Gardenia Passion Annick Goutal for women

Gardenia Passion opens with an unapologetic bang of grand white flowers; definitely gardenia however predominantly tuberose, the petals of which wilted in suffocating humidity, far from the freshness of a vase bursting of newly cut, pollinous blooms.

Mixed with the warmth of skin, the heavy floral is only made headier by the waft of candied jasmine. It's contradictorily soapy and dirty with a touch of gourmand.

As obnoxiously as the scent begins alongside its enormous projection, it swiftly dissipates into nothingness leaving one wondering, 'did I like it?'

It's so funny that Annick Goutal GARDENIA PASSION features tuberose only garnished with gardenia, while Estée Lauder Private Collection TUBEROSE GARDENIA is much more about gardenia than it is about tuberose! Both are obviously big white flower perfumes, so the names are a warning sign to those with issues with this genre.

The tuberose in GARDENIA PASSION is the thick, wilted kind. It smells rather dark and damp to me, as though the flowers are being held in captivity in a huge greenhouse amidst lots of other plant growth, not all of it tuberose, but not very much of it gardenia.

The first time I tried this perfume, I entertained the possibility that there had been some sort of decanting error, but now that I have a bottle, it is undeniable that this is essentially a tuberose soliflore. This of course raises all of the usual comparison questions: how does it stack up against FRACAS, BLONDE, CARNAL FLOWER, and the slew of other tuberose perfumes which continue to appear on the market, including the Histoires de Parfums trilogy?

To my nose, GARDENIA PASSION is not as good as those creations. The thick, somewhat muddled quality of the tuberose note here makes this composition seem more primitive. It actually reminds me a bit of Honore des Pres VAMP A NY, which I did not review very favorably. I won't say that GARDENIA PASSION is crude, but it is less refined. Still, on occasion it's nice to wear, just as it is nice to spend time in a stuffy and humid greenhouse every once in a while...

I wanted to adore this perfume. I bought it blind, because the price was just too good to pass up, but geez. Instant headache. So loud at the opening that I just couldn't leave it on my skin long enough to get the drydown.

Jusqu'à ce jour on ne parvient pas à extraire de l'essence de gardénia.
Mais je pense que ce Gardénia Passion d'Annick Goutal est une interprétation qui fait honneur à cette fleur capiteuse et fragile comme la porcelaine.

An extremely loud, realistic gardenia belting out choir lines of buttered popcorn madness with more delicate accompanying white florals on harps. Straddles the fine line between beautiful and nauseating. Very powerful opening that peters out into nothing within a half hour. All bark, bark, bark and no bite.

I have the EDP. After the first spray, the tuberose became apparent, followed by a meek gardenia then finished with the scent of orange blossoms that linger. This is a bold fragrance, very Oriental, suitable for someone with a strong personality but it may also annoy some people's sense of smell. I have a love and hate relationship with this perfume since sometimes I love it, then again another time, I may dislike it.

This is, definitely, one of the best examples of how different a scent can be from skin to skin... I love the scent of gardenias, and was very excited to try this one. It was, by far, the worst perfume I already had in my skin. Way too strong (great sillage, by the way!), very sickening, it didn't smell like gardenias in me and what I could smell was a strong note of celery, as some members had already mentioned. Yes, I smelt lots of flowers, putrefied ones. And yes, I know the indolic facet of some of the flowers that are present here, but on my skin this characteristic was beyond all the limits that someone could imagine. I have already blind-bought lots of perfumes, but I was lucky enough not to do that with this one. Don't buy it without trying! I hope you have more luck than me...

I thought I liked this but when I sprayed it my 18 month old son muttered under his breath that it "stinks". He has never said that about any of my other perfumes (I have 30), so now I'm a little unsure...

What a peculiar gardenia fragrance. Perhaps there is some truth in what Turin says in the guide about this one - It seems to be a perfume based around covering up the gardenia with other complimentary scents.

From afar, there is a beautiful breeze of gardenia and tuberose with a natural green feel. Up close, there is a salty grassy note that is intriguing and totally unexpected. The development is chaotic - buttery, greasy, green, dirty, green, indolic, buttery - it can't make up its mind.

This is a distant second from Jardenia as my favorite gardenia, but it's still one of the most interesting takes on the flower in perfumery. Give it a try on your skin - it's definitely not what you would expect.

On my skin this doesn't even distantly remind gardenia. I get sharp, somewhat flowery notes with a hint a celery - a huge disappointment. It's also way too heavy.

Love, love, love it. Better than Chanel's. Captures the sweetnes of a true gardenia and with the same hint of bitterness. I will always associate this fragrance with my beautiful young mother in St. Mark's Square, Venice when her much-in-love husband (this was her second marriage) brought her a gardenia crosage--no babysitter for me although it was her honeymoon. This is a strong perfume. So unless like the song says in the buckboard bounce and you don't want to rock the room, go lightly.

Gardenia Passion is the only floral I'll wear. I love my sweet orientals, but this buttery gardenia and tuberose gets me every time. It's so heavenly sprayed on a freshly washed pillowcase, too. It unfortunately doesn't last long on me, but I don't want to do more than 1 spray for fear of overpowering my workplace.

there is something so lovely about this scent.Madonna always wore it, and I think that says something about personalities correlating to perfume, as it used to be my mom's favorite scent.I was so heartbroken when she discontinued using it that I bought her a bottle.I wanted to wear it, but it is my mom's scent I couldn't steal it.
Annick Goutal is an olfactory genius.She just is I cannot explain it as I am not an expert.Her scents fade quickly, but who cares?One pure heavenly whiff implants itself in my mind forever, why do I need it to be long lasting?It is worth it.
Gardenia Passion will always be my favorite that I will never wear, but always melt with inoxication at.Sparkley,floral,warm,delicate,sophisticated,elegant,pure,sensual,womanly...perfect.

I tried this gardenia floral fragrance years ago when it first came out. It is as close to true gardenia as I have ever smelled but then it quickly dries down to tuberose-vanilla. This is expensive perfume for something that doesn't last. It was my last ditch effort to find an authentic gardenia perfume. I gave up and planted a gardenia bush outside my bedroom window instead while finally accepting the truth...that gardenia is too beautiful to ever be held prisoner in a bottle like rose. With that revelation I now am able to enjoy immitation gardenia fragrances such as Elizabeth Taylor's Gardenia, Bath and Bodyworks Gardenia (I stocked up before it was discontinued), or Crabtree & Evelynes Gardenia (which didn't last and may now be discontinued).

it's kind of perfume leaves trace on your coats, reminds you those good days, bad days and ugly days, sweetly and tenderly. and it's sooooooo french !!!

I loved it the first time I smelt it - I was looking for the original french female creation. Hot!

I've longed for a little sister of that Malle masterpiece Carnal Flower. Also related closely to Poeme and Fracas. And my dream has come true.It's not a name I expected, it's Gardenia Passion.

It opens richly and just deepens into a glorious outpouring of animalic flowers.

Thanks, I love you, Annick Goutal!

Mmmm... so beautiful!
Is this Madonna's fave? Well, I don't care much, but the lady shows some taste at least in perfume.
I mostly smell tuberose at the beginning. It smells exactly like Fracas with the buttery feel.
Strange enough this perfume smells different if worn inside or outdoor! Indoor in heated place it smells more buttery, outdoor with fresh air it smells greener and more nuanced.
I know that not everyone like white florals.
Personally I don't like lilies and white crispy florals, but I love these white thick bombs!
After the initial tuberose bloom, gardenia is more noticeable and gives a soft romantic mood to the whole blend. In this phase it smells slightly like a fraction of Amarige, my long lost Amarige when it smelled properly, now it smells like a big mess enveloped in a bag of green tobacco leaves.
Jasmine and orange blossom are not so noticeable IMO.
I see no bottom notes listed, but for sure there is more to this perfume because once all the flowers fade a little bit, the bottom line is delicately woody and aromatic, yet Gardenia Passion remains a total white floral experience from head to toes.
This is a kind of perfume that I really love to smell on myself and others because it gives an aura of romaticism without fluffyness, sensuality without vulgarity, a total feminine vibe and quite uplifting.
I agree it smells similar to Fracas, Carolina Herrera and Marc Jacobs Essence. Maybe all these scents aimed at the same purpose: classic, sensual, simple, elegance.
My only complaint is about sillage and lasting power for such an expensive scent.

Mmmm....this perfume smells like falling in a lustful love!
Not very complicated but soft and round and quite inviting!
The evident presence of tuberose/gardenia is somehow toned down, there's nothing harsh or artificial and synthetic here just a mellow and very natural statement of sensuality which so often, is more than enough.
Quite unusual and highly recommended!

I adore this fragrance and always have a bottle to hand.It is expensive so I don't use it every day,but would love to if I could afford it.It lasts for quite a while on my skin,and used along with the bath products is hard to beat.

This is Madonna's favourite perfume.

The opening is promising but there is absolutely no creamy feeling that I associate with gardenias. Also, it doesn't really last long and needs constant touch up. Not easy at this price! I think perfume makers -- particularly those whose scent bottles are in this price range -- should be forced to supply a FREE 2 or 4 ml. miniature with every 50 ml bottle otherwise how is one supposed to carry it everywhere?

This is my first negative review.
It is like a smell of a gardenia flower just before petals falling, a flower was washed away by cruel rain again and again.
It does smell naturally, seems innocent but I hate it.
I see flowers, edges of petals are becoming brown and getting dirty.

What have you done guilty torrential rain.
Beyond your ignorance and generosity, I see infinity of distortion.

I do not want it, I cannot get it, I cannot even compromise with a wearer.
It is not a creamy gardenia fragrance.
But very inspiring creation to think of the nature of this world.

For me it´s a light-version of FRACAS... what a pity, that the edt is so fleeting... LOVE from LOUVE

This is up my street as a white floral, but it doesn't smell of gardenia. It's a sweetish tuberose which smells so similar to Carolina Herrera Carolina Herrera that I would recommend spending the £16.00 on a bottle of that than the £60.00 on this one!!

I'm completely enamoured of white florals, so it should come as no surprise that I adore Gardenia Passion (edp). not as "loud" as Fracas (which I also love), this is a masterful blend of heady, exotic flowers, w/a distinctive, smooth "buttery" note that other reviewers have mentioned. a very realistic gardenia fragrance, Gardenia Passion is feminine and sweet but not cloying, and the sillage is so delicate as to be almost imperceptible. one of my fragrance wardrobe staples.

medium-bodied floral composition with a mellow green opening note that reminds me of bee's wax candles and a hint of petitgrain. The jasmine is quite nice - absolutely NO hints of fecality that can really ruin a composition with jasmine. I detect far more tuberose than gardenia, but I love tuberose so that suits me perfectly! This fragrance does not last on me, it is gone after 2-3 hours...alas!

Sophisticated, feminine, sensual, strong- and soft, independent, mysterious - I love it! It lasts forever on my skin, changing through a whole prism of jasmine, gardenia, tuberose and vanilla. And I am a smoker and somebody here mentioned that this smells divine on smokers -true!

For awhile there I was in love with Annick Goutal and their beautiful, natural, multi-faceted addictive fragrances.

Gardenia Passion, the EDT review...
On the top of this fragrance is a pleasantly bitter and alternately nutty 'gardenia' (tuberose?) accord. While I like it, it kind of falls flat. I like bitter/nutty things but this has no dimension to it.

After this fades the white gardenia comes out for about a minute. It's a soft and gentle white flower but so soft as to be almost undetectable.

Oakmoss base? After the brief white flower phase I smell almost nothing.

Where is the long, luscious trail of white flowers? All in all this perfume lasts in its entirety 2 hours on me, sometimes less, and for the last 1 1/2 hours I need to shove my nose into my wrist to smell anything. In desperation one day, after my shower, I applyed to my pulse points and then sprayed liberally, ala body spray. Then after I dressed I sprayed a cloud of Gardenia Passion about myself to get some staying power.

I succeeded in wasting about 1/6 of the bottle but little else. I won't say that I dislike this scent, but really the EDT falls flat on it's face and gets out in a hurry.

AG is way too expensive to buy with staying power like this, and I think I will take a break from exploring this house as I am becoming disenchanted with them. The moral of the story is, DO NOT BUY THIS IN EDT...

I so wanted to try this. I like white florals. On me, this perfume's orange blossom is stronger than its other flowers.

It looks like reviewers have either tried the watered-down, whisper-soft EDT, or the juicier EDP. *Sigh!* Seems I've experienced the EDT version, because it's on and then...quick! sniff it! sniff it!...gone. It didn't even evaporate and morph into a faint powder. I can't detect any dry down scent at all. No word of a lie.

Otherwise, it's quite lovely. For about 10 minutes?

I was reading Luca Turin and Tania Sanchez's opinions regarding Gardenia Passion before I went into reviewing this fragrance. They mentioned that Annick Goutal was not fond of gardenias, hence the reason as to why this fragrance is more tuberose than anything else.

I'll sum up Gardenia Passion as being a rather loud, yet beautiful white floral. I remember the moment when I first tried this fragrance some years ago. I was so very repulsed by it all. I found it much too strong, and in some ways bitter. I also felt the same way about Fracas then.

Currently I'm an avid lover of white florals, especially when they've been constructed well and come minus the synthetic components. Gardenia Passion smells natural and real to me. Almost perfection in a way. While Fracas is too buttery for my tastes, Gardenia Passion is like traipsing through a florist's shop and inhaling various floral aromas.

Gardenia Passion is rich and powdery once settled. Believe it or not, this fragrance smells absolutely divine on smokers. Despite the belief that white florals smell like 'old ladies', Gardenia Passion does not fuel this idea and instead comes across as being very seductive and elegant on the skin.

I absolutely love Passion by Annick Goutal, and in some ways Gardenia Passion is a more floral and less earthy and/or incensey version.

Despite its tendency to be rather strong, Gardenia Passion is never cloying. It has that real classic appeal, something that screams sophistication and femininity. I might also add that the lasting strength is impressive, especially for that of an EDT.

Similar to fracas, but a lot stronger and higher on the GARDENIA. :)

One of the truest gardenia fragrances I've had the pleasure of smelling. Pure clean gardenia, like a flower straight off the bush, dreamy. I wish it stayed as strong as the opening throughout but it fades to a much softer version. Still fabulous, except I feel like I need to keep putting more on so I can remain in my cloud of gardenia. Most likely though the people around me would appreciate the quieter side. Mmmmmm....

What a masterpiece!!. The first A.G. perfume i ever wore. A strong white floral with underlined femininity, super long lasting, a grown up scent, doesn't past unnoticed, years later i still remember it clearly, but i can't find it anymore. Heady, little spicy, well blended, sofisticated, wonderful!!.. 23-10-09, 12:57

I smelled this in a magazine insert about 14 years ago..at first i didn't like it because it was way to "heady" and bold for my taste...but after a while the warm buttery smell grew on me and i really liked it...one of my all time favorites is another AG frgrance Petit cherie...so recently i decided to splurge for the Gardenia passion also...i really am not that impressed with it any more...too buttery...and not very complex or interesting to me ...then again that may have to do with the fact that i found Chanel Gardenia several years ago which for me is the most perfect and beautiful gardenia scent i have ever smelled

Horrid (it smells like bug-spray, especially the shower gel). How disappointing in an Annick Goutal scent, especially when its name is supposed to emit freshness. Well, with this one, it's true what they say: you can wrap a pretty package, but you can't take it out.

Gardenia passion is not one of those "innocent" floral scents. It is quite strong, complex and truly not solifloral fragrance. Woman wearing Gardenia passion is romantic and mysterious, but she's independent at the same time.
What I mostly love about this fragrance is the resemblence to AG Songes in the base notes - Gardenia passion also has this very soft and powdery rice steam smell that I adore.
The staying power on my skin is great!

Love gardenias perfume so I gave this a try. I don't understand those who said this perfume is strong. I think that Marc Jacobs is a better fragrance. "Honeypoppyseed" gave it a dead on review of the trajectory of the notes. Maybe it is my skin since I do smell for about 5 minutes after I spray it but then alas no more after that. Was very disappointed in the fragrance. Bought it based on basically good reviews by mail. Learned a lesson in that I have to try the fragrance on first.

Heavy, strong, fairly true white florals. Dries down with too much orange blossom and the oakmoss leaves a dusty taste I can't like in this combination. But if white florals are your thing, this is a must try. You can almost feel the waxy, silky petals.

Oh, this one is soo strong! Heavy gardenia scent, it is overwhelming! I would probably like this fragrance if I spray it, then step back like 10 feet and only having this distance between us I could be able to enjoy the scent.

I remember being fascinated as a preteen with a gardenia our neighbor had brought to my mother. I kept sticking my nose in it and sighing with pleasure. Mom, who didn't care for the smell, finally told me to just take the darn thing to my room. And when I was old enough for perfume, the first thing I headed for was a bottle of Sand & Sable -- a big, sunny gardenia fragrance, available at our local drugstore.

Mom made me take it back, on the grounds that I wasn't old enough to wear something like that. (REally, I think she just didn't want to smell it frequently on me.) And I've been on the prowl for something like it ever since.

Gardenia Passion was the first one of the Goutals I sampled. It's very pretty, if you like Big White Florals. (Obviously, I do.) It cycles through several of the classic, heady Big White Florals -- gardenia, tuberose, jasmine, and orange blossom -- before heading for the softest vanilla drydown I've ever experienced in a fragrance. The whole thing reminds me very much of a gardenia-scented featherbed: soft enough to sink into, and very luxurious.

Now that I've made forays into the world of Big White Florals, I've found other fragrances that I like better. Goutal's Songes is more interesting and sexier; Dawn Spencer Hurwitz's Beaux Arts Tubereuse is glorious. I bought a bottle of Jo Malone's Vintage Gardenia recently, charmed by its gardenia/tuberose, spice/incense contrasts. But Gardenia Passion is, indeed, lovely.

Unless you are my mother.

At first it smells like dirt, with hints of gardenia peaking through. Then it changes and smells entirely of dirt. Then it smells buttery, dirt, and jasmine. Then it smells like buttered popcorn.

After an hour, it smells of jasmine and a little gardenia, with hints of buttered popcorn. For at least 3 hours to follow it is a very strong white flower perfume. It doesn't smell old, although it can be a little soapy, and it could be worn for all ages. Unfortunately I really can't stand all the shifts, and really strong opening scents when one applies it.

All and all, I can't ever imagine wearing this perfume: It isn't very interesting and half the people I've asked (including myself) say it gives them a headache right between the eyes.

This by far has been absolutely THE ONLY PARFUME!! THAT HAS LEFT SUCH INCREDIBLE MEMORIES OF LOVE AND LUST FOR MY LOVE AND I ....HE TOLD ME HE WILL NEVER FORGET MY SCENT .....THOUGHT WE ARE NOT TOGETHER NOW ......HE REMEMBERS and when I wear this scent it reminds me of such intense love.........much like I have for GARDENIA PASSION AS WELL AS PETITE CHERIE........I have JOY as well, however...it doesnt enhance my mood as the two afore mentioned!!!!!!!
I DONT KNOW THAT I WILL EVER CHANGE PARFUME....
PS JUST WISH I COULD ALWAYS FIND A GREAT PRICE FOR THEM AS WELL AS THE FABULOUS BODY CREAM THAT IS IN THE SAME SCENT (TALK ABOUT A WONDERUL CREAM) THERE ARE NONE BETTER!!!!

If you want a very strong, sophisticated and true Gardenia... here it is. It's nice if you like heavy florals. Not for me.