 has, slipped into 2MAN. After ten minutes on the skin, Gucci PH and 2MAN have both changed so much that I find them pretty much nothing alike.

The bottle is one of the coolest bottles I've ever seen, I should also mention.

Masculine, deep, woody, smokey...this scent is dark, heavy, and yet serenly praceful, like sitting by a slowly dying camprife late at night when you're all alone, deep in the heart of the wilderness...the scent is out-doorsey, kind of dry and natural...All the while very seductive...deffinately a good evening fragerance...

Visiting my friend Marcel on his sick bed again the other day, I brought him a gift of Comme des Garcons 2 Man. On application, a smile of quiet pleasure stole over his pale lips. 'Ah, mon cher Nitram,' he whispered, 'what deep and evocative woods! Sensation-memory immediately transports my whole being back to an afternoon in my youth when I sat with my first love Gilberte in an old wooden summer house near Paris. It had exactly the same smell. How infinitely poetic yet wearable this scent is! Thank you, cher Nitram, for introducing me to this exquisite and poignant fragrance!'

A rich, decidedly masculine woody creation! I much prefer this to the unisex CdG2. This one is similar in a way to Gucci pour Homme, but it contains that unmistakable boldness and distinctive "CdG" character that the "Odeur" scents have. Unique and a great scent to stick apart from the rest.

CdG 2 Man is fantastic. It is ultra "manly" smelling-- not at all unisex by most definitions. For me it starts quite spicey-- lots of clove and nutmeg, but you can immediately smell the incense and smoke. It ends up very woody and smokey. I don't usually like incensey fragrances, but this one I do. The vetiver adds a green, earthy quality that makes the smoke more wearable. CdG 2 Man reminds me of the old Halston Catalyst a bit, and of super-expensive, good-smelling bug repellent (weird, but really sexy).

I like the creativity of Comme des Garcons. 2 Man is no exception. It smells like many things at once. To me, i get the smoke, wood, soapiness, insense and body odor smell, it is quite strange. Everywhere i go people ask me about it, and i often keep it as a secret. Some people say that it smells like Gucci Pour Homme, i tend to agree with this. But Gucci Pour Homme is more dry in comparison and is definitely more woody. But if you like one of them, you'd like the other. This fragrance also lasts a good amount of time, will pretty much carry you through the day, but it's definitely for winter use. Final words, i whole-heartedly recommend this one, especially those who seeks originality and woody insense fragrances.

this is a wonderful scent. extraordinarily complex, great for fall and winter. the vetiver note is dominant at first, but the smoke quickly takes over and seems to last for a long, long time. normally i don't think i'd like the smoke scent, but the other notes round it out enough that it works quite well. definitely a keeper.

Magnificent, complex & opulent – but sadly as evanescent as white smoke wafting from the zendo. Suitable, perhaps, for an occasion where no sillage is permissible: 20 minutes after the tenth or twelfth application of the day, if I put my nose inside my t-shirt, I can just detect the incense and mahogany. Such frustration – like waking up from a beautiful dream, everything a vague and shadowy memory.