Photo (Eau de Toilette) by Karl Lagerfeld

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Photo Karl Lagerfeld 1990 Eau de Toilette

7.2 / 10 329 Ratings

A perfume by Karl Lagerfeld for men, released in 1990. The scent is woody-fresh. The production was apparently discontinued.
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Main accords

Woody

Fresh

Spicy

Citrus

Green

Fragrance Pyramid

Top Notes

Lemon

Aldehydes

Bergamot

Lavender

Mandarin orange

Galbanum

Heart Notes

Coriander

Caraway

Carnation

Honey

Cyclamen

Jasmine

Rose

Base Notes

Oakmoss

Cedar

Amber

Musk

Benzoin

Gaiac wood

Sandalwood

Tonka bean

Patchouli

Ratings

Scent

7.2329 Ratings

Longevity

6.8258 Ratings

Sillage

6.5239 Ratings

Bottle

6.7252 Ratings

Value for money

7.280 Ratings

Submitted by DonVanVliet, last update on 09/27/2025.

Smells similar

What the fragrance is similar to

Photo After Shave

Solarissimo - Levanzo

Green Pearl

LR Classics - Hollywood

Contradiction for Men Eau de Toilette

XS pour Homme Eau de Toilette

Reviews

37 in-depth fragrance descriptions

09/12/2015

8Scent 5Longevity 7.5Sillage

K1
121 Reviews

K1

Helpful Review 3

Classy classic but not retro

You may review this perfume but are you sure your review is trustable without considering its retro version and without considering Photo in its hey-day? Felling Photo truly needs to review some classic masterpieces, although, Photo never entered that list. But it is and was not that bad!

Photo (my review is upon my vintage version sample from my dear friend Panos) is a soft classy classic leather jacket/white t-shirt mate aldehyde spicy. Kind of fresh, kind of dandy, kind of masculine and manly floral air. Not a "boys are back in town" type of perfume but definitely "dandy is back" type!

Photo opens with deep freshened aldehyde, faint animalic-form, soft floral and all in autumnal fresh mood. Like in YSL Live Jazz, coriander and lemon play important rule in the composition. If you're in classics, Photo stays somewhere between modern and classics, not so old school, nor so contemporary.

Longevity: close to skin in lasts so long, but longevity for favorable power is about 5 hours.
sillage: Soft, light and moderate.
Scent: I love it but it's all about taste.

02/02/2013

7Scent 5Longevity 5Sillage

Drseid
828 Reviews

Drseid

3

A Picture of Oakmoss Heaven...

*This is a review of the vintage version of Photo.

Photo (vintage) opens with sparkling aldehydes and bergamot citrus to give the scent a bit of bite early before they dissipate as very aromatic lavender joins bitter-green galbanum, and powerful oakmoss rising from the base. As the scent enters its early heart phase, the dominant oakmoss remains as the aromatic lavender and galbanum move to a supporting role, as rose and carnation florals join a dark slightly dirty musk to give the green overall accord an almost musty floral undertone. During the dry-down the oakmoss and florals lose their bite as sweet honey, sandalwood and amber emerge late to soften the finish. Projection is average and longevity is slightly below average to average at 5-7 hours on skin.

Photo is one of those scents I sniffed in a magazine 20+ years ago, impressing me just enough to remember I sniffed it but not quite enough to seek it out back then. Having now semi-blind bought a bottle of the vintage juice years later I can certainly see the allure it has on its many fans. I am not a lavender lover, but the stuff used in Photo (vintage) is very nicely done with a focus on its aromatic qualities and the gorgeous oakmoss used is so strong it is near impossible not to notice it almost immediately. Where the scent falls down just a hair is in the middle phase where the musty florals can be a bit off-putting. Not to say they detract so much for me to not enjoy and recommend Photo, just be aware that this is not quite the clean scent you may think. The finishing dry-down of Photo (vintage) may be the best part of the scent as its honey note seems to come out of nowhere, really working perfectly to soften its relatively bracing green overall nature. The very good 3.5 star out of 5 rated Photo (vintage) is a great way to get a taste of a time when oakmoss reigned queen and compositions had more bite. I have not sniffed the current version of the scent but I know just from the oakmoss in the vintage juice reviewed here that one should stick to the vintage version as there is no way it can be in the current stuff (in any large way) due to regulations and with the vintage juice still selling for $20-$35 a bottle there is no reason not to go for "the good stuff".

03/03/2015

ColinM
516 Reviews

ColinM

4

Uninspired fougère

Photo by Lagerfeld is a more than conventional masculine cologne with citrus, lavender, carnation, rose, spices and woody-mossy notes – shortly a fresh, woody-soapy aromatic fougère halfway Versace l’Homme (to which it is much similar) and Armani pour Homme. While the accords are conventionally “barbershop” there is a youngster, cleaner vibe all over, like in the two abovementioned fragrances – which are however both much better than Photo in my opinion. Everlasting woody-rose drydown. I wouldn’t say it is bad, it is nice and graceful instead, but also terribly dull and highly forgettable . Sometimes “forgotten gems” are forgotten for a reason...

5,5-6/10

02/20/2023

8.5Scent 5Longevity 5Sillage

ChicoRoch1
163 Reviews

ChicoRoch1

2

A questionable vintage

Now I don't know if it's my skin or if the bottle is too old or if some scumbag watered down the scent or whatever but when I bought my very 1st bottle all I had to do is remove the top and I was greeted with a beautifully potent spicy Amber. That was 1991, many many yrs ago. As time went on my life took me down a different path I forgot all about colognes though. A few yrs ago my interest has returned and now it's become somewhat of an obsession finding all of those big strong vintage fragrances that sadly are no longer made. During my search I kept on seeing vintage Lagerfeld Photo ads for exorbitant prices so I ignored them all. Then I saw a bottle for a decent price so I quickly jumped on it. I feel I've been robbed because it's nothing like I remembered, not even the scent is the same and the performance is awful so just beware when you buy a so called vintage fragrance because you just may be surprised. There's really nothing else that needs to be said

08/18/2024

7Scent 8Longevity 7Sillage

manlyscents
96 Reviews

manlyscents

1

Starts out great...

The opening is spicy, ambery, lavender+carnation heaven. Later on as the spiciness fades away, it becomes slightly soapy, slightly woody, and quite creamy. The creaminess leans towards sweet, akin to that of YSL Opium Pour Homme, enough for me to find it cloying in the heat.

I own both this deep vintage version (digital calculator font) and the Unilever version that followed. The fantastic opening lasts much longer on the vintage. It's one those cases where the deep vintage is substantially better. Before I owned either of them, I had the last version (made by Coty) and that one is even worse. I don't give scores, but on a scale of 10, I'd say this fragrance lost a star at each reformulation. The last version is passable, but not what it used to be. Discontinued now.

It projects well for the first hour and a half. Longevity is good.

Masculinity Level: Travolta in A Civil Action.

More reviews

Statements

48 short views on the fragrance

ChicoRoch1

3 years ago

8.5Scent 5Longevity 5Sillage

1

Not what I remembered even tho it's supposed to be a vintage bottle

SantinoJo

4 years ago

7.5Scent 6Longevity 6Sillage

1

A nice spicy fougere. Good scent but sadly it's a bit weak. Could be a good gift for your dad.

KimJong

5 years ago

8Scent 6Longevity 5Sillage

Current version: a gloomy spicy fougere, feels like Tom Waits in Jim Jarmusch's movies. Good scent but it's a bit weak.

MonsieurTest

4 years ago

7.5Scent 7Longevity 7Sillage

35

26

Overexposed image of the 80s:
Bright, citrus-fresh
everything-in-it.
Chromed, polished flowers, woods & musk:
90s kickoff.

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Salva

3 years ago

8Scent 7Longevity 7Sillage

29

25

A fresh-soapy classic
With an old-school vibe
Floral notes
&herb-mossy base
No annoying sweetness
No nasty synthetics
Beautiful

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Chizza

5 years ago

7.5Scent

16

12

a wonderful classic, spicy and beautifully staged oak moss, fresh at the start. Unfortunately discovered it too late. Fades a bit quickly.

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Hordak

7 years ago

9Scent 7.5Longevity 7.5Sillage

13

2

A huge love! Shower gel, laundry detergent, heating cellar, Northwest City, 90s! Unfortunately discontinued, better than its reputation, works (almost) always!

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