New Fragrance Review Comme des Garcons Amazingreen: CdG For Dummies

Over these summer months I am getting the feeling that perfume companies think I have enough perfume. It seems like the new fragrances being sent to me have been kept on an approachable simple level. It almost feels like a memo went out to many of the perfume houses asking everyone to make popular entry level perfume for the masses. This is especially disappointing when a line like Comme des Garcons known for their risk taking takes this approach. The latest release from Comme des Garcons is called Amazingreen and let me say this up front it is a good fragrance and for someone who has never tried a CdG perfume it might be incredible. For those of us who have, and love, their aesthetic Amazingreen feels like reading a primer when we have been fed blank verse in the past. There are bits and pieces of the things that make a CdG release so appealing but it feels so safe.

The perfumer behind Amazingreen is Jean-Christophe Herault. M. Herault wanted to create a perfume of parallel lines one green and one mineral. The green side includes no galbanum but instead uses ivy, green pepper, palm tree leaves, and orris. The mineral side is made up of a note called silex (crushed stone), vetiver, white musk and, what interested me most, gunpowder accord. I spent way too much of my wayward youth playing with firecrackers and of course I had to unroll them to see what the gunpowder in the middle looked like. While I would sit unrolling a pack of firecrackers my fingers would take on a silvery sheen and there was this amazing minerally acrid odor. I expected a brand like CdG to completely take this idea and blow it up. Instead the promised gunpowder accord mostly fizzles which is a disappointment when you’re expecting a bang.

The green track starts off with an excellent mix of the palm frond and ivy creating a nicely juxtaposed greenish accord. M. Heurault’s use of the green pepper isn’t even distracting but the orris feels out of place here as it adds unnecessary contrast to something I think was meant to be very uniform in character. The mineral track starts with that crushed stone accord and it is like breathing in marble dust through a garden shrub it is interesting and non-threatening. The vetiver comes next and you might think this should be on the green side of things but here it actually gives a slightly wet feel to the stony quality of the mineral accord. Finally the gunpowder accord arrives and it never rises to an acridness necessary to evoke gunpowder for me. It just feels like a stronger version of the silex to be honest; more rock than dust.

Amazingreen has average longevity and average sillage.

This is another fragrance I would be happy to give as a gift to most of my male non-perfume friends. It is made especially for this audience I think. The thing that puzzles me is if someone came up to me and told me “I love Amazingreen, what should I try next by CdG?” I don’t think I have an answer but I have a feeling that question is going to be asked a lot so I better come up with one.

Disclosure: This review was based on CdG Amazingreen I purchased.

Mark Behnke, Managing Editor

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8 comments

  • Scent trail says:

    Thank you for this review because I think it’s spot on
    I have a sample and I expected a lot more from CDG
    Maybe they are color blind because I felt the same way with play red , green and black
    There hasnt been anything edgy or interesting in my opinion since wonder wood

  • Enjoyed the review. I am a fan of CdG fragrances.

    I love this one…It’s been a long time since I tried a really nice green scent that wasn’t sharp or overpowering. I would easily recommend CdG Calamus as another one to try.

  • Ha. Love this. What did I smell today – I think it was Isaac Mizrahi’s Fabulous – and I thought “Replaces Versace Yellow Diamond as most insultingly repetitive perfume evar.”

    If anyone asks you that, just tell them something you want to make sure stays in production, like Bulgari Black.

  • A firecracker that fizzles
    One less perfume to buy
    I enjoy your reviews because you never come out and say a fragrance is bad but I can sure tell if you like it!

  • I had the exact same reaction when I smelled this. I was hoping for something daring. A straightforward greenness, unadorned and cruel but instead I got a mild mannered thingy with several genes from mainstream male oriented perfumery. Missed opportunities are so sad

  • I still look forward to trying this one, but thanks for the review. I was disappointed by Wonderwood too (which on paper looks tailor made for me) but hope springs eternal.

  • I have found as of late, the promise of fumes, with titles bohemian, that are so incredibly safe and disappointing.