Calyx

I can't help but bow before Calyx, and this is already a contradiction. Because Calyx is not an austere or exacting scent that makes you wanna pay your dues to its cachet or eminence. "Then why?" one could ask. Well, those of you who have not lived the magnitude of the '80s try to imagine this. In an era of dominating femme-fatale heavy-hitters, like Poison in 1985 and Loulou in 1987, which were huge successes and still are, Calyx came flying under the radar in 1986, dropping a mega bomb loaded with bliss and joy of life. Oh, and inventing a whole new genre too. I'm not sure if it's the fruity-floral, the floral-green or the fruity-floral-green one, but Calyx is made in Heaven! So my bow pays respect to a pioneer that happens to be an unbelievably good perfume too. What now seems to be the rule, was the exception back then. The rule was that fruits were shot on sight without further explanation. How many grande dames of the '80s could claim they had any prominent fruity notes, other than the occasional apricot or plum, included in their prima-donna vocal ranges? But while most of them were the distant divas frequenting the opera houses, Calyx was the dish from next door playing merry songs on her guitar in a subway station. And while the vamps, bedecked with diamonds and pearls, are sipping champagne and picking at salmon in the foyer, the imp is happy with a slice of pizza and a beer, whose pull tab wears as a ring after opening it. To cut a long story short, there are only two scents which put a big silly smile on my face every single time I sniff them. And maybe because of my preference for subway stations over opera houses, Calyx is one of them. It's the happy girl hopping around and giving you a flirty kiss on your cheek, among a bunch of aloof ladies, who demand a contract signed with your blood to just deign having their eyes laid upon you. It's a silvery sexy giggle among a clamor of elaborate erotic sighs. The lovely brat that every august matron looks daggers at and shoos. But only to move just a couple of steps aside, before she returns with her dulcet laughter filling the room. Don't get me wrong, I find all these '80s perfumes simply stunning and Bastet knows how much I love them, but it's like Calyx outshines them all because of being so different and daring. And just because these two traits are not always considered merits, maybe this was the reason that Calyx never got the fame it deserved; not back in the days, and to an even lesser degree now. But you know what? Who cares? This cunning tart surely doesn't, since I think I can see her winking at our direction, while singing tunefully "Who needs fame when she's happy?..."

I clearly remember smelling Calyx for the first time in the late 80s. My jaw dropped - it was the first time I had smelt a perfume that actually made me want to drink it! I didn't have the language to describe what I was smelling, and couldn't tell you if a fragrance was a chypre, or a white floral, or a fruity floral or whatever. I only knew what I liked, disliked, and loved. And I LOVED Calyx. It was so different from anything else I had ever experienced, as I gravitated more to classics from Chanel and Patou, Orientals like Opium and Cinnabar, and of course, the ubiquitous, true flower bomb Poison. Of course I had to purchase it. Looking back now, I think that the tropical fruit notes are what captivated me the most - the mango, the guava, and the papaya - and created that edible effect. As much as I loved it, I only owned one bottle before moving on to the next scent to attract my attention, as I was wont to do at that time. But the memory of this aroma is planted deep in my brain, and if I think about it hard enough, I can conjure it up. I must own this again. There are vintage bottles of the Prescriptives version on the Bay and I will try my luck with one of those. I don't know how the most recent Clinique version measures up,so I am going for the gold!

OH FOND MEMORIES! I was at McGill University and my best friend would wear this daily. It was her signature scent. I hunted it down back then but kind of forgot about how great it smelled! I wanted that frag. so bad but did not want to steal her frag... no copy cat for me. So i got Juba by The body Shop instead which reminded me so of this lovely scent. Little did I know that my favorite nose : Sophia Grojsman made this chef d' oeuvre! : a fruity, wet green, lily of the valley fragrance that lasts all day and makes my mouth water for some reason. It is so well rounded and luscious: tropical to me. Apricot seems to be a theme with Sophia and I love it. Mingled with all these: passionfruit, mint, mandarin orange, cassia, peach, mango and bergamot) it makes for a pick-me up cocktail of fruity freshness. the middle notes are lovely and durable if my memory serves me well. I mostly remember the rose, the muguet and the melon. yum. While I enjoy the ' aromatherapeutic qualities of this scent, what enchants me most is the base:; mossy, woddsy rasperry that reminds me of Hot Couture. I would happily get me one now! Shall see!

I fell in love with this scent waaaaay back in the late 80s in high school. It just so happened that I met my husband around the same time and he loves the scent as much as I do - every spritz brings back for the both of us those carefree, first love moments. I find that other fragrances I wear must have the same notes that make Calyx by Prescriptives my signature scent: clean, crisp, floral, soft, feminine. The base notes are musk, oakmoss, raspberry and cedar. However, I must say that, on my skin, the base notes are not very prominent as I abhor any musky, raspberry, cedar-like scents. However Calyx was mixed, it has created the perfect balance of sexy with sublime without being cloying. (This scent is not for those looking for Oriental-woody-amber notes. It's so very delicate and light.) If you're wanting a fragrance that puts you in the mood for summer, warmth, action, and sensuality, I would highly recommend trying Calyx. For me, it's an experience I have yet to duplicate in any other perfumes I have tried.

I acquired a vintage "Shimmering Mist" and cannot wait to try it! I'll update later once I test. Update: as expected, very 90s! Pungent grapefruit opening, VERY bitter. I dislike cantaloupe in perfume & unfortunately it overtakes any other fruit notes for me, here. The oakmoss is nice. I wonder if I'd like the Clinique. I'll test that first before buying & report back. P.S. the shimmer in this is truly awesome, looks great on skin and swirls around magically inside the bottle. Another update: I like this more after giving it a few more tries. The musk and oakmoss are more prominent and the fruitiness is more rounded--it smells less intensely of melon. Final thoughts: this has grown on me completely and now I love it. I barely smell melon, maybe I was imagining it before? It's a perfect summer scent, rain or shine. Fruity but grown-up. I'm still planning on buying a Clinique bottle as a backup, and to compare.

This is about the original version, a vintage 18 years old circa: I think that Calix is still so beautiful for the sense of joy and optimism it gives you. Still beautiful because despite the age it's far from being similar to the other frags of its time and - for me -it's forever young (or may be it was me to be younger when I first met him!) Still beautiful for all its contrasting aspects: a fruity frag while it is a flowery one at the same time: spring and summer all together; crisp and sweet but green and warm: fall and winter all together; musky and vibrating as if it had/has a proper life.... Charming sillage and lasting power. A truly right fragrance in every time of the year! A kaleidoscope gem from the hand of a grand lady in the field: Sophia Grojsman. p.s. I don't really want to know how the "modern" Calyx even smell, if it does.....(?!?!?!)

My mom and I first discovered Calyx in the mall in the late 80s when I was 12 or 13, we were both enthralled! As others have talked about it smelled like nothing before it...very green was my overall impression. Being so young I couldn't afford it (didn't even consider that I could buy it) but every time at the mall would have to venture over to the Prescriptives counter and spray some for a momentary escape to being inside a green jungle of ferns and tropical banana plants over me. My mom bought me the budget version, Malibu musk which was all the rage back then too and that too felt so different, fresh alive and juicy. I wish I could smell this again, I have the Clinique version now which although similar is missing something special from the original and has a sharpness that I'm not fond of!

I just love this fragrance. It is so utterly fresh and without any synthetic-smelling notes. I've been clinging to an old bottle with a few drops left in it for years, and finally bought a replacement bottle of the old-version Calyx (from Prescriptives) on eBay. I don't know whether the components in this vintage bottle have morphed somewhat over the years--the fragrance is mostly as I remember it, maybe somewhat less sharp. The sillage is weak-to-moderate after 15 minutes--I really have to get my nose up to my skin to smell it except when something stirs up a waft of it. I faintly remember this being the case years ago too. The new Calyx by Clinique doesn't come close to matching the intoxicating composition of the original.

Calyx is a very complex and well blended perfume. I have worn it for about fifteen years and have gone through about six bottles for the past years. I used to wear it exclusively until I started collecting my large collection about three years ago. I buy all of my perfume online and on Ebay EXCEPT for Calyx. I have learned the hard way not to buy Calyx from anyone but directly from Prescriptives. This perfume turns and changes easily if not kept in the box and in a cool place. It will still smell somewhat like how it should smell but not with it's complexity and depth. A fresh bottle will smell truly exhillerating! You can't even buy a fresh bottle from any major department store. The perfume from them will not be fresh!

I just loooove Calyx! It hits the middle of my strike zone. Mango and papaya are playing on my skin... So, it is tropical fruity. But the oakmoss is creating a silent, mossy backup, therefore it doesn't give such a girly impact. So, let's say it is a perfect fruity-floral fragrance adults can wear. I am adoring Calyx for more than 15 years now. I love the lovely smell, so I also use the others, but I know I will always come back to Calyx, and it'd be my scent again and again. As lilina said, Prescriptives will be closed by the end of January 2010. But Calyx will be transferred to Aramis, one from the same group, and CALYX WILL BE CONTINUED until Aramis decides to stop. In case. So, don't worry, Calyx-lovers!!

I have long been very intrigued by this scent; I would walk by the Prescriptives counter at the mall as a teenager and always had to sniff & spray. Eventually, I bought myself a bottle and have loved it ever since. One of the most interesting smelling perfumes, captivating even. For starters, it's scent is GREEN with a capital "G"—but sparkling, crisp, a touch sharp, like a dry champagne. There's a bamboo, grassy thing going on that's also dry. I think it's sexy (so does my husband), but I've never thought it lasted long enough, which is it's only downside (b/c I want to smell this one constantly). Maybe Clinique has refreshed it nowadays? I have yet to check.

Calyx hits you with a sharp blast of green at first spray--I tested this scent in a perfume shop, and at first I thought I wouldn't like it on the basis of that blast of bergamot and mint. But, like many of Sophia Grojsman's best compositions, this one saves the best for last. After the green, I could smell the soft fruit ripening on my skin... then the flowers in bloom. And after that, the greenish-woody-mossy scent that remained after everything else had gone to seed. The cycle of death and rebirth in a bottle. This is one of the most interesting olfactory journeys I've ever taken, and in my opinion one of the most cleverly constructed perfumes ever made.

This is one of those absolutely gorgeous, feel good fragrances that never fails to elicit a cheerful and happy response from me. First spray is juicy grapefruit and sparkling mandarin orange, then it goes to juicy melon and beautiful nuances of flowers. The end result is a soft musky rose that lingers for hours. I adore Calyx, it's been in my wardrobe for years, and everytime I wear it (which, oddly enough, isn't very often) I feel buoyant and energetic. A beautiful scent that can be worn all year round, but I prefer it in springtime. If you love fruit and florals, you cannot go wrong with this perfume!

In all these years I'd seen Calyx, I never bothered trying it out until someone gave me a sample they didn't want. Boy have I been missing out! From the look of the bottle, you'd have no idea how tropical and fruity it is. I get a ton of passion fruit with a heart of freesia and lily of the valley on a base of musk with just a touch of raspberry. It's quite delectable. I was surprised at how sugary it is--very, very sweet. I love how it's a green perfume with a tropical twist, fruity, fresh, and clean. It's like bathing in a waterfall in paradise. I really want a bottle.

Just picked this up at a discount department store after reading it was a 5-star perfume from Luca Turin, I figured, even if it's bad on me, it will at least be interesting. His aesthetic hasn't failed me on this one (even though I totally disagree with him on Chanel Gardenia...love it). Calyx is an exhilarating scent with the notes so artfully blended. Dances on the high notes without being harsh. It doesn't smell dated at all, just nice. This is a keeper. It kind of reminds me of Aqua Allegoria Herba Fresca, with the mint balancing out the citrus. Try it!

Estee Lauder, which owns Prescriptives, is discontinuing this line of cosmetics in 31 January 2010. I really enjoy Calyx - it was my first "green" perfume purchased around the time it first came out - so i was glad to find out that it will continue to be sold. From their website: "After the closure of our retail counters, the Calyx fragrance, a Prescriptives best-seller, will be sold at the fragrance bar in select fine department stores (beginning February 1, 2010) and it will continue to be available online at www.prescriptives.com"

I was bought this a couple of years ago and fell in love with it instantly, so much so that I never fail to mention the fact to my husband when my current supply has run out. It is becoming more and more difficult to find where I live. I love the zesty tropical fruit burst and think it works best on days when you need a bit of "get up and go". It is not a scent for lazy days, despite it working best, I think, in summer. It reminds me of walking through a tropical garden after a rainstorm.

Calyx made me fell in love with it from my first sniffed. I owned one bottle that I still keep it when it was only very little left as it wasn't available in my country. I love it because it smells unsual. You just know it is Calyx and nothing else. Those sweetness from the apricot and passionfruit, combines with the freshness of mint plus the zesty touch of bergamot and mandarin orange simple made this perfume so refreshing and you just love it.

For whatever reason, I was just thinking about this scent! I had it back in the late 90s, and LOVED it. To me, it literally smelled like if a freshly picked grapefruit had its own body odor, haha! Very fresh and enticing. The only scent that has come close to that 'bite' you get when you first spray it- is Nina Ricci 'Bella NIna' which has a VERY sharp, tart, and lovely opening, like Calyx! Which I highly recommend.

Calyx’ first seconds are intensely fruity, thick, and tasty. On my skin (from my old bottle) this delicious and exotic overabundance is short-lived and is elegantly replaced by the main meal - a wonderfully sunny portion of jasmine, lily of the valley, cyclamen, rose and a delicately fruity accord of mango and peach. The dessert is green a la Givenchy III. An exotic chypre served in the most glorious calyx. *****

This is THE BEST perfume ever made! I've been wearing since 1987. I keep trying other perfumes but nothing ever compares. I have never bought a second bottle of any other perfume. But Calyx... I must have gone through at least 25 bottles. And... men LOVE it! UPDATE: I just discovered Oscar de la Renta's new fragrance, Something Blue, and it is the most lovely perfume I have found since Calyx. I'm just saying...

Fantastic fragrance! This brings back memories from the 90's, together with Elysium and Byblos. All 3, excellent fruity-floral-aquatic fragrances, which are not replicated today in any of the perfumes that I tried. I can't find any of these fragrances in their ORIGINAL formulation. I would really appreciate if anyone could help with indicating sites where I can purchase these.

A refreshing blend of fresh cut grass, luscious fruit and spring time flowers. Calyx is a sunny, green, feel good sort of fragrance, perfect for those days when you want to add a little pep to your step. One spray has impressive lasting power, a little goes a long way. I found .5 for $20 at Ross. I can see why this classic is popular with some of the Hollywood stars.

Finally I get back to my beloved Calyx, but this time from Clinique. I'm happy because her scent, sillage duration and have not changed at all. This was identical to when Prescriptives. Another work of art masterpiece Sophia Grojsman. Just just saw a video where she talks about her creation with love and as I described him and his notes. That perfumed so wonderful!

Meeeeeeeeeeeemories! Discovered Calyx in the mid-90s as a wee babe. My mother wore it and I loved it! Fresh, flirty, spring-time frag. It has a "fizzy" fresh quality. I remember it being very different from the norm (at the time). This scent will always hold a soft spot in my heart.

This is my absolute all time favorite fragrance, and has been since it was first introduced. Fruity green and delicious! My only problem with it is that it does not have much longevity, at least on me. My husband loves it so much that I've caught him spraying a bit on himself!

Dewy green jungle leaves topped with a delicate exotic fruit note. Somehow, Calyx manages not to fall into neither category: it's neither overly green or fruity or floral. Just perfect balance. 1987?? I wish all modern fruity floral fragrances smelled like this one.

One of my favorites of all time. Fresh and green, unlike any fragrance I had ever tried. Bought it numerous times and every time I wore it, a man would approach me to ask which scent that was. Every single time

saw it on my cousin's shelf, 12 years ago, and i sprayed it on my wrist, oh i love the scent, and i know someday i need to have it. i can't forget the scents, smells really good on me back then :-)

Calyx is a unique, exhilarating fragrance! It rejuvenates your spirit and uplifts your mood instantly. Makes you feel young with all its fresh citrus notes. Perfect for summer days! Love it!

Lovely, crisp, refreshingly invigorating. Gives you boost of energy. Makes you feel happy. Great for a spring and summer day. Good longevity.

"Bletted" pears on green gras + mirabelle plums + spath flower (Spathiphyllum). Scent of late summer / early fall. Waxy, green, nostalgic.

Love this clean scent. I wear it in summer. It reminds me of South Beach when I was childless and carefree.

I'm officially OBSESSED with this one! I WANT and NEED it NOW!

I used to walk though Macy's in 91' & the prescriptives counter must have been right next to ultima ll because.....for the last 30 yrs I always thought the purfume I used to test before leaving was ultima ll. However when I got this calyx. It smells way more like green melony grass, which is what I used to think ultima ll smelled like..but I ended up buying ultima ll 9yrs ago overpriced, & it smelled exactly like Fahrenheit by Christian dior which I love but dior one is cheaper so i sold the ultima sheer ll. it wasn't until I went on an online search for melon smells with a green purfume inside that all of a sudden actresses favorite purfumes popped up, so for whatever reason I always though since me & Kelly bundy looked alike that we'd also smell the same & I. The list it showed that some of her favorites included calyx prescriptives on her favorites list & the bottle color looked similar to one i tried on in the 90s so I bought it at goodwill auction however it was from clinique so I have clinique calyx. It came & it smells very muchike the green melon smell although not as honeydew smelling. pretty sure this is the one I was looking for though. Yes, it is missing a more engulfing surrounding wafering smell up under my nose, that honeydew smell that I remembered back in 91'like I used to walk around & I could smell myself all day. This clinique one still smells really good in a less melonball way. It has more of a green, aloe vera, cucumber rind water with wheatgrass smell to it. Very quenching though. The thing that's really freaking me out though is that me & Christina applegate loved the same purfume back when we looked the most alike (married w children days) haha. I just bought the "prescriptives" calyx to compare to clinique but it has expired so it doesn't smell the same the purfume looks brown not green..another similar purfume but way sweeter with more of a cantaloupe smell is tranquil breezes from victoria secret from 95"which i really like i have 3 bottles of that purfume but its good like calyx is just more melony

UPDATE: OK, can anyone else who was over 20 yrs old in the 90's please tell me if the current Calyx is the same as the original formula??? As I said in my earlier post, I wore this ALOT in the 90's and from what I remember (and I'm not THAT old) it had a lovely citrusy character, like candied grapefruit. Gave it a spiciness that was really great. I also remember the "green notes" reminded me of honeydew melon...... SO, just for old times' sake, I broke down and bought a bottle - and much to my surprise, the stuff isn't cheap, despite being a relic from the 90's - HA HA. Some of my more "couture" fragrances are cheaper! I was quite excited when it arrived, expecting to get that nostalgic trip back to my mid-20's. Instead of the fresh, bold, unique scent I remember and loved, this new stuff is WEAK, the complex notes muddled, almost powder-ish. Where are my beloved citrus notes?? Where is my spicy cedar? I can barely detect the melon....the shy mint is definitely there, but that seems to be all. Seems more aquatic than fruity. Actually, now that I re-sniff, it has a choking, dusty quality to it that reminds me of cheap drugstore perfume.... :o( WHAT HAPPENED?? Is my nose having an "off day"??? I see that Aramis is taking over the formulation. My bottle came without a box, so maybe it is a newer version from the Aramis group....PLEASE TELL ME THEY HAVEN'T MESSED UP THE ORIGINAL!! That would be so sad! This juice is a shadow of the scent I used to love. Anyone else with a new "Aramis-formulated" bottle who is familiar with the original 90's Calyx care to comment??

I never wore this in the 80-90s because I remembered smelling it once, dismissing it as "not for me" and forgetting it for a very long time. Until now. I was on the mission to find a fresh fruty scent and spotting it at Nordstrom's, decided to give it a spritz. Unlike other reviewers I only smelled fruit on initial burst. Almost right away it turns very green and lush. After about 30min I started smelling rose and a bit of freesia and lily of the valley with a very small hint of fruit. Drydown is also rather green and mossy, with hints of wood. This is a rather complex fragrance unlike some of the other current fragrances. You would be wrong thinking that this is a typical fruity floral because nothing about Calyx is "typical". One of the reviewers described it as "rainforest". I think this is a very good description because even thought I've never been in rainforest, this is what I would imagine it would smell like-lush greenery and trees with a juicy fruit scattered here and there, and every so often, a beatuful flower. Lasting power was ok, about 2 hours but most perfumes do not last long on me so it may last longer on other people. I don't see it as a skin scent, it definately has siliage and projects very well. Only for a short time that is-after about 1 hour its still there but you need to lean close to someone to smell this. Its seems like others had the same experience. I don't know if this is something I can actually wear-I'm still trying to decide but this is a beautiful and complex fragrance that gives many current ones a run for their money.

I have worn perfume my whole life, usually every single day. I've owned hundreds of fragrances, and my tastes and moods change from time to time, but there are a few fragrances that, for me, changed the world. Two of them are Clinique Aromatics Elixir, and Clinique Happy, so it's particularly fitting that Clinique has reintroduced this masterpiece. Calyx came before Clinique Happy, and it was originally a Presciptives fragrance. I recall vividly when Calyx launched it was so original it smelled strange. A fragrance that smelled like fruit cocktail? Unlike thousands of fruity florals that flooded the market over the years since Calyx burst upon the scene, Calyx has a mysterious, provocative feel; like it's from a secret, tropical place. Overspraying could melt paint off of walls, and this scent could give me migraines. Luckily Clinique seems to have refined the formula a bit. It still smells amazing, and it no longer has an acrid tartness that used to make me head pound. This new Calyx is easier to wear night and day because it's a refined, calmer version of itself. I used to wear it out clubbing in Southern California. Now it works for whenever I feel like smelling like a wild hothouse bouquet. For some reason Calyx is, in my mind, the olfactory rendering of The Cure's The Catterpillar at Great Conservatory, Syon Park.

This scent brings me back to happy sunny summer days some twenty years ago. I am not a great fan of the Clinique perfumes, but I just had to give the reformulated Calyx a try. It has got the same appeal as I remember, fruity and floral with the strange combination of fresh and warm base note. Some say that Calyx always has been a mostly synthetic creation and this could very well be true. But in the reformulation someone has got a bit overly excited around the lily of the valley tub, and at the same time forgot to open the rose bottle. The middle note is simply to heavy on the lily of the valley and to light on the rose compared to the original scent. A misinterpretation of the original formula, and somewhat sad. This could have been perfect. Now it's a very nice, appealing retro scent well worth at try. Calyx is far better than most of the fruity florals of today. PS: I have had to give up on the Calyx 2.0. After using the scent a good couple of weeks I found it just to heavy on the lily of the valley. The bottle has been rehomed to a friend. And strangely, on her it smells far better than on me.

I am writing this review after a very brief test in the department store, 3 squirts to my left wrist..... For all I know, the tester might be old and the top notes might be gone as looking at the pyramid here, I can honestly say I do not detect any of the top notes listed at all. To my nose, this opens as a sharp green floral, somewhat reminiscent of vintage Vent Vert or Boadicea Magnificient or even Caron Narcisse noir. I swear I can smell yellow daffodils, yet they are not listed at all. What I smell is a very green grassy floral for the first hour. Afterwards I smell very faint green/yellow floral, possibly freesia. I do not get fruits at all, hence I think the tester is old. This scent is like spring season in the bottle, grassy, green fresh meadow flowers BUT it is like spring in UK...it springs (pardon the pun) surprise on you, stays couple of hours and then it's gone. Blink and you have missed it. I will try and edit the review after I retested but this seems to be quite hard to find and I really do not want to buy a FB of an expensive scent that only lasts couple of hours on me.

I wore the original Calyx around 1990, during the days when I single-handedly obstructed the olfactory abilities of anyone within a 2 miles radius of me. I'm pretty sure Calyx extended the radius to 5 miles. It was the first "fruity" scent I'd ever encountered, and that alone intrigued me enough to buy a large bottle of it, with a body wash. Then my co-workers all told me I smelled like a "fruit salad", which seemed like such a delightful, great idea, at the time. That being said, I don't know why marketers even bothered to name this "Calyx". In my case it only serves more to emphasize how weak and character-less perfumes have become. IFF regulations have become a nuisance, and their latest incarnations have diminished even further what used to be one of my greatest joys: perfume. Someone needs to start a Prohibition style black market for Perfume. When the populace gets reacquainted with the beauty of scent life will become richer and bolder for all.

How is it that I get a big blast of grapefruit as Calyx opens, when there is none listed in the 22-note pyramid? Olfactory sleight of hand, I guess. Calyx really is a magical fragrance and it doesn't surprise me that so many reviews compare it to the scent of a particular place. To me, Calyx is reminiscent of Key West, Florida; a tiny island where tropical vegetation flourishes in the warm dampness and fruit ripens and decays all around. At night, the scent of jasmine comes out in all its glory along with the feral cats that roam the island. Even in the midst of all the lush natural beauty and the crowds of happy tourists, there is an undercurrent of foreboding that comes of being in a place that lies in the path of tropical storms and hurricanes. In Calyx, Sophia Grojsman has created a fragrance that captures that same mixture of joyful sunshine and menacing darkness.

I couldn't have said it better, Sassy1: "If you're going to entice me with a bold and brilliant scent, keep it coming!!" The first spray is fresh, green, fruity, and strong (not a stab-to-the-brain-OUCH strong, but oh-this-has-character-yay strong). I use one spray on my wrists, and one on my neck, and am delightfully aware of this perfume wafting about me as I move. But! As it dries down, the perfume also dies down. It still smells wonderful - mm raspberry and cedar - but sillage is down to a minimum. Unless someone is going to come up and nuzzle my neck, I doubt anyone's going to smell Calyx on me. What a shame. I could have fallen, and fallen hard, for Calyx, but as it is now, "I will just have to be happy that at least I can smell this beauty even if no-one else can." Maybe I should try layering it with the body lotion or carry a purse spray with me.

I'm not sure what I expected from this--it's hard for me to guess with so many notes involved, and the name implies lily, so I guess I thought dry florals. This (new Clinique version) is anything but! At the start I get green notes and subtle fruit, and as it warms to my skin the fruit gets juicier. And juicier. It's mostly melon and passion fruit on my skin, but both are downright edible. As it settles down there is a big burst of lily from this, and the base is decidedly green and almost masculine. The fruit continues to stick around until the scent dies away hours later. Possibly the most unique fruity perfume I've tried! I don't think I'd wear it enough to get it--it's just not "me," but this is well-blended and for fruit lovers it's definitely worth a try.

Calyx was a fragrance I tested expecting to like and unfortunately, like most of my ex-boyfriends, it ended up competing against an idealized version of itself. I knew Calyx was a fruity green, and I like green. In fact, I like the vegetal smell in Calyx, that chlorophyll smell of crushed leaves mixed with aloe and overripe fruit. It's unique. But Calyx has the problem of being in that category of fragrance I smell and love but never buy. It smells great on paper, and on skin, it still smells great. In fact, it smells exactly the same. There is zero interaction between skin and perfume. It's like wearing a fragranced glaze; hard, shiny, glass-like, skin unbreathing. I prefer, when I wear a perfume, smell as if my body is still part of the chorus.

I was given Calyx two years ago for Christmas by my mother in law. I was very apprehensive. I think if you are going to give a perfume it should be something that you know the person likes. I thanked her but didn't try it on. I used the excuse that I was already wearing a perfume and I didn't want to mix them. Later after bathing I decided to give Calyx a try and I hated it at first. It was strong and really citrusy. That is not like anything I normally wear but as it dryed down a miracle happened. I really started to like it. Every morning I liked it a little more. After I used it all I ended up buying another. I really like Calyx for morning and gloomy winter days. It brings a little bit of summer back into my day.

Found this sitting in a stash of minis at a local store that seems to have all sorts of vintage perfumes. I picked it up because of its peculiar packaging only to realise that it was a pre-Clinique Calyx. Today's heat and humidity are oppressively high (I live on the equator). I thought this might be the right time to try it on while the sun is hanging at high noon - instant refresher. It's only been one spritz in my inner elbow but every time I turn my head or stop in my tracks, I smell it. Incredible fruit salad and sun lotion - that's what it's making me think of. I can imagine that it gets quite cloying if oversprayed but all in all a very intriguing fruity floral. I'm now inspired to go for a swim.

I can remember to get a sample of Calyx maybe 5 years ago and I found it too sharp on the citrus side. But the new reformulation, which added to the sharp citrus note in the opening this irresistibly beautifully fruity agave note, is a win for the perfume. It smells like a landmark in the territory of fruity perfumes, strong agave you do not find nowhere. The dry down is more close to the citrus again and after 4 hours it reminds me on Yvresse YLS, but more citrusy, not fruity. It is a perfect daily fragrance. I could imagine to have an affair with this scent, but it ́s not going to be a love, as I admire agave here, not citrus.

Incredibly nostalgic for me. I remember when it was Prescriptives, before Clinique took it over, in the early 90s. I used to go to the Hamptons with a boyfriend who I was deeply in love with, and the house owner left Calyx in the bathroom. I didn't realize it was women's because the bottle was so unisex. We'd both wear it, and for me its the smell of carefree summers, first love, youth and possibilities. He unfortunately died young; at the funeral, the person who owned the house was there, and when we hugged, I could smell she was wearing Calyx. Fragrance is a powerful thing. Now, It represents both joy and heartbreak.

This is unlike any other fruity fragrance I have smelled. I originally got it because we were both born in 1987 and I thought we would be long-lost sisters. First impression: bitter. A few seconds later I get fresh passionfruit, crushed fruit seeds (like when you crush an apple seed - it has a specific smell and taste!) blended with other notes that I cannot pinpoint. This is definitely soapy, but never sweet. Overall it is very addictive and I will wear it on casual days, but it doesn't represent me the way I wanted it to. Nevertheless, it will have a space on my shelf and we will toast on our birthday every year.