Floriental Comme des Garçons 2015

dies war mein erster orientalischer Duft, einfach ein Duft welcher Kupfer verdreht. Spannend. Einfach eine Bombe an Gewürzen, sowas hab ich noch nicht oft an anderen Leuten gerochen. Der Pfeffer macht ihn sehr spritzig und fast prickeln. ein Perfekter Date Duft für den Winter, wenn man keine süßen Düfte mag.

CdG has never disappointed me so far, so I took a gamble and bought a second-hand bottle of Floriental for a very good price. I am not disappointed one bit but it is less plum-centered than I expected. On my skin, this is a very pleasant nose-tickling pink pepper with loads of incense and a quite sour plum on top. The dry-down is really mostly woody incense and pepper, the plum fades to the background but is still faintly there. It is a bit boozy in the opening, I guess...

If you're familiar with Feminité du Bois, Floriental is similar but with loads of incense and a dash of booze. I think this is an easy-to-wear scent and it is quite affordable, too.

Opening with a plummy, fruity incense. This is a great quality scent, featuring (very little) florals, dry cedar and sandalwood, incense, spiced fruits and some sweetish vetiver. Unisex indeed. The base and drydown somehow seems to be based on the Wonderwood recipe.

Without being biased, this smells like the ultimate simple pleasant template for a unisex oriental to be used by any gender, that would never offend anyone. I'm not saying it's boring at all, it's just a total allround oriental people pleaser in my opinion.

Moderate projection, but long lasting. Comes off resinous and bittersweet with an excellent drydown. I imagine it would be excellent for colder fall temperatures.

This was given to me as a gift by someone i love without me testing/sampling it before i received it. It is one of my favorite perfumes, if not my most favorite.
The "FLORIENTAL" constellation has incense drenched in labdanum as its gravitational force and all other notes are satellites orbiting around them.
The initial plum note has a honey/gourmandish trail that is omnipresent through out the life of the constellation. Another satellite would be the sandalwood that gives a powdery hint with balsamic facets. I don’t really perceive the pepper note, but i think i get an aromatic feel...
The beauty of the "FLORIENTAL" constellation is that although it is fully artificial and monodimensional , it's almost innovative and surprisingly natural-felling.
I am surprised that it is so under-rated by us.

Personal: 7/10 – I like this more than I expected to. It’s dark, sweet, and unique, and there's something compelling about how bold it is. Though it has a rubberiness that I'm not loving.
Mass appeal: 7/10 – This could divide people. It’s wearable for niche heads, but not quite crowd pleasing for casual noses.
Performance: 7.5/10 – Solid longevity with moderate projection. It sticks around long enough to fully develop its uniqueness.
Value: 6/10 – Fair for CDG pricing, especially given how distinctive and experimental this feels, though it can be hard to find online, so pricing is inconsistent.
Uniqueness: 9/10 – Loud, boozy plum with dark woods and spiciness? I've never smelled anything like it, for better or for worse.

SCORE: 73/100

Full bottle buy? NO, fascinating and artistic, but not something I want to wear regularly.
Blind buy? NO, this is too strange and divisive to gamble on.
Recommend? YES, but only to people who actively enjoy dark, woody plum fragrances.
Date night? NO, unless your date appreciates olfactory oddities. Or plum.
Office safe? NO, far too strange, dark, and confrontational for work.

Pros: Extremely unique, dark and atmospheric, bold concept, unmistakably CDG
Cons: Challenging, rubbery opening may repel, not versatile, hard to find

Floriental is a very unique, but ultimately simple, CDG execution that bears the trademark 'odd' CDG stamp. It opens with a rather rubbery incense/woods note, and a loud, dark, brooding plum note that's rather dark even when compared to other plum executions. It evolves to slowly lose that rubbery note, and the depth of the smoky woods expand at the right hand of the commanding plum note, to envelop your nose with a warm but almost unsettling veil. Despite maintaining darkness, it opens up in the drydown quite a bit. You get the full body of the plum, as opposed to just the dark overtones, and the smoke, while present, will almost lift to cast more of a shadow, than a smog.

It's a genuinely interesting fragrance. I don't think I would ever make moves to own it, but it's pretty cool in its own right. CDG never fails to amaze with its avant garde, but still wearable, fragrances. I think it's well worth smelling, especially for anyone who enjoys plum notes, or pursues dark, almost gothic seeming, fragrances.

Review #176 in my fragrance journey – this fragrance I own as a decant