Private Collection Tuberose Gardenia (2007)
by Estée Lauder

As much as I tried, I simply cannot like this fragrance; therefore, I must respectfully disagree with all the glowing reviews PCTG garners. I've tried it numerous times, and each try is like wearing something radioactive with a ginormous half life. I even decanted some into a roller ball bottle so I could avoid spraying. No success there, either. Long story short---I hate it. I wish I didn't, but I do. I turn to Fracas when I want a good tuberose.

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!

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 !

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.