2
Fragrance notes
Character
Ink is the note that makes Comme des Garcons 2 hard to place at first, a cold, inky smell that most fragrances would never put anywhere near a floral. Aldehydes add a bright, fizzy lift on top, and the combination smells less like perfume and more like an art supply store, sharp and a little alien. Mandarin orange and mate flicker somewhere underneath, barely sweet, more citrus rind than fruit. Mark Buxton built something genuinely strange here, closer to a concept than to a bouquet of flowers.
Incense and patchouli anchor the drydown, dark and resinous, pulling the fragrance back toward something more traditional after the ink and aldehydes have had their say. Cedar and labdanum round things out with a resinous warmth, and by the final stage the fragrance smells almost nothing like where it started.
Staying power is strong, holding its unusual shape well after the ink-and-aldehyde opening has settled into the resinous base. Sillage stays modest, picked up clearly by whoever happens to be standing beside you. It rewards people who want something odd on purpose, worn on days when a straightforward floral or citrus would feel like the wrong, overly polite choice.
Smells similar
Built from the same materials — ranked by how unusual the shared notes are, not by how many.
