Comme des Garçons released Comme des Garçons 2 Man in 2004. It was developed by perfumer Mark Buxton. If you find it at all helpful, the tag line is "a worker, a man who loves his work" (that's two strikes for me), and the notes are incense, white smoke, saffron flowers, nutmeg, kumquat, mint, vetiver, mahogany and leather.

Comme des Garçons 2 Man, like the other Mark Buxton fragrances discussed over the past week (Comme des Garçons Eau de Parfum, Comme des Garçons White, Comme des Garçons 2) explores themes of spices, woods and incense. The top notes have a buzz of citrus, similar to the opening of "regular" 2 but perhaps not quite so metallic or high-pitched. There is the tiniest whiff of the inky stuff, then we get the familiar spices (I'd be very surprised if there wasn't a pinch of cumin in 2 Man, but overall, the spices are relatively light) and a trail of smoky incense. The woods here are much darker and richer than in the others, and the vetiver adds a beautiful earthy undertone to the dry down. The leather is subdued, and the kumquat went right over my head.

Of the four fragrances, 2 Man is the warmest and most approachable. There is none of the bitterness of Eau de Parfum and White, and none of the coldness of Comme des Garçons 2. It is not quite sweet, not quite dry. It might be the most conventional of the four, but it isn't a dull scent, and it doesn't smell like it has been through a focus group. Like Donna Karan Black Cashmere, which kicked off the incense-woods discussion last week, it is both soothing and sexy, and while I suppose it might be rather masculine, I should think a woman could pull it off. I wear it, at any rate.

Comme des Garçons 2 Man comes in Eau de Parfum 50 ml and 100 ml, bath & shower gel, after shave gel and deodorant.

For buying information, see the listing for Comme des Garçons under Perfume Houses.

Note: image via Parfum de Pub.