Comme des Garçons - 2 Man
Yesterday it snowed! Okay, so it was light, and it melted right away, but it snows so rarely in my corner of town that we had fun with it.
It was cold enough though that I realized it’d be my last shot for a while at wearing Comme Des Garcons’ 2 Man. The last time I can remember pulling out 2 Man was on Christmas Eve, and sure enough, one spritz of it on my skin and a little snow brought Christmastime right back to me.
The opening blast always weirds me out just a little. Whatever notes are ascribed to it don’t matter to me. It smells like typewriter ribbons, and I move back through time and space to my ninth grade typing class:
the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog
The memory of it jars me. On the one hand I fondly recall my silly self at that age again, and on the other I can never forget the time I caught an ungodly flu and tried to get through the class typing as fast as I could while stopping every three seconds to wipe and blow my nose. To this day I remember the crazy high fever I had, but I could not bear leaving the classroom to see the nurse. Her office had the stench of death about it. I don’t mean figuratively, I mean literally. Some rodent had obviously died inside the walls, but apparently it hadn’t occured to anyone that removing a decaying animal corpse from the health offices might be a good idea.
I digress. Which is kind of the point about this fragrance. It’s swirly abstractions provoke imaginings of things real and unreal, but also stir memory.
2 Man recalls the way Gres Cabaret seems filtered through a cloud of smoke without smelling smokey. Its woody notes are real but unidentifiable, like staring out a train window and watching the blurry trees fly past. Mutant spices that I know without recognition drift by until we land at nutmeg. The nutmeg of 2 Man’s dry down is warm and dry, mixed into the smeared streaky watercolors of an abstract forest.
Upon reflection, I don’t think this is one of those men’s scents that very many women could see themselves in. Nor can I see just any man wearing it either. 2 Man isn’t too weird, however it’s unusual enough that it won’t be quite to everyone’s taste. Which is fine. All’s the more for me, heh.
EDIT: Oops, forgot to mention a great review of this scent by Basenotes member Indie_Guy (it’s the second one on the scroll down.) I think he’s dead-on with his astute observation that 2 Man seems like a bit of a pastiche comprised of elements from other Comme des Garcons fragrances.
March 10th, 2006 at 1:40 pm
I am trying to remember what 2 Man was like, but I am at loss. Granted, the entire line is very confusing, with the names being so non-descriptive and the bottles similar. Which is ok. I know that I have a sample of this one. I should definitely give it a try. Your review made it sound very appealing!
March 10th, 2006 at 2:06 pm
Yeah, the number thing always slips me up, too - I hate when they do that with fragrance or makeup. I mean it’s fine, nothing wrong with that, and not everyone is mathematically disinclined, but it’s hard to remember a tally of numerals.
2 Man is worth digging out your sample, to be sure. It’s not a great fragrance, but it’s interesting, and rather nice.
March 11th, 2006 at 5:37 am
Katie,
And here yesterday was 70 degrees! :-O
As for Man 2, I am kind of scared now to try it :-)Mutant spices, huh?
Also, I am not sure if my message got through, so I wanted to thank you very much for the samples! And yes, Cumming and Falling in Love go great together (heh), you were so right!
March 11th, 2006 at 4:36 pm
Mutant only in the respect that while there are official listed notes, I can’t necessarily pin any of them down exactly until I hit the nutmeg on the dry down. They’re all kind of mixed up together into some whole other thing.
So glad you got it safely - and yay! I’m glad I’m not the only one who likes layering those two now :)
March 12th, 2006 at 3:43 am
Snowing??? Well, you wouldn’t believe the amount of snow we still have in this part of the world…At this time of the year??? Sigh, heavy sigh. But it is at least standable when the sun shines from a bright blue sky and the kids skated down at the inlet of the Baltic sea for 2hrs yesterday. I seek comfort in me posts of seeds and bulbs, enjoying every little green thing that sprouts:-)
March 12th, 2006 at 4:22 pm
“the kids skated down at the inlet of the Baltic sea for 2hrs yesterday” Oh that sounds so fun, and so exotic to me - in the temperate Oregon valleys, things rarely freeze over, and even when they do, not enough to be safe for treading upon. I can sympathize with your love of the little green things, though - spring never rolls around soon enough, and winter always drags its feet in getting out of the way :) Plus, I envy your green thumb. (I have the classic brown thumb.)
March 13th, 2006 at 5:47 am
I try this one every time I go to Sephora, and it baffles me. I will keep trying, now that I’ve read your review. I don’t dislike it… I just can’t wrap my head around it at all.
March 13th, 2006 at 6:02 am
It’s really kind of a surreal scent in its way - not everyone’s cup of tea, I must admit.