Perfume has always been one of my quintessential holiday gifts. I always loved Christmas because my mother, who is a perfume addict, always bought me some lovely new scents. As I became older, buying my friends and boyfriends perfumes and colognes became commonplace.
This season, there is a myriad of options available at your local department store. Now, I don’t generally do department store fragrances nowadays - my nose is probably the snobbiest thing about me, ha! However, I was given the chance to review a few Calvin Klein fragrances, and I was pleasantly surprised by them.
The first fragrance I tried is Calvin Klein Beauty, advertised as “capturing the ultimate power of femininity, sophistication, and inner beauty.” Taglines like this always make me laugh, but I would have to agree - Beauty is incredibly feminine. It’s actually much more feminine than I’m used to (as we all know that I am Joey, she who loves stank man scents), but I actually quite enjoyed it.
I think the important thing for me when it comes to more feminine scents is the combination of base notes. Let me explain something - I don’t typically like floral scents. Florals are just too feminine for me - they smell too pretty. When I complain about a scent being ‘feminine’, that’s usually my way of saying it’s too flowery.
Calvin Klein Beauty is a floral, yes, but there’s a deeper, more complex base to the scent that renders it wearable for me. My body chemistry always picks up on woods and musks, and this scent has a cedarwood base that reads heavily on my skin. The main component of this perfume is a neo-lily - whatever that means. The lily mingles nicely with the ambrette seed topnote and the jasmine middle note. The combination of these notes translates into an initial burst of sexy floral that on me is heady and pretty. My ladyboss, a fellow lover of heavier masculine scents, adored this on me. The drydown was interesting: I thought it was almost milky, possibly a result of the lily and cedarwood combining. However, it wasn’t a spoiled milk sort of a scent - it was warm and cozy, and comforting.
A note about the bottle: Calvin Klein was serious about emphasizing femininity with Beauty, so the actual bottle was designed with this in mind. The silver ring that surrounds the perfume apparently symbolizing the ongoing strength of women, and the color of the actual perfume (gold) reflects how luminous women are. A bit sappy, but well-thought out.
Calvin Klein Beauty retails for $85 for the 3.4oz, $65 for the 1.7oz, and $50 for the 1oz bottle. Check it out!
PS - How lovely is Diane Kruger in that ad?!
Ooh, I'll have to try this one. I think it was CK1 that could be used for men or women and I like the stronger scent. I wouldn't go so far as to wear cologne but I don't like the floral-y scents much either and I can't wait to see what they've come up with!
ReplyDeleteOh I thought that might be Diane Kruger in that ad! It's so funny how celebrities look different when they are hawking something other than a movie. Always is a little out of place for me. :)
ReplyDeleteNice review. I always find fragrances so difficult..
Normally I tend to hate CK perfumes, I think they often smell like nothing that I can identify from the real world and that bothers me. But I might have to try this one because:
ReplyDelete1/ how much prettier could Diane Krueger be?
2/ Like Joey, I like and wear very manly scents, so if she liked this I might like it as well
Thanks Joey!
Brow Grooming - I infinitely prefer stronger scents but the cedarwood base of this one is enough to pull the floral scents out of "gag" territory and make it wearable, in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteStyrch - Yup, it's Diane Kruger! =) fragrances are hard since we all have different tastes and different body chemistries.
Musing on Beauty - I hope you like it if you try it! I'd feel awful if I steered you wrongly =/