CK Free

"It's not that I'm lazy, it's just that I don't care. I mean, I do the TPS reports, but I don't care about them." ~Peter Gibbons, Office Space We’ve all seen it. The Swingline stapler. The fax machine. The Jump‐to‐Conclusions mat. The fish. There’s something quietly brilliant about Office Space, a movie that somehow distilled every cliche workplace archetype into a single beige‐carpeted, cubical-mazed universe. And whether we want to admit it or not, we’ve all known every character in that film. Some of us were those characters! But here’s what you may not realize: CK Free is the pure, absolu, banger bottled version of our humble protagonist: Peter Gibbons. The whole chill attitude through an atomizer. A vibe. The fragrance of enlightened underperformance. Like Peter, CK Free comes from a long line of hard‐working endurance machines. Its ancestors were built to last. To project. To perform. To grind. But there’s something different about CK Free. Something... carefree. Unbothered. Post‐ambition euphoria. It’s bright and fruity in all the right ways. It’s not here to file your stupid reports. It’s not going to answer any emails or use meaningless corporate buzzwords. It's not going to optimize your synergy or meet your Q2 metrics. It won’t even track your KPIs for god's sakes! It has three bosses, Bob! THREE. And just like Peter, CK Free isn’t going to put in a full day’s work either. Not because it’s weak. But because it simply doesn’t give a damn anymore! It’s been through the hypnosis therapy. It’s seen things. It came out the other side a Jackfruit clad, sandalwood scented zen master. CK Free has found inner peace with itself, and it’s not playing by your conventional rules anymore. You can hate it for that. You can resent it for that.You can complain that it doesn’t last long enough. You can even ping HR if you think itll help. But deep down? You love it for that. Because CK Free is the coworker who: shows up late and leaves early. It does the bare minimum and somehow becomes the most magnetic person in the building. It lasts as long as it needs to, not as long as you want it to. That’s not weakness. That’s philosophy. Stop caring? ... life improves. Show up late? ... everyone loves you. Leave early? ... everyone loves you more. CK Free is sweet on top, woody and dry beneath, interesting and balanced in all the right places. It’s not like the other office players. It’s quirky. It’s enigmatic. It’s the fragrance of the man we all secretly wish we had the balls to be. It might as well be PG Free: the scent of enlightened underperformance. Peter Gibbons would be proud!

Underappreciated...!! I am surprised at the number of negative reviews of Calvin Klein's Free. Today, I was reminded of the cleanness and freshness of this fragrance - it is totally Free and that is exactly the way I felt today - Fresh, Clean, and totally Free. Yes, I agree that Free is an underachiever in performance, but the blend of woodsy, herbal, and suede notes is a beautiful scent that is underappreciated. Performance, as noted, is modest at best lasting maybe 4 hours sitting close to the skin. I did, however, get lingering wafts from my shirt some 6-8 hours later. Not too shabby. A final tally of Free is 4.0 stars out of 5 stars. The fragrance is really good, the price is inexpensive, and Free will be received as a crowd pleaser in most settings - great flexibility..!! The real beauty of the fragrance - is the bottle.. Sharp and clean.. If the performance were better, this would be a Top 10 fragrance. Regardless, for the price, I highly recommend adding to your collection. The juice (and bottle) are that good.. Sending out a solid "love" for the Fragrantica community. Enjoy your day and happy fragrance hunting...

A light, cool, cozy, casual, masculine, and refreshing summer daytime fragrance. If you read about the perfume's ingredients before smelling it, you might imagine it's a dark, wintery fragrance. A fragrance that is accepted by everyone and is not annoying. If you cannot love it, you certainly will not hate it. The scent is dominated by juniper berries, followed by a balanced blend of star anise, jackfruit, suede, cedar, and woody notes. One of the biggest drawbacks of this fragrance is its poor sillage projection and not being a long-lasting fragrance. Performance is at best two hours. This limitation can be overcome by increasing the spray dose. To be honest, I didn't find any synthetic scent in any of its stages, from the opening to the drydown stage. The bottle design is very unique and attractive. The price is very reasonable and affordable for everyone. Final word: If you are a fan of CK fragrances and love CK Truth fragrance line, you will definitely like CK Free.

The consensus of most reviews is this might be a nice scent if it could be smelled. I agree. There is beauty in this fragrance but it's gone before you get to smell it well. Solution: Extract version by Perfume Parlour out of England(NYC Loose, 0505). This is one helluva an extrait. I am still smelling the wonderful top notes after 3 hours. Exotic smell with the smooth deep extrait version. They're cheap, and turn a turd into a King. Once you can actually smell it, it has a vibe of Armani Attitude, with the Jackfruit and Coffee. If CK had spent the money to make this into a higher concentration perfume they would have had a winner. Instead this fragrance will be left in the ashes. Sad. This could have been a memorable experience for many. I am probably the one person on earth right now smelling CK Free as it should have been. I hope you will join me and give this perfume another chance. It deserves it.

I LOVE THIS ONE. CK Free is clean Masculinity. Hands-down, would be my signature scent, but it's already discontinued and a hard-to-find item these days. Therefore I'm using my only 100ml bottle sparingly as I can until I find another for safe keeping. It smells sweet, fresh and serious at the same time; a perfect scent for an affable guy who likes to keep things simple, but can/will take care of business. The suede note is so good, balancing against the sweet berry and bright Anise notes. Longevity lasts around 2-3 hours; sillage is about an extended elbow's radius. I wear this on bright sunny mornings. Bottle design is beautiful, minimalist chic. Most would say that it doesn't last long, I concur however CK (excluding the original CK One) has always had a good relationship with my body chemistry. I can't explain it. It just works for me. 8/10

I bought it once when it came out, but now I think I more have the age for it, (28) I think is perfect for a cosy night out, job interviews or maybe a date, a female friend I meet in a shop, when I was testing fragrance, spontaneous was saying this is a good fragrance there could get my pants down ;-p I think is more unique than the new CK Obbssed, I really like that CK free is spicy & masculine with out getting to heavy. I work abroad in South Europe, so I will not use it for the job, but instead I will go for a more light fragrance like CK one all.

This one has grown up the love in me. First time smelled it was like it's ok, nothing bad but nothing really good. Generic. And yes, smells kind of generic colognes, but in a good way this one has a well blended patchouli with green note, with woody base and hint of mint that makes you fell uplifted when you wears it. But the downside is the poor performance and doesn't last long as I want. Overall 7.5/10

A handsome and clever modern woody-aromatic: airy, watery, light, green, fruity, bitter, natural. Long-wearing, easily 10 hours, with subtle radiation. Has that fun future past feel of the great Mugler Cologne (2001) with pretty anisette iced coffee notes. An outstanding value buy. (A beautiful and tactile bottle, but why the damnable marketing is it blue?)

This a woody, spicy, fresh scent and I think you can pull it off for any season. It's longevity really isn't THAT bad... It lasts about 6-7 hours, and Calvin Klein as well as lots of other designers have had much shorter-lasting fragrances. It is my signature cologne for Spring and Summer and I would recommend it for all ages.

Me encanta esta, es varonil, fresca, moderna, nunca podría usarla un viejo anticuado, esta es una jovial disfrutable. A la mayoría de las mujeres que conozco les gustó, lo ÚNICO MALO fue que a la media hora (30 minutos) desaparecía por completo, triste y decepcionante... pero muy buen aroma jajaja

i tried it before a few months, the opening was good kinda weak not much of a presence but after 2 hours past the scent just revealed itself and it was everywhere around me very light soft and smoth great for the summer lasted quite a lot on my skin around 8-9 hours , loved it

I love this, it's the perfect balance of sweet and bitter. Just smells so lovely. I can't believe it has all those random ingredients in it. What a blend! I like having it close and personal to me.

I tried it & it's light , nice 4 summer time after a shower after a workout but i can only smell Annis , over all it's nice & light since it's FREE !

You only get a really nice, fresh scent in the opening, but after a few minutes its completely gone. I’ve had better performance from body sprays.

Really good for sports, pleasant smell and not too strong. Would recomend if you want something subtle, yet classy and woody.

I love to wear this for work. However, it's annoying to refresh every 2 hours.

Sexy Masculine Poor longevity Great casual fragrance 6.5/10

Received this as a gift rather soon after it came out (sometime in 2010). I tried it initially (a few times), and felt it was a rather good, but mainstream CK offering with some decent notes (albeit somewhat synthetic)...but not off-putting in any way. I found it to be a nice green, aromatic woody scent - a bit nondescript, but something entirely wearable. Was I hoping for more? Not sure - I actually was a bit embarrassed as I had acquired some Vintage fragrances just prior to receiving this. I am not sure my sense of gratefulness came across. You see, I tend to have disdain for current CK fragrances and formulations - but something is going on here. I put on a fake smile at the time and tried it...later and alone. It got put into a box I have for Spring/Summer scents (as it was cooler weather then) and I pulled it out twice last year - actually, surprisingly liking it even a bit more. It was moved into the bottom of a drawer that I keep - for scents that I "remind myself to revisit". It is a totally inoffensive casual scent that one sprays on liberally - initially, I saw it as a warm-weather scent (but cooler weather works just as well actually, including rain which K1 picked up on...but not cold). This is something to wear to the store, out to visit with friends, weekends, and just around the house (as I'm typing this). Why would I take the time to write a review on CK Free? I am oddly compelled to do so. Mainly, because of what my friend, K1, wrote below. He transcended notes, scent pyramids and the typical mundane review and instead, evoked excellent imagery with a rather cheap Calvin Klein offering. Excellent! And, then, second is because the nose behind this, Rodrigo Flores-Roux. He has created some amazing compositions that reign superior and I have been enamored by his creative use of unique ingredients, harmonious bottling and his ability to make a flacon's (whether it be simple or stylized) purpose to be the juice inside. Too much is stylized today. His bottles for Tom Ford are exquisite and top-shelf in quality (and price!) - but it is his work with John Varvatos' line that brought me to him. The person who bought this for me later admitted knowing this was a bottle produced by the same nose of John Varvatos' creations - of which I had been wearing for a while (JV for Men and Vintage with the excellent After Shave balms for layering) and just fell in love with Artisan (the gorgeous fragrance it is to me)!! Rodrigo Flores-Roux was someone I was now watching and soon picked up Artisan Black, which is in my rotation as well. Here is the key to Rodrigo Flores-Roux's creations - it doesn't take a trained nose to appreciate them as they are wonderful and fragrant, but it does take a trained nose and palate to "understand" them. Less so here - as this is the only CK bottle he has ever made. I have to say...it is a solid bottle of fragrance. My only complaint with the John Varvatos line is longevity. That is the only drawback here. I like how this goes on. Nice, aromatic and slightly "green" notes and fruit on top (wormwood, a touch of star anise, and a light fruit note in the top listed as jackfruit, and the fragrant juniper berry)...a very nice opening. Inviting. The middle is mostly suede - both in "feeling" (smooth) and scent with nice blended nuances of coffee and tobacco leaf, neither being loud at all. I actually pick up the patchouli (which is nice here - not a dark and deep patchouli at all, but a much greener one that is a touch earthy but more herbaceous). Very nice. Patchouli (actually from the mint family) is a very commonly used note in fragrance, but has a broad range of smell - from nearly clean and lifted to deep, dark and smoky. It depends on when it is harvested and how the essential oil is extracted through fermentation and distillation. The wood notes are well-integrated here with cedar and oak blended well. In typical Flores-Roux style, interesting and unique notes are brought into the composition (jackfruit and wormwood in the top, buchu is listed in the heart and ironwood is listed in the base). I cannot lend an olfactory perspective to those notes, but then again, even if it is a small quantity, they were included because they sound exotic and possibly create a subtle touch that perhaps alters the notes we commonly know - like cedar and oak. My final thought is this...while it doesn't have good longevity on my skin, this is about pure enjoyment of scent. There are no fixatives here that extend the life (just a couple hours or so for me in a full wearing). If this had a strong vanilla or amber base, it would stay for hours longer. I'm glad it doesn't. I have several woody aromatics that cost more than this, but offer about the same in both projection and longevity - I am fine with that. A layered application helps (spray liberally and then 15-20 minutes later, reapply more to the same spots and so it saturates) plus wear on clothing to project more. Not a loud scent - but I like that. Intimate. Confident. Masculine & inviting. Rodrigo Flores-Roux is a top perfumer and highly-regarded. Calvin Klein was very lucky to have him produce a bottle for their line. The more I wear this, the more I like it. It actually has less of a synthesized feel than before. In my opinion, a scent that I kept in "that" drawer for a reason - this needed to be revisited! It will definitely be worn more this summer and fall - for pure enjoyment...sometimes out and, more often, around the house. A better release than virtually everything from CK - period. The only one I prefer to this (in current production) is Escape for Men, but in an entirely different way. The Original Vintage Calvin by Calvin Klein (1981) is still the greatest from this house...of all time. Very decent bottle of scent here and one that stands head & shoulders above the rest currently out there with a CK on the label, in my humble opinion. Scent - 7.5+/10; Projection - 6/10; Longevity - 5/10.

Not sure why all the negativity on this one... I got it for a good price ($12 for a 1.7oz bottle) and I like it! I'm not sure why there's such a dislike for this one. This is a light clean scent with leather, juniper, and anise. If you like the notes and you're looking for a light scent, this will probably fit the bill. I recently purchased the Gucci Guilty flanker, "Eau" and it's very similar to this. This is lighter and than Gucci Guilty Eau and spicier thanks to the anise and patchouli, but if you like Gucci Guilty Eau, then you'll like this. And let's face it - a lot of people here don't like Gucci Guilty in any fashion, but the general population does - so take that as you will. Longevity isn't as bad for me as it's been proclaimed to be by others, but I do apply this a little heavier than some other scents. I think that's a given though - when you smell a lighter scent, you know to apply it a bit heavier. When I wear this one to work, it lasts perfectly through the work day, being just barely detectable after I get home. When I went scent shopping and smelled this, this was actually the one scent that stood out to me that I liked the most. In spite of all the other commercial crap out there, this was modern and clean, but with an added twist of earthy, musky spice hiding under the freshness. Again, I like it. If you guys hate this scent so much, you can send your bottles to me! :) Also, the bottle's beautiful too... As nice as the new CK2 bottle, if you ask me.

This is far removed from the vanilla based fragrances that I usually go for. Yet, it works fine somehow. I get some kind of berry and suede mixed scent. There are other notes there as well but if there weren't a chart above I'd struggle to tell you what they are because I don't have a nose for picking up notes. It's comfortable and easygoing but not standout. I'd call it a work fragrance. As a bachelor, I often test out my fragrances on the one woman in my life: my mother. Hahaha! I know, not the best person for comments on what I should be wearing out on dates but she is a decent gauge on whether something stinks good or just stinks. Most of the time I ask her what she thinks but tonight I stopped by her house and was updating her router security when she spontaneously said I stink good. Said she really liked the scent. She rarely comments unless asked so it garnered a +1 in my book. I'd say a 5.5/10. What does this mean? It means that, at a minimum, 75 year old women like CK Free! LOl! But it also says that this isn't offensive and I won't have an issue wearing this out in public. I've learned in my short time since I started wearing fragrances again that some of it can only be worn in certain situations as the project too much or can be tiresome. This falls under everyday usage. Again, not super interesting or exciting but ok.