Floriental

Even if you were unfamiliar with the term, you'd know a 'floriental' when you smelled it- this fragrance family combining floral notes with the dark woods, spices and resins that distinguish orientals are so popular as to be nearly ubiquitous. But with Comme des Garçons, there's always a twist, and so Floriental, the newest fragrance from the avant garde Japanese/French fashion stalwart, has chosen as its floral of note the Cistus flower- a flower without a scent. And so, CDG's Floriental is a postmodern floral, one where the sweet, lush, peppery aspects of flowers are created from plum, pink pepper, and sandalwood, and where labdanum- the rich resin that's the true fragrant bounty of the cistus bush- forms the basis of the oriental notes for a floral oriental both innovative and yet true in spirit. And in the modern, mischievous style of Comme des Garçons, Floriental is even nontraditional in structure- without classically defined top, heart and base notes, the fragrance evolves in unpredictable waves, trading off between lush fruitiness, resinous woods and fiery spice with delightful frequency, resulting in a scent that wears differently each time. At once layered and unstructured, simple and modern, masculine and feminine, Floriental is a landscape of wonderful contradiction, with a single exception- it's 100% CDG.