Photo Karl Lagerfeld 1990 Eau de Toilette
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My 25th anniversary with "Photo"
In the summer of 1995, I found out that the fragrance that had often been noticed by others and that had always fascinated me was the fragrance "Photo" by Karl Lagerfeld. A Mitazubi had bought it. Immediately I went to the next department store and got myself a big bottle, but not without spraying it with the available tester
"Photo" fascinated me from the first moment on. This ever-present soapy and flowery aura, with perceptible tangerine and metallic notes in the top note, rounded off in the further course of the fragrance by increasingly mild spiciness (wood notes, soft leather in the background) as well as an increasing powderiness, immediately captivated me. And this spell has remained until today, the year of my 25th anniversary with "Photo". "Photo" smells and looks to me like freshly washed laundry, which smells so clean and noble that I can't get enough of it. The fragrance always manages the balancing act between sweet and tangy-spicy scents, without ever appearing overly sweet or extremely tart in the overall impression. It skilfully forms a bridge between the tart barbershop scents of the 80s and the more airy scents of the 90s. Even the reformulated version, which Coty released in 2005 and which is often criticized here, still manages to do this to a large extent, although not quite as expressively and fluently in the course of the fragrance as the original version from 1990.
Unfortunately "Photo" has disappeared from the market in the meantime. You can still find some leftover stock on the internet at proud prices, but you should be careful with the original version, which was offered until 2004 (the flacons with the green calculator writing on them). Many of the flacons still on offer today are probably from the 90s. Unfortunately, the many years have not been good for the fragrance, the ingenious top note is now almost regularly broken. This is expressed in a rather musty-looking opening, the heart and base notes now tend to be more than intentionally spicy, even if the fragrance itself still works here. In the reformulated version (2005-2012, white print on the flacons), the fragrance is still ok in my experience, but unfortunately the ravages of time are gnawing at the remnants here as well. It's only a matter of time before these too become unusable.
There are some replicas from German, Austrian and American suppliers and I assume that I have tried all available ones by now. I don't have anything against replicas per se and some to other classics are also made quite passably, but everything I was (had to be) allowed to smell regarding "photo" so far, was unfortunately not usable. Either they are too spicy or too flat, the characteristic flowery soapiness is missing on all replicas so far.
However, I still hope that the fragrance will be re-released sometime or someone will release a good (or at least passable) replica of it, so that "Photo" and I can celebrate our 50th anniversary as well
"Photo" fascinated me from the first moment on. This ever-present soapy and flowery aura, with perceptible tangerine and metallic notes in the top note, rounded off in the further course of the fragrance by increasingly mild spiciness (wood notes, soft leather in the background) as well as an increasing powderiness, immediately captivated me. And this spell has remained until today, the year of my 25th anniversary with "Photo". "Photo" smells and looks to me like freshly washed laundry, which smells so clean and noble that I can't get enough of it. The fragrance always manages the balancing act between sweet and tangy-spicy scents, without ever appearing overly sweet or extremely tart in the overall impression. It skilfully forms a bridge between the tart barbershop scents of the 80s and the more airy scents of the 90s. Even the reformulated version, which Coty released in 2005 and which is often criticized here, still manages to do this to a large extent, although not quite as expressively and fluently in the course of the fragrance as the original version from 1990.
Unfortunately "Photo" has disappeared from the market in the meantime. You can still find some leftover stock on the internet at proud prices, but you should be careful with the original version, which was offered until 2004 (the flacons with the green calculator writing on them). Many of the flacons still on offer today are probably from the 90s. Unfortunately, the many years have not been good for the fragrance, the ingenious top note is now almost regularly broken. This is expressed in a rather musty-looking opening, the heart and base notes now tend to be more than intentionally spicy, even if the fragrance itself still works here. In the reformulated version (2005-2012, white print on the flacons), the fragrance is still ok in my experience, but unfortunately the ravages of time are gnawing at the remnants here as well. It's only a matter of time before these too become unusable.
There are some replicas from German, Austrian and American suppliers and I assume that I have tried all available ones by now. I don't have anything against replicas per se and some to other classics are also made quite passably, but everything I was (had to be) allowed to smell regarding "photo" so far, was unfortunately not usable. Either they are too spicy or too flat, the characteristic flowery soapiness is missing on all replicas so far.
However, I still hope that the fragrance will be re-released sometime or someone will release a good (or at least passable) replica of it, so that "Photo" and I can celebrate our 50th anniversary as well
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