Reveal

This is a real pearl, especially coming from the Calvin Klein repertoire, and for such a low price, I almost can not belive it! Do not get me wrong, l like many of Klein offerings (Eternity, Euphoria, Obsession, Truth, One, Beauty...and many more) but this one is so special and so different from the usual Klein style. I must say though that it fits the heroin chic, early 90's, Klein/Kate Moss aesthetic so very well...in particular the naked dewy shots done in sepia by genius Testino! Or the Obsession Sorrenti's ones. This is a salty peppery iris, cold and detached, perhaps even a bit dreamy...nothing sterile or aseptic however because it indeed reveals itself little by little, showing a peculiar warmness and intimacy that you were just not prepared to deal with. The opening is very peppery, black dusty pepper in particular, and it has a punch of salt. I don't find it fishy or swampy at all, it's more like a dusty saltiness, and it has on it a vapor-like veil of iris. This iris is not too floral, not yet powdery (and surely it has nothing of cosmetics). It is as if something a tad aromatic accompanies it. A very modern and niche like rendition of iris, I find. The ambergris material they used makes this so very special, I can smell warm human skin, a touch of sand and just a tinge of animalic. The smell of something intimate, of two body meeting under the sun in in a salty, sweaty embrace. The cold/warm dichotomy works really well here, very balanced. The dry down never loses the saltness and it is woody. Sandalwood is nothing creamy, more dry I would say, but there is a fuzzy velvety quality...and I would bet on it that it is cashmeran. The amber I don't particularly pick up (at least nothing labdanum/vanillic, but maybe it ads warmness). I think some type of musk is in here too, even if not declared in the notes (could it be something related to ambrettolide?). It is not a overly complex perfume in the execution but it was special in concept, I think. When it came out this must have seemed avant-garde for the designer public because the "your skin but better" genre had not yet been so loved and explored and, to add to it, this was a salty peppery rendition of that. Of course there were already many musky and ambergris fragrances on the designer market but so very little that fitted in the "human skin" genre. I would like to read more about the making of this perfume, I wonder what the intented result was. I am enjoying my bottle immensily, more so because a 100 ml costed me just 22,00 €. I absolutely need a back up. Such a shame this is discontinued. I even love the packaging very much, and the way my hand can grip the bottle. The color of the liquid brings to my mind just the color of wet skin under the sun. Lasting power is good, almost 7 hours on my skin, sillage is ok during first two/three hours but then it is intimate, which is ok for me, and coherent with this type of fragrances style. It is truly unisex, genderless, a perfumes for humans, no sex distinctions needed. This is special also of another reason: it completely changes with the weather. A truly reactive fragrance, wich I find it's not so common as we think it is. During fall, with the high quote cold of a mountain city, this is a peppery bomb! The iris and the ambergris translate as foggy. A salty, stone cold experience. With spring it opens ever so slightly, and the iris becomes more "purplish". During summer magic happens! This perfume is well worth it. I now understand why it is so loved. Get it while you can.

This perfume is indeed unique... up to a point... what do I mean with that?It is as unique as Thierry Mugler's womanity is - and why the reference? because the base notes (which thankfully last the longest at least on my skin) are very very reminiscent of womanity - in fact they smell really alike, and thankfully they smell like the best part of womanity (not like its top notes which on womanity are too much and the sweetness battles the saltiness and all the other interesting notes - Calvin Klein smells like the toned down best and longest part of womanity when its sweetness dissipates and leaves that special mystery womanity is). However Reveal is straight unisex on its very top notes- nothing too strong or masculine-, then it smells a bit weird which I do not care about but thankfully that lasts for a few minutes only, and then the whole womanity vibe enters, but done less sweet but so very interesting, like a perfect mix of Calvin Klein One -perhaps- (you know that Kalvin Klein vibe) and womaity, and then it becomes a very nice version of womanity, subtle, non sweet, but present as it projects as being part of your skin. All in all a very very interesting perfume, which is better worn in rainy weather. As it is a very salty/water based perfume, I don't know how to describe it- it is like it is part of the elements of nature, nothing generic or synthetic about it, it is just so special... <3 This is an airy/watery beautiful perfume, that will be perfect for those who appreciated the womanity vibe, but had a love/hate relationship with it (loving some notes of it, but hated some others). As with womanity, this is a perfume to be experienced gently, let it project and experience as is, let it reach your nose instead of sticking your nose on your skin. It is ethereal and magical and you have to let it work its magic as it knows best. This is not a skin scent, this, to me, is like a sea fairy, a salty feathery beauty <3 edit/ps: this one and agent provocateur blue silk are very similar- both have this pencil shaving woodsy smell which I love, however I adore blue silk more than I do reveal, hence I love layering it with creamy fragrances like azarro twin or pair it with narciso for her edt <3

It's so funny to me how different people interpret this scent completely differently. A little too sweet for my taste. Smells of fermented fizzy Haribo cola candies and cheap men's vetiver cologne, but in a pleasant way. There is definitely vanilla in this scent and lots of it even though it's not listed in the notes. It absolutely does not smell like Olympea, Vanilla Vibes or Womanity, not even close. Olympea and Vanilla Vibes are sickly sweet to my nose and Womanity is leaps and bounds more unusual and well-blended than all three of these. The only thing these four have in common is that they are woody feminine fragrances with a salt note, but that's about as vague as comparing any random four floral fruity or chypre scents. I do like how unusual this fragrance smells and think it's worth the very cheap price you can find it for online (I got a 10mL rollerball for $7 with free shipping) but it definitely feels a little cheap and screechy at least to my nose. I'll stick to Dune and Womanity but I'm glad I got to give it a shot as it is a really unique budget fragrance that is unabashed about just doing its own thing. EDIT: Changed my mind on this. It's definitely pretty cheap and cheerful and inoffensive but it's really growing on me, and as I adjusted my assumptions I realized it's not as screechy as it initially smelled. Whatever was challenging to me in the beginning began to be a lot more agreeable to my nose and I now like it a lot more. Still not sure if it's full bottle worthy but I'll keep the rollerball at least and I definitely think it's worth the low price to try it out!

This starts off super unique and complex but disappointingly dries or may i say dies down to a simpler acceptable scent. I totally get the “hot and fresh french fries” claim on the initial spray but in a good perfume-y way. This starts pleasantly peppery and not spicy which makes it less punchy compared to some peppers in other frags. It’s also really briny (not fishy) and has a balmy, pasty, waxy, and candle-like qualities. After which, it develops to something more feminine and sensual. The iris is super lipstick-y, sweet, creamy, and quite dry bc of the vetiver. Annnddd there goes the usual aquatic-floral dry down that reminds me of BBW Pink Cashmere, Mugler Womanity, and D&G Light Blue... well, I don’t think it’s THAT bad but it’s kind of a bummer that it has to end that way. I wish it stayed complex from start to finish because it’s super anticlimactic. Please, do remember that our noses work differently bc people are gonna assess ur scent differently compared to ur own perception. My friend told me I smelled like a dom top when I was wearing this and my other friend told me I smelled sexy and reminded him of how pheromones work. I was hella confused because this smelled like a light summery fragrance to me ??? 😭 but ok that’s the magic of fragrances 🤷 I love how this fragrance doesn’t smell ultimately basic (well, except for the drydown), performs reallllyyy good, and has a niche-like quality which is impressive for an affordable fragrance; however, it’s sadly discontinued :(

Reveal has been a successful blind buy for me and I'm loving it! I wasn't sure I'd like the peppery top notes, but I really do. On the blotter things were questionable, but on my skin... spicy and bracing, like the first blast of cool, dry, fall air as you step out of the house in the morning. The drydown is a salty, amber, vanilla musk, in a similar vein to Dune and Olympea. Dune was a favorite and Reveal dries down similarly sandy and arid (tho less balsamic), while I think Olympea retains a little more "moisture". Other reviewers have likened aspects of Reveal to Womanity or Angel. I own both, both are favorites (Angel is my signature and I've been wearing it for 25 years), and I can find nothing in Reveal that reminds me of either. The solar notes described in marketing materials are like the heat radiating off the sidewalk as the sun sets on a hot day, rather than recalling the beach or shoreline of any body of water. Because of this, I think Reveal will even do well in cooler weather, as its creamy and woody base notes are wonderfully warm and comforting and possibly reminiscent of dried leaves and fresh firewood. I'm enjoying it here in the hot SoCal August though. Sillage is arm's length and longevity is a good 7 or 8 hours. I got it affordably on the grey market so a total win for me! Edit 8/20/22: Still loving this! The savory opening is so unique and longevity is so good that the warm "cashmere" base provides welcome comfort as I settle into bed at night.