Gardénia Passion (1989)
by Annick Goutal

I was reading Luca Turin and Tania Sanchez's opinions regarding Gardenia Passion before I went into reviewing this fragrance. They mentioned that Annick Goutal was not fond of gardenias, hence the reason as to why this fragrance is more tuberose than anything else.

I'll sum up Gardenia Passion as being a rather loud, yet beautiful white floral. I remember the moment when I first tried this fragrance some years ago. I was so very repulsed by it all. I found it much too strong, and in some ways bitter. I also felt the same way about Fracas then.

Currently I'm an avid lover of white florals, especially when they've been constructed well and come minus the synthetic components. Gardenia Passion smells natural and real to me. Almost perfection in a way. While Fracas is too buttery for my tastes, Gardenia Passion is like traipsing through a florist's shop and inhaling various floral aromas.

Gardenia Passion is rich and powdery once settled. Believe it or not, this fragrance smells absolutely divine on smokers. Despite the belief that white florals smell like 'old ladies', Gardenia Passion does not fuel this idea and instead comes across as being very seductive and elegant on the skin.

I absolutely love Passion by Annick Goutal, and in some ways Gardenia Passion is a more floral and less earthy and/or incensey version.

Despite its tendency to be rather strong, Gardenia Passion is never cloying. It has that real classic appeal, something that screams sophistication and femininity. I might also add that the lasting strength is impressive, especially for that of an EDT.

22nd October, 2011.

l agree with others here that this has a strange, sharp topnote, like neroli mixed with green leaves. ln the heart there's a musty, garden-mulch-like note, with tuberose & a faint whisper of gardenia underneath. ln the base l detect something earthy, perhaps vetiver?
This is not really a gardenia scent, to my nose it's all about the tuberose & lots of earthiness. lt's unusual & quite clever, but not something l want to smell of. Try before you buy if you're looking for gardenias; you may be disappointed with this.

8th February, 2011.

amazing! I don't detect any celery just buttery yummy gardenia.

24th August, 2010.

I came back to this after several months to see whether my appreciation of it had evolved. Unfortunately I still think this is fairly terrible: a strong, vegetable stock-cube aroma, with gardenia room-freshener in the background. Such an oddity! I can imagine that the celery-vegetable note is intended to give a realistic leafy, living plant-type effect, but the celery note is a mixture of green with a saltiness of almost cumin-like intensity, and cumin smells like sweat. In short, the balance between "sweet" and "savoury" feels really off-kilter to me. Not a fragrance I'd be comfortable to wear in company!

19th August, 2010.

I get tuberose and jasmine, and I'm not sure what else. Not a hint of gardenia, though. None at all, to my nose. And if you know what a true live gardenia blossom smells like I don't think you will smell it here either. I get the "celery" whiff, too, but it's not overbearing. I get more of the rubberiness of the tuberose than celery. This is a pretty, feminine, tuberose-dominant, white floral and green fragrance. I keep my little bottle around for sentimental reasons...I was wearing it when I first met my husband and he liked it on me. In the ensuing years, so many tuberose and gardenia fragrances have were released that this one fades into the background. But I still love it. :)

5th July, 2010.

This should be called "celery passion"... it's celery plus few smashed tuberoses and a bunch of angry gardenias.

Major dissapointment.

24th April, 2010. (Last Edited: 26th January, 2011.)