Flora Gorgeous Gardenia by Gucci

Gucci Flora is one of its more popular fragrances. So, naturally they brought out a flanker to it, Gorgeous Gardenia. I initially tried this one out, when it was first released, but have come back to it in order to post a full review. How does it smell? Does it last long? Is Gorgeous Gardenia worth a try?

What does Flora Gorgeous Gardenia Smell Like?

Notes include: gardenia, brown sugar, mandarin, red berries, jasmine, frangipani, patchouli, pear blossom

Click here to try: Flora Gorgeous Gardenia by Gucci

My Full Review

Gorgeous Gardenia opens up with a mix of its fruit notes and the brown sugar accord on full display. The pear blossom leads the way, but it is joined by red berries and a bit of orange.

The heart of the fragrance is obviously the namesake gardenia note. Early on however, it will be geared to the sweet freshness of the fruits, and the scent is delightful.

The pear blossom gives this a nice sparkle and with the frangipani and the emergence of the other floral notes, it can even give off a tropical vibe at certain points. The gardenia will take over for the frangipani, but the latter is the floral note I get most earlier in the wear.

The fruitiness will start to burn off, but the scent remains smelling edible with the patchouli and brown sugar notes. Yet, this is when the white floral accord really begins to take over more.

Flora Gorgeous Gardenia remains clean and light, never becoming a heavier gourmand kind of perfume.

The dry down gives me gardenia, a light jasmine, patchouli, and the remains of the brown sugar/pear. The frangipani is gone and the sweetness of everything is more of an impression, than distinct and separate notes.

Sillage, Longevity, and Versatility

The sillage here is initially pretty good. There is definitely a scent trail to it and it will project itself nicely off of the skin. Not an absolute monster, but you can tell that it is there and others will notice.

After that initial blast, it does move quickly closer to the skin. Not entirely a ‘skin scent’ for the whole wear, but it’s light. At it’s peak, Gorgeous Gardenia is above average in strength.

The longevity seems to be in the 5-6 hour range. During testing, it was closer to the five hour mark, but it did hit six once. So, it for sure isn’t a massive performer, but also wasn’t a complete let down.

Seasonally, it’s probably at its best in the spring and summer months. Enjoyable to wear when it is warm out, but even in cooler temperatures it still had its charm. Maybe not wear it on bitterly cold days, though.

This Gucci can also work well for any age group. Yes, it has fruits and sugar, but it doesn’t come across as being immature. I think that since it never becomes too thick and cloying, it will have a greater appeal across ages.

Gorgeous Gardenia is a pretty fragrance. Office safe. Good for casual daytime wear. Pretty enough for romantic encounters, but not overtly sexy and begging for attention.

Overall Impressions of Gorgeous Gardenia

Overall, do I like Flora Gorgeous Gardenia? The fragrance itself is really very nice. I love that initial sweetness and the brown sugar plays well off of it all.

It never leans too much to the floral side of things, doesn’t have any stem greenness in it. The fresh white floral fragrance is easy to wear and I even like the gardenia note a lot here, even if it’s not my favorite note.

Really, the main issue is performance. It’s okay, on me at least. However, it certainly would do better with some more power in the equation.

I do think that it is still worthwhile to at least try out. For some, you’d probably still want to buy a bottle because it does smell great. Extremely easy to wear and has such a clean attractiveness.

Best Men's Colognes

Best Men’s Colognes started back in 2013, as a way to share my learning experiences with different fragrances, as I dove head first into the hobby. Since then, I have written hundreds of reviews and other pages about perfumes and colognes.