Donna Karan Gold
Donna Karan (2006)

In this monolith flanked with hammered metal lies a liquid that immediately recalls the smell of Casablanca lilies. These gleaming white blooms with their protuberant stamens and pronounced anthers emanate a narcotic, ripe, honeyed aroma. It is the archetypal heady, sensual lily aroma, similar to other Asiatic lilies, but even spicier and fleshier, with notes of banana and tuberose. Gold is the ultimate "gilded lily," profoundly voluptuous and vivid.

This is one of the best lily accords I've smelled, but it's also worth noting that there is also another accord here that supports it: that of the black locust. This flower, with its pendulous tresses of sweet-pea shaped blossoms, which is characteristic of many plants in the Fabaceae (pea) family (think wisteria, laburnum), emits a honey sweet fragrance with notes of orange blossom and concord grape. It is one of my favorite tree blossoms, although the trees grow aggressively here in the states. For just a couple weeks, their balm fills the air, and it is delicious.

The combination of lily and black locust here makes Gold a knockout, and the amber/patchouli base that fortifies the sensuality is most remarkable as well. It fuses it all seamlessly into the dry down, almost suggesting the fermented, over-ripened, inevitable decline of blooms, which has a beauty unto itself. Some other impressions I felt through Gold is the scent of fully mature honeysuckle, autumn olive flowers, and carnation in the mid-development. Out of the many lily-centric fragrances I've sampled, this one turns out to be the true knockout.

I found a 1.7 oz bottle of this in a thrift store a few years ago. For $5, I couldn't pass it up thinking it would be a good resale candidate. When I got it home, I sprayed a little on my wrist. What a surprise!
As the years pass, I find myself more attuned to florals and I have always had a soft spot for green grassy earthy scents but I was not prepared for the impact of DK Gold which is, quite simply, a lily and patchouli and woods masterpiece. The initial effect is as floral as hell and as I former grower of casablanca lilies, the note is absolutely spot on. Uncanny in fact. But the dry down is where the real magic happens. Within minutes, all of components rearrange themselves and the woods and earth and the green leaf and amber rise to the top while the intoxicating lily takes a more supporting role but never quite disappears.

Somewhere in the back of a closet, I have a bottle of Jovan Fresh Patchouli and the two bear a remarkable similarity in their dry down but DK Gold's is definitely more complex and Fresh Patchouli does not have the Gold's superb lily accord.

I wear this often and it always garners a lot of compliments. That bottles are still available for less than $30 is astounding given it appears to have been discontinued. No worries. I am stocked-for-life.

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.

This is a light, fresh and green floral, perfect for spring mornings.

A very light take on lily is supported by a cloud of mint, settling on cedar (the pencil shavings note some reviewers speak of).

The amber never comes to the fore to my perception, even though Turin dubs it "lily amber" and gives it four stars.

This is very nice, though nothing spectacular or exceptional, hence the neutral vote, and so very inexpensive that it is certainly recommended for women and is equally at home in the office and for casual wear.

Samples are difficult to find online, but a trial spray at the counter should suffice to give a solid impression.

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.