Description
Van Cleef & Arpels is launching a luxurious line which includes 6 fragrances in September 2009, created in cooperation with various perfumers. Their flacons are identical, massive and made of glass, decorated with simple black tops, while their compositions are very special and of high quality because of expensive raw materials used in creation of the fragrances.
Collection Extraordinaire includes:
Gardenia Petale, nose: Nathalie Feisthauer,
Orchidee Vanille, nose: Randa Hammami,
Lys Carmin, nose: Nathalie Cetto,
Muguet Blanc, nose: Antoine Maisondieu,
Bois d’Iris, nose: Emilie Coppermann,
Cologne Noire, nose: Mark Buxton.
The fragrances will be available in amount of 75 ml (1.5 oz) EDP, for about 130 Euro. They will be sold in boutiques of Van Cleef & Arpels and in selective stores. Inspired by Haute Couture fashion line, Haute Couture perfume collection is made as a very luxurious and authentic one.
Boobbymib – :
رایحه لطیف، شفاف و بسیار با کیفیت گاردنیا
———–
Scent & Qualiy: 9/10
Longevity: 7/10
Sillage: 7/10
Creativity & Uniqueness: 7/10
Affordability: 5/10
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Overall: 7/10
PixelPlus – :
After Tuberose Gardenia and Gardenia Petale I’m starting to understand gardenia better. White florals, especially jasmine and tuberose, are among my favorite and highly appreciated perfume categories. One day I realised that I don’t have anything gardenia.
And knowing after research that gardenia’s odor is reconstructed by using other florals mixed with other ingredients, I’m not strict with perfumers not getting it exactly; a creation that is close to gardenia is enough for me.
Gardenia Petale is a very beautiful white floral. A very appropriate option for spring and summer, more for summer even. It easily works as a bridal perfume.
The only issue with Gardenia Petale is the lasting power. It does last for two-three hours with constant projection, but after the third hour the projection is minimal and you get occasional whiffs of the scent. It’s there and not there. On the other hand it’s a pure floral, it’s bound not to last well.
Onto the actual scent now: basically think of Tuberose Gardenia without the tuberose. Easily a soliflore gardenia. Very feminine and sensual, green, freshly picked gardenias with their green stems. It is a clear gardenia, at least I don’t perceive anything too indolic; I wouldn’t have a problem with some more skank, but it’s not here, don’t worry. It’s just enough animalic.
A bit tropical and dewy. There is also a mentholic overlay if you just pay enough attention which only adds to the whole scent. Nothing acid, nothing screechy, very wearable by all ages. It could be my idea but Gardenia Petale works in a lovely sensual way on skin, it melds nicely, becoming your skin but better, a skin-like developing facet if you will.
May I add finally that I do smell the lily of the valley too. Although it could be the green notes that are playing tricks to the nose. Lily of the valley is green too and broadly used in the re-creation of gardenia.
drealoplayday – :
This is one of the more delicate gardenias I’ve sampled. It has the waft of a waxed and buttery gardenia which creates a soft sillage rather than the heady wallop to the nose that many others tend to have. Mixed with jasmine and the crisp lily of the valley, this gardenia is more wistful, so pretty, so romantic, almost ethereal which doesn’t come as a huge surprise when I see its creator also brewed the wonderfully ethereal Elysium.
Feisthauer has somehow managed to create a gardenia which is not suffocating yet still undeniably gardenia. She has brought out the best of this divine flower for humans to wear and enjoy. Have I found my gardenia at last? I think so! Lovely stuff.
ideomyQuittee – :
I’m a guy, and I realy like gardenia smell in nature.
I don’t care for very feminine florals.
Is this something I could wear, could this be gender neutral ?
From the reviews it sounds like something I could wear, slightly fresh or aquous…
I found a tester for under $70, so I blind bought it.
It will be nice to have one pure floral in my collection.
Gardenia and lilly of the valley are my favorite florals.
Will update with a review, when it arrives…
OK, got my bottle, and very satisfied.
It is not very feminine. It is very floral obviously, but it is a very natural, waxy gardenia, with some jasmine. I can’t really pick out the Tuberose or lilly of the valley.
It is a bit green and fresh, aquous, which keeps it gender neutral for a gardenia fragrance.
It’s not very sweet, but feels a bit more sweet and coconutty, tropical, when you get to the mid.
I feel uncomfortable wearing a lot of unisex, floral fragrances, even Amouage Lyric Man, the rose felt too feminine, and I sold my bottle.
But I feel fine with Gardenia Petale, it’s just like walking into a greenhouse full of Gardenias, and some other white florals.
The quality is great, and performance very good.
Rating: 9/10
God bless. John 3:16
3,75293E+11 – :
This is so beautiful! In the same way California Reverie was my perfect jasmine, this could be my perfect gardenia. But it doesn’t last! In fact, like California Reverie, it is a skin scent from the beginning and it’s gone in a few hours never really making a strong statement.
I also tried Muguet, Iris and Lys from the same line and they were equally soft in terms of presence, Cologne Noir and Orchidee Vanille a bit better.
A beautiful, natural composition that needs to be concentrated and reissued.
Evo VIII – :
I’ve been searching for a gardenia perfume (I love the flowers) and have hated all of them. Until this one. I adore this one, it smells very realistic to me with a hint of cleanness. I can’t smell it after maybe 5 hours but the other day I thought it was gone and one of the girls at my kids daycare said “you smell good, like really good” so it must stick around.
SklyarRoman – :
Most buttery gardenia I’ve met and I’ve tried at least 20.
TrisTan – :
Gardenia Petal – lovely but faint frag, fresh but not close to real flower scent. Needs to be applied generously and lasts on me max. 2-3 hours
zotkmooeos – :
A soft gentle gardenia aura. Its enveloping haze of cashmere..nothing jarring or out of place..just a soft lulliby of jasmine and gardenia to lull someone into dreamland. Highly recommend. Id spray this on my pillow before bed.
faqerstein – :
Gardenia Petale, evocative of a gardenia soliflore — natural, buttery, soft and velvety without ever being too heady.
The supporting notes are balanced in clever composition that accents the gardenia with warm light, cool greenery and sweet, rich floral nectar, giving this flower animation that never falls heavily.
Irrefutably luxurious yet unpretentious, Gardenia Petale’s charming allure could effortlesly go from a bride’s blushing decolletage, to an outdoor music festival under the stars, to a languid Sunday spent naked on white Pretasi sheets.
DraxAddehyday – :
I’m not a floral girl anymore as I used to be once but I still have a nose and a heart so I still appreciate anything lovely-smelling and van cleef gardenia petale is definitely one of them
There are such a beautiful van cleefs out there,like orchid vanille,amber and rose that I was very glad to see a free sample of this one among a bunch of others with my perfume order(thank you a million times shaghayegh perfume)
Gardenia petale is all about gardenia as it’s name suggests.I’ve tried lots of other nice gardenia fragrances(I’m looking at you hermes jeur gardenia)and found them nice but better for a white floral lover.this one is also better for a white floral lover but something in it makes me think that it’s also good for me.
Oh well,I’m a conservative woman with couple of dated idea 😉 one of them being:all ladies need to have a good white floral perfume and a good rose perfume.
Actually I have a lot more than one white floral,Amouage honour being best of them,but I still don’t have THE white floral.something that makes me feel like a princess in white with a white flower ring around my head.only ones that give me this feeling are by Kilian good girl gone bad,Bond no 9 central west park and this adorable beauty of van cleef.I have to wait and see what destiny chooses for me since I can’t have all three but van cleef gardenia petale seems to be the most affordable and easy to access one(at least where I live)
Let’s stop being talkative and say what makes me love this one.it doesn’t have heavyness or sharpness of some gardenia scents.it’s not also too mature.actually it as gardenia’s original quality.like white creamy smoothness and being bright and feminine in a sophisticated,sensual and voluptuous way but it’s also simple,easy to wear and easy to like.I get a modern vibe from it which I like.still it may bore you because it’s honestly more than 80% gardenia and the rest is jasmine and other white florals.I can’t detect citruses or much of a green note(except gardenia’s natural fresh,green undertone)
Can’t say about projection and staying power but I hope it doesn’t dissapoint because it’s two other competitors are pretty strong
❤❤❤❤
juozobr – :
This is such a beautiful true gardenia as if you are smelling inside the flower. I can get a bit of jasmine underneath. Nothing screechy, synthetic or annoying here as you can get in a lot of white flower fragrances. It also plays well. A beautiful warm a bit creamy gardenia flower.
UPD: last wear I managed to get several hours longevity of this one.The sillage is soft but it is there
gerasim – :
I always liked gardenia in perfumes. I suspected I smelled this flower in real life before, but was never sure where and when, not even mention how the real flowers looked like. This maintained so until I smelled Gardenia Petale. The moment the scent hit my nose it all came back:
I was 12. My parents would bring me and my little brother to a park by a local high school during the weekends. Those were days when the most to worry about was getting noticed by the boy I liked and not being annoyed by my little bro. There was this exclusive shrub underneath the banyan and poinciana trees just at the corner of the school building and from it bloomed these white flowers with soft, delicate and slightly wrinkled petals with the most exquisite smell. They smelled green and very heady, a little bit waxy yet very watery at the same time. It also got this “skank”, a very hard to describe plant smell that only belongs to the tropics and mostly come from the white saps from cutting tropical plants. If you would sniff your fingers covered in the sap as it oxidizes in air and turns dark and sticky, you get the skank. It’s a lively beautiful smell. That was a gardenia bush. And Gardenia Petale smells exactly the same as those flowers.
Now grown up, far away from families and hometown Gardenia Petale becomes my nostalgia scent. Every spray brings back memory and happy times. On this cold winter night it projects and lasts nicely to envelope me. I feel at home again.
P.s. a quick comparison: Kai is a little bit greener than this one and doesn’t have the true “skank” of gardenia, and Aerin’s Gardenia Ratton is saltier and infused with frangipani to smell more like a high-end beach scent. All are gorgeous but I choose the VC&A version for memory sake. Honestly there was no other way.
random – :
I’m so glad I didn’t splash out £126 on a bottle of this. And I owe a great deal of thanks to smellslikedimond for saving me an expensive mistake.
It just goes to show that one woman’s olfactory heaven is another’s bad dream. Not that it was a bad dream.
I was so excited to receive it I couldn’t wait to try it.
I spritzed my wrists. Nothing.
I spritzed my inner elbow and gently behind the ears. Nothing.
I liberally doused myself in decolletege, behind the knees, in the air and walking through. Absolutely nothing.
So I went downstairs to speak to my official ‘nose’ (my husband)
What can you smell,I asked.
He sniffed the air cautiously. (I have been known to almost knock him out with some casual over-spraying before now.)
Umm, slight white flowers (said questioningly and with a somewhat bemused look on his face.)
He was OK about it being barely sniffable and sheer. It was only when I told him how much it cost and that I had been planning on buying a whole bottle he visibly turned white and sat down quite heavily on the chair.
Even spraying it on a blotter it didn’t reveal any more of it’s charms. As for it’s being similar to Illuminum White Petals. I’m wearing that one now and if I had got the same gorgeous fragrance from VCA I would have happily spent the money on it.
roman_golopapa – :
Enchantingly smoky white floral on me, like a cross between Alien and Estee Lauder’s Tuberose Gardenia-
lord52 – :
Total disappointment for me. After all these good reviews i’d read i though that it would be the best gardenia perfume i was dreaming of. But not!On my skin smells like a plastic gardenia.
Gusarwyfjc – :
They have finally done it! A true gardenia note, absolutely photorealistic, without error.
This is beautiful, elegant, long lasting (24 hours +) and initially has terrific sillage. It is exactly the scent of the gardenia, and I have compared Gardeia Petale to a fresh bloom from my gardenia tree. I do find that GP becomes a skin scent after about 3 hours.
VC&A even got that slightly animalistic note correct. This is stunning, and a must try for anyone who loves the scent of gardenia flowers.
I’ve tried many scents that claimed to have a gardenia note, this is the only one that fulfills the claim Just lovely!
EDIT: Combining GP with Michael Storer’s Stephanie produces a powerhouse of a scent! Both sillage and longevity are amped up, with heavy sillage for better than 24 hours. Stephanie provides a wonderful base, and GP provides the gardenia! Perfect!
goshik.nn – :
I love this fragrance! It is my favourite right now- when you sniff the bottle it smells exactly like it would if you held a gardenia flower right up to your nose. Has that sweet, creamy addictive quality that the true Gardenia has- this is the most convincing mimic I have ever encountered- when I get it I think this will be my signature. Unfortunately it is so difficult to get a hold of in New Zealand except for at Smith & Caugheys or a small distributor store located only in Auckland called PriceWise. Tried it recently and the scent still remains in the sleeve of the faux leather jacket I wore that day. There’s something so feminine and vintage about Gardenia- makes me think of a young beautiful woman in the fifties wearing one of them white poofy prom style dresses.
chikon – :
Beautiful jasmine and gardenia combo. Soft, delicate, very comforting, ladylike. Sheer flowers. Great for all seasons, but it would truly bloom in warmer season.
barbosh – :
It’s like a cool gardenia desert – creamy and light, absolutely beautiful gardenia scent, green and a little sweet. I do not get any synthetics here; it smells fairly natural to me, a nice break from those sharp artificial “gardenias” in the department store range. The closest perfume I can think of is Estee Lauder Tuberose Gardenia.
serom – :
First off, I love gardenia! My grandmother raised the most beautiful bushes, laden with the smooth, heady scent that I will never forget from my childhood.
I have and love many gardenia fragrances and I also love the house of Van Cleef & Arpels, so it was with much excitement and anticipation that preceded my first spritzing of this particular scent.
Sadly, I was disappointed. The main notes to my nose are the accompanying white flowers and the “greeness” of this fragrance. I don’t get the rich, deep creamy opulence of a true gardenia flower. This scent smells to me too artificially sweet, chemical and cloying. I am so sad, because I really wanted to love this one so much,
Sillage is soft to moderate
Longevity is 4+ hours
2/10
andrei980 – :
One of the most gorgeous perfumes I’ve smelled, but with little longevity and sillage. You’d have to be a fan of white florals, particularly gardenia, to like this one. Very little complexity, which I didn’t mind, but others might. Simple and fresh.
Xeroxhhzvl – :
i love gardenia and own many gardenia perfumes, i was quite disappointed of this one. the scent lacked depth and had very weak longevity and sillage, not worth its price AT ALL. good thing i got mine in a swap, didn’t pay for it myself.
ismael – :
This is a particularly well done sweet yet fresh
white floral, more natural smelling than say Lauder Tuberose White Gardenia which it closely resembles. Whatever tuberose jasmine aromachems are used do not tip over into the screechy category. I am a complete who,ha with white florals , being instantly transported to misspent hot summer nights in tropical climes by the intoxicating scent of wafting summer blooms on a warm breeze. This fume masterfully straddles the innocent daytime good clean girl and the roaming wanton night creature. I bought this at a discount just today, unsniffed, and totally recommend it, a gorgeous fume.
antonyszandor – :
I accidentally dumped an entire sample vial of this on my arm and I can still barely smell it. What I do smell is lovely, but can’t imagine paying $185 for something I can only smell if I put my arm directly under my nose. That said, this is a beautiful, creamy gardenia fragrance.
bza603Bessinepome – :
I saved GARDENIA PETALE for last in my journey through the Van Cleef & Arpels Collection Extraordinaire, in part because gardenia perfumes vary so much, from sharp, shrill and aggressive to smooth, buttery, and creamy. It’s not that I thought that this particular rendition would fall into the former category, but I guess that I’m never really sure what to expect from gardenia perfumes. I found, for example, Chanel’s to be a bit hard to take.
Another reason why gardenia is never something I rush to try is simply that it has been done so many times, and already by so many so well: MARC JACOBS and KAI being two of my favorites. So how is this recent contender in the congested category of gardenia soliflores?
GARDENIA PETALE does manage to offer a new take on the gardenia, it seems to me. I find this composition to be neither sharp, shrill, and aggressive, nor smooth, buttery, and creamy! Instead, GARDENIA PETALE seems very light and aqueous to me, like gardenia petals floating gently in a sparkling pool of water out in the wilderness somewhere. It’s a very nice presentation of gardenia, and I also detect quite a bit of greenish lily of the valley here, as though some tiny bells and leaves were sprinkled among the floating gardenia petals.
Well done, Van Cleef & Arpels!
dead6282 – :
Fantastically beautiful gardenia on my skin. Creamy, sensuous, delicate, and clean. Warmly intimate, casual, cozy, informal. Like relaxing in a luxurious, private, tropical garden on a warm afternoon. The butterflies and bees hovering around a mass of freshly-blooming white flowers wafting their rich scent lazily through the breeze. Quite enchanting this one. On me, this is richer and yet cooler than Elizabeth Taylor’s Gardenia, cleaner than Annick Goutal’s Gardenia Passion, smoother and more rounded than Marc Jacobs Gardenia, less heady than Kai. Just gorgeous. Clean, but not soapy all the way through drydown. Exquisitely refined. For all of the gardenia lovers out there…..enjoy!
titspincplani – :
And so my search for the perfect gardenia scent is finally over. Here it is, in my hand, this tiny little decant full of blissful gardenia. It smells just like the plant I have in my pot, creamy, heady and intoxicating, pure exotic lush. If only it had a better price tag!
v.yrir – :
Van Cleef & Arpels Gardenia Petale is not unlike another well-known gardenia fragrance, Kai. Both of these fragrances do well in re-creating the scent of a freshly picked bouquet of gardenias.
Gardenia Petale’s simplicity is admirable. Perfumer Nathalie Feisthauer, has done much to preserve this flower’s natural charm. This fragrance is creamy, smooth and ‘white’; the scent of a blushing bride on her wedding day. Perhaps even angels might smell of Gardenia Petale.
White florals hold a very special place in my heart, as well as in my collection. I may not wear them very often, but I’m always relentless in my search for the perfect white floral. Gardenia Petale certainly comes close.
Nothing says “I am woman”, better than a big, white gardenia perfume. I find that men are often enchanted by its feminine nature. Gardenia Petale has a gentle, pretty and smooth feel when worn on the skin. I especially enjoy wearing it during Spring, when my perfume matches my natural surroundings.
The composition is a tad linear on my skin, with the drydown being the only noticeable change in regards to the scent’s development. Green and fresh gardenia petals dominate this fragrance from start to finish. A hint of white musk in the base is the only note willing enough to soften the strong gardenia accord.
Despite the simple composition, Gardenia Petale does have excellent lasting strength. I was most amazed to find this fragrance still lingering on my skin the morning after my first wearing. With such a high, and indeed shocking price tag, I don’t think it totally unreasonable. You are paying for quality and an exquisite fragrance. I highly recommend.
fembil – :
A very linear but fresh gardenia scent. Nothing but gardenia, and not too much of that moth-ball indole, but so simple it’s almost boring. Has it’s place as a soliflore scent though. Probably best for tea parties, personal mood enhancement and bed time.
beast – :
I’ve just got it from the internet and I fell in love. There is no notes but only white summer night flowers I can notice. I smell honeysuckle mainly and when I’D been searching for a flowery scent the first flower that’d been coming into my mind was honeysuckle flower. I found my perfume at last. I can wear it all four seasons but summer nights will be more soothing and warm with this. This is an old fashioned one which is worn by noble ladies that we read in old books but there is no harm in being an old fashioned.
urfin3 – :
Very nice quality gardenia, but in my opinion it lacks that va va voom for me. I love white flowers very much, but this one seems to left me indifferent.
It has medium sillage that starts to fade after few hours. At the beginning it’s a little bit messy and slightly old fashioned, but once it settles I can smell jasmine and gardenia, but jasmine is more intense from time to time.
It’s great, natural smelling, but still, I wouldn’t be buying it myself as it lacks something that would appeal to me.
cud699speagoessenda – :
In my opinion, this is the truest Gardenia around. I cannot help closing my eyes when smelling it, because it feels like having the same flower in my hands! It’s incredible how they succeeded to capture its aroma! I found Chanel’s gardenia less sweet, but a bit lemony, having non existent lasting power and sillage. Gardenia petals morph into a pleasant accord of white flowers after a couple of hours, reminiscent of Diptyque s Olene, where although the initial gardenia’s power fades giving way to jasmine tuberose tones, still it manages to keep your interest undiminished! On me it can last about 8 hours, and that compensates for its high price (125 pounds). It is such a beautiful perfume, and gardenia lovers look no further!
MichaelOLааа – :
Maybe it is not the most original and beautiful perfume with dominant gardenia, but it is the one I can’t get enough of. What is so special about it? It is not as sophisticated as Gardenia by Chanel, not as sensual as Black Gardenia by Tom Ford, not as sexy as Cruel Gardenia by Guerlain. But it is charming and cosy and wearable in any weather in any mood… An ideal perfume when one can’t decide what to wear: Gardenia Petale will always be right!
sergo777 – :
This perfume is one of the most gorgeous I have ever smelled. It was so delicious, I could not stop smelling my arm. It’s very elegant and refined, flowery and sensual. If it didn’t have so damn little lasting power compared to what you pay for this, I would definetly buy this.
Braickinc – :
I was so excited to try this fragrance so my husband bought it for me for Mother’s Day. I did not have a chance to smell and sample it before he purchased it in Seattle because they do not sell it in Portland. The gesture was sweet but the fragrance did not meet my expectations (or his). He really wanted to like it because of the price ($185)! The sheer scent starts off with lily of the valley and turns a little mushroomy as jasmine floats in and out of it. That’s about it!! NO gardenia (I KNOW gardenia)! This is a mostly pretty scent, the bottle is generic, and this will be returned! I gave this many opportunities and developed a migraine almost every time.
lampigatol – :
As surprising as this might be…this smells 1:1 like Elizabeth Taylor Gardenia. Just the price tag is different, for this one you pay ALOT, but for ET frag you pay less than 20$. Actually I could even copy-past my review for ET frag, because it is the same – very beautiful, very sweet, but too sweet for me to wear. Gardenias for me are too sweet. I love to feel them on wrist for a while, but can’t imagine to wear them daily as it might be headache inducing.
Oh, and those who do love this scent and wishes to have a bottle, but are frightened about the price – do try the Elizabeth Taylor “Gardenia”. You will find that it’s the same.
Kalachihin – :
This reminds me of the huge gardenia tree we had outside our house when I was a kid. Every summer it would be covered by creamy white blossoms and you couldn’t walk past it without taking a sniff. VC&A Gardenia Petale is that gardenia tree in a bottle. Very realistic, practically a soliflore without the synthetic edge some gardenia scents have.
That being said, while I like this, it is so uncomplicated that I’m sure there exists an equally good, cheaper alternative.
erurlertye – :
Update: I wrote about this one yesterday and now that I’m wearing it for the second day, I can tell that it’s lastingpower and sillage are wonderful! Woke up in a garden of Gardenia this morning and my sweatheart could not keep his hands off me (which must have been caused by the perfume because I can’t think of anything else, with my mascara all over my face asif I was doing my best Gene Simmons-imitation…(-:
Anyhow…after my shower I took another spritz and felt uplifted, fresh and delighted all day. (this starting with the luxurious feeling of taking the bottle out of the box and carefully holding it asif I owned a treasure..)
Learned that it’s a perfume you should use with care though…Use only one or two careful sprays to do right to the beauty and delicacy of this scent!
fantom2007 – :
Sprayed it on a paper today and went absolutely “Ooh!!!!” ( a loud ‘Ooh!’, people around me turned their heads(-: )
After testing it on my wrist, I bought it within seconds and without hesitation.
Picture a Hamilton photograph: A girl with her curly hair tied up, a few curls around her face, flowery dress and a basket with fresh picked flowers in one hand while holding her bike in the other…
Picture that and you’ll get the feel of this scent…
It’s flowery alright but I do get chypre too and even a hint of Neroli.
To me it is the cooler version of 24 Faubourg from Hermes. Smells just as expensive and gives me a luxurious, yet comfortable feeling…
A little soapy too, but in the way few very expensive soaps can make you wish there’d be a perfume created that smells just like it.
Well in fact someone did…Van Cleef & Arpels did…
About the price…Yep..130 Euro’s is a lot..but considering the 75 ml you get for it, the beautyful box that carries the elegant bottle…the leaflet, telling you about the fragrance…
It is worth the sin..(-:
vim – :
I’m not sure about this one. It smells nice gardenia, but “nice” it’s not enough for a highly expensive Van Cleef & Arpels. This is another scents among the last ones I tried that smells like a fraction taken apart from big apparently messy Givenchy Amarige.
It’s long lasting and not bad smelling, nor cheap in itself, but it smells cheap close to its name and price.