Here they come: a slew of late summer and early fall men’s mainstream and designer fragrance launches. I have weeks’ worth of reviewing ahead of me, and everyone who reads this blog regularly knows the chances are slim that one of these fragrances — designed to appeal to a wide audience, everyone from collegiate Lotharios to middle-aged chiropractors — will strike a new chord (or accord) and please me (let alone thrill me). Kenzo Power was the first to arrive at my doorstep and if any of you watched the Olympics, you know “performing” first has its pitfalls — the first performer does not want to be average, he wants to astound and dominate the field.

Kenzo Power, “A Flower for Men,” was created by perfumer Olivier Polge and is described in Kenzo’s PR materials as “an imaginary flower in the heart of a woody amber-y fragrance”. Kenzo Power contains bergamot, coriander, cardamom, an abstract floral note (created using jasmine, rose and freesia), tolu balsam, cedar wood and labdanum.

I put on cologne first thing in the morning before getting dressed, so I never spray fragrances directly onto my clothes; however, when I first wore Kenzo Power, I applied it mid-day, while fully dressed, and the perfume got on my collar and sleeves…

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