Private Collection Tuberose Gardenia (2007)
by Estée Lauder

When I first tried this scent, I was immediately taken by the deliciousness of the scent in total - I did not know tuberose and gardenia would become the two notes that I love completely .
I left this scent for a while, trying out more gardenias and tuberose fragrances.
I have come full circle back to this perfume .
I can completely appreciate this perfume for it's fresh simplicity - like a classic shift dress . The perfume is a paradox of light,fresh,tinkly gardenias and the deep indolic nature of white florals. Although this is 'light' in character, it is a long lasting perfume.
I think I have found my number one gardenia scent.
This will be a modern classic .
Creamy white south sea pearls are the gem equivalent to this beautiful fragrance !

What an unusual scent! The name had me expecting a conventional aldehydic/indolic white flower, but what comes out of the bottle is something else altogether, and I can see why opinions are so deeply divided.

There are indolic white flowers here, but they ride in on a bold and novel accord of pepper and overripe cheese that reads like an exaggerated take on the pungent (and yes, cheesy,) undertone that distinguishes gardenia from other white flowers. You’re liable to find it either mesmerizing or whiplash-inducing, depending upon your temperament. The pungency is slow to fade, but as it does the tuberose becomes more conspicuous, to the point where it eventually dominates the composition. At the same time, Tuberose Gardenia grows more simple and transparent, eventually revealing the spicy - woody base that has all along provided a firm backbone for the composition.

Three or four hours on and Tuberose Gardenia has evolved into a spicy/woody composition, generously topped with tuberose. The scent remains remarkably potent, even after the indole and aldehydes have retreated, and the generous sillage hangs around for hours. I don’t know that this will ever be a crowd-pleaser, but at its price it probably was not intended to. Distinctive and surprising, and I rather like it!

This is an amazing fragrance. I am now a convert. I love how the gardenia impression is extended and then fades into the tuberose so that you don't know where one leaves off and the other begins. But what really got me was last night when I was in our office upstairs and I kept smelling something delicious that I thought was wafting through the open window, but no, it was me hours after I'd applied PCTG, and it had morphed into something even more gorgeous than it had started out. A very nice surprise, and I now want a bottle, particularly the one with the stones on it because it's so pretty. Another one to save my pennies for. :-/

Thus far, I've found virtually no EL fragrances agree with me...except this one!! It is wonderful, a little tropical and exotic. I would wear it on a summer vacation to some warm, sunny island. It simply makes me happy to be wearing it. Longevity and sillage on me are both incredible. However, definitely not for everyday for me. I'll get a decent decant before our summer trip to Kaui, though!!!

Tuberose Gardenia is a scent that I adored from the moment I tried a spritz on my wrist. Then I immediately hated it. I couldn't stop smelling my wrist or make up my mind how I felt about it all night. I knew I either loved or hated it. Terrible! But wait. . .why was it so maddeningly familiar? Mesmerizing. Tuberose Gardenia haunted my thoughts for days. I dreamt of lush tropical places with dark exotic flowers. Sultry tuberose changed to heady gardenia and back. My husband bought it for Valentine’s Day and I just bought another fragrance from EL's Private Collection today: Amber Ylang Ylang. Both Private Collection perfumes are simple, elegant, natural and familiar. I will continue to wear them both as long as they are made.

The top notes come racing out the door and have a very strong floral blast in the opening. I love neroli and the neroli and lilac [sorry I got just a teensy bit of rosewood] pack quite a punch!

Not a very 'green' scent, if that's what you were expecting (unlike the super green original Private Collection by Lauder). Just bright, airy and with the volume turned up high.

The middle notes are my favorite - my nose started to be able to tell the difference between the tuberose and the gardenia at this point. Maybe a little lemon (or some other citrus) shows up at this point and the gardenia becomes slightly 'creamy'.

Dry down was a little linear, but that slight vanillia-ish bourbon note was nice, if a little spice-less. Not a hint of powder anywhere.

Sillage is embarassingly strong. Longevity is above average and perhaps the parfum will ramp up the longevity even more.

I know someone out there is asking themselves - is PCTG a Unisex scent? I think it is. I approached PCTG warily. Carnal Flower by Frederic Malle and it's coconuty spicy tuberose was 'thick' on me. I felt like Carnal Flower was wearing me. So I asked a few people (non-fragrance people) if they thought the PCTG smelled too 'feminine' on me (including my husband) and everyone of them said no. A friend said it smelled really 'clean' to him, like I'd bathed in an expensive soap, which confused me. But I took that as a compliment. :)

I decided to stop trying to second guess everyones reaction to it and JUST WEAR IT again and again (office, first thing in the morning, to bed). In the heat - it surprised me. It didn't really blossom like I expected it to. Very surprising. Maybe Ms. Lauder (Erin, Estee's granddaughter who is marketing the PCTG herself) doesn't want a scent that is to be worn outdoors?

The scent smells like it has been very well thought out. It's serious. I think it smells like real absolutes of the flowers. Perhaps its not, but these floral notes seem crafted and complex. Classy too.

Which, happily, is what I expected.