Captivating citrus and aromatic fragrance with notes of green
tea, nutmeg, and musk. Offers medium longevity for versatile
daily wear, rejecting traditional gender norms.
Review: Timeless classic - It really doesn't seem like 3 decades
have passed since CK One launched -and in the process relaunched
the once-popular unisex fragrence back into the mainstream. It's
still defiantly modern -the passage of time hasn't diminished the
timelessly classy presenation or quality of the fragrence itself.
But it's a classic too -it was more or less an instant classic
anyway. Time was, in the '90s, you couldn't open a contemporary
man's magazine like GQ or FHM without the adverts, or the
automatic recommendation in either 'reviews' or answering reader
queries on the subject. The image hasn't changed: Kate Moss and
similar models in black and grey, looking moody. First-generation
Audi TTs outside open-plan warehouse conversions with
black-painted metal beams, and equally exposed brickwork, with
lots of glass everywhere -especially on the staircases. Oasis on
the radio. This Life and Murphy's Law on the television. A DVD of
The Usual Suspects sitting on a marble counter-top. A fragrence
bottle left 'casually' on the shelf, to show the owner has better
things to think about than scent. Except of course -it's all very
deliberate, the apparent understatement a work of marketing
genius (the adverts never even showed the bottle) and out-and-out
product quality, which appealed to contemporary twenty /
thirty-somethings, and those teenagers who could afford it and
wanted to seem more sophisticated than their peers. It's
something of a statement to the quality that CK One didn't get
saddled with the negative connotations that can come from
popularity when it isn't deserved. Perhaps the image itself they
worked hard to create helped -because even if that isn't your own
preferred aesthetic, very few could hand-on-heart claim it isn't
eternally stylish. Or good. Presentation is as it always was: an
lightly embossed, white cardboard box, which also contains the
optional EDT spray, the bottle being dispatched with the regular
screw-cap in place, so users can choose how they wish to apply.
The bottle itself -classic: a clean-lined, pebble-smooth, frosted
glass with the CK One and Calvin Kline logs in an understated
typeface, and the screwcap or spray in satin-finished aluminium.
It feels good in the hand, the glass high quality, and just
weighty enough to suggest you are holding a premium offering. The
design team did a great job here. Applying -it's not changed.
It's never really changed. Yes, it's been reformulated, but that
hasn't had much difference. If you look at the list of notes
-top, middle and base, it's a busy old thing, and yet -And yet.
It never really seems like it is. Initially you might say
'understated'. I prefer 'architectural'. If you look at it and
smell it, you'll understand why. Fresh, crisp, clean, a lovely
balance of citrus and green notes blending with some powder,
floral and a faint touch of musk, all set out cleanly, as though
they were on a frosted-glass shelf of the same kind the bottle is
made from. It's a genuine unisex scent, and a downright beautiful
one at that. Not 'pretty'. Not 'sweet'. Not 'heavy', not 'spicy',
not 'woody', not 'aromatic'. There are many superb examples of
all of those. This is citrus / green aromatic, with all the notes
balanced to perfection. It's one of those scents that was
perfectly judged for its time, and was good enough that it never
ages: almost everybody likes it. Inoffensive, but without being
boring. Silage isn't bad -you won't fumigate a room but it's
distinctive enough. Dry-down and performance depend on your skin
type. In my case, it doesn't really last more than an hour or two
before it's become a skin-tone, but on others it does much
'better' in this sense. I loved it then, at launch, and now, age
45, I still love it. And with 200ml bottles often available for
£31 - £35 on desertcart (as of November '23), the value is
excellent. Highly recommended -if you haven't tried it, or got
some in the collection: it's one to have.
Review: CK ONE - Lovely smell at a great price
