Donna Karan Gold 
Donna Karan (2006)

I'd call this a dark floral, woody scent. The blend of lily and black locust is a mysterious thing - hard to describe beyond its loveliness. It's a nutty sweetness combined with the other notes. Jasmine is more of a come-and-go-and-back-again, floral-sweet note, to my nose. The clove and patchouli bring an earthy, spiced warmth to the whole thing.

There is an elemental thing here: earth, air, and fire... I get a sweet-wood accord most of the time, as this develops. A sweet-wood like I've not smelled too often before. It is a naturally sweet wood - not a wood with sugar added or soaked in a syrupy thing, if this makes sense to you...

As a designer perfume, DKG is one of the better ones. This could easily be mistaken for niche, or a small-house release. It's well-blended, with unlikely notes, and it evokes emotions, warmth, and comfort.

Donna Karan Gold is one of only a handful of mainstream releases in the past 10 years or so that to my nose packs the kind of bold olfactory punch that used to be associated with classical perfumery and those whoppers of the 1980s and early 1990s. Not to say that it smells retro–it is in fact thoroughly modern, even a little strange.

Maybe that's because in addition to the standard progression through top, middle, and bottom notes, Gold also manages the neat trick of completely changing its personality mid-stream, while still keeping lily as its dominant note. It doesn't dry down so much as it changes its mind, morphing about midway through from a cool, crisp, almost hyper-real interpretation bordering on the vegetal into an amber-ey floriental interwoven with spices, vanilla, and warm woods.

Of course, something this wonderful was doomed to eventually get the ax, although there's plenty of the stuff to be had at all the usual online sites. The EDP, housed in what is likewise one of the more gorgeous perfume bottles in recent years, is the stuff you want to look for.

As photorealistic rendering of the ‘Casa Blanca' oriental lily, Donna Karan Gold stands right beside Serge Lutens's Un Lys and Frederic Malle's Lys Mediterranée as one of the finest lily soliflores. It's the sweetest of the three, and to my nose the softest in profile (not volume!) and the least indolic. Donna Karan Gold is neither so heady as Un Lys nor as crisp and green as Lys Mediterranée, and hence may also be the most versatile and generally wearable of the lot. Its lily heart is complemented by the merest touch of vanilla, some gentle spices, and a foundation of clean musk and soft woods. While its overall texture is smooth and creamy, Donna Karan Gold is not a soft-spoken fragrance. On the contrary, it will project several feet from your skin and leave a cloud of potent sillage hanging behind you. You'll always know you're wearing it, but that's not such a bad thing, given that it's one of the best designer florals you can buy. Lovely.

Gold is a scent I only wear on those "big" occasions when I want to stand up and be counted! This is no "shrinking violet" scent, or a perfume for a stick-thin adolescent -
oh no!
Donna Karan's homage to her favourite precious metal is a voluptuous, creamy, salty full-blown masterpiece that requires a certain panache to carry it off.
It is about Casablanca lilies tempered with amber and pollen with a hint of spices and patchouli. I love it and am in awe of it at the same time.