Calvin Klein

So glad this one was added to the database! My mother used to have a little round container of the Calvin Klein solid perfume. That magical red plastic doohickey was what made me fall down the rabbit hole that is perfumelove. Sadly, it's been so long that I can't remember exactly what it smelled like, other than that it was glorious and somehow different from the other perfumes on my mother's dresser -- that's a chypre for you. Not long ago, I was reading a biography of Calvin Klein that talked about the launch of this, his first fragrance. Turns out, CK was offered what would become Lauren and rejected it in favor of this scent. He ended up kicking himself because Ralph made a mint off his sloppy seconds. Such is life in the perfume world.

I am very lucky to have a bottle of this precious juice in my hands as I write this (thanks to the ebay gods!!) This is the perfume I would always have my mom spray on from the tester bottle at Marshall Fields in the late 70s' (I was too young to afford to buy it for her yet!) it may have been launched in the winter because I remember that each time we did this, my moms' winter scarf would then smell of this for weeks after! O.K. now the scent.. sniff..sniff..aahhh..This is undoubtably first and foremost all about The Rose.. which is splashed with a little bit of peach juice and then it's surrounded in a light cloud of spices and woods..Sooo Beautiful and Sophisticated...The Masterpiece in the burgandy box simply titled Calvin Klein!

I wore this when I was in grad school, in NYC, and realize now, reading the notes, that it's still my go-to scent profile: orris, carnation, rose, maybe some white flowers, oakmoss and NO vanilla or gourmand elements, ever. CK was at the lower end of what I considered the elegant ideal, but it was affordable, so I disregarded something a bit screechy about it. Stuck now in Egypt after loosing all my beloved perfume in the Sudan war, I'd love to find a bottle of CK right now, even though I probably wouldn't wear much of it in the summer heat.

This was the very first perfume I loved. I was a young teenager when I started wearing this and it made me feel grown up and classy-I loved it! It was so modern. It’s interesting to me that it has notes like rose and oakmoss that are not usually my favorites, but all together in this perfume, they’re great! This one is the only Calvin Klein fragrance I’ve ever liked, none of his others ever interested me. Unfortunately, he never was able to produce anything better than this, his very first fragrance.

THIS is rose done right in my mind. Testing a vintage original mini of cologne. The rose is soft and edged with woods and aromatics. Rose lovers you will like this one for sure. Interesting, and not too sweet or cloying. From the 70 ́s which was an interesting perfume decade. Softer than the shoulder-padded 80 ́s.