Perfume Review: Gold by Donna Karan
September 18th, 2006
Donna Karan Gold has been on my much anticipated new releases list the minute I read about it on Now Smell This. Then yesterday Cait from Legerdenez wrote a gorgeous review, and I had to run out and smell it. I was lucky enough to actually obtain a whole sample, so I can delve into it and lay out my impressions here. Gold is composed of the notes of Casablanca lilies, amber, acacia, white clove, jasmine, balsam, and East Indian patchouli. I must say when I first read the notes, my attention was grabbed entirely by amber, jasmine, balsam, and patchouli. I have no idea why I completely overlooked the lily. I guess I was just mesmerized by the ad image - its opulent golden colors translated into a rich floriental in my fragrant brain. Yet lily is the center of attention here, undoubtedly. I’m still swooning over Cait’s excellent imagery, so bear with me as I try to find my own words to describe the scent - her description is just so perfect I feel like adding anything else would be redundant. Nevertheless, here’s how Gold reveals itself to me: a sparkling, verdant lily, with a hint of crisp, indolic jasmine, enveloped in sheer, powdery acacia, and carried away by soft amber. If there was a champagne made of lilies, that’s how it’d smell. The overall effect is a bit heady but not to the point where it makes you gasp for fresh air - on the contrary, it’s intoxicating, and you just can’t get enough of it. The only other lily that ever appealed to me in fragrance is Un Lys by Serge Lutens where it’s softened by musk and vanilla. In Gold, however, the lily is stripped down and unabashedly so. If it was personified, it’d be a queen, accompanied by her servants - jasmine, white clove, acacia, with balsam and amber being her footstool. It’s the kind of scent that gently woos you and eventually wins you over (I find myself at the point of utter inability to resist its charm).
Gold is available at Nordstrom’s, although I’m not yet sure if every store carries it. I imagine it’ll show up on their web site in the near future.
P.S. One other thing I forgot to mention is that there’s a somewhat animalic note in Gold that becomes very apparent in the middle and base notes. It’s some sort of a mix of sourness and decay but it’s intensely appealing and adds certain rebelliousness that makes it even more irresistible.
Entry Filed under: New Perfumes, Perfume Reviews
13 Comments Add your own
1. Elle | September 19th, 2006 at 6:33 am
That was a fatal P.S. I like lily scents, but rarely *need* them. However, I can’t resist florals w/ animalic notes. And decay - perfect.
2. March | September 19th, 2006 at 6:36 am
As I commented on hers: I work with Casablanca lilies a lot, a smell I find lovely, and to me this is dead-on. I am used to smelling the lilies in a larger space — I am fond of using them on our church altar (I’m one of the flower ladies) because of their perfume. But I didn’t put it on my skin — the smell was sooooo intense on the strip I couldn’t face it! I’ll work my way up to it, though… do you think the animalic note in the middle is the jasmine rearing its dirty … fanny? Honestly, though — lilies smell a little funky too. We had a priest for awhile who forbade them, he hated the smell. I always wondered if they smelled awful to him, or too sensual, or whether he was just opposed to beauty on principal.
3. Marina | September 19th, 2006 at 8:22 am
Would I like this?
I generally cannot wear lily scents, except for Un Lys…For example Lys Mediterranee is slow, excrutiating death to me.
4. Jenn | September 19th, 2006 at 9:21 am
You know ironically the indolic part immediately happens at the beginning for me then it immediately starts changing. All I can say is this is a gorgeous lily.
5. Judith | September 19th, 2006 at 9:22 am
Oh, my. . .That sounds very intriguing. I wonder what other stores carry it (we have pretty much everything BUT Nordstrom’s here). I have to say, though, that despite my nic, the closest I have ever come to a “lily” scent that I wear a lot is Passage d’Enfer. But still, that fatal P.S. . . . ..
6. violetnoir | September 19th, 2006 at 10:29 am
DK has always known how to put casablanca lilies, jasmine and amber to good use. Her original perfume, was it Donna Karan New York, was a testament to those notes with that touch of cashmere and leather. I used to wear it a lot some years ago and loved it. Her Cashmere Mist, also using some of those notes, is of the highest quality.
So why am I talking so much? I need to get over to Nordstrom!
Hugs!
7. Cait | September 19th, 2006 at 11:04 am
Dear Ina,
You are so sweet about my review. I’m really glad you liked Gold as much as I did. I just can’t wait to try the pure parfum because I understand it was designed to be one of those parfums that is really a distinctly different balance.
To Y’all –
Those of you who might not prefer the edp will possibly enjoy the parfum since it sounds different with incense, more cistus and vanilla.
Have a great day!
8. Patty | September 19th, 2006 at 11:09 am
You guys are killing my. Nordstrom’s is clear across town, and I just am annoyed enough not to drive there.
Crap.
9. chaya ruchama | September 19th, 2006 at 11:20 am
So, angel-enablers all-
Where the f–k does a poor sod go, to smell these lilies?
Ain’t no Nordie’s hereabouts…
And if parfum has cistus and more incense, somebody had better empty my drool-cup [a la Python, my pets !]…
I DO love the lilies, but they are NOT for the fainting types….
No vaporous maidens need apply !
10. Katie | September 19th, 2006 at 1:20 pm
Hey, a new release from a biggish house that seems to fully justify its own existence! I’m not particularly keen on lily scents, but good lord this sounds simply mouthwateringly excellent. “If there was a champagne made of lilies, that’s how it’d smell.” Oooooh. Lovely! I must get to Nordies sometime next week!
11. greeneyes | September 19th, 2006 at 5:36 pm
A champagne made of lilies? I’m sold. I can’t resist champagne as it is, and I’m obviously weak when it comes to perfume. I must smell this. Hopeless.
12. Trina | September 19th, 2006 at 7:20 pm
*scratches this one off her to-try list* I got enough lily to last me for years when I accidentally spilled Un Lys all over my right hand and arm while decanting a few months ago. It lingered in my house for days, and my mind even longer :~P
Thanks for the review!
13. mahanta | July 12th, 2008 at 4:09 am
Dear Ina,
yes, Gold is lily, but….doesn’t the very first note remind you of something familiar?? Do you recall Latvia in springtime, grass full of small, yellow circles… dandelions?? Lily comes later, the first sniff is golden dandelions!!! That’s what Gold is for me - spring in Latvia.
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