Island Gardenia

'Got this today at Walmart for $11. The top notes are a soft blend of various aldehydes & gardenia. The aldehydes give the fresh, morning-rained, floral garden bouquet scents, that are very pleasant, complex but NOT overpowering. 'Thinking softer floral bouquet aldehyde blend like No5, just much softer. I sometimes have a difficult initial reaction with certain aldehyde floral-type blends but not with this one. The aldehydes & gardenia top notes are very pleasant. It is not as intense & long lasting with the potency of the original Tuvache Jungle Gardenia. But it does seem to last well. Middle notes have a slightly cinnamon scent in one of the particular aldehydes. But the gardenia holds well, too. It lists coumarin,citronellol, jojoba & oakmoss, also. The base notes are very soft with oakmoss. The list of various aldehydes led me to read the section here on fragrantica about aldehydes. This sophisticated, complex floral bouquet with a classic gardenia scent is very nice, well worth the money. I also saw a 3 oz bottle of Liz Taylor's Gardenia at TJ Maxx for $15. I just have got to go back & try it, too, since I am a gardenia fiend. Gardenia is one of my favorites in the white florals. This Island Gardenia is a fragrance that reminds me of walking around my mother's floral gardens early in the morning, after a gentle rain shower at dawn. She had her own little nursery operation since she had so many types of flowers, palms, trees, shrubs, herbs, etc. She had several gardenias planted around her home & property as they grow so well in this SE GA locale & climate. One gardenia near her back deck was nearly as tall as her roof, covered with beautiful large, heavy blossoms. Oh, that fragrance!!! We would walk around together having precious mother-daughter talks, coffee mugs in hands..stopping to enjoy each of her various blossoms & plants, smelling, sometimes breaking leaves or crushing petals...savoring the aromas from her various "diggin-in-de-dirt" pursuits. What very dear memories as she has been gone now almost 2 years. This fresh, clean, complex floral blend with the sweet, sensual gardenia is a very memorable fragrance. For me, it evokes memories of lovely gardens, flowers, with just the right amount of gardenia. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this one!!!

Vintage charmer! If you hate hairspray notes (or aldehydes) in fragrances, then you can automatically skip Island Gardenia. But for those who are very accustomed to hairspray/soap notes and love a good budget gardenia tuberose, look no further! As an aside, something about the aroma chemicals chosen for Kim Kardashian's classic and the M. Kors scent it was meant to imitate don't work for me. They turn strident, green, sour. I've found this to be the case with nearly all modern Gardenia or Tuberose focused fragrance, so no blame. It's just interesting that a previous era's chosen chemicals are working so much better for me! If you, like me, have not had success with more current white florals, it's worth a try to grab this oldie from Walmart. At worst, with the saved receipt you can always return. Meanwhile, you will have experienced the aroma of the past... and not such a bad past at that! I might add that in this past (whether you were THERE or not), you were ultra feminine, immediately appealing to men, and highly desirable. How could you help but be, smelling like this?! To sum up, a floral treat perfect in mid winter or early spring. Neither too sweet nor sour nor green nor fresh nor powdery. Island Gardenia is more a perfume interpretation of gardenia and tuberose than the actual flowers in soliflore form, yet it's hard to deny there's SOME of the real reimagined here. And how perfect for boudoir and vintage lovers... You can, of course, say it's a grandma fragrance, but if so your grandma is one alluring and forever blooming lady! Five stars. Simply one of the best budget florals - ever. <3

A tropical bouquet of full blown beauty in an affordable cologne! I was brand new to fragrance upon first discovering Island Gardenia over 7 years ago. Perhaps not the 'right' scent for my age range, but who cares! I'm elated to have obtained a scent so purely floral, so effervescent and 'real' smelling. Gardenia comes in many forms, many of which (I'm looking at YOU, Kim Kardashian and Michael Kors!) turn vile on me, artificial and high pitched. This gardenia? Ahhhhh... Imagine, if you will, an Island Paradise. You are standing by massive Gardenia blossoms, waxy petaled and radiantly framed by glossy leaves. In the distance, faint whiffs of other tropical blooms (tuberose etc) waft into the air and you distinctly smell that touch of coconut oil on your wavy, salt kissed locks. THAT is Island Gardenia. On the right skin, you will smell the perfect melding of waxy flowers with coconut and hints of the island... Simple? Yes, simple Genius! I wouldn't change it for worlds. <3

Fragrance to me is a time machine to the most cherished memories of my life. Anything created before 1990s I have a profound love for. I first smelled this about 1987 with my older sister at her best friend's parents house. Her best friend was a tall, blond, and very beautiful girl. Her mother entered her into beauty pageants, and she wanted to be a model, which unless you're rich or very special to someone in high places is very hard to accomplish in Des Moines Iowa. She wound up a housewife, still tall blond and beautiful. She was also very kind, and I admired her. She had this perfume and I loved to open the cap and inhale. I recently bought it for the sake of memory and discovered that I still love it, it's now one of my most worn. I remember it being a little more green and stemmy, less lactonic, in the eighties. No matter how much I spend, or how far down the niche rabbit hole I go, I'll always love the "cheapie" classics. 🤍

IMPORTANT: This is one of those fragrances that needs to aerate (or breathe). I mentioned this in a review about Tommy Bahama, as well. My daughter reports that Tommy Girl requires the same process. Chloe Narcisse is another. That means spraying it a few times, then allowing the bottle to sit for a day or longer. After purchasing a bottle of Island Gardenia last summer, I was angrily disappointed because it did not connect with all the raving reviews. However, I gave it another shot just a few days ago. Fabulous! The overpowering spiciness (like raw ginger root from hell) had mellowed significantly, and now expresses as a lovely Hawaiian ginger floral. There also seems to be a faint whisper of honeysuckle, with a smidge of musk. Longevity and sillage are wonderful. I am surprised by its complexity. The perfume pyramid's description could certainly use some modifications. I can't wait to wear this once the weather warms up!