I've been enjoying a lovely sample given to me by a sweet person. I do love this scent even though it is not really a gardenia per se. You do have to stretch the imagination a little ....
Who cares- it 's a pretty green floral as only Chanel could come up with - green green ,sweetish - like green buds of flowers. I will take this scent for what it is - a light green floral ,elegant and ethereal . Fresh,enchanting .
Could just be the next signature scent............

May 2011- this is a continued review for the parfum extrait.
Concisely, this smells exactly like the Les Exclusifs version EDT but just stronger in concentration. For those in love with those top notes, you'll be glad to know they linger much longer and therefore the parfum version is extra pleasing. It retains that freshly picked flower bud delicacy to perfection, in the way only Chanel can do so. Fresh ,a little spicy - just lovely stuff.
Am I the only one who is lemming those 900 ml extrait bottles ?

This review is for the edt version.
This is a light, crisp and elegant floral. I smell jasmine more that gardenia. It is very unlike Monyette or Kai which have a tropical feel. This one is ideal for a professional environment. Staying power is poor, tho. Nice but not special enough to purchase a full bottle.

I LOVE Gardenia but Chanel just didn't come through with this one. This perfume smells amazing but is undetectable after about 20 minutes. This perfume dissipates so quickly, so I feel that it's a total waste of money. So disappointing :(

My favourite perfume of all time. Why didn't I buy more at the time. I am upset that Chanel will not be making it, such a shame.

Very "retro" floral. The opening reminded me of oleander, which I detest. Then the sharp oleander note abruptly disappeared, leaving a buttery white floral. I did detect a note which reminded me of Poison, but I don't know if I'd have noticed it if I hadn't been looking for it.

A gardenia without the sickly sweet tropical mothball notes! It's almost candy-crisp on me, sweet without any sugar at all. Just lovely, clean and beautiful. Points off for not lasting, though. It just vanishes so darn quick.

This is one of the very few gardenias I can wear. Very green upon first spray, it soon warms up and settles into a subtle, sweet and elegant scent on my skin. I love it!

Oh, wow. I'm so in love with this. I usually hate florals, but this is so different. Yes, it's definitely floral, but it's still fresh, sweet, and clean. This doesn't scream funeral parlor like so many other florals I've tried. I honestly couldn't see how anyone wouldn't like this. This is my first Chanel fragrance. I've always stayed away from them because I've always thought they were stinky. lol I would have given this a 5, but it literally lasts an hour, if that. But I don't care. This is still great, in my opinion!

Beautiful white floral for those of you who are into those. Great for summer, my favorite Chanel fragrance.

Dear Reader - I have to be honest. Upon testing Chanel Gardenia, I thought it was very gardenia-like so I was more than surprised to read online after the fact that it doesn't have any gardenia in it, but rather it is meant to be "reminscent of gardenia". So much for my sniffing abilities then!


Another confession I have to make is that I wore Jungle Gardenia back in the days of yore (I was 13!) and I have always like the sunny, unabashedly voluptuous smell of gardenia. Chanel Gardenia is a light, ethereal take on gardenia and is absolutely stunning. It is elegant, very pretty and the drydown is fine for an edt (lasts about 2 hours or so on me). It is not as complex as JAR's blue cheese/gardenia kooky masterpice "Jardenia" but then again, I think the folks at Chanel's aim was to create a light, wearable sophisticated "gardenia" scent that paid tribute to Coco Chanel's signature flower and produce a commercial hit. In both cases, they have hit the proverbial bullseye!


Here are the notes per The Perfumed Court: top notes of absolutes of jasmine, orange blossom, and tuberose, heart notes of clove, sage, pimiento, and base notes of musk, patchouli, sandalwood, and vetiver.