Friday, October 30, 2009

New Perfume Review : CK Free Calvin Klein


Thanks to the folks at Wiredset marketing for sending me a bottle of the new CK Free by Calvin Klein for review! I've just recieved it today and have been smelling it off the strip and off my skin for the past few hours. The official notes list according to the press release I recieved looks a little something like this:

top: thailand star anise, jackfruit, absinthe, juniper berry

mid: suede, tobacco leaves, coffee absolute, south african buchu

dry: patchouli absolute, oakwood, texan cedarwood, costa rican ironwood

This is a perfume that stays fairly true to its listed notes - as long as you aren't expecting a niche interpretation of them! There is absolutely no surprise with the first spray out of the bottle; This is not a groundbreaking fragrance, nor is it particularily attention-catching. However, despite its adventure-promising advertising campaign, uniqueness is of course not the intent of the perfume. Lets not forget afterall, CkFree is a massmarket release. It is a very easy-wearing fragrance - airy, ozonic, and very dry, a modern fragrance for men. Although there are sweet notes indicated, they are very toned down, along with the modern amber accord which barely manages to bring a sweetness to this composition. All the notes are fairly clear to me, with the exception of the anise and wormwood in the top and the tobacco in the mid. I do smell a certain fresh standard green note, which I am assuming is what they refer to as the absinthe. The base is a fantasy cedar accord which borrows its structure from He wood and Dior Homme. The suede note here is especially soft, and I think it is the best designed part of the fragrance. Although I do smell the jackfruit, I wish it would be more pronounced.

The overall spirit of the fragrance is something we have seen many times, upon application you will be reminded of the feel of many of the men's shower gel products currently on the shelves, albeit slightly less aggressive. The coffee note is CkFree is also executed exactly as it was in Adidas' Adrenaline deodorant sticks for men and EDTs. The base is following the latest trend of clear, dry, fantasy cedar/woody bases with fresh laundry musks. If I had to give a percentage breakdown of the way this fragrance "feels" to me, I would have to say 75% shower product 25% fine fragrance.

If you are looking for something along the lines of One, Obsession, or the original Calvin - you wont find it here. Instead, this cologne is ideal for someone looking to complement their line of mass market shaving, shower and deodorant products, or someone who needs to have a fragrance which will not stand out or cause too much attention. This could be worn for example, in an office setting where loud fragrance is frowned upon.
Here is the pricing info I was forwarded:
eau de toilette spray 1oz/30ml $32.00

eau de toilette spray 1.7oz/50ml $47.00

eau de toilette spray 3.4oz/100ml $62.00

aftershave balm 5.0oz/150ml $42.00

deodorant stick 2.5oz/75g $16.00
Enjoy!

4 comments:

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Unknown said...

I love to have differente kind of perfumes for every ocation, i think the perfume determine our personality. I usually feel identify with my perfume specially when i have a date and i know the boy buy viagra, so i know he could be powerful and i must to be really attractive.

women pheromones said...

The perfume bottle is often meant to be a physical representation of the perfume. I wanted to try to make my own perfume that can easily customize the scent and make my own signature.

cletsey

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