KL

This is another review of one of my favorite fragrances of all time. I see they have introduced some new KL scents, for her and him...this is the real KL...„The Secret behind the fan....” Yesterday I had such a craving to wear this wonderful fragrance again. I have a very little bit, left in the bottle, so decided I would wear it, and really enjoy it, as I did years ago. Oh how I loved wearing this gem! It's extremely well put together. It opens with a smooth, bright orange, which combined with the bergamot and spices just grabs your attention from the very start. The spices play a huge part in this fragrance, and they are very vibrant. The cinnamon is deep, almost like it has just been purchased at the African spice market, and the same goes for the cloves. They aren't weak, by any means, but they don't override the other fabulous notes. The rose and jasmine shine through, and the pepper and ylang-ylang play their parts just right. But the biggest secret is the dry down. It just seems to drift into the dry down, ever so discreetly. The warm amber..patchouli and vanilla, with the touch of civet. This fragrance lasts and lasts. It needs to applied with a bit of caution, as even the EDT is strong. I have heard people describe this as very similar to Opium. In my opinion, it isn't. I wore Opium for years, so I can compare them. Both are spicy, yes..but they have a completely different vibe. And the dry downs differ. I purchased my last bottle of this fragrance in the late nineties, duty free). I could never find it again, after that. I had the shower gel at one stage, and it was astounding! I have never had such a potent shower gel. I loved wearing this perfume..it was such a striking, and vibrant scent. Maybe that's perhaps I'm a Tauer fan) His no.12 for example..Eau D'Epices). The wonders of the fragrances from these times..the longevity. Oh, how I long for that wonderful staying power, on today's perfumes! This was not a super expensive purchase in the eighties, but the prices have soared! Never mind, I loved it when I wore it, and the secret behind the fan is still safe with me!

This was my very favorite fragrance in the 80's! I was a big fan. When I found out it was discontinued I was so disapointed I lost interest in fragrances for a while. It used to be my signature scent and now I was without one. I allready knew what would be a great replacement; Coco by Chanel. Coco and KL were in a way similar. They were released in the same era en both start of citrussy and spicy, kind of sweet and oriental. But it took me years to let another fragrance take KL's place. (stuck in the 80's right?) At last indeed it was Coco by Chanel that became my signature scent. Another similar scent is "8me jour" (Huitieme jour) by Yves Rocher. (also discontinued) In this internet era it is not that hard to find a vintage bottle of KL. (not cheap though) I purchased an EDT and a pure perfume on Ebay. They still smell great and I am so happy I have acces to that fragrance again. But honestly, I have to admit that Coco is a bit more balanced than KL. The 80's are over and I am much older now and Coco is now my signature scent. (Although I own so many fragrances now that I don't really have a signature scent anymore) KL was the perfume that started my fragrance obsession and it will allways be part of my collection. Oh and I have to add that the design of the bottle and advertisement were so great at the time. The combination of grey with a touch of pink, the oriental fan design. In those days that was so creative en trendy! Nowadays when I wear KL I allways get compliments. For me it is also a comforting scent that I wear when I am at home. I guess that is only because of all memories that are connected to this fragrance.

I am wearing some of this beautiful perfume today as I have been on a nostalgia lick. This is from my 80's stash of the 60 ml spray, and also I have a 120 ml splash that is hardly used-thanking Heaven I kept them both! KL was my obsession after the original Opium. My husband, then boyfriend, LOVED it and bought this for me every Christmas for several years. I had it coming out my ears! This, right along with original Galanos at the time, were my signatures and was saved for nights out, then became my scent every day until I burned myself out. Everything I owned wafted of KL. It's still just as strong and beautiful today, a spicy soft, deep floriental that bursts with orange. Yes, it IS in the vein of Opium but much, much more refined! Original Opium was a masterpiece as well, but please don't think KL is a dupe or less than Opium; they're cousins from a long lost era of greatness. I sprayed with abandon those days and wish I'd have known the great ones would vanish-I would have been a little more frugal maybe?....na! if you can ever find a bottle please grab it; you will not be disappointed! The "only" thing I might not like is in KL, if your chemistry on some days is off the civet will come out too strong and goes straight to a, sort of musty, day-old laundry, needs to be washed dirtiness"...but on most occasions it's just glorious. PLEASE, Karl, bring it back!!

Oncle Serge you devil! Thank you for reinventing this beauty in Bapteme de Feu! I went in rummaging through my sample stash and hell no couldn't find my decant of Bapteme....but if the incendiary spicey overcooked marmalade chord in yours isn't a riff on this stunning beauty I'll eat my hat as we say Downunder.... Anyway it stopped me procrastinating on a bottle of Bapteme at horrendous Aussie prices before the 50mls are all gone... Ah but I digress. And join with those weeping over this stunner. It had a warmth and sweetness that Opium avoided in its take no prisoners sourish biting perfumey dryness and fiery synthetic carnation spice emphasis. I bought this beauty instead of Opium and I still prefer it. Nay, I love it and have hunted it down on eBay expense be damned. It's just so richly beautiful. Laughingly it was another one I wore to work! Millions may have dropped from allergies around me but I have emerged unscathed and am still hosing down with all of these magnificent beasts! And people love it, I will often get a compliment from youngsters...

Interesting how differently our noses can perceive fragrances. To me this smells nothing like Opium. It doesn't have Opium's heavy carnation, and it's also much more subtle than vintage Opium. I mainly get a lot of citrus, especially the orange, and the cinnamon and clove. It smells like one of those clove-studded oranges that you make at Christmas dusted with cinnamon. But I also seem to get a lot more of the florals than other reviewers mentioned. If I hold my nose closely to my wrist and sniff, I get a lot of orchid and rose and ylang. I have the EDT, and now that I've worn it, I do get the civet in it. In fact, it's a pretty dominant note on the drydown. At first I couldn't detect it, but it takes awhile to show up in the wearing. A very intriguing fragrance. It's delicious as it develops. I think it works with skin chemistry and can smell differently depending on the person. I also thought it might be something like vintage Coco, but again, smells nothing like it. This smells much more tropical to me, a spicy tropical. Beautiful!

I’m happy to have tested this one. Sadly, I only have a generous decant. It shares the same theme with Coco and Opium: the grandiose clove-laden and smoked florals. All are wonderful and are not repetitions of each other. KL is a touch sweeter than the two whereas Opium is smokier and Coco is more balsamic and smoother. I don’t mean smoother as in of an inferior quality but in a sense of component ratio. In KL, the orchid provides a wonderful feminine quality to it. And also may I mention that there’s a somewhat green whiff running underneath to which I can’t point out. It’s not acrid but there’s a sappy feel to it. Overall, there’s wonderful sweet and playful quality to KL which the two doesn’t have. Drydown-wise, Coco’s the only one who doesn’t maintain personality. Meaning, it becomes a nondescript musk and vetiver combo. Please take note that my reviews are based on vintages. I’m really sad to know production has been stopped...

I have been wearing this fragrance for 30 years. And for most of that time I would say it was my signature fragrance.. My husband bought my last edp for me on Amazon for an outrageous price about 4 years ago. That's when I started looking for a new perfume to call my favorite, ordering samples from the Perfumed Court. Now I am hooked on several and have collected several. But my yearning for KL continues all the time. Recently I bought 1/2 oz (splash) of KL extract on eBay and I think it will be the last.. Right out of the bottle it's not bad, just not wonderful. But, after about 2-3 hours it's delicately sweet and vaguely like I remembered. And now I wonder if anyone else has found the same thing after buying an "old" bottle of a favorite. I've decided that it will be my "going to bed" fragrance - something I can wear every night,with a gentle memory of what it used to be.. A bit sad.

What an amazing fragrance. Heady, seductive but not overly sweet or cloying. I first found KL when I was living in Germany in the early '80's. It remained my favorite through my life in Germany and Italy and Washington DC; through my terrible divorce and incredibly wonderful remarriage of 23 years. Such treasured memories it brings up. Upon learning that it was being discontinued I bought enough to wear everyday for about 50 years. I've moved on now in years and lifestyle. I've sold some of the unopened packages but still have a few left including body powder and perfume creme. If anyone is interested in this have used but thoroughly still useable items, just let me know. I'm looking at getting them to someone who would still enjoy them.

Spicy, powdery, vanillic, ambery, incensey, lush and warm... gorgeous. Most certainly cooler weather friendly, and it's a tad too heavy for hot summer days, unless applied with the lightest touch... but on a balmy summer night, it is downright sexy. The lasting power is all day and the next on my eat-em-up skin, and the sillage is far and wide. Harder and harder to find, so naturally it's getting pricier and pricier to acquire in alignment. It is in the Opium vicinity, which I love, but because The Big O cranks up the funky-sour-musk-volume full f'in blast with my chemistry, I sadly cannot adorn. KL more than satisfies my craving to visit that scent neighborhood without having to worry about the perfume police issuing me a ticket.

I finally found a bottle of KL eau de toilette on Ebay. I think if Opium original and Cinnabar original had a love child, KL would be it! I smell orange, cloves and spices during the initial dry down-very much like the original Cinnabar but after a few hours the scent smooths out into a beautiful warm essence.. really indescribable, very soft, warm and beautiful. My hubby absolutely loves KL so have purchased another bottle. I must say, it is hard to find and I really had to search for quite awhile but worth the search. For lovers of spicy, warm, cozy scents. Strangely enough though I cannot stand Youth Dew and ditto to the KL for men which was a gift to my dad from his then girlfriend. i guess the nose knows what is loves!

This is best when it's hot out, spicy heavy what I thought the exotic East would smell like (doesn't) loved the fan bottle. Many years ago someone asked 'who is wearing patchouli' like it was a crime. Similar to Opium, Valentino & Boucheron heady and strong but not often smelt these days. Big, Big, Big, you will be completely out of fashion in this syrupy spicy powerhouse that used to be available online at a reasonable price but sadly no longer. Old fashioned smoky but a lovely clean almost Nag Champa haze not tobacco. No fruit, white sugar or grocery items & if can get again will as wearing this at home would be bliss. Would be fun to return to that hipster bar on Gertrude St (Fitzroy, Vic Aust) doused in it.

I bought KL the year it debuted. An unusual fragrance, it was sophisticated and quite pricey. I loved it and used it up to the very last drop in that iconic bottle with the fan top. Then KL slipped my mind until last week. A quick check showed it was discontinued - like many fragrances I like. What little is out there is expensive, but I paid a steep price for a micro mini bottle. KL is worth it, there's nothing like it. Thankfully it hasn't been reformulated! The scent is in a category of its own, but I get a sweetness from it, and some intense spices. Since I haven't worn it in so long I'll have to experiment a little with the scent - something to look forward to.

I have so many perfumes that I own but this one is the first review I’m writing about, and it isn’t even my own perfume. Recently Karl Lagerfeld died and I remembered that I haven’t got rid of my mum’s favourite perfume ever. Unfortunately she loved this perfume so much she couldn’t even finish it so here I am with half of the bottle full and my mom’s gone for 2 years. I was a 90’s kid who liked this perfume to smell on my mom which she only wore on special occasions and it lasted so long with full corridor Sillage. So I’m honouring her just by smelling the cap. Maybe one day I will try it on myself in my way to visit her...

I agree - this is not a chypre by any definition. It is a Fresh Soft Oriental though I note Michael Edwards further subclassifies it as a citrus fruity in the soft oriental category. I myself don't register anything citrusy or fruity about it. It is lighter and softer than Opium, Salvador Dali or Youth Dew yet still conjures images of the spicy orient. It is long lasting and great for the Office as it makes a statement and can be worn easily during the day whereas Opium and Youth Dew would be too overpowering. One of my favourites and almost impossible to find in Australia these days.

Karl Lagerfeld KL was my first great love! I got a bottle of it from my aunt in the late 80's, and it was love at first sniff. The clove and the cinnamon makes it rich and warm, but it still has some icy-cold, almost ruthless undertones - definitely a bold 80's power scent! It's intriguing, sexy and multi-layered, but easily overdosed - more than a few droplets, and it becomes as subtle as a mallet. Apparently it's been discontinued in most countries, but I managed to stumble across it in a mall in Milton Keynes (of all places!) and was delighted to add it to my wardrobe once again.

My absolutely favorite scent of ALL TIME... but with one caveat: I first tried the L'eau de Toilette and LOVED it...then bought the perfume, and it was similar but I found it too strong . The Eau De Toilette lasted all day and into the night and in fact did linger on my clothes which I liked.... I found I didn't need to buy it stronger. Oh how I wish they brought it back. I still have some in my fridge "cooling" for special occasions and hope that it will last me.... it is SO sexy... but still ok for day. what more could you ask for?

(a single tear rolls down my cheek) When I think of all the KL I wore with abandon in the '80s and early '90s! Perfume, EDT, shower gel, body lotion... heaven in a bottle readily available at any department store counter. Alas, those days are gone and now I pay twice the price for a quarter-ounce in a capless bottle. This is the best fragrance I have ever owned. The spiced citrus opening, the mellow amber finish, the lingering whispers... ((sigh)) I would encourage all oriental lovers to try this but I want it all for myself.

I always assumed there was some Tuberose in this due to a slight bubblegum note - not bad bubblegum but just enough to take the edge off some of the heavier notes. This was a departure for me in the 80s. I was normally a floral type or aldehyde. This was warm spice with a bit of fruit...but not todays sicky sweet fruit. So wish I had known it was to be discontinued. I still have about 1/8 of my 2nd original version left and I only spray once a year. Lovely spitfire of a scent.

I am renaming this one Spice Queen. It didn't blow me away but I love Orientals so this one is a keeper for me. I believe it is the Benzoin that keeps trying to break through the spice to soften it a bit but the spice is still winning. I could wear this on a cold winter's day when the skies are cloudy and overcast. This will be used as a pick me up fragrance for sure as it has a kick that won't let go. My Kenzo Elephant has finally met its match in the spice department!

If only KL could be brought back to life! It was so much of its time and yet so timeless. The design, an 80's nod to the 1920's, with the fan shape and the grey and dusty rose, and then the scent! That swirly, almost boozy amber and vanilla, with a hint of bedtime fun... I used to own a full bottle and the gorgeous atomizer. I'm so nostalgic for this perfume! I pray to all the muses that I can douse myself in this beauty once again. Bring KL back please!