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Burr gives He Wood by DSquared three stars

post #1 of 18
11/21/08 at 5:35am
Thread Starter 
'...Working with the creative directors, the Catens and Giorgia Martone (the marketing director of ICR, Dsquareds licensee), the perfumer Daphné Bugey has created a wearable, modern wood. Bugey is a rising talent and an artist with a viewpoint, and shes done a very nice job. Im assuming this is birch tar, guaiac wood, Iso-E-super (a nice synthetic light wood), cedar, something Galaxolide-like (a good synthetic musk), with perhaps a touch of ionones (violet). Given the materials (if Im right about them), it has a somewhat surprising lack of persistence on skin, but just reapply. Any man will be able to wear He Wood, and the scent will repay him: clean, well-presented, civilized and (and this is the deal-clincher) an intelligent masculine for once.

In terms of artistry, does it surpass Gucci Homme which is, in the most ballsy, avant-garde way, nothing more nor less than pencil shavings (a.k.a. cedar)? Arguable. Or the brutalist, violent, toxic, marvelous creature that is Francis Kurkdjians Narciso Rodriguez masculine? Absolutely not. Is it a better, more innovative masculine than 90 percent of the stuff out there, with character and good taste, calm and solid as the smile of a handsome guy? Yes...'

Read the full review on the NYT blog The Moment here.
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post #2 of 18
11/21/08 at 5:47am
Perhaps if the bottle did not look so lame, I would be on Burr's side. But he must have had a bit too much fun at the launch (errrr....lunch) which is why he enjoyed the Dsquared products so much. Best described, the bottle is like something from my Lincoln Logs building kit.
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post #3 of 18
11/21/08 at 6:32am
This one is really weird on my skin - when I first applied it (two light sprays on the wrist), there isn't much in terms of sillage, just some vague, somewhat synthetic-smelling light woody scent. So I kinda forgot about it dismissing Wood as another "blah" designer frag. After a while, however, it starts projecting non-heavy but very present woody aroma which just won't go away. It's not unpleasant but may be perceived as unnecessarily sharp and obtrusive by some. My girlfriend didn't like it and I had to scrub it off before going to bed. Even though it had been on my skin for over 7 hours at that point, I had to literally soap my wrist and scrub it off 5 times before I could get rid of it.

The other day I cought a waff of what seemed like a great woody-vetiver scent at the office and it turned out that a co-worker was wearing He Wood, it smelled persistent but not unpleasant at all. I think this frag deserves a few tries before dismissing it as a basket case after just one application.
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post #4 of 18
11/21/08 at 7:32am
It's average at best. I get more wood notes from Gucci pour Homme, Sandalo, by LV. Tam Dao, by Diptyque, just to name a few. I agree the bottle is a bit tacky, but than I've never been so concerned about the bottle, but rather what's in it. IMHO
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post #5 of 18
11/21/08 at 8:55am
Thread Starter 
I was very underwhelmed by He Wood. I chalk it up to the fact that I came to the scent with very high expectations (I love DSquared clothes and the perfumer, Daphne Bugey did the illustrious Rose 31 which I love!) and the fact that I kind of hate aquatic notes.

I tried it 3 times, each time it annoyed the sh*t out of me.
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post #6 of 18
11/21/08 at 9:07am
I was totally underwhelmed by this fragrance... I have a few samples somewhere and will have to check it out again, but I'd lump it in with every other amorphous, inoffensive designer masculine released this year (except Infusion d'Homme, which I like).

The only surprising is that DSquared2 is a very high end label that projects an image of being funky and cutting edge, fashion-wise. Their t-shirts are $300. I would have thought they'd release a fragrance more in line with their clothing, the way CdG does.
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post #7 of 18
11/21/08 at 3:51pm
I was totally not underwhelmed by Dsquared Wood.
I think it's a great modern wood fragrance. Very calm, very clean. Maybe the scent doesn't fit the brand's image, but who cares.
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post #8 of 18
11/21/08 at 4:06pm
The bottle being IKEA you think they could have spent a little more money on the juice for once. Then this woodchuck would have chucked more wood, rather than becoming another case of tiresome designer blah.
I'd rather just smell a piece of old mossy wood (though perhaps not like).
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post #9 of 18
11/21/08 at 4:18pm
I tried it in a store, on my wrist and on a card to take home to see if I could still smell it the next day (I couldn't, well... maybe just the faintest whiff). I didn't really get any woods out of it, if anything it reminded me very much of Dunhill Fresh. Nice but unremarkable.
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post #10 of 18
11/21/08 at 7:01pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by mikeperez23 View Post

I was very underwhelmed by He Wood. I chalk it up to the fact that I came to the scent with very high expectations (I love DSquared clothes and the perfumer, Daphne Bugey did the illustrious Rose 31 which I love!) and the fact that I kind of hate aquatic notes.

I tried it 3 times, each time it annoyed the sh*t out of me.

if it was launched by just anyone, it would be "meh"

since its launched by dsquared, if F%$(*# sucks.

Everywhere I wear my dsquared hat people ask me what it is and where I got it, I don't think I'd get a single compliment of curious question wearing He Wood - thats whats missing
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post #11 of 18
11/21/08 at 11:52pm
I can't comment on the fragrance evaluation. But I am pleased to notice another change of style in Chandler Burr's reviews. The fragrance description is rather solid and down to earth. I have no trouble to imagine what to expect and not to expect from this new perfume. All of this in two short, neat paragraphs. Thank you Burr!
I guess I'll clearly remember what you said, even if it's four weeks before I happen to see the bottle somewhere.

The longer part of his article covers this and other launch ceremonies, and it is here where I recognize the author of The Emperor again! Quite enjoyable! And for once NYT published more decent responses than usual. Keep them coming, guys, and thank you MikePerez !
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post #12 of 18
1/13/09 at 12:05pm
Yea this fragrance was a disappointment big time!
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post #13 of 18
1/13/09 at 12:47pm
I love He Wood, it works for me with good longevity and great drydown. I gave my Hinoki away after I bought He Wood because this one is more wearable for me on a daily basis. I got a backup bottle too for Christmas. I love the violet in it.
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post #14 of 18
1/13/09 at 4:00pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jock_With_Scents View Post

I love He Wood, it works for me with good longevity and great drydown. I gave my Hinoki away after I bought He Wood because this one is more wearable for me on a daily basis. I got a backup bottle too for Christmas. I love the violet in it.

My sentiments exactly. I also purchased a backup bottle from Nordstroms after getting my first from the UK before it was released in the US. Seems to be a love/hate frag here on B'notes ... not much middle ground. I find it to be the perfect scent to go with jeans and a t-shirt. Violet is one of my favorite notes and this one does it much to my liking.
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post #15 of 18
1/14/09 at 1:46am
The true thing about this scent - wearable.
Polite and inoffensive - great on managers, sitting in an office...
Salary man scent.
My friend from white collars were wearing L`Eau d`Issey pour homme for ages - now he change it for He Wood and is happy for something new.
NEW? IS IT NEW? hmmm, i don`t think so.

But I`m agree - that`s DG Light Blue designed for men, scent that`ll be popular for a long time.
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post #16 of 18
1/14/09 at 6:25am
I'm a big fan of He Wood... it's very wearable and versatile, and I could see myself wearing this with virtually anything. I smell some similarities to Bvlgari pour Homme, myself, but the He Wood is more rounded and, well, woodier.

I need to get a full bottle... fortunately, Von Maur should be getting it in soon. The local Clarins rep (Clarins is the US distributor) was recently out for training for this and David Yurman.
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post #17 of 18
1/14/09 at 10:12am
Quote:
Everywhere I wear my dsquared hat people ask me what it is and where I got it, I don't think I'd get a single compliment of curious question wearing He Wood - thats whats missing

Why you lying? You would get lots of compliments, including one from the most beautiful girl on earth.
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post #18 of 18
1/14/09 at 8:17pm
I happen to like it a lot now. I loved it at first when I tried it in MOntreal last year and gradually lost interest. It's come back into favor when I found on bottle (box?) on Ebay for $20. IMHO it's more unique than 75% of the frags out there.
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