If Tania Sanchez is correct the smell that drives men wild is bacon. If the department store fragrance counters are any indication the smell that many perfumers think drive women wild is wood. Over the last year in particular it seems like there have been a number of department store releases, in particular, that have almost been wood “soliflores”. They have been mostly what they have advertised and for the man who wants to smell like a particular kind of wood there was a fragrance for you. Because of this tsunami of terpenes hearing there was another woody fragrance on the way was not news. I received the announcement of Kenzo Homme Woody/Boisee’ with a little more anticipation because Olivier Polge was the perfumer behind it and he had made one of the best men’s florals of 2008 in Kenzo Power. Still another wood focused fragrance was less than thrilling from my vantage point.
My sample along with the press materials arrived and I started to flip through to the section on the notes. As Kenzo Homme Woody/Boisee’ was to be a flanker to 1991’s Kenzo pour Homme I expected something similar to what I experienced with Issey Miyake pour Homme Wood Edition from earlier this year. A melding of aquatic elements all layered over wood. The notes told a different story. Kenzo Homme Woody/Boisee’ was going to be flanker only in name. Of the six notes listed in Kenzo Homme Woody/Boisee’ there is only one note found in Kenzo pour Homme. The only real similarities between the two are the shape of the bottle and the liberal use of notes from the spice rack. This makes Kenzo Homme Woody/Boisee’ its own standalone fragrance.
The two notes M. Polge chooses to use at the top of Kenzo Homme Woody/Boisee’ are mint and basil. Those of you who read me regularly know that mint is one of my fragrance boogeymen. Usually it comes off reminiscent of a dental hygiene product. In the case of Kenzo Homme Woody/Boisee’, M. Polge accentuates the herbal side of mint in its still on the stem leafy form and so it never turns too sweet. He also uses the same technique with the basil. This has the effect of feeling like you are smelling a fresh sprig of each spice before they get macerated into their more problematic and intense aspects. This opening is brilliantly light and hints at an intensity that never becomes overpowering. The heart continues M. Polge’s trip through the olfactory spice cabinet as rosemary and black pepper take this fragrance forward. As in the top, M.Polge keeps both of these notes from getting out of control. The rosemary interacting with the basil is especially nice and the pepper adds in a slight edge without becoming intrusive. Finally in the base we get the promised woods as a, clean pencil shavings, cedar note combines with a healthy woody vetiver to deliver the promised woodiness on the label. The woods seem almost secondary to the spices from earlier but through the drydown they really do the heavy lifting and keep me from wondering about “truth in advertising” issues.
Kenzo Homme Woody/Boisee’ has average longevity and average sillage.
Kenzo Homme Woody/Boisee’ succeeds where so many other flankers and woody fragrances have failed previously because of two very simple reasons. First, even though this is a flanker it bears little similarity to the previous fragrance for which it shares its name. Second, even though it says woody on the label it doesn’t have to be an unrelenting parade of wood. M. Polge intelligently chooses a different set of notes to lead us eventually to the woodiness in Kenzo Homme Woody/Boisee’ and that path makes this trip that much more memorable.
Disclosure: This review was based on a sample provided by Kenzo USA.
Pictures: Wikimedia Commons
-Mark Behnke, Managing Editor