Calvin Klein Euphoria Men Eau de Toilette

I'm not really a perfume person. Now by that I don't mean I don't like perfume or wearing perfume, more that I find it very difficult to find a scent that I'd want to wear every day or every time I go out, and so tend not to bother. So every time I go into a department store (which is not very often as I live in a small town with no department stores whatsoever and don't drive) I head straight for the perfume counters in the hope that I'll find a scent I can honestly say I'd wear more than twice and therefore be able to justify buying!

On the most recent of these trips (Probably about 6 months ago) I was drawn almost immediately to a deep purple box I saw sitting on one of the counters. Now there's not many colours I really love, but this deep, rich purple is one of them. When I got closer I could see the word 'euphoria' written in silver in the top right hand corner of the box, and getting closer still, I could see it was by Calvin Klein. It was then that I remembered seeing it advertised in magazines and falling in love with the bottle!

And sure enough, there in front of the box was the tester bottle. My immediate thought was that it doesn't look as nice as on the magazine advert, but then when do things ever look that good? The bottle is lovely, as you may be able to see from the picture, it's a sort of half moon shape, which goes inwards towards the top. The bottom of the bottle has been formed from a circular piece of aluminium which has simply been curved up at the edges and then indented at either side, then inside that is the glass of the bottle, through which you can see the pinkish (it has been described as amethyst-hued, but I think it's definitely more pink than purple) liquid inside. The bottle was designed by Klein and Fabien Baron, and was inspired by 'an orchid about to bloom'. It's also very ergonomic, sitting perfectly in your hand, your fingers and thumb at the indents at either side. The lid is an aluminium cuboid with the words 'euphoria Calvin Klein' written down one side. This lid pulls off to reveal the silver atomiser spray top.

Well, by this point I'd already fallen in love with the box and the bottle, so I'm bound to be disappointed by the perfume I thought. So, I sprayed a little in the air in front of me and had a quick sniff, and, WOW! It smells amazing! I don't normally spray perfume directly onto my skin as many bring me out in a rash, but I wanted to see if it smelt as good after a while, so I sprayed a little on my wrist and went off to look around the rest of the store. After walking round the whole of the store looking like a nut job sniffing my wrist every 2 seconds, I'd completely fallen in love with the scent and promptly went back to buy a bottle of my own!

The fragrance is a contrast between exotic fruits and seductive florals, with top notes of pomegranate, persimmon and green notes, midtones of lotus blossom, champaca flower and black orchid, and bottom notes of liquid amber, black violet, cream accord and mahogany. The bottom notes are definitely key in this scent, the black violet and mahogany, and the cream accord to a lesser extent, being very apparent. The pomegranate and black orchid are more subtle, and become more apparent once you've been wearing the scent for a while. I have no idea what persimmon, green notes, lotus blossom, champaca flower or liquid amber are supposed to smell like, so I can't say any of these were apparent to me, but the overall scent of the perfume is very intense and exotic.

As this is an intense scent I wouldn't recommend it for everyday wear unless you're after a strong signature scent. It's best left just for nights out or special occasions. I also find if I spray it more than once it's far too strong and actually gives me a headache. So what I tend to do, as I also don't like to spray perfume directly on my skin (though this one didn't irritate my skin when I tested it on my wrist), is spray it once in front of me and walk through it. This gives a scent that's subtle, not too strong, and lasts all day/night. The scent does fade slightly during the time you wear it, but all this does is reveal the tones which had been masked by the more key notes, so it stays smelling gorgeous the whole time and doesn't turn to that chemically smell you get from cheaper perfumes. This is definitely not one to be spraying too much of, not only because it gives me a headache, but also it's one of those scents that if it's too strong it smells awful and gets in the back of your throat.

The first time I wore this on a night out, I got so many compliments about how good I smelt it was just unreal! Even Rob and Jase, who very rarely dish out compliments for fear of being thought of as 'nice' and even more rarely notice things like how people smell, said I smelt good enough to eat! And Angel didn't stop sniffing me all night. So not only have I found a perfume that I like, but one that everyone else loves too. And 6 months down the line I've still not tired of it, I love it just as much as I did at first sniff. Now that, in my book, is a result!

Euphoria is available as an Eu De Parfum in 30ml, 50ml and 100ml sizes. Prices vary from place to place, but the prices in Boots are £28, £39.50 and £59. It is quite expensive, but definitely worth it for the quality and longevity of the scent. The perfume will keep for 36 months, so even if you don't use it very often, you should be able to use it up before it expires.

All in all I am VERY pleased I bought this perfume, and will definitely buy it again when my bottle runs out. I'd highly recommend it to anyone who wants an exotic, inspiring scent, but just remember not to use too much!!!