parfums*PARFUMS Series 3 Incense: Avignon
Comme des Garçons (2002)
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111 User Reviews
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About parfums*PARFUMS Series 3 Incense: Avignon by Comme des Garçons
parfums*PARFUMS Series 3 Incense: Avignon is a shared scent launched in 2002 by Comme des Garçons
Fragrance notes.
Reviews of parfums*PARFUMS Series 3 Incense: Avignon by Comme des Garçons
There are 111 reviews of parfums*PARFUMS Series 3 Incense: Avignon by Comme des Garçons.
I went into Avignon wanting to smell like a church, and it delivered. I'm working off of a very small sample at the moment, but it was enough to confirm that I'd be interested in a full bottle. It's admittedly pretty straight forward... resins, a touch of wood (though I don't notice as much as others have mentioned), some sweetness (likely the vanilla and chamomile)... but that seems to be what this line of fragrances is going for with their direct inspirations from the incense blends of different traditions. As someone who was not raised Catholic but enjoys traditional liturgical resins and the lingering floral smell a church can carry, this feels accurate to what they wanted to present.
I would probably only recommend Avignon to someone who is seeking out that sort of smell, but then again, I'd be surprised if anyone who didn't want "churchy" picked up a fragrance with this kind of reputation.
I would probably only recommend Avignon to someone who is seeking out that sort of smell, but then again, I'd be surprised if anyone who didn't want "churchy" picked up a fragrance with this kind of reputation.
I love incense, and I wore this for quite a while. Ultimately, however, it was a bit too much, and in some ways not enough. It’s like an Episcopal Church pretending to be an Eastern Orthodox Church, leaving you both empty and overwhelmed. I often felt like I had to paid it with something else more delicate and fresh to balance out the clobbering frankincense hit.
Avignon has become the reference incense for fragrance enthusiasts, and it's hard to deny that compositionally it is evocative of a thurible swaying amongst the devoted in a Catholic church. It is a bit more than that, though, as it has elements that make it more impressionistic, more a perfume than purely a novel incense facsimile. We are not talking Demeter here.
Chamomile in the top note through the heart, lends a certain ineffable quality that reminds of its use in Aromatics Elixir, soothing and almost imparting a 'pastoral' feel that contrasts with the stark, stony chill of the olibanum and elemi overdose. The top, with the coniferous, spiky Aldehyde C-12, also lend to this chill that is soon warmed as myrrh, labdanum and what I can detect as cistus (the oil from the leaves rather than the resin of the Cistus ladanifer). In spite of the Iso E Super that lifts everything, Avignon is to my nose impressively imbued with naturals. The mildest shade of animalic, dry vegetal ambrette musk in the base makes for a really comforting skin scent in the dry down.
I now realize that this will be in my collection as not merely as a reference, but a true joy to wear. The cold yields to warm throughout its development, making it not quite as linear as has been suggested by others, and it surely suits me to a T.
Chamomile in the top note through the heart, lends a certain ineffable quality that reminds of its use in Aromatics Elixir, soothing and almost imparting a 'pastoral' feel that contrasts with the stark, stony chill of the olibanum and elemi overdose. The top, with the coniferous, spiky Aldehyde C-12, also lend to this chill that is soon warmed as myrrh, labdanum and what I can detect as cistus (the oil from the leaves rather than the resin of the Cistus ladanifer). In spite of the Iso E Super that lifts everything, Avignon is to my nose impressively imbued with naturals. The mildest shade of animalic, dry vegetal ambrette musk in the base makes for a really comforting skin scent in the dry down.
I now realize that this will be in my collection as not merely as a reference, but a true joy to wear. The cold yields to warm throughout its development, making it not quite as linear as has been suggested by others, and it surely suits me to a T.
Just like Lavs Unum......Its just too brutal. It's pure incense. I have come to the conclusion that I prefer my incense with some fruit/freshness.
Not for me!!
Not for me!!
Avignon is a fairly good incense accord: It has a nice element of frankincense paired to a citric wood (presently very reminiscent of the CdG/Monocle "Hinoki" Georgywood), coming across rather high-pitched. But, I'm not entirely sure why people freak out over this: it's not a holy apparition.
In memory, I recall enjoying this more years ago, so perhaps I have changed. Today, this perfume is giving me a headache. It's linear, straightforward, and rather banal. It's not complex – it's in-your-face frankincense and wood – rather the product of too many altar boys igniting the censer. The drydown is mostly the higher-gamma Iso E Super with some remaining frankincense.
Great opening, but fades toward audience universalism.
In memory, I recall enjoying this more years ago, so perhaps I have changed. Today, this perfume is giving me a headache. It's linear, straightforward, and rather banal. It's not complex – it's in-your-face frankincense and wood – rather the product of too many altar boys igniting the censer. The drydown is mostly the higher-gamma Iso E Super with some remaining frankincense.
Great opening, but fades toward audience universalism.
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