Calvin Klein
Calvin Klein
228 votes
A unique visual signature based on accords, character, and seasonality
A brilliant, slightly jarring burst of melon and citrus crashes through—bergamot and grapefruit providing structural clarity whilst the juniper adds an almost gin-like dryness. The eucalyptus cuts through with herbal sharpness, making your nostrils flare slightly with its menthol-adjacent bite.
The fruity vivacity mellows into something more contemplative as birch and cypress emerge, creating a woody scaffold beneath the rosemary and sage. What was initially sweet and bright becomes increasingly herbal and mineral, with the marine notes lending a faintly salty, ozonic quality that prevents the woody elements from becoming heavy.
The fragrance fades to what feels like whispers—oakmoss and patchouli provide earthiness whilst sandalwood and vetiver linger as increasingly abstract woody shadows. By the fourth hour, it's barely perceptible, having largely evaporated into memory rather than lingering as persistent sillage.
Escape for Men arrives as a bracing slap of orchard fruit and citrus, the kind of fragrance that feels less like a leisurely getaway and more like a cold plunge into a mountain spring. Steve DeMercado's 1993 composition weaponises melon and mango against your skin—these aren't delicate, perfumey renditions but rather the sharp, juicy immediacy of actual fruit, undercut by the structural clarity of juniper and a herbaceous eucalyptus that feels almost medicinal in its precision. There's something distinctly late-Eighties about this approach: the frank pursuit of freshness without apology, without attempting to soften the edges with floral prettiness.
The heart reveals itself as distinctly herbal-woody rather than conventionally masculine. Birch and cypress create a skeletal framework whilst sage and rosemary push forward with a green, slightly peppery edge—this isn't aquatic freshness (despite the marine notes' presence) but rather an herbal tea brewed from forest floor clippings. The fir adds a subtle coniferous resinousness that anchors everything, preventing the composition from floating away into abstraction.
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4.2/5 (485)