If I had a penny for each and every time I had mentioned that green fragrances really aren’t my thing on this blog I’d have, well I’d have at least 6 pennies I reckon. 6 whole pennies people! In a time of recession that kind of money is not to be scoffed at. Now I’m not entirely sure why it is that me and green things don’t get on, perhaps I just prefer the flowers to the trees, shrubs and leaves, but whatever the reason the truth is that when it comes to me, it’s not that easy being green.

Now if there is one thing I have learned on my journey, wading through all of this perfume, is to never say never. One may think that one hates green fragrances but one can never speak too soon because quicker than lightning someone like Vero Profumo will come along with a fragrance like Mito or Andy Tauer with Verdant and one can’t help but coo at how beautiful it is. But then sometimes you’ll come across a green fragrance that is neither awful nor beautiful, one that is simply nice.

Comme des Garçons’ latest release ‘Amazingreen’ is one such green fragrance and it intends to be “an explosive fragrance that is as wild as the elements” where “organic greenery meets with the explosive elements of smoke and flint.” The sheer mention of the word “greenery” in the latter of these statements would usually send me running for the hills, but I was surprisingly intrigued by a fragrance who’s name promises something that is both “Amazing” and “Green”. What I found however, is a fragrance that isn’t really either of these things, and I’m not entirely sure whether that is disappointing or not.

The Notes

Top: Palm Tree Leaves, Green Pepper, Dew Mist and Jungle Leaves
Heart: Ivy Leaves, Orris Roots, Coriander Seeds and Silex
Base: Gunpowder Accord, Vetiver, Smoke and White Musk

How Does it Smell?

Amazingreen opens green and juicy with jungle fruit and leaves. It’s moist and sweet with what feels like a great deal of vitamin c oozing from every drop. It is fair to say that it is green, but not amazingly so, and the green-ness becomes more and more vague as it develops.

The heart, in stark contrast to the juicy beginning, feels comparatively arid. Bitter ivy and warm herbs, tainted by a very faint, almost pale vetiver make for the most part of Amazingreen’s time on the skin and the underlying sweetness of the opening fades but never really dissipates.

During my many samplings of Amazingreen I was really looking forward to the promised gunpowder and smoke accords, but much to my dismay at no point did either present themselves to me. There is a dash of something mineral-like, perhaps a smell closer to flint (which would be the Silex I believe), that does make an appearance towards the end, but the main theme of the dry down is musk, and lots of it.

Despite the fact that Amazingreen is neither Amazing nor Green I can’t say that I hate it, it is in fact a very pleasant fragrance and I have worn it a couple of times, simply because it doesn’t really require input on my part to wear. It does smell good above all, but I definitely don’t love it and I think many Comme des Garçons fans, who are used to smelling something innovative and/or mind-blowing from the brand, are likely to be disappointed, after all “pleasant” isn’t what the die-hard fumenerds look for is it?

Availability

Amazingreen is available in 50ml and 100ml Eau de Parfum with prices ranging from £57-£75.

Disclaimer

Image 1 beautesse.at. Image 2 fubiz.net. Notes via Basenotes.net. Quotes via Escentual.com.