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Contradiction for Men (Eau de Toilette) by Calvin Klein
Bottle Design:
Fabien Baron
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Contradiction for Men 1999 Eau de Toilette

6.6 / 10 138 Ratings
A perfume by Calvin Klein for men, released in 1999. The scent is fresh-spicy. The production was apparently discontinued.
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Main accords

Fresh
Spicy
Citrus
Woody
Synthetic

Fragrance Pyramid

Top Notes Top Notes
Clary sageClary sage LavenderLavender LemonLemon LimeLime Mandarin orangeMandarin orange
Heart Notes Heart Notes
CorianderCoriander CardamomCardamom PepperPepper NutmegNutmeg
Base Notes Base Notes
SandalwoodSandalwood MuskMusk VetiverVetiver EbonyEbony

Perfumers

Ratings
Scent
6.6138 Ratings
Longevity
6.2110 Ratings
Sillage
6.1104 Ratings
Bottle
7.2115 Ratings
Value for money
7.434 Ratings
Submitted by DonVanVliet · last update on 11/22/2025.
Source-backed & verified

Smells similar

What the fragrance is similar to
Contradiction for Men (After Shave) by Calvin Klein
Contradiction for Men After Shave
Mr. Burberry (Eau de Toilette) by Burberry
Mr. Burberry Eau de Toilette
Baldessarini (Eau de Cologne) by Baldessarini
Baldessarini Eau de Cologne
Photo (Eau de Toilette) by Karl Lagerfeld
Photo Eau de Toilette
Elements (Eau de Toilette) by Hugo Boss
Elements Eau de Toilette
Voodoo by Axe
Voodoo

Reviews

10 in-depth fragrance descriptions
Elysium

917 Reviews
Elysium
Elysium
Helpful Review 4  
Contradiction or Confirmation
If I had to trust only the reviews, I would never have bought this perfume. I read the opinions of others to get an idea, but then I rely on my instinct and my nose, on the sensations that the fragrance gives me, which may be different from that experienced by someone else.
I blindly ordered CK Contradiction last fall alongside CK Reveal and Davidoff Horizon Extreme. It was very cheap, and arguably great value. How can a perfume be so cheap? It was released in 1998, more than 20 years ago. So old it cannot be that expensive anymore. However, it worth any euro. The fragrance reminds me of New York in the colder time, Xmas time, everything is incredible if you have been there.

CK Contradiction is quiet but very beautiful, it has an entirely mind-blowing optical fancy cap, a weighty glass flacon almost wholly obscured by a brushed metal cap. It opens up with a pine-like accord that isn't there, sweet and green, which is made of lime, clementine, frosted leaves, plus sage. It's light and fresh, a bright lime note dominates the opening with a blast of minty and aromatic aromas, soapy, it smells like you just stepped out of the shower. I get the hint to freshen linen, and it is a very clean, crisp fragrance.

Then it takes a little nutty and spicy vibe, with the cardamom, coriander, nutmeg, peppercorn, and very soothing soapy lavender that give the heart a dazzling and masculine body.

The base is all about Bubinga wood, a sort of sweet rosewood, then cashmeran, and vetiver, which is there but subtle, sandalwood, and patchouli, the latter which is the most massive note in the base. The ending is a light synthetic and grassy patchouli with residual sweetness.

The projection is a little soft after about one hour, and longevity is moderate four hours. The right choice for the office, a flexible option that would appeal to most but the very judicious frag fan. The fresh, aromatic, crisp, and balsamic accords make it suitable for spring and fall, maybe on a cold summer night. Still, never in wintertime, all too feeble for chilly days.

My preferred aspect is the bottle, and it's one of my favorites ever designs, it's masculine, substantial, and unique, it's a great bottle to handle. The fragrance is not as in-your-face as some of the other Calvin Klein men's fragrances, e.g. Eternity and Obsession. I liken this to a fougère-like take on Halston Z-12 type fragrance, or the most recent Mr. Burberry, just not strictly a fougère.

-Elysium
1 Comment
Guitar2016

233 Reviews
Guitar2016
Guitar2016
Helpful Review 2  
Airy and Clean
Awesome Fragrance ! Fresh, Spicy, Clean, Airy and Unique. In my opinion It is one of the best men's Perfumes from Calvin Klein that smells so good and very pleasant with reasonable price. I really enjoy it because it has a masterful and well-blended composition. Easy to wear and Easy to love, I'm so happy that I have it in my collection. It opens up with fresh spicy and spices notes in the background then dry down is musky woody, Overall, A very soft and smooth scent. Longevity is Good , I love Contradiction for Men by Calvin Klein.
Two Thumbs Up.
Bravo Calvin Klein !
Rating : 8.5 / 10
0 Comments
ColinM

516 Reviews
ColinM
ColinM
0  
Insignificant!
For me, Contradiction for Men has always been one of the several epitomes of “insignificance in a bottle”. But the main flaw here is not even the uncreative dullness, which is still perfectly acceptable as not all audiences need creative stuff; rather the quite evident cheap quality of the fragrance itself. Not tragically cheap, but quite cheap for me. Basically this is a fresh, office/gym/club-safe citrus-woody-musk fragrance playing some modern chords on a traditional “eau de cologne” scheme, with a slight balminess and a painful similarity to a window detergent, sitting halfway smelling “almost pleasantly natural” and “annoyingly synthetic” – far enough from both qualities though, sitting in the exact nonsense middle between them. Neither an “avantgarde synthetic fragrance” (which may likely smell crap, but that would be post-modernly “ironic”), surely nor a particular true to life and natural one. Just exactly the worst type of mall/drugstore fragrance trying to emulate some sort of natural notes with really cheap materials. Which makes Contradiction almost a bit tacky, as it does not show even some slight sort of generic understated cleanliness. It is actually rather bold on the contrary; that would be a plus, if the smell was nice. And quality aside, the fragrance isn’t still worthy any attention for me, as I find this just plain dull and indistinguishable from dozens of others – likely better – lemon-woody-musk fragrances. Perfectly interchangeable with any of them, and chances are for the better. I am a big fan of designer fragrances so this is not really a matter of being mainstream, just plain negligible regardless of the label.

5/10
0 Comments
Miaw2

339 Reviews
Miaw2
Miaw2
0  
Light and good
That's a nice combination of spices over a subtle vetiver and woody base, suitable for all-year use, but prefered in hot days.

Very light and pleasant, good for office - inoffensive.

Updated January 2014
0 Comments
Sisyphos

143 Reviews
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Sisyphos
Sisyphos
Top Review 23  
New Objectivity
The work "Perfumes The A-Z Guide" by the Godfather of fragrance criticism, Luca Turin, is sometimes quite entertaining, but it has also annoyed me repeatedly. Lapidary, in many cases simply destructive short reviews with the added value of Taiwanese instruction manuals for the reader. Unfactual like a quarrel over a mixed bag in kindergarten. And with comparisons more strained than these here. Whoever recognizes in Knize Ten "a splendid strawberry top note." Please. And whoever calls Vetiver Extrême by Guerlain a "vetiver disaster" scares me, because I wonder how someone like that would describe real disasters, e.g. games from HSV.

So I was prepared for the worst when I flipped through the pages for "Contradiction for men" by C. Klein. And behold, it actually says: "... this one is laconically more expressive than most, shifting delicately from gray-citrus top to a woody-spicy heart and, most important of all, to an interesting drydown that does not smell like a shortage of cash, as most others do." I would have liked to know what is so interesting about the drydown for Luca Turin. Four stars for that from the King of Scents. Incredible.

Cfm is from the year 1999 and was on the market for several years. The scent is a gray mouse on parfumo. A complete outsider. I bought it around 2004. First job. Looking for an office-appropriate perfume. Bought this one. And learned to appreciate it. Even today, after many years, Cfm works flawlessly for me. And it does indeed have something functional. One must concede: Yes, it is synthetic. Yes, projection and longevity are only average. Yes, one will hardly be able to recognize components, but with a fair amount of certainty, lavender. I like lavender very much, in all its forms. Here, however, all herbaceousness has been taken away from it. It is a lab-lavender. Whatever. Smells good. But coriander? Nutmeg? I don't find it.

Cfm is simple. Almost simplistic. It smells more charming and multifaceted when you smell directly from the spray head and on clothing when the wind blows it back to your nose. Cfm is not sweet yet rounded, the opening is short and conventionally citrusy (here I would have guessed grapefruit rather than lime or mandarin). Then comes cleanliness. Fresh laundry. It is a flowerless Serge-Lutens-L'eau-mainstream freshness with a bit more spice. Only the drydown is powdery and reveals a hint of light wood freshly from the workshop. But the powderiness is not overly strong. No Dior Homme powderiness, rather like a retracted hand cream.

All of this doesn't sound particularly exciting. Rather boring. So why does the scent bring me so much joy? Because it can. It is in any case something that has nothing to do with a sentimental, idealized retrospective. What I appreciate very much about Cfm is that, in my perception, it does not allow for shower gel associations. It is not an aquatic perfume. That is a negative designation. And a positive one? It is probably the relaxed objectivity (precisely the one I sometimes miss in Luca Turin's fragrance reviews) that Cfm radiates. The whole thing is available, as production has long been discontinued, for around 18 EUR in various online shops (50 ml). An absolute bargain. And more wearable than jeans on top of that.
7 Comments
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Statements

21 short views on the fragrance
9 years ago
3
Fennel, tropical fruit cocktail and underlying sweetness of wet concrete. One of the better CK's and surely one of their weirdest masculines.
0 Comments
2
A bright lime note dominates the opening with a blast of minty and aromatic aromas, soapy, it smells like you just stepped out of the shower
0 Comments
2
Contradiction (and Encounter) remind me of grocery/drug store brand Gillette shower gel.
I gave them both away.
0 Comments
2
A smooth, clean, fresh barbershop. A good one. A significant one. Designed by two great noses. Forget the bad reviews they're jealous.
0 Comments
2
Very fresh lime opening. Can't discern heart notes. The base becomes too funky for my taste (animalic? powdery?) Smell before you buy.
0 Comments
2
1
Really doesn't smell like anything significant, even though it's fairly cheap.
1 Comment
4 years ago
2
1
A very bright lime note in the opening, with a comforting white linen drydown. A sort of AdG with Perry Ellis 360 Red. Decent but boring.
1 Comment
2
Still ultra modern, chic and elegant , youth but not juvenile - even 22 years after it's first edition and reformulated is better than many
0 Comments
1
Flop choice, a waste of time!
It's not the kind of perfume that cause impact on me and that I like
Will it be fake Notino? Made in Spain...
0 Comments
19
13
The last good one from CK
Square, edgy, synthetic
Dedicated to the millennium
Squaring the circle
Well blended
I like it
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13 Comments
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Images

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