cK one Red Edition for Him
Calvin Klein (2014)

Smells good, but no man in their right mind should wear this as it's completely feminine. With a juicy floral pear note, backed by vanilla, and a musky dry down. If you're comfortable smelling like a woman's perfume, that is your choice, but I am not. My CK One has made it to my bathroom, as I have no girlfriend to gift this one to. It has become one of my many "poop-pouri's".

This is the male counterpart in the third split-up of the cK One line into separate his and hers iterations. Calvin Klein released the cK One Shock pair of his and hers cK One scents in 2011, breaking from long-held tradition of keeping the line unisex. They didn't exactly market them well, and the edgy looks on the bottles didn't match the gorgeous oriental gourmand scents inside, so they ended up as a cheap thrill for perfumistas/perfumistos in the know, with everyone else scratching their heads. What's funnier is a flanker line of a flanker line came out the following year, showing another pair of cK One Shock scents for both sexes, but subtitled "Street Edition", which was marketed even less effectively, and not even most hobbyists know about. It seems that with Calvin Klein's new (and last) his/her pair of ck One scents, they finally did something right in the marketing department, having the smell in the bottle match what was on the outside, and actually advertised it correctly as a splintering of the usually unisex line into two separate gender concepts, but the smell is much more lackluster so it ends up being the same mediocre success song and dance. I like cK One Red Edition for Him, but I admit it does nothing really new, except re-package the idea of Calvin Klein Man (2007) with a more paired-down pyramid and amplified top, pushing it out of the "tries to be everything but fails to be something" rut that Calvin Klein Man was in, and becomes another alternative to Paco Rabanne 1 Million (2008). No one really knows who signed off on this creation, and it is NOT a re-release of cK One Red Hot Edition (2000), which was actually just a limited edition package that contained the original cK One (1994) in it, and not a bespoke flanker unto itself. This one barely squeaks out a thumbs up for me, because I like the performance results of this on skin even if I'm not a fan of it's core reason to exist.

The top of cK One Red Edition for Him consists of pear and aldehydes according to the tree, but I get a strong fig leaf smell that never really goes away, with the pear being way in the background behind it. The middle supposedly contains suede, black pepper, and ginger, no fantastic impressionistic "Kleinisms" so far to make this sound like it came from Willy Wonka's factory, and the suede is indeed there. The pepper can be felt but not the ginger to my nose, which is sad because I do love a nice ginger. The base of this comes very late in the wear, and has vetiver, tonka, and musk. I can't feel much in regards to any of them due to the blending, but the musk and tonka are definitely padding, with whatever vetiver is present just acting as a way of keeping this from being too sweet, as a desiccant more so than a note that stands on it's own. The whole thing feels like Calvin Klein Man but sexed up, and pared down of all it's superfluous notes, with the befuddling fat trimmed to reduce the "graying" of that scent into something more distinct, yet still typically synthetic despite it's lack of listed captives. I'm sure cK One Red Edition for Him has some synthetics like Iso E Super or some form of woody aromatic chemical, maybe even ambroxan, but they're not discernible as notes, and just gives this anonymous staying power on skin. The whole thing is a bit nostril tingly at first, then shows a strong citrus ghost blood orange note made up of the pear and the unlisted fig leaf, before getting peppery, a tad piquant, then warm and semi-dry in the end. This is the club scent for the guy who doesn't really like club scents, but knows he has to wear something that cuts the air enough to stand out, but without giving himself a headache. It's a soft-spoken slow dancer version of 1 Million, and because it comes in a cK One flanker bottle, even the packaging is nondescript enough that if the wearer doesn't want to really share what he has on, he can just say "cK One" and not be caught in a lie. This is a sleeper that is the concealed weapon of nightlife frags.

The only thing that really delineates this from any other cK One scent is the black and red coloring, and the "cK" logo blown up larger and slightly cut off on the C, to make a more-stylized approach that isn't as tacky as the cK One Shock bottles were. This stuff looks like the Fast & Furious of cK One flankers, with it's sporty dark design that's fit for action but doesn't feel teenage like the Shock series of flankers, with just the right balance of show and go to convince the young buyer it was aimed towards that it's a worthy addition if they enjoy any of the cK One products, or even if they don't, as I'm sure there were still some meathead guys refusing to try unisex fragrances that needed a coddling "for him" on the bottle to feel safe about their purchase. This isn't the cult wonder of the Shock series, and is really just an also-ran to the late 2000's through mid 2010's fruit-powered club scene juices, just a little more reserved than most. This feels like an idea hatched earlier but unused, one not worthy of a pillar release in a bespoke bottle, but already composed by who-knows-what-perfumer for Calvin Klein, shelved, and then finally released in a cK One flanker bottle just to make a fast buck and see if it was worth the R&D to concoct after all. This juice may or may not be a prototype of Calvin Klein Man, and it sure is better than it if it is. I wouldn't go tracking this down with any urgency, but if you like 1 Million or any of it's ilk, this is a safe purchase, and comes across to me as a more elegant aroma for the young man that would rather let his actions speak louder than his designer duds. Suitable for use in evening, spring through fall, in romantic or casual settings. It's too fruity and sharp for office use, and too rich for hot weather. This isn't a sillage monster, nor lasts more than a few hours, so you might need to reapply this from the glovebox if burning the midnight oil

Awful....The strength is light to say the least. The fragrance....almost non-existent. Rip-off

Despite being incredibly mainstream - this is a surprisingly ok fragrance. To me this is a young-smelling sort of scent with strong similarities to Curve by Liz Claiborne. It doesn't really smell anything like original CK One - instead it's a sort of safe, slightly citrussy washing powder kind of scent with a slightly offbeat pear note, that dries down to a soft vetiver and tonka bean - but it is done very nicely and should be attractive to the fairer sex no doubt. Longevity is awful though.

I have to give Coty some credit, they actually appear to have listened to the hatred of very obviously synthetic fragrances. Don't get me wrong this is targeted at a young crowd who I don't think would care but this has a touch of class to it. Lovely pear opening son to mix with the subtle suede note. After a few hours there is a faint trace of vetiver to my nose and cannot smell the pepper at all.

It is most likely completely synthetic but at least it's done well. I wish they would do this in 200ml

I forgot to mention an important aspect of this fragrance, from top to bottom there is a sharp fig leaf underlining everything. It actually makes it that little bit more interesting!