Very pretty white floral, predominantly gardenia but not totally. Dewey, feminine; not sultry and no overtones of indoles, mushrooms, cheese, etc. The Perfumed Court lists notes of jasmine, gardenia, orange blossom, and tuberose, heart notes of clove, sage, pimiento, and base notes of musk, patchouli, sandalwood, and vetiver. I really don't get anything except white floral.

LOVE IT!

It's Grasse Jasmine. The EDT is like some pathetic crap they pipe into department stores so they smell vaguely perfumey. But if you can get your hands on a vintage bottle of parfum extrait that hasn't turned, you'll smell the real thing.

Ahhhhh Gardenia. With the exception of Jersey, I have now smelled all the Exclusifs and cannot live without two, Cuir de Russie and now Gardenia. Many have said that this does not smell like gardenia, I cannot comment never having smelled a real one. What it does smell like is an elegant, retro, refined Tuberose with delicate fruity undertones. I adore this. I actually find the lasting power quite good when sprayed on clothes at about 5 hours, but I often respritz sooner for the luscious green fruity nirvana that is Gardenia. I need a new car right now, but I may instead take out a loan for the 900 ml extrait . . . it's just that good. This review was for the EdT. Must try extrait next. Thank you Chanel for showing so much respect for your legacy and your devoted customers. Are you listening Caron?!

Gardenia is one of those perfumes that makes you want to draw a longer a deeper breath... beautiful! It reminds me of YSL's spring edition of Paris, but with seemingly higher quality ingredients. Its more expensive than general brands (retails at AED610 in Dubai, about $166 for 50ml), but remains cheaper than brands such as Tom Ford.

Also, it's usually just sold in Chanel's boutique, which makes it all the more special.

Enjoy!

Whoever said they weren't making this anymore is wrong. You can order it online today. I'm so glad. On me, this is a very light, classy scent. I'm through with searching for HG fragrances since I had them all along - Fracas and CSP Vanille-Abricot. Those three and I'm set.

Very pretty, fresh and transparent floral, not over the top or heavy at all. It reminds me a little of Il Profumo Gardenia Royal, but the Chanel is fresher, greener and less sweet (I know it has no actual gardenia in it). Gardenia Royal is a stunning perfume but I feel I would need to be well dressed to wear it. The Chanel is more casual. However, in an hour or so it disappeared entirely from my skin (I splashed it on). Beautiful, but so disappointing – ultimately pointless. ***UPDATE*** I put this up to 3 lippies because it does smell gorgeous. The poor staying power is so annoying.... Grrrrr.

I received this fragrance as a gift from a good friend, and I love it. It works very well with my chemistry. It sits close to the skin and is inoffensive, which is very important to me because of my job. Most inoffensive fragrances are generic, but not Gardenia. It has just the right amount of complexity. The tuberose is strong when first applied, but after about 10 minutes it fades, and the drydown is soft and lovely. This lasts almost all day on me. When I run out, I will definitely buy a bottle for myself. Definitely recommended.

Gardenia by Chanel is a misnomer: at best, she smells like a generic blend of jasmine-y white flowers;

Gardenia by Chanel is no brainy type: she giggles, and squeaks, and jumps incoherently from one subject (note) to the next;

Gardenia by Chanel is puzzling: she talks with a sugary lollipop stuck into her mouth, and you can’t get what she is saying. You just get struck by that toothachingly sweet breath of hers;

Gardenia by Chanel is no old money: she doesn’t know the price of things, and has way too much cash to waste…

Chanel Gardenia is a slight and sweet white floral composed of jasmine, tuberose, muguet, and orange blossom with tentative base accents of musk and vetiver. It's as fragile as spun sugar and it seems almost a parody of a gardenia rather than a recreation of that impossible note.



So wispy is Gardenia that it might be called dream-like, and like a dream, it is gone upon waking. In the world of fragrance, "waking" is that point of cognition where neither you nor anyone else can smell your fragrance.This is what happens when evolution occurs quickly and ebbs into mild white musk . Gardenia feels like a depiction of headspace technology, with both jasmine and orange blossom sanitized to the point that associated indolic or soapy notes would be vulgar and are thus engineered out.



Gardenia the note is given a brief opening green remark and then is silenced as if it were a difficult and fussy thing. After it quickly subsides, you are presented with jasmine, the pale ice green of muguet, and then orange blossom, each in turn. The opening is sweet and girlish, making you wish it would head in the direction of a false femininity by way of an antithetical base. The base to my nose is mostly vetiver and musk, but they are handled as gently as the top has been. After half an hour, you're left with a mild orange blossom scent with a demure earthy-musky base. Within that base is a strange clay note that I find appealing and which is probably some tangential effect of the vetiver. The lasting power is terrible and the sillage is non-existent, but that complaint might be applied to all of Les Exclusifs with the exception of Cuir de Russie.



The weak presentation just about demands the purchase of the behemoth 200-ml bottle. It needs to be reapplied every couple of hours in the manner of a cologne, but the need for reapplication occurs just when the secretive base begins to mature the scent beyond the girlish opening. It's short on substance, politely, but a is lovely summer scent nonetheless. I might seek out a 100-ml "decant" and use it up between now and August. continued >>