Still Red at Adora

MANILA, Philippines - The back-to-back celebration of Chinese New Year and Valentine’s Day may have passed but that doesn’t mean that wearing Red is passé. And we’re not necessarily referring to the color.

Comme des Garçons, the Japanese brand started by Rei Kawakubo in the late ‘60s, reveals a particular fixation on the color red: the red of the sun, the red of fire, the red energy of blood, the eternal serenity of the red temple gate of the Far East. Taking inspiration from this bold, brilliant color, Comme des Garçons the brand has created Red, a series of five fragrances that conveniently distills the scents and spirit of red flowers, red woods, red fruits and red spices.

Packaged in straight-up, no-fuss red bottles, these scents, though marketed for women, still have that unisex appeal that come with most Comme des Garçons pieces. There’s Harissa: the name is inspired by the famous Moroccan spice, but it gives out whiffs of blood oranges from North Africa, red chili pepper, saffron, nutmeg from Grenada, cardamom and, yes, even tomato.

The Sequioa scent evokes the majesty of those gigantic Californian redwood trees with red rum, the resin of opopanax tree, kara-karoundé wood from Guinea, and Chinese mahogany. Another redwood tree, this time the palisander tree of Brazil is the main inspiration for the Palisander fragrance. The red ingredients that have gone into this heady, almost gastronomic mix include the red cedar from Virginia, tiny red chili peppers from Japan, saffron from Iran and myrrh from south Yemen.

The Red fragrance series also has two floral, very modern offerings. Carnation is a sultry rendition of the red carnation using the essence of red pepper, red rose from Provence, absolute jasmine from Egypt and absolute red pepper. Rose is Comme des Garçons’ modern take on a classic scent, combining the essence of Moroccan rose, absolute Bulgarian rose, pink peppercorn, raspberry pulp and geranium.

With red touted as one of the colors to wears this season, Comme des Garçons’ take on the bold color is definitely not to be missed.

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Comme des Garçons Parfums are available only at Adora Department Store, 2/F Greenbelt 5, Ayala Center, Makati City.