Reviews of 8 88 (2007)
by Comme des Garçons

This is far too vague and inexpressive to gain much interest from me. If you could bottle pretension, it would look a lot like 888. The faux exotic ingredients are a good indicator that this is going to be all smoke and mirrors. A dull, uninspiring opening is followed by an identikit floral dry down, with few surprises or pleasures. Clean, predictable, and very boring.

Watery peppery scent, smells like a nondescript washed "perfume" like any number of women's scents from the dollar store.. Weak and uninspired. Sharp, sour, metallic, green... all notes that don't say "love me". Dries down into a talcum powder like rub but without the powdery texture, this amber base feels really dull.

A couple of new words for me to learn here: safraleine and curcuma – I googled “curcuma” and it turns out to be wild turmeric. “Safraleine” is the synthetic saffron already discussed by other reviewers Had I known that 8 88 has a major saffron note, I wouldn’t have bothered testing it, and I would have been the loser in that decision. This particular saffron – safraleine – is obviously not the same saffron note that I dislike in other fragrances. I have come to love this one. It is not as strong nor is it as annoying as other saffron notes. Safraleine, in combination with the coriander, pepper, and wild turmeric, is rich and inviting. I didn’t like it the first few times I tried it. Now I love it. The rich safraleine accord that I get in the opening dominates the fragrance for fifteen or twenty minutes. The coriander and pepper(wood) in the background broaden the dimension of the accord, but I can’t identify the wild turmeric of the opening – I would assume that it is there tweaking the saffron, but I can’t identify how it is doing that. The saffron accord is outstanding, but I am disappointed at how weak the incense note comes through to me. It’s there, but it just doesn’t make it across to me enough, so I feel I am missing much of the breadth of the 8 88 because I love well-done incense notes and I think that, in time, this fragrance could use that extra dimension. As lovely and rich as the saffron / spice note of the opening is, it thins down to a vague, unfulfilling linear wisp to my nose. When the drydown arrives, it, too, is a bit of a letdown when compared to the opening. The drydown is an attractive patchouli / amber that is quite elegant and beautiful, retains a bit of the spices, and is too understated; on my skin it is a skin scent. 8 88 has very good longevity. I find that my nose quickly tires from the notes and, as I move through the fragrance, I have to avoid sniffing it for fifteen minutes before I can again catch its accords. I applaud the creativity and beauty of this fragrance but wish that the middle and base had more presence. Except for the first half-hour its wearability is a minor disappointment, but still, because of its creativity and the excellent opening, I feel impelled to give 8 88 a reluctant thumbs up.

This seems to be a love it or hate it fragrance, so I'll give it a neutral ! The reason why relates to my dislike of geranium if featured prominently, which I'm guessing is the case here. I can certainly imagine many liking this, especially if they like fragrances that have little or no sweetness, but I also get the "insect repellent" vibe too. It comes across as "harsh green" but slightly "metallic aquatic" to me. It did not come across as an incense fragrance, though. I'd like to know what would happen if the geranium was cut down and more amber was added to the formula (possibly more saffron and incense too). I get my saffron fix from Derek Jeter Driven Black, which is constructed more to my olfactory sensibility. This is definitely a sample first fragrance.

888 is one of my current favorite perfumes but it is so artfully blended and unusual that I can't figure it out. For some reason, I always think I smell a bit of red or black grape in 888 (a la Mona di Orio's Nuit Noire). At other times it seems like a wonderful spicy mixture of white flowers (esp. orange flower) and white musk. The "official" information put out by Comme des Garcons is that 888 is meant to smell like gold but whatever it is, it always smells wonderful and "like me". And like a magpie attracted to shiny objects, I can't get enough of 888's stylishly flat gold bottle. Divine!

Per The Perfumed Court, here are the notes for 888: "Safraline (a molecular derivative of saffron, created by Givaudan), pepperwood, curcuma, coriander, geranium and amber."

Metallic pepper overlaying a heart of rich saffron and incense. I love the smell of this stuff, and it keeps up the show all day long.

Unfortunately it makes me feel dizzy even if I apply a tiny amount. I've had to part with my bottle, which is a real shame. Still giving it a thumbs up, as i can't blame Antoine Lei for my allergy!

8 88 opens with tiny fireworks. The pepper and saffron tingle together superbly. Since I have just tried 8 88, I'm afraid that I didn't identify the geranium note. Maybe the geranium is the key for the pleasantly astringent opening.
After a minute, the amber started to kick into place, and I thought, "8 88 is pretty." This is when the gold analogy that is part of the reputation of 8 88 perfume felt true to me. The sillage is moderate and dominated by amber and patchouli.
Sometime after five minutes I started to realize 8 88 has a lush complexity without sweetness in a tier of classics along with CK Obsession. Particularly the notes of cocuma and safraline together threw me at the five minute point. 8 88 about overpowered my senses at that point, an I was completely surprised. At this point when I got feedback about 8 88 by a lady friend, she said, "I like it." At this time a man, when quiered for his opinion after five minutes, said that he didn't like it.
Uncharacteristic of CdG scents, 8 88 settled for me into a trusty, clean smell that gave me a familiar, comforting, up close and golden aura.
I am sure that everyone will not pick up 8 88, and, in my book that is an attribute. In my opinion, this is not a scent for a beginner in wearing perfume. The dazzling complexity of the development of 8 88 lends this scent a rating of imperative for trying by us who want to live in the future of today.

At first blush, woods and pepper moderated by incense and saffron. This also claims a rhizome called curcuma, which can be (among many other things) turmeric, the spice that gives a yellow color to Indian curries — but I doubt that would be much use to a perfumer; instead, this reminds me of an rhizome I met in Indonesian cookery called 'kencur' (or as it was spelled in the Dutch colonial days there, 'kentjoer'), which is called zedoary in English. It has a slightly bitter but vaguely floral-fruity undertone which I think seems to fit in with what I can detect in 8 88. This is definitely a haunting fragrance, with an air of mystery and exoticism about it. Very engaging, with a touch of floriental in the heart and an amber-patchouli finish. It's quite well-done in the off-beat style so typical of Comme des Garçons.

It's credited to Antoine Lie at the Estonian website parfyym.pri.ee, which lists the following pyramid:
Top Notes: Pepper Wood, Coriander, Curcuma
Middle Notes: Geranium, Incense, Saffron
Base Notes: Amber, Patchouli

8 88 has the same mosquito repellant note as CdG 2 and Kyoto - must be their trademark, CdG's "Guerlinade"! Well, it sure is original, at least... 8 88 does not have the same emphasis on "dark" notes like incense, vetiver, cedar as the other two, instead it has a much more sweet and floral top and is oddly lacking in basenotes. This makes it sheerer and lighter than the other two, but also more high-pitched. I don't know what's worse really, the dense intensity of the mosquito repellant note in CdG 2 and Kyoto or the high-pitched, yes metallic, tone of it in 8 88. 8 88 smells like a lady out hiking who has had to ruin her floral perfume with mosquito repellant and gets warm and sweats away most of the mixed fragrance while the remaining traces turn even more sharp and sour...

Safraline is a molecular derivative of saffron created by Swiss perfume house Givaudan. The perfume is inspired by the initial question of knowing whether gold has a smell and then the idea of finding an olfactory equivalent of it....
I was a little worried about this new launch, specially after the huge deception on the luxe range. The idea based on the recreation of how could gold smell like, made me wonder for a little while, and I had flashing images in my mind of a tacky, terrible, overly power scent.
Well; what a great surprise. The perfume is superb.
The bottle is very appealing and exhudes luxury itself; it's a shinny gold version of the original pebble-like design of the company.
The juice could be easily going into the Guerilla series, they have a very alike character.


It's based in the saffron, curcuma, pepper and amber in an arid strange way.
To me nose, 888, opens light and zesty with pepper note, melting with a fiery , grant slap of playful coriander,a nd there's a bubblely effervescent gorgeous accent going on oin the background.
I can detect the synthetic saffron straight away, flying around the whole formula, showing off its own presence.
The initial sniff , to my nose, is kind of feminine, but it doesn't bother me at all. It could be definitely a Guerilla 2 old brother, but as it's settling down, the perfume get a nice gorgeous character. The safraline share path with hints of nice metallic geranium leaves that melts with the curcuma brings a vague hint of metallic sour mustard like odour..
I have to admit that the blend of safraline and curcuma gives a feminine twist of the whole perfume, but it's enough pleasant to be wore by a man.

The fragrance keeps heady and confortable while the drydown introduces the amber that add a warm twist to the whole formula.
The drydown is dry and bitter.
I realy like this scent, as much of the other Comme des garçons line, simply beacuse I'm a big fan of the company.
I probably have to try twice to get used of the arid, acrid aura that float around you when you wear it .
It decants a little to the feminine side, but who cares really?

I have changed my mind about this fragrance. It's not really happening for me. After the initial spray, well it's hard to detect anything except maybe a weak peppery aroma. The secret is to wait for hours (it evolves all day) until something really emerges, which is the safraline (basically saffron), coriander and amber, which gives it an incensey feel. The first time I wore it, this was quite strong and heady, but the second time wasn't so. This is CDG's interpretation of what Gold should smell like and there is a metallic note running through it, which I'm not that keen on. Can't thumbs down though because the initial wearing was truly nice. It's a strange one.

Kaern