Calvin Klein
Calvin Klein
228 votes
A unique visual signature based on accords, character, and seasonality
A bracing volley of green-edged peach and sharp apple, with blackcurrant cutting through like diluted cassis. The effect is almost saline, vaguely reminiscent of biting into tart fruit flesh. Within minutes, you're struck by how deliberately cold this opening feels—there's minimal sweetness, just crisp, nearly austere fruitiness.
The florals arrive with measured dignity, and here the composition finds its equilibrium. Rose and jasmine hover in the middle distance whilst lily of the valley adds a subtle, almost soapy texture. A whisper of white pepper materialises, adding dimension without warmth. The fragrance settles into something almost herbal and restrained, the fruit receding significantly. It's a solidly middle-of-the-road floral, pleasant but uncommitted.
The tonka bean finally emerges with creamy, almost biscuity warmth, whilst sandalwood adds a soft, pillowy quality. Vetiver provides grassy counterbalance, preventing the composition from becoming sugary. Unfortunately, this is where both longevity and sillage become genuine concerns—the fragrance becomes noticeably fainter, a whispered presence rather than a conversation. What remains is intimate and powder-soft, almost tentative.
Escape Calvin Klein arrives as a contradictory proposition—a fragrance that promises liberation whilst simultaneously struggling to project its intentions. The composition pivots on a tension between its honeyed, gourmand base and a resolutely crisp, almost austere top accord. Those opening stone fruits—peach and apple—arrive with genuine snap, their brightness immediately tempered by the tart, almost medicinal blackcurrant that dominates the fresh accord (88%). It's a fruit salad with an edge, refusing sentimentality.
The heart reveals where Santantoni's ambitions become clearer: a classical floral scaffold of rose and jasmine, anchored by lily of the valley's slightly powdery insistence. This isn't a romantic floral, though. The rose feels slightly soapy, the jasmine proper rather than hedonistic, as though the fragrance is deliberately resisting sensuality. The spicy accord (64%) creeps in almost apologetically, adding a whisper of white pepper that prevents the florals from becoming matronly.
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3.5/5 (96)