Jean Paul Gaultier Classique Femme Eau de Toilette

As a part of one’s life cycle, I had my most recent birthday (and birthday party) and I was waiting anxiously for the best part of the whole thing . . . my presents! I must say I had loads that day, but one present I received stood out proudly amongst them all: the Jean Paul Gaultier “Classique”. My close friend bought me this because I had told him that the thing I desired the most as a birthday gift was a top-notch perfume; this perfume certainly fitted that calibre.

I had seen this perfume on display in Boots and Debenhams; and I had seen the advertisement several times but I had never seen the package in which it came, which was a big surprise to me!

The package . . . or shall I say the "BAKED BEANS" tin?

The package was bizarrely designed . . . after opening the wrapping paper, I was shocked to see just a stripped off tin! Yes, it was exactly like a larger-sized tinned fruit tin, or a larger-sized baked beans tin but without the label of course! I thought, “No way!” It didn’t look attractive enough for display nor for exploring. I was very disappointed by the packaging.

I examined the “tin” perfume carefully . . . it was a very plain shiny silver cylinder tin can, but with the name of the perfume engraved on the front and nothing else on the front (or the back)! At the bottom of the tin there was some very basic info about the perfume and the selling code. There was nothing interesting about it . . . well until now!

Now I need to open it . . . where is my tin opener?

Do I need a tin opener? Not really . . . all what you need is to open the clear plastic wrapper surrounding the whole tin, once it’s off you will be ready to have a sneaky look by lifting the tin upward! A nice surprise was waiting for me!

Wow, what a surprise: A whole ''sexy'' woman’s body?

Underneath the “ugly” tin cover is a beautifully curved body, a real woman’s body with curves, nicely sculptured and well proportioned! Having nearly a perfect woman torso, I have to admit I was astonished! Here was a beautiful clear glass figure bottle wearing a sexy opaque Basque with stocking hold ups! It has a mini metal clip attached to the nick of the bottle to secure it saying, “pull” so you can pull gently and it will be off!

The glassy figure stands on a lid of a clear plastic base attached to the tin I simply loved it, it was extremely classy and the bottle itself was the most eye-catching one out of all of my perfumes (and that’s saying something as I have over 30)!

I checked their website to discover many other varieties and scents all of them share the same figure but with different clothes . . . for men and women (and before you start asking, the male varieties have a muscular male body with some bits and pieces!)

Jean Paul Gaultier, a French fashion designer, released the perfume, which was introduced in 1993. It was his first fragrance, by the name of Classique, a women's floral-oriental fragrance.

The colour could be seen clearly through the woman’s body…

The colour was very much like a bottle of whisky or maybe diluted tea? This amber-orange perfume, showed amazingly through the glass. I wasn’t that impressed of the colour as I thought it might stain my neck or my clothes.

Smelling it for the first time! And, I’m loving it!

There are no words which can describe this perfume; I could smell it before spraying it, but did that make it a strong scent?

After the astonishing appearance, I was encouraged to try it as soon as I could, so I sprayed a little on my wrist to test the smell and its staying power.

The moment I applied it, the perfume evaporated very fast within seconds and it didn’t leave any oily residue, or any other powdery or slippery marks, so it can applied to clothes (at a distance of course) but beware of spraying it on silk or satin as it can still leave a nasty stain; you can spray on other garments safely.

Back to the smell, In general it is an extremely warm fragrance; for some reason it reminds me of Christmas! I can definitely detect a flowery scent, which gives it the romantic, cosy feeling. There is definitely a sweet smell of orchid and ylang-ylang fused with a hint of fruity aromatic and a slightly sharp smell of orange blossom. In addition, the smell of tangerine that gives it a kick of fresh feeling. It was finished with the powerful touch of the musky, woody and spicy fragrances that were dominating the whole concoction. Finally, they splashed in sweet, spicy vanilla blended with musk and amber and ginger.

To give it that unique special and effective smell . . . the combination of the subtle romantic light flowery touch combined with the stronger, more powerful, that will awake your senses; you will not stop sniffing that perfume!

Staying power . . .

I can’t say one bad word against the staying power. The fragrance is not a very sharp, woody or overpowering perfume but I definitely can say that the staying power is amazingly stunning!

Three hours later and the smell was still there; the scent had faded a bit to a much subtler perfume but it was surely there. Unlike a lot of perfumes that start strong and effective and hardly last for a couple of hours or which change into a nasty sprit-smell when in contact with your skin or attacked by heat, JP was still smelling as good as when it was first applied; I was quite happy with the perfume when it got older on the skin. I used it when I was at my cousin’s party; nearly everyone asked me about it! It lasted for the whole night and for weeks after the party the fragrance stayed powerfully on my dress; my whole wardrobe was affected by the musky smell.

What I liked about it? A lot!

• Strong but subtle smell, a unique combination between sweet and sharp, musky and flowery, which gives it an extraordinary inimitable and distinctive feminine smell.

• Unlike some perfumes, it didn’t leave oily or greasy effect when sprayed; that can be an advantage when using on skin directly or sprayed on clothes.

• Long lasting fragrance, last for hours on skin and days on garments and doesn’t change into anther revolting fragrance.

• Because it was a sort of orangey colour, I had suspicions about it staining the skin especially around the neck but fortunately this high standard perfume didn’t leave any marks or stains.

• Because of its long lasting powers and staying effect it can be highly recommended to use on romantic evenings, parties, special dates and occasions.

• The fragrance is highly concentrated therefore, it is very economical.

What I didn’t like . . . Not much!

There are only a couple of things, which I don’t find them major

• The price is a bit on the high range.

• If applied too much it can be sickly sweet, so don’t use too much

Prices and availability

Jean Paul Gaultier “Classique” EDT is sold widely in good perfume shops, in Boots, and in high street shops. Prices vary between £25 -£ 60 but I have found it much cheaper in duty-free shops and when they are selling it on the plane. In my recent journey to Las Vegas, I bought another bottle for only £40 which great!
It comes in 100 ml as EDT; or EDP in 50 ml.

My opinion

I have been using Jean Paul Gaultier “Classique” for months now and I highly recommend using the perfume. It is suitable to use for all ages and most occasions . . . with its musky, woody and spicy aroma; it’s great for use at evenings, but also it is flowery enough for a light day perfume.

I have to say that I didn’t like the tin-look cover; I know it’s a unique and a different idea but I can’t help thinking of baked beans when looking at it!

I absolutely adore the stylish, elegant very feminine bottle . . . it’s the scent that making girls adorable and men wondering!

My personal rates . . .

I have a few rates for the perfume in general

* Smell 9/10

* Colour 5/10

* Staying power 9.5/10

* Price wise 5/10

* The bottle shape 9/10

* Packaging 4/10

* Value for money 7/10
Thank you for reading

© Karimkha ~ ~ ~ November ~ ~ ~ 2009