It starts with fireworks of lemon and green notes, and that’s when it had me, because if a citrus can not only survive my skin, but also feel so fragrant and natural like in Glamorous Magnolia by Gucci, that must mean something.

And after that, sit down and enjoy the really slow change towards a delicate, non-dense and slightly soapy floral.

And that’s pretty much it, but it’s more than enough, believe me. The dry down should be warm with musk and chocolate but I didn’t feel any of that.

Flora Glamorous Magnolia is one of the most uplifting fragrances I’ve tried so far: it’s simple and transparent, really taking its time in the change. It does one thing, but it does it great.

Although officially for women it’s so unisex that it’ll go straight to my wish list.

If this was a color it would be:
Flora Glamorous Magnolia

Flora By Gucci The Garden Series

Bullshit duly noted, and lesson learnt with this Tom Ford fragrance.

So, where should I start from, top notes maybe? Fennel, that’s what I got: green, fragrant fennel, but with still a floral smell in the background to remind me that I was sitting in a Starbucks and not in my dad’s vegetable garden.

Actually, there is also the typical fresh (but in a kind of disturbing way) chemical smell of white florals, and it’s as if the freshly grated fennels had been dressed with a tablespoon of paint. And what makes this even more amazing is that – at last – both blotter and wrist agreed, almost completely.

After that, the fragrance takes a break and tries to behave, like any good floral would do, becoming denser with floralcy and only putting forth light peppery notes.

And then this parfum Tom Ford gets buttery, and if you ever asked yourself why fennels go so well with butter, that’s because the greenness of the first blends perfectly with the creaminess of the latter.

Get hold of Velvet Gardenia Tom Ford while you can and go nuts: it’s floral, green, smooth, creamy, velvety, perfectly unisex, fresh, warm, dense, one layer on top of the other, of the other, of the other… Why, why was this discontinued?

If this was a color it would be
Velvet Gardenia Perfume

Velvet Gardenia Tom Ford Perfume Review

I know Jean-Claude Ellena is a regular reader of this blog (OK, that is, of course, not true, but wouldn’t it be cool if it was, and throw this out in your face with fake casualness?), so I’m sure he’ll understand, after all, his Declaration is my favourite perfume.

OK I’ll say it in one single breath: Un Jardin Sur Le Nil and my skin just don’t go well together. The mango is not fresh, not green, it was left on a sun-beaten ledge of a closed window until it overripened to the point that it could make you nauseous.

Sure, sure, it’s my skin, and my too healthy diet, but on the ribbon (you won’t expect to receive a vulgar strip of paper at Hermes, will ya?) the situation is not that better.

The idea is great: mixing mango with a sort of carrot and tomato leaves, but something just pushes this perfume over the edge. It’s only on the next day that this Hermes fragrance becomes what it should be: fruity, warm, different from anything you did and will smell and – more importantly – not obnoxious.  Until then though, if nauseous is too strong a word, it’s at least cloudy.

The best thing of this perfume was the British-accented Brown Thomas SA who sprayed it on me.

If this was a color it would be:

Hermes Un Jardin Sur De Nil

Un Jardin Sur Le Nil By Hermes For Women And Men

If what you get on your skin – as I did on the paper strip – is a prominent orange and lemon, then amber will provide a warm support, although the overall effect made me think at times of a herbalist’s shop.

If, on the other hand – and that’s my skin talking now – amber takes over, repressing the citrus and flattening all the rest of peppery woody notes, then the effect is not that great.

However, I wouldn’t blame the perfume for that, besides, on my skin it improved a lot at some point, not strangely, at the same time when the citrus on the paper strip started to subside.
 

The amber in this perfume is actually ambergris or, to put it bluntly, whale puke (check this video to know more about it), which has a richer smell, that is also salty and woody. And that is why this fragrance will give back sea-water and pine-tree notes as well.

Sophisticated citrus with a warm side, Hermes perfume Eau Des Merveilles is officially for women, but amber pulls the fragrance towards the masculine front, so it’s practically unisex.

It was one of the last Hermes perfumes for women to be launched before Jean-Claude Ellena was appointed as in-house perfumer in 2004. The creators are Ralf Schwieger and Nathalie Feisthauer (Must de Cartier Pour Homme).

If this was a color it would be:

Parfum Hermes

Hermes Perfume For Women Eau Des Merveilles Eau De Toilette

All there is to say about this perfume is now history, so here is a recap. Launched in 1994 and created by Alberto Morillas (Omnia and Blv by Bvlgari,  212 Sexy by Carolina Herrera, Acqua di Gio, Miracle by Lancome to name a few), and Harry Fremont (Juicy Couture, Romance by Ralph Lauren, Princess by Vera Wang), it was not the first unisex fragrance, but the first one to become popular among the masses.

I sprayed this CK One cologne both on my skin and on paper. In both cases, the opening was with intense and natural smelling citrus (bergamot above all), which remained throughout its evolution. However, after the opening, as in front of a fork junction, it took two different – but not opposite -  directions.

On my skin, the pure citrus notes were quickly joined by a soft soapiness; probably thanks to jasmine (the bouquet also enlists violet and rose). After that, soft florals would come out, a tad too feminine for my taste, but I guess other masculine noses would have a different opinion.

On paper, CK One Eau de Toilette grew less floral and slightly warmer, with a note of musk which would not disturb the driver, but indeed enhanced it. Another thing I noticed on paper, was the linearity of the intensity: after reaching cruising altitude, the fragrance would not go up nor down, remaining stable. Of course it’s not a transatlantic flight we’re talking about here, and before the day was over it had already faded.

If you’ve read so far this perfume CK One Calvin Klein review, I guess it’s because you don’t know it yet: good for you. It means you can still enjoy it and you won’t be pushed away too much by its popularity. However, be prepared to wear something that many people will recognize three meters away. But be also prepared to say “who cares?” What smells good smells good, period (same applies to Armani Acqua di Gio).

One word of caution though: this is a fragrance for “young people” which, in this perfume blog, means “twenties”, like the boy and the girl in the picture below. However, freshness has no gender and age I believe, so I wouldn’t worry too much if you’re “old,”  go on and wear it.

Just remember that the almost complete lack of aromatic notes makes this fragrance very informal, so avoid any situation that is even slightly semi-formal. For that, age WILL matter. Unless you want to look like a dresses-up lemon…

If this perfume was a color it would be this:

CK One fragrance

CK One For Men And Women

212 Sexy by Carolina Herrera