Beauty by Calvin Klein (Eau de Parfum) » Reviews & Perfume Facts

Very helpful Review

7

Clarity, Simplicity, Abstraction

It has been a while since I first reviewed Calvin Klein Beauty, which struck me as a good addition to that house’s collection. I always liked how the house of Calvin Klein was groundbreaking in its creation of a cluster of very distinctive and completely unforgettable perfumes: Eternity, Obsession, Truth, Contradiction, and Escape. Whether one likes those perfumes or not, it cannot be denied that they have integrity, and each carved out its own spot on the grand olfactory map. Beauty fits right into this series, not only for its name–another abstract noun–but also for its clarity and univocity. This perfume falls somewhere between Eternity and Truth in concept and structure, but it is still unique.

Like Truth, Beauty has a lucid quality and is a relatively simple composition. Like Eternity, Beauty is unabashedly feminine and floral, in this case, with jasmine as the dominant note and ambrette and cedar offering support. There is definitely a synthetic quality to this perfume, but that has always been a part of the modern Calvin Klein aesthetic, and it contributes in that way to Beauty as well. I hasten to add, however, that this is nothing like the Calvin Klein jug perfumes (One, Be, etc.), which I myself never took to. Those were always so flagrantly synthetic that my brief encounters with them were infelicitous.

Beauty in contrast, toes the line between limpid florality and modern synthetics. Overapplied, there is real headache potential here. But lightly applied, Beauty is a very nice mainstream launch which continues the classic Calvin Klein tradition. No, this is not as appealing as a fine jasmine niche perfume, but it is good for what it is: wearable, inexpensive, widely available, and accessible.

The bottle, too, conveys the simple yet compelling aesthetic which has always been the hallmark of Calvin Klein. I am happy that the acquisition of this house by Coty Prestige has not led to compromises in the original aesthetic vision of Calvin Klein. My first review was based on a sample vial, and this one on a 15ml purse spray (which came as a part of a coffret), so I can confirm batch consistency as well.