Valentino Gold (2002)
by Valentino

Sweet but not cloying, I quite like this, though not one I'd wear personally. Reminds me of Body Shop's White Musk but has a little more body and character. In addition I find ambergris in the base, thankfully the ambergris is there in only a small dose.

25th October, 2009.

I really did not see what the big deal was about Valentino Gold. It had an overall generic "sweet perfumey" smell that was utterly unremarkable. At the beginnning I think I may have caught a hint of mandarin but after that note quickly evaporated, Gold smelled like an average department store perfume. Even Fendi's Palazzo was more interesting than this! Methinks a certain Italian clothes designer sold his name (and reputation) to a giant beauty licensing firm for big bucks without caring what was produced....

Here are Gold's notes from what I've been able to find on the internet: Mandarin, Key West Lime, Cardamom, Cinnamon, Cranberry, Ginger Water Lily, Sandalwood, Blue Iris, White Musk.

2nd September, 2008.

This is really beautiful. Though by reading the ingredients (mandarin, key lime, cardamom, cinnamon, cranberry, ginger, waterlily, sandalwood, blue iris, white musk) I would never have imagined it to have been such a refined fragrance, and I generally don't like ginger in perfumes but here it's utilized delectably. Valentino gold is a shimmering, sophisticated fragrance which to me recalls a prewar Guerlain aesthetic. Subtantial yet not overpowering - truly gorgeous.

2nd July, 2007.