Comme des Garçons — Green
Essence
Properly known as Play Green, this 2012 unisex EDT by Antoine Maisondieu is one of the three-fragrance Play trio - Red, Green and Black - tied to the Play diffusion line and its Filip Pagowski heart-with-eyes logo. It is a deliberately simple, casual minty-green: the most straightforward, least avant-garde thing CdG had done, almost as a statement (“Design by not designing. No design is design,” runs the house line). The hook is that a famously conceptual house made something this easy on purpose.
Scent Profile
Green opens with a huge, nose-cooling gale of nanah mint - the spearmint variety used in Moroccan mint tea - lifted by lime, juniper and basil. A snappy bitter-green edge keeps it well clear of candy territory; the official copy describes the mint as a sweet variety with a slight absinthe facet, churned into a sparkling brew by lime and juniper berry.
From there it mellows into a soft, herbal, faintly powdery green. The drydown brings an earthy, mineral vetiver, a notably soft cedar, and a musky-floral ambrette (musk mallow) that adds quiet warmth without turning animalic. Mastic, a Mediterranean resin, threads a light chewy-green note through the middle.
Most wearers read it as natural-smelling rather than shower-gel synthetic, reaching for images like a virgin mojito, a gin-and-tonic, Wrigley’s spearmint, or freshly-pulled mint with soil still on the roots. A minority find the late drydown drifts toward an abstract, synthetic sweetness, but the dominant impression is a realistic garden-mint freshness.
Performance
Light and short-lived is the universal caveat: longevity runs roughly three to four hours before dropping to a skin scent, and projection is low to moderate - a come-closer-if-you-want-me fragrance rather than a room-filler. This suits its concept as a splash-and-refresh summer scent, and most wearers accept the modest performance as part of the package. Reapplication through the day is the practical approach for anyone who wants it to stay present.
Wearing Context
Green is a hot-weather, daytime, casual fragrance - the textbook summer refresher. It is uplifting in heat, inoffensive enough for the office, and genuinely gender-neutral, working equally on men and women; the gin-and-tonic vetiver and cedar can read faintly masculine but never excludes anyone. It is an everyday “little scent,” not an occasion or seduction fragrance.
Comparisons & DNA
The clearest reference points are mint-greens. Guerlain Aqua Allegoria Herba Fresca is the standard comparison, with Green reading as a slightly less sparkling cousin. Heeley Menthe Fraiche is the niche tea-mint alternative wearers cross-shop. Etat Libre d’Orange You or Someone Like You chases a similar mint-green idea but adds a metallic synthetic edge that Green deliberately avoids. Within CdG’s own catalog, Play Red is the fresh, minty sibling (Red adds cinnamon), and the bigger Amazingreen arrived the same year as a louder take on green. Across the trio, Green is consistently the mildest and least quirky.
Reception
Critics land mixed-to-warm, with modest cult affection beyond them. Robin at Now Smell This ranked it her least favorite of the trio - minty, mild and perfectly wearable, but bland once the mint calms and weak in longevity - while still rating the 2012 trio above the original 2007 Play. Denyse Beaulieu, who interviewed Maisondieu, praised the nose-cooling gale of mint and its absinthe and wormwood facets, and Robert Herrmann at CaFleureBon called it the lightest and most hot-weather-friendly of the three. The axis of disagreement is simple: admirers prize its natural, easy freshness, while detractors find it bland and too quick to fade. At its accessible price, blandness is the main complaint and value is rarely one.
Versions & Reformulation
Green was released in April 2012 as a 100 ml eau de toilette, part of the Play trio alongside Red and Black. It is now marketed and produced under Puig, which holds the CdG fragrance license. There is no documented reformulation of the juice, and it remains findable at niche retailers, indicating continued or recent production rather than full discontinuation.
Acquisition Notes
Green is comparatively accessible and affordable for a CdG, launched around $100 for 100 ml and sitting in the entry-niche price tier. It is widely sampled and decanted, which suits it well: given the divisive longevity, testing before a full bottle is the sensible path, and the low price keeps a blind buy low-risk for mint fans. It is a strong pick for anyone seeking a natural summer mint and a poor one for anyone needing projection or all-day wear.
Notable Facts & Lore
- The Play heart-with-eyes logo is by Polish artist Filip Pagowski; the Play line launched in 2002 as clothing, with the first Play fragrance in 2007 and the Red/Green/Black trio following in 2012.
- Nanah mint is specifically the Moroccan-tea spearmint, and Maisondieu reportedly highlighted its absinthe and wormwood facets.
- Mastic (lentisk) is a Mediterranean resin shrub and the source of mastic gum - one of the harder notes here to picture.
- Ambrette (musk mallow) is a floral musk rather than an animalic one, lending soft warmth without heaviness.
- Despite the shared color cue, Green should not be confused with CdG’s Amazingreen or its older Synthetic-series greens.