Soliflore Gardenia

This is the real deal - my reference gardenia. Upon application, I am almost taken aback by the strong smell of melted butter!! You see the phrase "buttery" to describe many white florals, particularly gardenia and tuberose, but this is beyond that! Of course, it's an oil so I think that contributes to the richness. This quickly calms down, and another aspect of real gardenia starts to emerge - a mushroomy earthiness. If this is starting to sound more like dinner than a perfume, fear not. It all comes together, creating the most realistic gardenia ever captured in a bottle. Pretty enough to wear on its own, I find that it also works well to amplify and round out the gardenia in other fragrances. I have a few that I've purchased that turned out smelling rather cheap and artificial, but a dab of this as a base helps to elevate the quality, making some I had written off (Tous Gold, for one) very wearable and quite nice! A dab or two rub together in my palms and brushed through my hair is another lovely way to wear this oil. I am now interested in purchasing the tuberose oil. I often find it difficult to distinguish one from another, since tuberose is so often used to recreate the smell of gardenia, and I am hoping I can train my nose to be able to differentiate between them. Given Dame's sampling program, I think I will order others as well in order to increase my awareness of other notes as well. This is a wonderful house, and I love that I can support a company with good ethics and not have to sacrifice quality in return. Bravo, JD!

The beauty and depth of a gardenia blossom all wrapped into one vial. Its almost as if Mr. Dame slowly extracted the juice of the flower drop by drop. Developing into a marvelous masterpiece. I love gardenia and have tried every kind possible. But something is usually amiss. Not here. This is the aroma of a day of leisure walking in a garden. A flower tucked behind your ear. A soft breezy dress that carries the scent of your perfume. Not a care in the world. That is what SOLIFLORE Gardenia is to me. It is everything I hoped it would be and so much more. Words can not express my happiness with my experience ordering Mr. Dame's perfumes and his customer service. I ordered this on a Monday hoping to receive it for my "New Year's Perfume". I received it within TWO DAYS...that Wednesday! My package was wrapped as if receiving a special gift from a friend. Each perfume individually wrapped for my sheer delight! Included was a kind note and picture from Mr. Dame himself. Not only did I get to experience the wonderful Perfume oils I purchased, but an array of samples. I can not forget to mention a discount code for a future purchase also. Absolute superb perfumer that I have the greatest reverence for!

A true gardenia. I think this is one of the most difficult things to pull off in perfumary. Ive gone thru the list of gardenia perfumes -past and present. In most of them I wished the gardenia lasted longer. Well here is pure unadulterated, not combined with anything else gardenia. When it settles down its gorgeous. I wish sillage was a little greater but its obvious Mr Dame perfers lower sillage scents. I implore him that there are some femme fatales left that love using it as a weapon. I love layering this to add more gardenia influence to other fragrances I have. Its super versatile. I have to disagree with the below reviewer calling this a demeter. That is unfair. This is much better quality and longjevity than any demeter. Dusita really isnt in the running here as that gardenia was combined with tuberose and other notes to a completely different vision. I will say however, in regards to that gardenia note those two are infact the same. This is a Soliflore, and done well as an essay to the facets of the natural essence itself. Top 5 gardenias. My only quibble is I wish the opening was softened. That blue cheese note hits you like a truck!

I am trying this from an oil version sample. I have to begin by saying that this was a gift with purchase, overall my first mini shopping experience at Dame took me by surprise in the most unusual and memorable way, they are amazing generous and so kind people there....thank you Now about Gardenia. I wasn’t particularly excited about trying this, I have a good load of gardenia cantered perfumes, and they are all loud, heavy sweet and mostly always they leave me with a headache. Not this one! It’s incredibly beautiful and I could say playful, i’s so adorable I can’t stop sniffing myself! On me it has a certain spicy ness, it remind me of Big Red chewing gum, as if there is a bit of cinnamon and a bit of sugar mixed in. The gardenia here is beautiful, fresh, moist and even a bit oily, and thank God, it is not mixed with any of the other things that one finds elsewhere ( no tuberose, no ylang, no coconut, no soapy notes ) I love it so much ! it becomes a bit sweeter and a bit dusty in the dry down, for me this Gardenia is the first of its kind and one scent I need to own in full size, one day. I Love it!!!

Here's another fanboy for Dame Soliflore Gardenia. I like florals, but finding a masculine or unisex non-powdery white floral is difficult. Layering a soliflore to green fragrances has turned out to be my ticket, and the Dame Gardenia has turned out to be an excellent find. I find this Gardenia to be subdued - meaning not bright or candied - but rather late-in-bloom, with a little bit of dust on it. Perhaps it is on the slightest verge of being a little waxy. This combination of impressions makes the Dame Gardenia an excellent unisex white floral by which to add new interest to a fragrance, without giving offense to those of more conservative olfactory sensibilities. I have the perfume oil, which I put into an a small sprayer. One shot in the middle of the chest gave me at least 5 hours of good, solid gardenia fragrance. As for the House of Dame, you just can't ask for better. Jeffrey is responsive to emails, and his liberal supply of samples is much appreciated. If you are a fan of stunning, eye-popping fashion photography, you must visit his website. Simply beautiful.

First Impression: This is everything I wanted Kai to smell like. This smells like sniffing a flower on a bush, stalk or whatever flowers grow off of. It’s so airy and light. Kai in comparison is very sharp and much stronger. Kai is not sweet on my skin at all. It’s closer to being a non sweet Dior Pure Poison or the gardenia portion of Estée Lauder Private Collection Tuberose and Gardenia than being similar to Dame Gardenia. Dame’s Gardenia is softly sweet. It’s so pretty. It smells so real. There is nothing sharp to it at all. I can’t really explain what I’m smelling but realistic flower. I guess I’ll say it smells like gardenia but it’s been awhile since I’ve sniffed a gardenia plant in person. I can say that Dame’s ginger lily smells just like and I mean just like a bouquet of stargazer lilies. I’m in love with that at first sniff also. Based off of that, I’m going to assume hit the nail on the head with this one. Either way I’m going to purchase a bottle.

Growing up down in Louisiana, I used to smell this fragrance when the bush in our yard would bloom. Such a beautiful fragrance! Then when I moved away, I never thought I'd be able to smell it again because I could never find anyone who had the skill and the artistry to duplicate it. That is, until I came across this one. If you're looking for straight up bottled gardenia, right off the bush, then look no further. This is an exact duplicate of a real gardenia flower - nothing added, nothing omitted. It's just simply mind-blowing how they could get that heavenly fragrance into this bottle.

I'm trying the alcohol formula from a sample, so daubed on. First time I tried this scent a few years ago, I didn't really like it. But today in Haiti, it's hot and humid and this just seemed like the right scent to wear. I've tried many gardenia scents in the past, and they often have a plastic note to them, which I believe is in the actual flower, but it's off-putting to me. This one really smells like a fresh green crisp flower. It's not cloying at all in this horrid humidity. I still say Dame is the champion when it comes to soliflors!

Swoon worthy...how can such a seemingly simple perfume be so deep and complex at the same time? This is a beautiful fully realized gardenia flower, rich and powerful, but not too sweet. It lingers for hours. In the fabulous movie from 1984 Amadeus, Mozart answers the Emperor's comment on his opera of "Too many notes" with this: :There is just enough, no more, no less." Beauty beyond most. Love to have this as a lotion or a creme. Now to try Jeffrey Dame's other soliflore offerings. 5 Stars

This is a gardenia masterpiece. It gives you each and every facet of that gardenia as it unfolds, the green, the center, the petals, all of it. It is like burying your nose into a gardenia plucked from a bush and inhaling. It lasts hours and hours. The sillage is moderate so it does not overpower. I have never smelled a true gardenia fragrance that was even close to a real gardenia, and this is the real deal. I can't say anything more, it is beyond the pale perfect.

My aunt has been blind from birth and consequently, her other senses have become considerably heightened. Her sense of smell is especially fine tuned. When she tried my mom's spray bottle of Soliflore Gardenia, she exclaimed, "Oh my goodness I LOVE THIS. It smells exactly like a real bouquet of gardenias in bloom." Coming from my aunt, that's probably the highest praise this fragrance can garner. If she approves, it's NOT hype. It's real.

Update: Last week I got a rare chance to smell a real gardenia blossom, in a vase at the check-out stand of a local restaurant. I might have held up the line up just a bit taking in several good sniffs. Dame's Soliflore Gardenia smells pretty close to me! Lately in the growing heat and humidity I've thoroughly enjoyed layering this over the Black Flower Mexican Vanilla, to enhance the gardenia element. Great stuff.

I've smelled many "gardenia" fragrances, and although some have been beautiful, this is the only one that actually smells like a blooming gardenia. Is it exact? No, but darn close. I absolutely love it. Like several of Dame's soliflores, it has a harsh, chemically, unpleasant opening, but it doesn't last more than a couple of minutes, and the payoff is hours of gorgeousness.

Ultimate Gardenia Perfume, truly ..the best of them all. Its the real deal! photorealistic, creamy, sweet and heady, so luscious and tropical...and with staying power!. I am in bliss wearing this, I never want to be without it. Please Gardenia lovers, try this!

Absolutely beautiful! The most realistic gardenia perfume I've ever tried. It smells amazing and it's not too heady nor too green, just right. Thankfully it is not too overpowering either. Lovely!

This is a beautiful, pure Western gardenia scent. It's the kind that makes people look around wanting to see the fresh blooms! Exquisite.

Smells just like a real gardenia. I’ve never smelt anything like this except directly on the gardenia bushes in my yard. It’s magical.

A rich and riveting gardenia, I'm reveling in it this summer. And it even lasts for hours. Just beautiful!

I bought this on a whim and I'm so glad I did. Just simple, fully expressed gardenia. Beautiful!

I was so happy to receive this sample from Mr. Dame because I am always looking for gardenia scents for my mother as she adores gardenias. The problem is I seldom like gardenia scents as they are so heady and very synthetic smelling and sweet and I just plain don't like them. We had a large gardenia shrub outside our front door when I was a child and when in full bloom the smell was so delightful. Soliflore gardenia is like smelling those newly bloomed gardenias. This is a true gardenia. Regal, elegant, unmistakable. I will be sending one out to mom shortly. Update...I ordered SFG for my mother and she looves it! While she loves Gardenia scents she doesn't alway swoon over them! I have bought her numerous scents Annick Goutal Gardenia Passion (she likes) Marc Jacobs (Liked for a bit then gave her headaches) Jo Malone (just no) and I ventured and bought her Fracas (she said thank you but my sister told me she hated it and it's not a top note Gardenia before anyone gets mad at me but I try to expand horizons). Background on my mother....she wore Paloma Picasso as her signature through the 80's when I was a girl and into the 90's until they discontinued selling it at the most high end place to buy clothing, cosmetics, fragrances and skin care at the time where we lived. She became lost. SO she started trying all sorts of stuff. She loved gardenia so that helped. She was never an Opium or other strong scent wearer of the time although one could off Paloma Picasso as a strong one. Anyhow she progressed and I don't think has found her signature since then. We found Annick Goutal Gardenia Passion on a cruise and she has really likes it more than anything. I feel from her response Dame Sol Gardenia is making her quite happy! Thank you Mr. Dame!