Fragrance Friday: Forbidden Euphoria

I've been meaning to try the latest release from Calvin Klein all month, so when I passed it in Boots this week I did an about-turn a had a little test...

Calvin Klein fragrances are a tricky one for me. They all seem to be overtly 'safe' scents... never offensive or unusual, always pleasant, classic and difficult not to like. While Euphoria is one of their more 'complex' scents, it's safe to say that it's little sister 'Forbidden Euphoria' doesn't break the mould.

If you've smelt the original Euphoria, you'll know it as a light fruity-floral with a subtle (slightly complex) woody base. Forbidden Euphoria is quite different from the original, the emphasis being taken from the floral side of things to seriously fruity.


It's a sweet, fresh scent with powerful top notes of Mandarin, Passion Flower and Raspberry. It dries down to reveal a slightly more sophisticated heart of florals (Peony, Tiger Orchid and Jasmine) and a hint of the subtle base from the original Euphoria with Cashmere Woods, Patchouli and Musk.

It really reminded me of another fragrance and, although it took me a while to work it out, I came to the conclusion that it smells very similar to Katy Perry's Purr. The plus side being that this bottle is actually rather lovely, especially when compared to Katy Perry's tacky jewelled-eye cat!



The staying power of the fragrance is surprisingly good. It's an Eau de Parfum and lingered on my wrist for a good 6 hours after I tried it.

Overall, it's nothing to shout from the rooftops about, but it's a nice fragrance and (as with most CK fragrances) would make a safe choice for a gift this Christmas. Available now, prices start at £33 for 30ml.
Disclaimer:I don't own this