L'Eau par Kenzo pour Homme
Kenzo (1999)

Cold sparkling water with mint leaves, fruit peel (yuzu?) a clean wet wood like reeds or bamboo (?). No real depth or development but clean and refreshing.

Sheer green leaves. Semi-bitter. Tonic-like. Watery note apparent. Very light mint - like minted tea. Bitterness subsides, revealing tender leaves. Light musk later, like a 70's musk. Simple.

My bottle doesn't look like the one in the picture here.

This smell reminds me of a clothes spray my mother used to use whilst ironing. It therefore smells a bit cheap to me, but I will give it a bit of use every now and then. I don't hate it, but neither is it one of my favourites.

The opening stanza is great.
A sweet and tangy gourmand and citrus, very unusual and very good.
After that it's just boring aquatic.

3*

Loose vial, probably the old style box.

Resembles fragrances by Gendarme and the Clean series, which I love, as well as Givenchy Insense Ultramarine: Fresh, watery and soapy, though it just doesn't last too long on me.

Probably would require a second layer of application, but that'd risk it becoming too loud and cloying to me and others. Wouldn't be the first or second such scent I'd wear if I'd owned it, but a nice one overall.

Arguably, almost all of Kenzo's perfumes end up on the synthetic end of the olfactive spectrum. I would guess that for most of them though, the synthetic side is a calculated formula rather than using ultra-cheap ingredients or simply not giving a damn about the scent itself.
Unfortunately, L'eau Par Kenzo seems to have grasped the deep end of the synthetic stick, resulting in a cheap shower of Calone and musty aquatic cliche's.
Starts with a tart and watery combo of minty yuzu, which after around 20 minutes fades into a calone-rich aura of cheap musks and indistinct chemicals.
I wouldn't say it's horrible though. I got a fair amount of compliments when I used it in hot weather and it never smelled cloying to the point of becoming a burden but I could have gladly spent a whole lot less on a lemon scented soap and smelled more or less the same.
One of the more casual and hit-and-miss offerings of the Kenzo house. Judging by this, I wouldn't personally touch its flankers with a ten foot pole.

Longevity: ~1 hours
Sillage: Moderate at first but fades VERY quickly to skin scent after the initial moments.