Reviews of Velvet Gardenia (2007)
by Tom Ford

The moment I lifted up the lid of Velvet Gardenia to unveil its fragrance, I was swept into an unfamiliar territory, resting somewhere between dusk and twilight. A perfume simultaneously soft and diffusive like the performance of a soft-focused old-Hollywood starlet. The subtle and demure expressions are delivered by features that were intensified with false lashes and blood-red lipstick.

Velvet Gardenia will strike a nostalgic chord for anyone familiar with this heady flower; yet not in the least the conventionally pretty gardenia soliflore favoured by the Southern Belle. This gardenia was grown by candle light, deeming it somewhat waxy and distinctively darker and spicier than any other gardenia-themed perfume. Its dusky complexity stems from combining wine-like top notes, the spiciness of ginger lily and the underlining honeyed sweetness of labdanum. There is absolutely nothing tropical about it; it would be useless on the beach but perfect through a blizzard paired with a fur coat.

Notes for this fragrance are listed as: ripened black gardenia and orange, in a heart of jasmine, rose and muguet. Tuberose blending with dark plum, honey and beeswax finishing with incense and labdanum.

At first I got a strident gardenia which, as one other reviewer says, reminded me of SL Tuberose Criminelle. It is unpleasant to me but mellows on the first 20 - 30 minutes. After that the incense and honey take over. The dry down on me is sweet, spicy, smoky and pleasant, but not much floral.

I'm loving this one! No cheese or plastic here either, just a beautifully warm narcotic note with a hint of earthyness that became more prominent as the drydown progressed. Very indolic, that's for sure, but never overpowering. Seven hours into application, and it's still going strong.

This is a cheesy, fungal, rancid horror-show of a white floral. Easily one of the worst things I've ever smelled.

The top notes feature the titular gardenia - which, to be fair, is nice and accurate - married to a note that smells for all the world like blue cheese. As the fragrance develops, the blue cheese note gains in intensity and becomes more fungal, like rotting mushrooms smeared with rancid butter.

The sillage and longevity are excellent and clearly inspired by theological notions of an eternity in Hell.

Abandon hope all ye who spritz here.

As most of you are probably well aware, the word "Gardenia" in a fragrance title is mostly meaningless as it generally means that it will smell nothing like gardenia, and a lot like a half-arsed mix of jasmine and tuberose (and in Goutal's hideous confection, celery, bizzarely). VG is an exception. It opens with a delicious Gardenia with that all important damp earthy mushroom note which give fresh gardenias their characteristic odour. The gardenia persists well into the middle notes and into the drydown as it begins to take on a darker, more animalic, more sinister turn. Men should not shy away from this as it could hardly be called feminine. If Tim Burton did gardenia, this would be it.

Wow, this is a very different gardenia! The opening is camphorous, like the topnote with that same effect in Tuberose Criminelle by Serge Lutens. Heavy on the indoles, Velvet Gardenia is not a sweet or green girly flower, it is definitely wearable by a man. One could acquire a taste for the close wearing raw floral component in this juice, as it is a unique representation of gardenia. As it warms on the skin, the slightest tinge of sweetness appears, but I would never think of classifying it as 'sweet'. Also, it is creamy. Maybe that's where the velvet part comes into play. The drydown brings another Lutens association: Sarrisins. I don't get any cheesy note whatsoever, nor any plastic. But then again, I am a fan of indolic white florals! My advice is to give this one a fair shake, I love it for it's bold & different portrayal of the gardenia flower.

What others have already said: a waxy, tropical white floral with sharp, plasticky, blue cheese-like overtones.