Description
“Karleidoscope reveals not only the diversity of a muse, it reveals the aura of each individual woman!” announced Karl Lagerfeld.
The fragrance that combines classic elegance with modernity is described as noble, bold, sensual and passionate. It opens with green notes of angelica and soft tones of violet. The heart blends heliotrope, freesia and patchouli notes, laid at the warm base of benzoin and tonka.
The bottle is cylindrical and its shape reminds of a kaleidoscope. The face of the perfume is Italian model Bianca Balti. Karl Lagerfeld Karleidoscope is available from as 30 and 60 ml Eau de Parfum.
Karleidoscope was launched in 2011. The nose behind this fragrance is Christophe Raynaud.
Sergey11 – :
If you’re looking for an antidote to today’s sweet gourmands and sillage bombs, then you’ve found it here. This powdery scent is woven of delicate herbal threads of angelica, decorated with almondy vanilla heliotrope blooms. I close my eyes and think of royal icing decorated with little pastel coloured sugared flowers.
A wonderful vintage powder scent envelops you, like putting on your favourite cashmere jumper. It’s comforting and sophisticated, and I could imagine happily curling up in bed and falling asleep to this scent. In silk pyjamas, of course!
Santila – :
What a pretty thing Karleidoscope is!
Beautiful candied violets with the loveliest powdery drydown. I wish the Angelica opening lasted a little longer though. Powder scents are often awful on me, so very happy I’ve found one that works as it was a big gap in my wardrobe.
Longevity is a bit poor, but, hey, it’s really cheap so repeat sprays aren’t breaking the bank. I guess from the low prices it’s discontinued, so I see back up bottles in my near future.
And I’d never had discovered it if it hadn’t been for the Best in Show feature on Christophe Raynaud, so thanks, Fragrantica!
EVIPULPLUGS – :
Soft, warm and lovely- usually, patch is a real turn-off for me, but it is very nicely done here- I had my doubts about how this would wear on a warm almost summer day, and am very pleasantly surprised!
I’m getting a L’Heure Bleue vibe…
It smells so much nicer on my skin than it did in the decant-
I agree with afterdark, this is mostly about heliotrope and patchouli.
гав_гав – :
I love violet but this thing is all about heliotrope and patchouli and thus not very pleasant to my nose.
SINGULAIRBUYING – :
Some time ago I got a sample Karleidoscope buying other scent and then I liked it very much. I decided to buy and I found it at a really good price. Unfortunately, I’m disappointed because the perfume isn’t for me. It isn’t ugly, but there’s nothing in it that impresses me. This is so boring that even bland. Maybe, because of the sweetish tonka beans and benzoin, violet and angelica, and the lack of something peppery, sharp or juicy.
Still, Karleidoscope is a pleasant, feminine and quite elegant fragrance for mature women.
The smell is quite long lasting over 12 hours on me and the projection isn’t bad. This one is rather for a day.
I’m going to sell it quickly…
regenti – :
Lately I have been obsessed with delicate powdery feminine floral notes mixed with more masculine and/or “dirty” notes. This is a lovely purple floral with musk, patchouli, tonka and benzoin. It smells sooo wonderful right up my alley but yes the silage stinks and from reading reviews the longevity is also nothing to write home about.
Dammit Why?! dunno it’s pretty cheap I still might grab a fb.it really is that lovely. UPDATE: I am seriously addicted to this, it’s such a unique and beautiful combination of notes. I put it on at 6 am it’s 2:11 and just starting to get faint on my skin. So despite the low silage the longevity itself is not all that bad.
ezhevichka – :
It’s a masculine-feminine fragrance. On my skin it’s very woody with violet and angelica. I love it 🙂
When you want to turn from a million of various sweet perfumes to something soothing, this is it.
yva2011 – :
Amaretto + coffee? + violets
nika2006 – :
Its ok but not strong and not as complex or violet as I expected from the reviews.
It opened with a blast of leather and spices, then quickly changed to a sweeter, powdered amber. Longevity and sillage are poor.
sasha2007 – :
Amazing, lots of powdery violet, a strong angelica and a semi sweet resinous background. Fresh, spicy with a great presence smooth and aromatic. Very unisex and great for Spring. Musk and patch are not prominent but enough to add depth and a touch of animalic sensation. I only wish it had a better longevity and projection, but otherwise a great scent.
tuki-tuk – :
I just got Karleidoscope for Christmas and I love it! It’s everything I wanted it to be – powdery, soft (albeit with presence) a hint of sweetness. I have to check out the violet disappearing/reappearing thing properly once I’ve gotten over the cold I have at the moment, but so far I really like Karleidoscope, it is truly beautiful. I have Prada Infusion d’Iris on my want list but I wasn’t quite sure whether it would truly suit me. Now I won’t need it anymore, because Karleidoscope is exactly what I was after. I am turning 52 soon, btw, and I will wear Karleidoscope with abandon (and will definitely not wait until I am 70 or 80 before wearing it). Very feminine and suitable for many occasions! On a side note, the packaging is quite funky with the kaleidoscope but one has to be very careful with taking the bottle out and putting it back since the container opens at the bottom, and if the lid is not replaced properly the bottle can slide out.
UnwiseeGignee – :
Was thinking what it reminds me of. Childhood memories of old houses and ladies wearing perfumes with deep heavy violet. Can’t imagine wearing this at 28, but would buy it to a lady in her late 70/80s.Would not give it to a my mom who’s 60.
oleh132 – :
Very delicate and perfectly safe scent which is non-sweet but woody and powdery but definitely non-cloying. I get the sensation that it’s a perfume that was watered-down by 3 times at least before being put it in the bottle… The notes I can sense are mainly wood, some violet and heliotrope on a smooth tonka basis. If I had to be careful with scents for my work, I would definitely try this one as it’s really barely there!
Aleshkaaaa – :
It’s not the radiant violet i thought it would be.. and not as musky as i pictured it reading all the reviews. I find it boring and not interesting enough.. another blind purchase that didn’t work, oh well…
Lanielravin – :
Another blind buy. Well, it’s not bad if you can stay with it through the bug spray opening. Eventually it settles to a nice powdery violet, but I wouldn’t call it soft – there’s still something that hangs around that has a mild sharpness.
Not a disaster, but not a favourite either.
roverkes – :
I fell for the packaging and the price.. it was on sale online and I just blind bought it with a couple other bargains. It’s very VIOLET. Unfortunatly this gets very powdery on my skin, and doesn’t quitq suit my personality. But it is a lovely scent, and for me (who wears mostly heavy strong oriental scents, even in the day) it could work in spring/summer. Think brunch with the parent inlaws or something a little formel. Light and airy, but not silly sweet/teenage scent. It’s a grown up scent! Definatly a daytime scent in my opinion. On me the longivity was actually really long. But I agree with the sillage being weak. Although I find that it works best with this scent + the situations I would use it for anyway.
lehhel – :
I recently took the time to test some perfumes and this was one of the few that made it on the back of my hand. It is available at a very very good price and I recommend buying it if you see it! The only reason I did not was the fact that I have a similar perfume at the moment and want to finish that bottle first (Dsquared Shewood).
Karleidoscope is one classy lady. It is a soft scent but with sillage and longevity – I read somewhere that violets smell hide and seek with our senses meaning that you cannot smell the scent anymore although its there. This somewhat shows in this perfume, too.
Upon first spray it is quite masculine and fresh and dries down to a powdery scent with notable hints of violet, tonka bean and musk. It’s quite lovely really and can be worn in all seasons. The packaging is also a real treat! Outer as well as the bottle itself. Another great scent from Karl 🙂
duese15 – :
I’m in the Twilight Zone! I’ve never had a Jil Sanders perfume until tonight, when I received Jil in a swap. I tried to place the smell and nailed it when I recalled Karleidescope! It must be the heliotrope because that’s the most notable commonality between the two. Then I looked at what others were reminded of and saw another Jil Sander fragrance! And then, for spooky number two, I read the review from Lotus and Jasmine and at the exact same time I read the word Goofy, the goofy cartoon dog on my daughters Disney Channel appeared and said his own name. It was like the review was read to me, lol!
As for this scent, I already reviewed it once. I don’t wear it often but I do like it a lot. The *almost* masculine vibe makes it interesting. Now I’ll have to more closely compare Jil with Karl and see how that goes. One thing I can deduce is that I like heliotrope!
dima-em – :
This was a blind buy and I am very pleasently suprised. I opens a bit sharp, I thought for a minute , oh no, but then it calmes down and, on my skin, turns in to a deep, powdery violet. Very nice and elegant, when the freesia and patchouli kicks in after some 15 minutes I know its a keeper. Last for a good 6 hours.
UASura – :
I am surprised at how few people have commented on the packaging! Karleidoscope arrives in a narrow tube, with faceted plastic (like a kaleidoscope lens) on one end. A foam silhouette of Karl’s head forms a cushion between the bottle and the lens, so that you can look through the slit (also shaped like Karl, seen sideways) to see Karl’s head surrounded by faceted color, all of which reflects off of the golden interior.
It’s perfume! It’s a toy! It’s really goofy!
The bottle also has a black casing surrounding the inner tubing, providing that stripe effect. All in all, this is quite original, and makes this scent a lot of fun to open.
The next big surprise arrives shortly after I sprayed the scent. Immediately there was a distinct herbal floral note, velvety, a touch sharp, entirely unfamiliar. Five minutes later I could not smell anything on my skin. I was baffled. Karleidoscope went from quite strong to nothing…and after about 20 minutes, faded back in, eventually reaching a nice intensity. This intensity seems to come and go in waves. I was baffled.
I couldn’t figure this out, so I went looking through all the notes. It turns out that humans can only smell violet for about five minutes. After about 5 minutes, the scent molecule turns off our scent receptors, making itself undetectable until enough time has passed for the B-ionone to be perceived as a “new” scent. So, for me, the B-ionone is very forward in the beginning- it is all that I smell. So when my receptors turn off, the scent disappears completely. As the heart opens, violet continues to fade in and out, while the other scents remain steady, creating that wave effect. Neither musk nor the fantasy freesia note appear on my skin (YAY!).
This is one of the most unique scent experiences I’ve ever had! It also turns out that I really like violet, and the reason that I’ve never enjoyed violet scents is because of artificial violet notes. Good to know.
So, the opening is a pure blast of violet, which comes and goes throughout the life of the scent, while the other notes provide a backdrop. The heart opens as nicely pungent angelica, with a resinous edge from the benzoin, and just a touch of heliotrope, combined with subtle dark patchouli. The dry down is soft vanillic tonka, layered with heliotrope. And the violet come and goes, and comes and goes.
K is an amazing scent experience. It’s inexpensive ($12 for a 2 oz on the ‘bay, free shipping), and even if you don’t care for the scent of violet, it is worth experiencing, in my opinion. I do present this with the caveat that you have to have the OR5A1 neural receptor to perceive violet scent. So, before buying, please go sniff a violet. Make sure that you can smell the flower before purchasing! You can usually find viola odorata in flower stores, but you may have ask for it.
And then, enjoy the “hide and seek” experience of true violet. What fun!
And, in my opinion, this is also a really lovely, deceptively simple, elegantly warm, lightly playful scent. And the best part? You never have to worry about your scent overwhelming those around you, so you can apply with abandon! If they can smell violet, the violet will disappear and reappear for your companions as well. It will be noticed when you enter, and again, after you have been in company for a while.
I really love this! I am seriously considering ordering more bottles and making this a spring/summer signature. First, because it’s lovely, and largely ignored, and second, because, as a neuroscience graduate student, Karleidoscope is fascinating!
Longevity appears to be quite good, 6+ hours. Sillage varies, depending upon perception of the violet note, from a skin scent to within arms length. I suspect that K may form a slight scent trail, but I haven’t been able to verify this, due to the hide and seek nature of the violet, and the limited time that I have been wearing it. Highly, highly recommended!
EDIT: In warm weather, the angelica really shines, taking on an almost amaretto-like tone. Seriously, people, you’ve got to try this!
maxon – :
I too got this on the cheap. I didn’t even smell it when it arrived, I just placed it on my perfume tray and figured I’d check it out one day when I wanted something new. Today’s the day and wow! It isn’t what I expected. I hadn’t even read the notes prior to buying so the citrus (I inow its not a note but I sure smell it! Maybe the freesia?) and violet combo was really exciting! On first spray (and by sniff of bottles), it is exactly like L’Artisan l’eau de Artisan! I think I’ll do a spray on each wrist to really analyze the two. It’s bright but it’s warm. Someone else said it well that it opens cool and then warms up. I can easily detect the heliotrope and Violet. The benzoin rounds it out to keep it from being to sweet or airy/fluffy. It is perfect for a spring day and would be great on a hot summer day, is my guess. To me, this is the perfect combination of notes I love but don’t often grab (I usually like more almond or licorice) I’m thoroughly enjoying this new discovery and will certainly be grabbing for it now!
sanya143 – :
Nothing to say really as Henriette has already perfectly said what i would have said. Nicely done Karl. A delightful spring fragrance that cost peanuts and doesnt smell a lot like either of the much sweeter AM Queen or ET Bronze.
francua – :
I’m amazed at how scents in general are regarded: when they are expensive, exclusive, rare, they gain immediate attention and positive comments.
Sometimes the wallet, or the brand, is more trusted than our nose.
I bought Karleidoscope blindly, it was a mere 16 Euros so easily affordable and with few regrets in case of mistake.
I am one who in her entire life has gone for special perfumes, privileging the famous brands (Guerlain first of all, but with an eye to Chanel, Dior, many others and some niche too) and often disregarding in haste the cheap, less famous creations.
And sometimes disappointment came.
Karleidoscope is a very nice scent, with a beautiful bouquet of delicate flowers (heliotrope and violet in primis, two notes that I adore) which develops from an initial cool colour to a very warm hue.
I feel embraced by the flowers as if, shy at first they dare to more tightly hug me after a few initial glances when they try to see if I’m willing to welcome them.
I am.
And I love that embrace, cold at first and becoming warmer and warmer minute after minute when patchouli, tonka beans and musk join in hugging me.
Second bottle is already keeping company to that first blindly bought one.
Never ever was I that happy with a blind buy.
Underrated
and
VERY BEAUTIFUL.
zca077bedyWelty – :
It’s a pure oriental flagrance opening with a strong angelica burst. But after several minutes it settles down in oriental blast remembering me saffron and clove spices. It comes from tonka bean smelling properties. Benzoin is rather intensive as well and forms balsamic and incense notes in this flagrance. In fact when this scent settles down in the very beginning it is quite spicy and balsamic incense during about 1h-1,5h. But with the time it becomes more balsamic incense than spicy and I start to notice violets and may be heliotrope. Any case I do not detect freesia at all.
I’m not a big oriental fan so this flagrance is not for me. But, if you are oriental-balsamic flagrance lover you should give it a try, you won’t be disappointed because it’s a great perfume.
This flagrance has a moderate lasting power.
As for me I will offer my perfume to somebody in my close environment who will appreciate it to it’s just value 🙂
opc330 – :
I love this one so much! Wasn’t really sure if I should blindbuy this, thank God I did it, as it was totaly worth it. First of all it does smell a lot like My Queen (which I love too, but sometimes I find it a little bit too heavy and cloying. That’s why I love Karleidoscope, because it’s weaker than my Queen but still smells amazing. By weaker I don’t mean that its’ gone in an hour. By that I mean I can spray it as much as I want and it will not cause me nausea. I’m a sucker for everything powdery and the musky violet in this one suits me more than well. I can only praise this fragrance. Well done!
trastno1 – :
This. Is. Awful.
I am so disappointed! And I´m not hard to please, I like almost anything in a perfume bottle, but this… Eww… I couldn´t resist to buy it online, it was so cheap. I thought,- hey, its an exclusive designerfrag supercheap, I´ll give it a try!
But all I get is urinal cake. Seriously. It is exactly like the ones they use in toilets at restaurants and public bathrooms. It smells like a synthetic detergent with massive amounts of violet and nothing else. Then it just fades away in an hour or two and never developes into anything else.
I think I´ll give this one to my 88yr old grandmother and keep my fingers crossed that it will smell waaay better on her. This was clearly NOT for me.
On a more positive note, yes there is ONE… The packaging is superfun and I noticed that you can use it as a piggybank/moneybox, you can put coins through Karl´s cutout silhouette in the bottom. Always something… 😉
(EDIT: My mom tried this on and it smelled MUCH better on her, But initially she agreed with me, to synthetic and to much violet. But it developed in another way on her and after a while it was actually quite ok. A good example of how the same perfume can smell completely different on two different people.)
Frimer – :
A Little Fresh Sister of ” L’heure Bleue ” Guerlain… Powder and soft like a candy.
AntonioUW – :
I received a sample today, it’s a beautifully composed scent!I love the violet and tonka bean in it. In my imagination the woman who likes to wear this is mature, confident and classy. In my perfume wardorbe Karleidoscope is going to be a night scent.I wish the sillage was more powerful though.
LFC – :
First couple of minutes I thought “This one is a scrubber!” but soon it settled down very similar to My Queen, but later – imagine that – Lolita Lempicka Midnight without anise and licorice! Not bad. Not bad at all. Wish it had more lasting power and projection.
gdo108intitytek – :
This is really gorgeous! I love violet and angelica together, so I was pretty sure I would. It wears very much like a Blvgari in terms of longevity and sillage, but is of high quality like them also. Gorgeous powdery violets, herbal minty angelica, and benzoin for a vintage touch and gives it that luxurious high class velvety feel. I also get some clean musk.
Going through my laundry today I noticed a lovely cloud of a smell and found it on a sweater I wore last week one day and had to look on my timeline to see what I had on that day. It was Karleidoscope! I wasn’t really all that impressed with this at first, but I really truly love it! A sweet, lovely cloud
Is it backup bottle worthy? If you love violets and angelica, you bet!
MaktyaqNA – :
A beautiful violet wood, So fresh and so suttle. Very nice bottle too!
But i wouldn’t buy this again, because of the poor quality.
I choose He Wood instead.
The sillage and lastingpower of this is worse than any bodymist i’ve tryed, so I really hope that theres someone out there that can make this wonderful perfume to lift, it just isn’t me!
bbj – :
This is currently a bargain buy in my local Beauty Base store in London and to me, it is a dead ringer for Balenciaga Paris. Lovely fresh fragrance with a green violet note that is perfect for spring. You don’t get the lovely Balenciaga bottle but you do get a good fragrance for a good price. I believe it must be discontinued so get it while you can…
liberator – :
Natural scent of woman skin ,balmy and powdery at the same time.Good layer perfume ,original and every time kind of different you wear it…
Sutflublilm – :
What a stinker, where’s the Heliotrope? Not sweet, not warm just sharp and furniture polish smell. Catches at the back of my throat. Will use as a loo spray.
Fab bottle though, will look great in the loo.
Might go back to in the summer but don’t hold out much hope.
Unfortunately have a full bottle and body-wash.
gosu – :
I just bought this as a blind buy – and what a lovely surprise it is!
It smells pretty full-on when first sprayed, but after literally a minute, it dries into a more subtle, complicated scent.
First hit is Parma-violet sweets, then powdery, with something vanilla and light musky after that. Sweet, but with a hint of bitterness and a hint of creaminess as well.
I have synesthesia (all my words/days of the week etc have shapes, colours and sounds….google it -it’s hard to explain.). and so as my synesthesia dictates, this has an uncurrent of the smell of the letter ‘O’ for me! Not particularly useful information for anyone else, but there is something in this that smells like an ‘O’! I wish I could work out what ingredient has that effect on me as I smell it in other things too.
It feels like a grown up, sophisticated scent, without being old or mumsy. It’s what I thought chic women smelled like when I was a teenager. (I’m 33)
My husband likes the smell of it too…but it’s a fairly up close and personal sort of scent! It only has a far reach for a few minutes and then you need to lean closer to enjoy it.
I don’t know how long it lasts yet as its my first wear and we are only an hour in.
A good but, different buy for me. Unusual, bargain price, stands out from popular sugary scents. Nice if you are looking for something that’s different, but you don’t want a big powerhouse fragrance.
agent79 – :
Interesting perfume and great “kaleidoscope” type bottle. Violets and flowers equal calming and a little safe. Wish it was as wonderful as KL. That has to be one of his best perfumes ever! But Lagerfeld perfumes are really nice and truly fantastic if you find a vintage. Have been looking for the vintage KL forever.
23dmitrii – :
Fresh and elegant every-day-scent. On my skin I get a Pear-note, its not includeed in the pyramid. A bit sweet for my taste, but a very nice timeless scent.
Fräsch och elegant varje-dag-doft. På min hud får jag en Päron-not som inte är inkluderad i doftpyramiden. Lite för söt för mig men en härligt tidlös doft.
Alexsank77 – :
It is definitely cold weather fragrance and I was wrong about this beauty,thats it.I put it on my wrists yesterday and could smell it for several hours.Very classy and balmy ,discrete rich scent,high quality perfume .Not sexy and in your face ,but sexy clouse your skin scent.Closest to Unforgivable Women,just not that powdery,more balmy rich I am actually amazed by quality of Lagerfeld perfumes,own two of capsules Light and Red.Classy and ladylike scents Just amazing for the money I paid for that quality perfumes Highly recommended
22boda – :
I am an unconditionet violet/blue flowers lover! I got this when it came out and… it did not last on me at all! I could sense green notes in the opening, violet afterwards and powder with a very quick dissapearence. It’s such a pity as i adore the bottle and the name, but I definetly will not get another bottle!
Bphebedlrc – :
Just cut the plastic from one of my first blind buys! Very cool flacon by the way, simple but humorous, appropriate for Karl;).
I’m not into blind buys, especially for 30 ml and more EdP, especially since I’ve tried and tested different parfums for long time and see no need to risk with smth I’m actually rather particular about and want to wear. But the price was so good, I couldnt resist the curiosity. Besides, I like violet, so was hoping its not too risky choice.
Well… angelica is only there for first few minutes, then the violet kicks in and its well balanced nice neat floral that starts to turn powdery… I’m not into powdery fragrances. In fact I’m not into powdery At All! So this dryness is definitely smth that turns me off. I’ve dry skin anyway and if there is even a hint of powder and sugar, on my skin it becomes a mix of baby talc and bubblegum instantly :S. Freesia and patchouli save the situation and becomes more pleasant after an hour.
Overall, its a classy conservative fragrance, elegant powder and luckily not too sweet. It also smells much more expensive than in really is, stays close to the skin and lasts 3-4 hours. But for me it its just too boring. Boardroom scent, but the one secretary wears. Well-behaving, but not at all interesting or exciting.
liocha87 – :
A charming sweet powdery violet, not unlike MyQueen. This is lighter and more feminine though (no white florals to fluff it out, no pepper nor vetiver and woody notes). Sadly, there was no angelica to green things up but the scent does develop into a rather full bodied powdery blend. The benzoin, heliotrope and musk provide a sufficiently balmy base. Unsure about the projection and life of the scent but I am sure the bottle is a sight to behold.
danik9000 – :
A true Karl Lagerfeld perfume! Deep, warm very sexy and feminine sweet oriental. Definitely a treasure in my collection.
doorhankazkz – :
Violet, violet and more violet.
Karleidoscope is a nice scent, elegant and refined,
well balanced, just in the middle of light and heavy.
Sillage and staying power aren’t very good though.
Somehow, this perfume gets lost in quite a big amount of violet launches of the recent times.
Good fragrance, bad timing!
mobizone – :
Did you know that K.L-is my grand-father;I ADORE hem!
-I LIVE IN SET with the curtants of the stage,closed with No audience-but who cares?
Auf Ihr Wohl! Veilchen&geige…