In the last decade of the past century - seems like one million years ago - someone offered me a bottle of CK One. The year was certainly 1994 as that gift was a surprise for me. I never had seen it before in the Duty Free shops, so that flask was certainly a "fresh bread out of the bakery".
By then, all I cared about was Issey Miyake and Kenzo scents for summer days, Tuscany, Eau Sauvage and Paco Rabanne XS for the office and Kouros, Antaeus, Obsession, Boss Number 1 and Opium for a night out or partying. All of them had a magnificent and elegant presentation and had an extremely good performance, as well a very alluring scent... and a high price as a social toll. They were the "créme de la créme" back then, both for juice quality and looks (and price). All of them are still landmarks of the perfume industry.
CK One was a surprise for me and I remember thinking that that fragrance was all wrong. It was democraticaly unexpensive (so it should be a bad scent), with an under average performance (so it should be a bad scent), with a vulgar flask and no cap (so it should be a bad scent), unisex (so it should be a bad male scent), 200 ml volume like a big bottle of a cheap drugstore cologne (so it should be a bad scent), and with a transparent juice (so it should be a bad scent).
I never cared much about that bottle that I later gave away as a gift, not to my father, but to my father in law at the time, as I did not liked him.
To my past century astonishment, Calvin Klein kept on releasing a new different multicolored CK One once every two years or so. Unconsciously I labeled them all as cheap and low quality colognes, as I did before with the original fragrance back in 94. At the same time Paco Rabanne released the inexpensive "infamous" Paco. Oh my god it seem like a spreading disease. I did not realize then that this perfume democratization was indeed very healthy. Due to this type of product strategy, now we have a larger industry with a larger offer, both in quantity and in scent types, and an extremely wider consumer base. With that conclusion in mind, I now admit that CK One was probably the most important fragrance of the XX century.
Twenty years later, older, wiser and with a different father in law, I saw a very positive youtube review about the new not unisex CK One Shock. "The reviewer must be sponsored by Calvin Kein" has been my first thought. Six months and half a dozen "Shocking" reviews later, I bought my first bottle of Ck One Shock for Him. Two years and two bottles later, I'm writing my first review on the CK One Shock fragrance. However so far I have not bought any bottles of the original CK One. For this to happen, I must be older and wiser than I am now.
As everyone knows CK One Shock, I don't need to refresh your memory in this lines, describing its magnificent bracing pepper and cozy warm amber blended with the intense and creamy tobacco notes, the confort of having a family size bottle, and the smiling face I put on whenever I pay twenty and someting Euros for this 200 ml Eau de Toilete.
By the way, have you noticed that this fragrance is quite unique in the [price & scent type & presentation] combo, and if you compare it with way more expensive similar fragrances like Herod, Spicebomb, Pure Havane and Kokorico, they have been released at the same time or after CK One Shock?
And now, the mathematical magic mirror for this 1000 volts Shock:
- Scent opening............9.5 (surprisingly good)
- Scent Dry Down.........9.0 (fantastic but a bit faint)
- Longevity....................8.0 (up to 8 hours on my skin, with 2 sprays)
- Sillage..........................7.0 (sillage up to 5~6 feet; it projects for 1.5 hours... flimsy)
- Versatility....................9.0 (just avoid the hot temperatures of summer days)
- Usability......................9.0 (a scent quite versatile and easy to please. Use it in all situations except beach, gym and sweaty events)
- Compliments..............8.5 (it will please a lot of people. Compliments will happen)
- Uniqueness.................8.0 (I will just mention, as a predecessor, a similar unexpensive fragrance: Bogart pour Homme)
- Quality.........................8.0 (above average quality ingredients; good spray)
- Presentation ..............8.0 (suitable for positioning in the mass market of which it is part)
- Price...........................10.0 (100 ml flask - €22,50 plus)
- Average:......................8.55/10.00 (The only Calvin Klein fragrances I tested with this mark value were Obsession, both men and women)
between 7 and 8 => above average;
between 8 and 9 => recommended;
equal or bigger than 9 => don't miss it;
My conclusion: Gorgeous! 'Nuff said.
Music: "I want you to want me" by Cheap Trick
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