Bottle Design:
Jane Tarallo

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Closer Halle Berry 2012

5.9 / 10 24 Ratings

A perfume by Halle Berry for women, released in 2012. The scent is woody-fresh. It was last marketed by Coty.
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Main accords

Woody

Fresh

Fougère

Spicy

Floral

Fragrance Pyramid

Top Notes

Forest raspberry Ozone

Ozone

Water lily

Heart Notes

Cedarwood

Fougère notes Mimosa

Mimosa

Violet

Base Notes

Cashmere

Mahogany wood Musk

Musk

Vanilla

Perfumer

Jacques Cavallier-Belletrud

Videos

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Ratings

Scent

5.924 Ratings

Longevity

6.318 Ratings

Sillage

5.617 Ratings

Bottle

5.927 Ratings

Submitted by DonVanVliet, last update on 08/18/2024.

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Reviews

4 in-depth fragrance descriptions

08/18/2024

6.5Scent 7Longevity 7Sillage

Missk
1357 Reviews

Missk

1

Cashmere Woods

Be it known, I really enjoy Halle Berry's fragrances. Her brand tends to cater to a more mature audience, so they're a little less sweet than your average celebrity scent.

Closer by Halle Berry reached my local stores earlier this week and I must say that my first impressions are looking good so far. What struck me almost immediately was how woodsy this scent is. I wouldn't call it particularly masculine, but it does have a slightly androgynous feel.

The opening is smooth yet tart with juicy raspberry, musky violets and a hint of water lily. The fruity raspberry accord is fairly short-lived, as Closer settles into a woodsy blend early on. In the heart, cedar and cashmere wood tend to be the most dominant accords, sitting on a luscious vanilla base.

I find this fragrance both inoffensive and inviting. Like the advert suggests, it could also be perceived as a little bit sexy. In terms of composition, I consider this fragrance one of Halle Berry's best.

I really hope that some perfume snobs out there give this fragrance a fair chance. It has been composed by Jacques Cavallier, so that in itself is an incentive to try it. Strangely enough, it smells like a subdued version of YSL's Elle without the patchouli, which is coincidentally another Cavallier creation.

The sillage is fairly strong, but never overpowering, and so far the lasting strength has been impressive. I think the bottle could have perhaps been more interesting to look at. It doesn't really do the scent justice. But then again, that's my own personal opinion.

Original review written: September 2012.

07/19/2013

3Scent 7.5Longevity 5Sillage

Mandelmaus
132 Reviews

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Mandelmaus

Top Review 13

Wood Blossom with Three-Day Stubble

I had tested Closer several times and could never really warm up to it. The first time, I even found it repulsive. Yes, it takes some getting used to, but it is also different from so many celebrity fragrances.

The idea behind Closer is not uninteresting. Halle likes the notion that a fragrance (or her perfume) can bring two people together. Thus, she wanted to be involved in the creation of a scent that is supposed to be very attractive to men. In a way, Closer is meant to be a "couple's fragrance." Men should find the perfume so pleasant and desirable on their partner that they want to wear it themselves. If it smells so good on her, how does it smell on me? If both are supposed to wear it, the effect is that one no longer knows where they end and their partner begins. This is also represented by the female and male silhouettes on the bottle. They tried to combine masculine and feminine notes here. In every fragrance by Halle, there is the mimosa, her favorite flower. Even her manager is said to enjoy wearing the perfume himself. Whether this is just PR or reflects reality, who knows.

The opening is actually not bad. Fresh, zesty, aquatic, and completely unsweet. However, you soon sense where the journey is headed. In no time, the fragrance reveals its bitter, woody, and masculine side. It smells strongly of aftershave or subtly perfumed, warm male skin. I spontaneously think of my uncle. When I visited my grandma in my childhood and got to watch him play Tomb Raider, his room smelled somewhat similar. Or of my teenage years in the disco. Some of my sweaty dance partners exuded a similar scent. That's okay, but I don't get any "hot" thoughts from it. I actually quite like bitter fruity notes and cedarwood, similar to Donna. In the top note, it could easily pass as a men's fragrance, but what is offered here is definitely too much.
The floral notes are only very subtly perceptible. The woods become increasingly dominant. Not that it smells bad, but I miss the feminine part. Do men really like women who smell so strongly of man? I was also a bit anxious about my sweetheart at home... why I would smell like this, luckily he didn't notice anything.
Hoping is in vain here. The masculine notes hold Closer firmly in their grip. One could describe the drydown as animalistic, resting on a solid, spicy-scented wooden block. Plus, a hint of vanilla tobacco. I am increasingly intrigued by how the fragrance would develop on a man.

The longevity is decent. After four hours, the scent is still very noticeable, just a bit softer and not as aggressive as in the heart note. The sillage is not overwhelming, yet above average on me. I quite like the design of the bottle, but unfortunately, it does not reflect the contents. The fragrance can surely be worn well in warm temperatures and in autumn. There may certainly be women who like this scent, but I find it much more suitable for a man. I wouldn't want it in the office, as I find it quite penetrating. It is definitely better suited for leisure or sports.

It's a shame, I like the idea behind the fragrance, but unfortunately, it was not implemented satisfactorily for me. If there had been more feminine accents, I might have been able to get excited about the scent.
Still, we can consider ourselves lucky. Because if Halle could pack her absolute favorite scent into her fragrances, it would smell like fried bacon. ;-)
Bon appétit!

06/26/2013

8Scent 7.5Longevity 5Sillage

Caliope
28 Reviews

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Caliope

Helpful Review 8

closer? - Not really.

No, this won't be a hatchet job; I just find the name a bit inappropriate, as I prefer to wear the fragrance in very high temperatures and when I'm out in jeans, a shirt, and flip-flops. So rather when I'm not at all in the mood for anyone to get too close to me. Closer is a very cool scent, in my opinion not overly feminine but absolutely unisex. Halle Berry seems to feel similarly, as she wears a shirt and tie in the picture on the back of the box. There is a certain resemblance to CK One that cannot be denied. I wouldn't choose this scent to seduce a man. Closer lacks the girly sweetness/fruitiness or a typically feminine floral quality, though it has a subtle elegance but without great refinement; it simply reminds me of a nice men's shower gel. At 35 degrees in the shade, I'm quite okay with that, as there's nothing stuffy or sticky, nothing overwhelming or annoying, it's just sporty, fresh, and clean.
On my skin, the fougere and woody notes develop the strongest, my beloved cedar is fully present. I only minimally perceive something citrusy, although personally, I would have wished for a bit of lemon, as it might have been able to tone down Closer's coolness a bit and add a touch more cheerfulness. I can't recognize the included flowers as such; only the water lily seems to create a slightly aquatic aspect. The sour fruitiness of the wild raspberry also holds back quite a bit. What I (to my delight) cannot find at all is the vanilla. Somehow, I can't even imagine it in such a composition. But who knows, maybe it is precisely responsible for the fragrance remaining quite soft overall, and especially in the base, it reminds more of washed laundry rather than transforming into a scratchy aftershave wannabe. Closer was pretty much the last thing I would have expected from a woman like Halle Berry, and yet this fragrance has a certain allure for me - maybe there's Iso in it *laughs*

01/05/2013

1Scent

UnicornCoco
374 Reviews

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UnicornCoco

4

Another opinion would really interest me

In my grandmother's magazines, I often came across the scent "Closer" by Halle Berry and the scent "Shine My Rose" by Heidi Klum during the Christmas days, so I thought, especially at DM, well, let's try out these two fragrances, the advertising gimmick seems to work.
"Closer" is often reported to represent the attraction between man and woman, or even to create it.
Unfortunately, I don't know what an ozone accord is, but even less do I understand why there isn't a single citrus note in the fragrance notes, because to me, this perfume smells purely citrusy. Especially at the beginning, there is no escape, neither up, down, right, nor left; the lemon seems to be rammed into the nose.
At home, I am now trying to pick out a few details. It is not woody at all. Just fresh and zesty like lemon, although, I must honestly admit, it strongly reminds me of artificially scented lemon cleaners.
With difficulty, a hint of water lily and violet can be perceived; it's not really forest raspberry, even though it goes in that direction... more blackberry-like, I think.
Overall, I can hardly imagine this perfume as a plus point for attraction between man and woman; it is more likely to make one want to run away.
Furthermore, I hope that a few comments will follow here, as I would really be very interested in further impressions...