Fleurs De Gardenia by Creed, 2006

Time for a real review instead of a retailer mishap diatribe ;)

Fleurs De Gardenia (FdG). A UNISEX gardenia fragrance. Quite interesting, considering that I have never seen or tried a gardenia-dominated unisex fragrance. My curiosity piqued, I set out to discover how Creed intended to accomplish this .. and whether they succeeded at it or not.

FdG opens with a light almost watery floral note encircled by a citrus essence. Shortly, jasmine makes an appearance, and enrichens this opening accord. The jasmine is never indolic or heavy. Despite the presence of two floral notes (peony and jasmine), this initial accord clearly smells unisex due to the presence of a very well blended orange note. Mission (half) accomplished, I was eager to observe how the gardenia dominated middle notes would phase. With gardenia essences collected from every corner of earth, this was a gardenia big bang waiting to explode on my skin. Will Creed succeed in tempering a estrogen injection that a hefty infusion of gardenias usually bring about? Well, yes they will actually. The gardenia heart is surprisingly well behaved - instead of a rich floral bouquet, what I get is a controlled display of understated gardenia essences. It smells great without being loud or heady. The drydown is a deep and very pleasing musky, slightly salty accord with a light gardenia note wafting in and out. While the sillage is cut in half when the gardenia heart is exhausted, the drydown lasts a long time and stays close to skin - I could smell it 7 hours after application.

Creed has succeeded in creating a unisex Gardenia scent. At every level of its construction, the composition is perfectly balanced by notes which prevent it from being overly floral. The profound salty-floral (!) drydown is addictive and longevity is high. Fleurs de Gardenia proves flowers aren't just for women. I highly recommend this hard-to-find Creed.