Private Collection Tuberose Gardenia (2007)
by Estée Lauder

The man and I work in the nuts and bolts side of the entertainment industry. Sometimes we get invited to events on the glamorous side. One of the better ones was held on a balmy summer evening at an old Beverly Hills hotel. There was flattering candlelight, and music from a piano player in the bar. And almost to a person, the women were wearing Private Collection Tuberose Gardenia. This fragrance does sum up for me the glamorous side of Hollywood - its beauty is hyper-real and not natural at close inspection, though still kind of bewitching even when you see the work. When Mandy Aftel released Cepes and Tuberose, she explained that natural tuberose extract has an odd fungal-smelling facet, and that's why she paired it with the cepes (mushroom) note. Somebody seems to have noticed this about tuberose at Lauder, too, for Tuberose Gardenia has a funky (to me, moldy cheese) current running through it that gives it a more rounded impressionistic effect. I'm sure this note is supposed to stay subliminal, though sometimes, up close, the funkiness is all I can smell of this fragrance and it freaks me out! Even so, I do think it's a really well-done scent, the longevity and sillage are stellar, and I have to like it because it now reminds me of the town I inhabit but kind of don't, too.

3rd January, 2012.

This is so lovely. Very beautiful creamy gardenia and tuberose just as the name says. First sniff and I'm transported to my childhood thinking "this how all those ladies used to smell". Quite vintage in my mind. Not at all synthetic. Good sillage. I hate fragrances that I can't find an hour later, I mean really. . . But PCTG really delivers the goods. On me it is quite linear and beautiful all the way. A tiny hit of menthol at the get go then just beautiful creamy flower petals. Has no green, leaves or stems like Carnal Flower which I also love. Also too CF is very sweet, PCTG never treads that territory instead it is creamy, lush and refined. Drydown is equally beautiful and this lasts until the next day on skin. I feel compelled to note to all those horrified at the price that the bottle with the jewels on the cap is EXTRAIT and a full ounce at that. Chanel's Gardenia extrait is $175 for 5 mls. So all in all, not a bad price. The EdP is $85 for 1 oz and $145 for 2.5 ozs. Yes, it is not cheap, but by some niche standards it is very fairly priced. I have not yet tried the extrait. Pleeeeeeez EL, don't fiddle with the formula!

21st December, 2011.

Smells very much like the real gardenias that I have in my pots in the varanda, it's very beautiful and fresh, and lasts all day. Perfect for summer. I never wear it in the winter.

6th November, 2011.

The gardenia at the opening of this perfume smells remarkably like the real deal. In the topnotes, the gardenia and the tuberose circle each other at a short distance, but each remains distinct. The topnotes, though, have one of the shortest half-lives ever found in perfumery. Very soon, a blended white floral with a large tannic note becomes dominant. The white floral is smartly non-specific. It remains unidentifiable, but gives a rounded, creamy quality that harkens back to the gardenia of the topnotes. I can’t quite make out whether the tannic quality and the creamy aspect of the floral balance or oppose each other, but I suspect that this duality is what holds together the almost ghostly frame of the gardenia illusion that lasts into the drydown.

What started as an olfactorealistic gardenia note in the opening becomes an abstract distillation of a few of the elements that were apparently used to compose the gardenia note. There is a creaminess that suggest texture and the feel of umami that suggest a taste. We witness that taking apart of the gardenia that we’re given at the outset. The gardenia doesn’t fall apart, it is stripped before our eyes (noses.) The perfume transitions from a rather forceful prettiness to a tight-lipped handsomeness. An amazing exercise, and a compelling scent.

5th November, 2011.

See my blog post "Too Special for Words" for my thoughts on this beautiful perfume. l had too much to say about it to fit into a review! Suffice it to say here that if you love gardenia, this is absolutely a must-try!

8th July, 2011.

One of the rare few floral perfumes I have ever owned. This smells like a live gardenia flower--heady, sweet, and head-turning. Not much should be worn at a time, but it can be reapplied repeatedly without building up into an offensive level. Most florals don't last long on me, and this one doesn't either. Yet, it avoids the harsh notes that manage to ruin synthetic gardenia fragrances for me. It is realistic and deep but clear, without a lot of creaminess that says "perfume of a flower" instead of "a flower." Amazing headspace technology. Estee Lauder got it right. No wonder this juice is flying off the shelves in some department stores. I bought a bottle to wear at my daugher's wedding this summer, and it's perfect--clean enough for the hot, August, outdoor photo shoot and classy enough for the cool, indoor reception. Nothing says "wedding" like white florals. This one invited me over from the dark side of Chypre bases where I usually dwell. And that's saying a lot.

2nd June, 2011.