Gold (2006)
by Donna Karan

I adore florals and love lily notes in a fragrance. They can sometimes go badly wrong, or be too blended with and eventually drowned out by other florals. As with any perfume, it comes down to wearing it on your skin and seeing what happens.

Gold doesn't impress on the blotter, but on my skin, it becomes the perfect lily fragrance, supported by a darker, softer edge later, but not in any way out of harmony or unpleasant. It becomes sexy, sultry and wearable. It lasts for a long time and small squirts are enough.

Lys Méditerranée by Frederic Malle is a very similar take on the lily, but on me, the lily of the valley takes over in the beginning and the drydown becomes honeyed and too sweet. I enjoy both, but prefer Donna Karan Gold.

Gold is sharper, a little more rigid and not too sweet.

Can't find a thing to fault here, really. Charming up top, sexy down below, great bottle. I love that all the white floweriness sits on this dirty base (is this just my skin, though?). I can see this turning to toilet spray on someone else. I seems to work fabulously on me though, and just before the final drydown phase there's a caramelly something going on that my boyfriend loves - and he seldom has much to say about perfume.

I love the deep earthy tones of many Donna Karan perfumes. however this is truly one of the most awful scents on me. It smells like lillies mixed with camphor. As with all Karan perfumes, sillage lasts forever, and I couldn't scrub this off no matter how hard I tried. My mother (who secretly sniffs moth balls) loved it.

Gold is a beautiful fragrance; very much along the lines of Marc Jacobs, with lily instead of gardenia. It stirs my imagination into thinking its a penthouse-in-Manhattan-then-weekend-in-the-Hamptons kind of scent. I'm wearing Gold right now, and as it develops, I'm smelling less lily, and more of a smooth, somewhat spicy "gold" smell that's warm and sensual. The bright lily notes are great for morning rush, and the spicier, golden tones are perfect for evening...and the morning after. The bottle is gorgeous - truly a perfume-bottle-work-of-art. To me, this fragrance comes across as a well-done, feminine, sultry fragrance. It smells "high quality" and it's very classy. I love that it's a lily-woody-musk, because that's refreshingly unique and so creative. This fragrance is suitable for a work environment, but it makes me envision it in an office with a panoramic view, solid cherry furniture, and Italian leather chairs. The Gold-wearer sits behind a large desk in this office, the view of the city at her back. At dinner-time, the Gold wearer has a table reserved for her in an exclusive restaurant that most people don't know exists. In the evening she goes home to a scented bath that has been drawn for her, and a bed that has been turned down. The mood of this fragrance is that of a highly independent, very successful woman who shows no vulnerability, but can be quite sexy when and if she chooses to. Gold brings to mind Glenn Close's character, Patty Hewes, on the TV drama, Damages, or Linda Fairstein's dynamic DA, Alexandra Cooper. Gold embodies the kind of woman that NEVER loses any game she plays, and when (not if) she wins, she has record-breaking scores.

A lovely, distinctive fragrance that manages to stand out besides its peers, "Gold" remains typically subtle and smooth a'la Donna Karen, while venturing into a place of mythic anthropology. This is a heady floral scent that never becomes precious, yet a flashy metallic scent that warms into creamy comfort on drydown.

Smooth spicy notes trickle throughout "Gold", so to invoke an image of oxidated metal--much like the earthy spiciness of rust contrasted by its polished predecessor; think ancient jewelry or artifacts. However, the dominent sensation here is that of mature honeysuckle and golden jojoba; the unique, oily sweetness of a midsummer's flower and precious vegetal oils and waxes. While lily is a star player in this scent, the lily here is not of the cold, bouquet-of-purity variety--it's a smooth, velvety lily of cream and green and the result is a warm, rounded scent more reminiscent of hidden flowers of the forest than those displayed in funeral homes. There is also a slight hint of freshness and moisture here which reminds me of midnight dew in a moonlit garden, or the coolness of night air on desert sand.

This unusual scent isn't for everyone...and isn't a "pretty-baby" like many fruity-floral competition. However, it's interesting and references adventure, eccentricity and confidence.

My God, I LOVE this perfume! I tried it out in a department store last Christmas and loved it then, and I finally remembered to pick up a few samples just to see if I still loved it as much as I thought I did. After the first spray, I was not disappointed. The lilies help keep the fragrance light, but as it dries, it mellows just a bit into something warmer; perhaps it's the amber/patchouli combination.

I've heard from several different sources that this fragrance has been discontiued. What a shame. If that is the case, this is one fragrance I wouldn't mind seriously stocking up on.