Eternity For Men Calvin Klein cologne – a fragrance for men 1990

I have to admit that Eternity has grown on me over the past few months; upon buying it, I was kinda repulsed by its sharp metallic and plasticky notes that reminded me a bit of Cool Water on steroids or similar fragrances in that style. I think I never smelled the original formulation so I can’t really compare them, unlike I could with Cool Water, and maybe that helped me a bit in starting an appreciation journey for Eternity – I had no need to drown in nostalgia.

The initial blast of strong synthetic lavender (probably lavandin) is the most difficult part to digest in this fragrance, as it gives off quite strong plasticky/metallic/play doh vibes that might put people (or my nose, at least) a bit off at first. The metallic side of it takes up the reins of ’90s style fresh perfumery – Green Irish Tweed, Cool Water, a touch of Egoiste Platinum maybe – but dilutes it in a background of white florals that, after repeated use, becomes a distinct sweeter part of the opening and help tame it and it’s actually quite pleasant.

I’m still convinced that something green/aromatic as strong as coriander may not be the best companion for synthetic lavander/lavandin. Who knows, I’m not a perfumer! Anyway, after 5 to 10 minutes, the harshest facets of Eternity fade away and the scent looses intensity, becoming a nice, skin-anchored and soft, effusive aromatic-floral fragrance that to me is quite clearly masculine leaning, and somehow assertive. I think this would be a great gym scent, pairing nicely with mint-based shower gels, all year round, or a spring/summer cheapie for quick errands in a t-shirt and shorts, but I think it’s metallic initial note, if lasted longer, would make it a good office scent as well.

After barely two hours, the scent has literally gone, and the base never really shows up as a significant player; yeah there is some clean musk coming through, but I get literally zero woods. This must be the effect of endless reformulation and the reason for its cheap price. Actually I’m not bothered by its lack of performance – I can only imagine what would mean the plasticky note pumped up for longevity – and the price suggests liberal usage multiple times a day.

Neutral ok on this one but I like it more than what my rating would suggest, and certainly better than Cool Water; for some reasons, though, I can’t go up to a like. 90s bottle design didn’t age too bad either, batch code for my 30ml bottle is 9304 from October 2019.