Gardénia (1925)
by Chanel

The bubbling sweet champagne base reminded me of Carons'. This scent shows us how a gardenia scent can be made young cheery clean and aquatic. It is cute more than being elegant and the scent would suit to a liquid soap more than a Chanel gardenia perfume. Not a bad work but disappointed me.

I can't believe Luca Turin only rated it 1 star out of 5! So pristine, it has a transparent, water-colour like quality to it, light-hearted, child-like, classy and sooo beautiful all at once. Love it!

I have to be honest. Upon testing Chanel Gardenia, I thought it was very gardenia-like so I was more than surprised to read online after the fact that it doesn't have any gardenia in it, but rather it is meant to be "reminscent of gardenia". So much for my sniffing abilities then! Another confession I have to make is that I wore Jungle Gardenia back in the days of yore (ok- I was 13!) and I have always like the sunny, unabashedly voluptuous smell of gardenia.

Chanel Gardenia is a light, ethereal take on gardenia and is absolutely stunning. It is elegant, very pretty and the drydown is fine for an edt (lasts about 2 hours or so on me). It is not as complex as JAR's blue cheese/gardenia kooky masterpiece "Jardenia" but then again, I think the folks at Chanel's aim was to create a light, wearable sophisticated "gardenia" scent that paid tribute to Coco Chanel's signature flower and produce a commercial hit. In both cases, they have hit succeeded.

Here are the notes, per The Perfumed Court: top notes of absolutes of jasmine, gardenia, orange blossom, and tuberose, middle notes of clove, sage, pimiento, and base notes of musk, patchouli, sandalwood, and vetiver.

This IMHO is the ultimate 'white frgarnce'. I am amazed that the only listed notes are gardenia and vanilla. I don't get any of the vanilla thankfully, as for me vanilla is best left to use in custard!! What I do get is a shower of delicate floral, and feel as if I am walking in a beautiful English garden in spring. It is a pretty squeeky clean smell, and not at all sexy. Ideal for carefree days out in the countryside holding hands, sipping champagne and nibbling strawberries.

this is great. and it's true, it doesn't smell like GARDENIA. Classy.

Chanel Gardenia is exquisite. To me it doesn't smell like a gardenia at all. It smells like green tea, dry vanilla, and jasmine blossoms. My husband loves this one, and so do I. It makes me feel like I'm in a warm Savannah garden.