Zara Gardenia 2017

MY SIGNATURE SCENT >>> BLACK OPIUM I never was into fragrance and Zara Gardenia was my safe place for the last 4/5 years. I bought bottle after bottle and never got bored, never disliked it if not with 40° in summer. This has been my signature scent and that's what I can say about it. 1. It's strong and you don't need to overspray; 2. On clothes it lasts for days; 3. Even if it's not in the 2017 version I still smell rum; 4. Everyone asks me if I'm wearing Black Opium; 5. On me BO doesn't last for more than 10 mins, this lasts for 5-6 hours; 6. On me it's sweet, amazingly sweet. WHAT I SMELL: In opening I smell bergamot, lemon, coffee and rum, a bit of Gardenia. But this is not a Gardenia smell. This is a gourmand smell for me. With time Bergamot, Lemon go away and leave space to coffee, rum and vanilla. I don't smell the floral honestly. After a one hour I smell the patchouli too. WHEN DO I WEAR IT: Every season except summer. Day time just a few spray. Night time a few more sprays. WHERE DO I WEAR IT: Everywhere. Even in the office. WOULD I BUY IT AGAIN: Yes. Even if I'm testing better brands now I don't know if I can not buy this. For its price it's incredible! DO I GET COMPLIMENTS: Always. People ask me if I'm wearing YSL BO.

I currently own this perfume and i love it dearly. For a relatively affordable price, the quality of this perfume is really good IMO. To me, i mostly get the combination of white floral and vanilla scents. This perfume is feminine, sweet, creamy and a little bit powdery. But it's definitely not "girly girl" scent. However, i don't get the coffee note like many have mentioned, though. The longevity on my skin is pretty moderate—although, it depends on when i'm wearing it. The scent tends to stay longer in a cooler climate and i'd say it'd stay on my skin for good 6 hours at most i that condition. On a warmer climate, 4 to 5 hours. The sillage is moderate. It's safe enough to be worn on the daily basis. I also noticed a lot of people comparing this perfume to YSL Black Opium, but since i never got to sniff that one, i can't really say much. However, i once meeting up with some friends and one of them actually said that i must've had been wearing YSL Black Opium that night when in fact i wasn't, so work it out for yourself. I also would like to mention how i'd gotten quite a few compliments while wearing this perfume.

I love this scent on my wife. It's not a Gardenia Bomb meaning that does not behave like a beastie fragrance. Its sillage and longevity are a bit above average and it projects quite heavily during the first hour. It opens very fresh with berries and mandarin as the main notes. The heart is tottaly dominated by white flowers (mainly gardenia of course, but a bit of jasmin and other sweet white flowers - orange blossom?). The dry down is really gourmand and pleasant with dominant vanilla and cashmere wood. Although it has a vibe of Black Opium, I really think that this fragrance is preety close from Dior Addict Eau de Parfum, although I do not consider it a clone. Considering the price (my wife paid €17.50 for 200 ml EDP) you can respray freely and make it last a lot longer. It also helps if you spray clothes or hair. Bearing in mind all that matters most in a perfume (scent, performance, cost and compliments), I would rate this EDP as a very clear 9.0/10.0. I hope other men will have the chance to scent it on their loved ones as well. It's really a magnificent EDP.

The notes listed here are different from those listed on the Zara site. The Gardenia at the time of this review (May 2019) is a very good dupe for Black Opium. The Zara site says,"Eastern-inspired eau de parfum. Fragrance pyramid includes notes of orange blossom, coffee and vanilla. A feminine, intense and modern fragrance." I'm delighted with it. I've seen some reviews that mention they don't smell the coffee note. I definitely do, and that's one of the things I love about it.

Love at first sniffff!! I didn't have the time to read all your comments in the shop, I only read the notes, and, I'm so glad I decided to grab this little gem. My little 30ml edp fits perfect in my tiny hand, and it smells perfect, just as you described it, it is a nice dupe for Opium (I havn't got it myself, but it / they smells so very good), my little "Gardenia" will make me very happy, very very happy !!!

This is an amazing alternative to the expensive YSL Black Opium. I smell the raspberries, jasmine and vanila. Once you have this on you, no one would really know that what you are wearing is not the real thing, but a dupe (Zara). The beauty of this frangrance comes out in a cold weather such as during fall and winter. Such a great frangrance for an affordable price.

Bought this in a 30 ml bottle and wished I got the larger one. I would call this a floriental. The notes is dominated by the coffee, vanilla and white florals that anchors it from being too sweet. I mostly wear this at night but you can also get away with it in the day as it is not sickenly sweet. Smells a bit like JPG Scandal imo.

It smells similar to black opium, however gardenia has a slightly bitter coffee note as compared to black opium's coffee note that is sweet to me. Longevity is okay as long as you spray it onto your clothes and it can last up to 6 hours. Overall I would say i prefer gardenia to black opium

Bought this in place of a Black Opium bottle, they smell so similar! And I didn't want to splurge that day, don't really remember why. Can't say much about Black Opium's dry down, but Zara Gardenia's floral opening really got it down to a tee! Dry down is gourmand, very nice

i got this along with orchid (a set) for a good price! out of the two, gardenia has to be my favorite. i definitely smell a sweet vanilla, flowers, wood and musk. for a $20 set ($10 each basically), i'm surprised with how high quality gardenia smells. very long lasting!!

Bought it today based on the reviews here. I love it. So warm but also fresh, I fell would be appropriate even in summer daytime. I sense coffe note, it's also listed now on Zara website. Remembers me the ,sadly discontinued, Cacharel Amor Amor Forbidden Kiss

Love ittt OMG such a beautiful fragnance I'm hoping that it's not a collection item cuz I'm definetely keep buyüng it!!! Lovely bottle. In my opinion it doesnt smells like black opium i dont like black opium but i love this one! It kinda reminds me of it...

Bought this today, can confirm it is nearly identical to black opium. great dupe! lovely smelling on winter evenings having a drink at the bar. This one really projects on me and lasts a moderate amount of time. If you like BO you will like this 100%.

Yes it's very similar to Black Opium not exactly the same, it's more light and lasts way less than the original of course.. but for that price you can't say anything... Plus you can always reapply throughout the day.. Love it 😍

Sweet floral creamy candy. A Zara favorite. Smells more like hundred silent ways than black opium, since it lacks the coffee note. I’d pick this over black opium.

I'm in love, this is perfect.. Wish the longevity was a bit better but anyway this scent is a heaven for me! Orange blossom + vanilla + coffee.. gorgeous 😊

I have both Black Opium and Gardenia, they smell almost the same, OMG!

I don’t have Black Opium but my sister in law does. Everytime she wears it I have been noticed as the sillage very strong, could smell it from other room ( we used to live in same house) I could say Zara Gardenia smells very similar to Black Opium. I was happy to find out Gardenia as how much I love B.O ( but I couldn’t afford it). In winter Gardenia stays on my skin about 5-6hrs and more than 10hrs on my clothes. I was surprised that I used it on a hot day and it lasted about 4hrs ( most of Zara fragrances last less than 3hrs on my skin in summer) I still can smell it around without sniffing my skin. Just forgot about the notes. It smells similar to Black Opium but if you own or have smelled B.O before you may realise that it misses the coffee note. Gardenia is a brighter version of B.O

This could easily have been a flanker of Black Opium. I feel it's somewhere in between Floral Shock and Nuit Blanche, it's like a softer, more floral version of black opium. I love and have Black Opium, and was excited for a more floral version for spring but unfortunately Floral Shock was a little disappointing on my skin. So I happily bought this one instead! There is certainly gardenia in there, but also coffee although not listed. I also detect some spiciness, perhaps it's the cashmere wood, I am not sure. The sillage is moderate and it lasts long on my skin, longer than any other Zara fragrance I've tried. I wish they had smaller bottles though, because although it's a steal I'll never finish a 100 ml bottle!

Although is not listed on the notes, I smell coffee with a strong vanilla and a sutil floral background and It doesn't evolve that much, it's pretty linear. For me, is sweet and kinda deep, but not strong. It doesn't last that long (around 3 hours on my skin and 4 to 5 on clothes). Its sillage is moderate for the first 1 and a half hours, and then I can only smell it if a put my nose against the places i sprayed it on. I use it during transition and cold weather for any not formal ocassions. I like to layer it with a woody fragrance in the colder days. Is not one of my favourites (I think is a little synthetic) but I like it and for the price I think is a good one..