I was not impressed with ck One the first time I tried it. It was so different to my favourite (powerhouse) fragrances, that I hastily decided that it must mean cK one was a bad fragrance. Its abstractness I also found to be hard to engage with. There was, however, something I found compelling about it.
It was only when I smelled it on someone else (a Korean teacher visiting the school I work at) that I really appreciated it for what it is: a comfortable, subtle fragrance with remarkable longevity.
To me it is all about citrus and how it has been altered to last an incredibly long time. Citrus, and in particular lemon is evocative of warmth, of Mediterranean hill sides and so on. As an essential oil it lasts maybe an hour at the most, but cK One lasts for half a day.
The lemon is not the warm smell of Italy or some similar place, but has a stark, crisp austerity. I find it hard to name the other notes, but there is a leafy greenness and what could, as other reviewers have noted, be a green tea note, or perhaps it is the combination of light floral notes and green notes. It reminds me somewhat of Dunhill Fresh and it is perhaps the subdued violet note I am detecting.
It rightly deserves the respect it gets and can be found very cheaply where I live.
Along with Vetiver by Guerlain I plan to wear this a lot through the hot Australian summer.
