He Wood (2007)
by Dsquared2

Love at first, just like now. I agree on the magic marker smell. I guess that's what happens when you create a synthetic smelling vetiver.

It's green, sweet, and aquatic to some extent. Feels watery, which I think is what He Wood was after, since it's classified as "woody aquatic". In my opinion, this is the poor man's version of Grey Vetiver. They are quite similar. He wood opens up with a synthetic smelling vetiver, backed by a light cedar note. It pretty much dries down the same, with a little bit of musk. It's very linear. The opening is pretty sharp and strong, and may be offensive to some. Longevity and projection are pretty good.

Vetiver and woods would be better with a little more depth, and little less cheap smelling. The end result really is the smell of magic marker. You be the judge.

4th October, 2011.

He Wood shares quite a few similarities with both Fahrenheit (current formulation) and Cuir Pleine Fleur. Basically the violet leaf note that's pretty similar to the one in the above mentioned fragrances, but while Fahrenheit pushes on the accellerator with its characteristic uniqueness and Cuir Pleine Fleur introduces floral patterns and a bitter leather note achievning an extreme elegance and depth, He Wood turns into a vetiver and synthetic woods middle phase/drydown that's pretty pleasant yet not particularly interesting.

Overall the scent smells good and it's well executed but there are better options out there. Not bad.

Rating: 6.5/10

22nd July, 2011. (Last Edited: 5th August, 2011.)

A fresh, green and slightly minty opening greets you with only a small amount of wood; it reminds me of a household cleaning product but in the best possible way, or a higher-end men's toiletry scent: "Mountain Rush", or whatnot. As the sweetness and wetness recede, more wood comes to the fore, with a richly earthy, organic dirt undertone. It's a lot like the cheapo Stetson Sierra minus the rough edges...greenery (violet?) plus coniferous wood plus dirt. Still, like SS, I feel like He Wood isn't filling any of those roles terribly well...all of those components are a little too "organic" (i.e. rotten) and really synthetic, and as unique as it is overall, it makes me think separately about my better green scents and my better wood scents. Still, because I'm so much more used to drier, warmer forests, I'm probably not the best judge of this alpine Canadian brew; it's definitely worth a try, as I'm sure its flankers are.

30th June, 2011. (Last Edited: 4th September, 2011.)

I know that DSquared2's He Wood is considered by most as a very simple, albeit boring fragrance. That there isn't much going on here besides a few notes. And it's true, there really isn't much going on here. You put on that first spray on your skin you get that initial blast of flowers that is mostly dominated by violets which ends up lasting for a few hours as it becomes intertwined with the cedar note until it dries down to its simpler cedar base, and that's it.

Granted, there are a few other notes going on here and the fragrance as a whole is balanced very well, but for the most part, unless you really choose to pay attention to them, they will linger unnoticed in the background supporting the two main players of violet and cedar...

As for me, this simple fragrance fits the bill just fine.

20th May, 2011.

Thin, watery and light. Normally, a death sentence for a masculine fragrance especially one with the word "wood" in its name. Wet violets are the first thing you notice when HW is first smelled. What's clever here is that the perfumer surrounded the violets with a calone-like note that makes it comfortable and unique compared to the standard violet-leaf so common in men's fragrances. Pink peppercorn and vetiver spike this one up and take it into the woody dimension followed by cedar and a light fir note. In the end, HW is really a vetiver-focused scent, something that was at odds with the trend in 2007 in men's fragrances which would've turned up the cheap amber in the drydown.

The wood frame is a nice touch, in case the name or the scent don't give you the sense of wood. I highly recommend HW to anybody looking for a light woody scent. There's really none better in this genre.

2nd May, 2011.

Starts off very alcoholic and dry wood.
I somehow expected more variety and was immediately disappointed.
But soon things began to change. This one evolves a great deal. It becomes flowery in the best of ways. A very yin/yang scent with wood and flower elements playing together.
Hard to stop smelling yourself. Sprayed a small amount on 14 hours ago and it's still there. Impressive. And enough so that I sent away for the Rocky Mountain and Wet Wood versions a few minutes ago.

11th March, 2011.