As I said, it's pretty. Very, very girly, in spite of the unusual, fresh, clean, green, minty note of eucalyptus. That, in fact, is what lifts Contradiction from the (for me usually unwearable) plain floral group into something rather unique with quite a bit of personality! Calvin Klein started out as a designer of jeans and underwear. He is now one of the fashion industry’s famous name and brand. As a boy he learned to sketch and sew all by himself and even won a place at New York’s High School of Art and Design. Body Mist – super diluted fragrance. Doesn’t last very long when you put it on, requires multiple applications. Few perfumes ever will be able to match that force of feeling and simply be just the best sexy jeans&white-bright-u-name-it-what T-shirt fragrance. This is still one of the most stunning fragrances out there. As in: I own the place type of fragrance, but I cannot be bothered to scream it out loud. A classic.

I looked up the combination of the most dominat notes to see how common it is. If I search by only the two main notes, eucalyptus and lily, the entire fragrantica database only comes up with 10 matches, those 10 also including masculine-targeted fragrances. Each added note slashes that number further.Contraction has everything Christmas 2000 would have called for. I can see from the listed notes there is sandalwood and tonka. That combination almost registers to me as spicy, perhaps verging on something like a vanilla bean or cinnamon. On top it's metallic. That's what helps it fit in with the 90s aquatics and more minimalist perfumes of the early aughts. It's sweet but at the same time it has a cologne vibe that moves it toward unisex. A perfect combo for a rather preppy era. In my late high school life and even in my 20s, Contradiction felt as suitable for a night out as it did for school and work. I miss that. I live in Tx, and as one brought up in Europe, I still have a hard time recognizing freshness in this air....actually I still remember getting off of the airplane, and looking around if we've parked next to a giant garbage container...that's how bad the Dallas air smells to a European. At first glance (or sniff) Contradiction appears to be just delicate, tidy and pretty. A pretty Girl Next Door in my opinion. When I put this on, I envision all those nice things pretty, good girls might wear: small pastel-coloured sweaters, starched shirts, ditsy hair accessories, knee length pencil skirts... and I am thinking "I should wear those, as I have always liked it", but somehow it seldom happens. I'm on the fence with Contradiction, while I like certain aspects of it, particularly the floral powderiness, the woodsy notes just don't work for me, neither does the lasting power which is relatively poor.

There is a definite powderiness to this fragrance, which is a good or bad thing depending on each person's personal taste. One review of this fragrance on MakeupAlley, likened Contradiction to the scent of a warm photo-copied sheet. I quite like that description, I think it is very apt and truthful. I really had to grow up to this perfume, but I'm glad I did, giving it one more chance all over again. In the beginning I really hated it, thinking it was: cloying, generic floral, bitter, annoying, boring, etc. But I heard a voice saying: don't dismiss it! :))He also managed to join the Fashion Institute of Technology and this is when he was inspired to create clothes. After having worked for some Seventh Avenue fashion houses for around five years, he decided to launch his own brand with the help of his childhood friend Barry Schwartz.

The projection is a little soft after about one hour, and longevity is moderate four hours. The right choice for the office, a flexible option that would appeal to most but the very judicious frag fan. The fresh, aromatic, crisp, and balsamic accords make it suitable for spring and fall, maybe on a cold summer night. Still, never in wintertime, all too feeble for chilly days. And there is a reason it's a classic. I feel sorry for the youth today, saturated with so much choice, everyone trying to be original and precisely because of that all are the same. Indistinction of difference. Niche as a must, which is just nonsense, not to mention that it unnecessarily raises the prices of the perfumes and creates yet again niche-to-be-different, and yet everybody either is a niche or strives towards it. Not that I do not like some niche creations, but it is just so infinitely borning, the whole concept. This also means that while EDTs will be priced lower, you might have to apply more of it to obtain the same effect as EDPs. So for the purpose of this roundup, we are only going to describe the EDPs. How to Choose a Calvin Klein PerfumeContradiction is like Frank Sintatra - it does it its way (and it does much). Only it doesn't have a voice like he had - it is quite silent and without projection, and this is the big problem that keeps it from becoming a classic and might make it discontinued (I'm affraid it already happened - what a pity. I will get myself a nice 100 ml, while still possible) My most exciting, wonderful discovery of 2021 so far: this fragrance is still made and sold (online, anyway, in the UK).

Overall Rating: 2 out of 5 – Mediocre – It’s not bad, but not inspiring either. It is receiving a bad score due to a combination of quality, originality, projection and compliment frequency. This can easily be worn by people without discriminating tastes, but fragrance collectors will likely avoid it. We're proud to announce that our mailing bags are made from recycled polythene and are also recyclable, and our bubble wrap is made from recycled plastic and is completely recyclable. Ok. I opened it. Found the initial spray very unique, literally unique. I have been using hypnotic poison, poeme, shalimar, samsara, cinema, chanel no.5 and a lot more like curious, boudoir, purr, so many, <> this fragrance is totally different. I can feel orange, musk, and the eucalyptus note is in the drydown which is so amazing. I am sure, if used in moderation, every person will notice its magnetic charm.. There is something really mysterious about this perfume and that gives it the enigmatic aura which i dont see in any of the top fav perfumes. Its really my most loved fragrance. Same with Contradiction. I really like it, really enjoy it (there are moments when I even feel emotional :-D towards the fragrance ), but all in all - for some reason it doesn't seem to "gel with me" enough to make the effort to get it (or keep it in this case as I already have a bottle).

My preferred aspect is the bottle, and it's one of my favorites ever designs, it's masculine, substantial, and unique, it's a great bottle to handle. The fragrance is not as in-your-face as some of the other Calvin Klein men's fragrances, e.g. Eternity and Obsession. I liken this to a fougère-like take on Halston Z-12 type fragrance, or the most recent Mr. Burberry, just not strictly a fougère. Calvin Klein produces eloquence and confidence in a bottle. Since so many of their fragrances are so likable, it might be intimidating to find on that is perfect for you. Contradiction, released in 1997, somehow manages to encapsulate something that is very 90s in essence, but instead of leaving it at that it puts forth a vision of a fragrance for the following millennium. The composition is somehow at once floral, metallic, musky and aquatic. It is dominated by eucalyptus without making it smell like eucalyptus, instead giving other components such as the lily, peony, sandalwood and musk an eucalyptus treatment which is what creates that cold, metallic feel. As it dries down the sandalwood, musk and tonka soften that initial cold blast, but in a very pleasant way. It definitely develops, but not into a different fragrance and the original characteristics are still retained. For me, the eucalyptus is quite far forward in the mix throughout, but it's a 'smooth and cool' element, rather than a 'sharp and cool' element. And it's balanced by the warmth of the cosy sensuality of the sandalwood, tonka and musk. And then there are the flowers making me feel feminine (but never girly). And all the elements seem to meld into a single, if complex, impression.