Eternity Now for Men
Calvin Klein (2015)

Calvin Klein perfumes have evolved from bleeding-edge future-is-now blockbusters in the 1980's to something more akin to the creations of a kid left alone with his lego sets for too long without instructions. All throughout the 90's and into the early 2000's, the house was at the forefront of adapting then-novel aromachemicals into their perfumes, using high doses of linalool, calone 1951, cashmeran, timberol, Iso E Super, and ambroxan long before any of those became popular buzzwords in the cognoscenti to sling at designer perfume makers for their now-adulterous use of chemicals. Yet, while the rest of the designer market adopted and exploited what Calvin Klein played with like a child discovering his first chemistry set, its own perfumes just kept getting stranger and stranger. Calvin Klein had sat on the laurels of their early successes for so long that by the 2010's they were in danger of being irrelevant, with releases slingshot almost directly to discounters while department stores continued to just carry the three "big" lines from decades past, like cK One (1994), Obsession (1985), and Eternity (1988), meaning they had to do what every other designer has also done: use flankers to hold everyone's attention. Initially, this was something confined to seasonal limited editions of cK One, but by the release of Eternity Now for Men (2015), had become standard practice across their best-selling lines. This poor misguided flanker of Eternity for Men (1989) is a contradiction of itself, both claiming to be timeless and of its time simultaneously with the choice of name, instead proving to be already of "then" rather than "now" upon launch right into the clearance rack of Ulta or junking up your nearby TJ Maxx. Like most things from Calvin Klein, this still has a lot of creativity, as this house is practically married to it's aromachemical suppliers like IFF, Givaudan, or Symrise, being a guinea pig for their perfumers to try their latest high-fashion patent chemicals, but that doesn't necessarily make it good.

The opening of Eternity Now for Men feels like cheap pina colada-flavored Freez-E-Pop/Otter Pop that's loaded with ethyl maltol sweetness and sharply tart calone nonsense, There is some semblance of ginger and anise here but it is so rounded off by the sweetness of the opening cocktail fruit that it comes across like a pack of Smarties/Sweet-Tarts. The move into the heart shows little variation on this theme, with a supposed starfruit note that really just feels like more lactonic/hedionic wizardry upheld by a processed patchouli thickness. The heart and soul of all "fruitchouli" perfumes is this terpene-free stuff, olfactive mayonnaise for the rest of the scent to "sit" on without adding any personality of its own. Vanilla, tonka, some woody aromachemicals, and white musks enter the picture at the end, and all of this reminds me of a workprint for the later Obsessed for Men (2017). I really like Obsessed for Men but it's an exercise in extremely judicious balance of aromachemicals used in comparison to this literal food fight in a bottle, like perfumers were just splashing each other and giggling in slow motion like a Girls Gone Wild video from decades back, the results being analyzed to be recreated and bottled here for posterity. What you ultimately get here is fruity bubblegum like the most annoying of Paco Rabanne Invictus (2013) clones (although I like the original), snuggled down into a "fruitchouli" accord that in the last quarter of the game has a change of heart and tries to be clubber-style tonka bomb instead, but without the performance to back it up. Wear time is 6 hours max and performance is good for the first 30 minutes, then fuggetaboutit. I'd use this only romantically, as it's too playful for any context where you want to command respect from strangers. Coconut and starfruit suggests summer wear, but this is too sweet and cloying for high heat, so I'd stick to something from the Tommy Bahama or Nautica line if you're trying to stay within this price point for tropical-themed summer scents.

Eternity Now for Men represents an ever-growing problem for Calvin Klein, as they don't know where to actually go with their identity as a designer perfumer. Their best days are behind them says the bulk of the fragrance community, and maybe they're right, although the brand is super huge in Asia or the Middle East where it was forbidden fruit for so long but now has presence in malls etc. Back home in the states, you'll find only the "mid-tier" department stores like Macys, or the Sephora counters within JC Penny (but not standalone Sephora stores) carrying Calvin Klein at retail, otherwise it's the discounters like Ross or Marshalls where you'll be discovering new CK releases first. That's a pretty bad sign to be honest, especially when hidden gems like the precedeing year's Reveal Man (2014) shoot straight to these discounters despite some buzz, and the newest pillar launch (Obsessed and Obsessed for Men) attempts to cash in on the status of the legendary Obsession line as an "homage" (they're lucky it works). Meanwhile, extremely hit-or-miss flankers for Eternity get pumped out sometimes twice or three times in a year, making an appearance at retail counters that you'll miss if you blink. I don't hate Eternity Now for Men, but it's just so dishearteningly average and half-baked, even compared to some of Calvin Klein's other famous disasters (that at least had some character), I just had to express that frustration here. Add to this the fact Eternity Now for Men tries so hard to be fun and in the moment that it feels more like the top notes to a better fragrance stretched to last the whole way, and you understand why I think this is a market-tested beta for what eventually became Obsessed for Men, a scent which does everything way better. For the right price, I guess Eternity Now for Men isn't a terrible evening fragrance for guys in love with sweet clubber styles but not wanting a ton of projection, but that's about it. Neutral.

I have no idea why this was released under the Eternity moniker, as it bears no resemblance whatever to the original or its other flankers. It is a candied, sweet mixed drink type of scent reminiscent of l'Artisan's Batucada with slightly better (albeit less natural-feeling) performance. I swear I smell a surprising hint of Szechuan pepper a la Opium PH, which adds a bit of depth. If you want to smell like a Tiki party at a Thai restaurant, be my guest. Not a scent to be taken too seriously, Now is fun and lighthearted, and frankly not terrible - just be sure to brush and floss after wearing.

Candy sweet and kinda tropical fresh, but this is one of the most cloying fragrances I've tried if you use too many sprays, and by too many, I mean normal. I've tried this three times, twice with the normal 3-4 sprays I usually use and once with just a single spray. The two times with the normal amount proved to be headache-inducing while the single spray had me smelling my arm again and again because it was very pleasant.

Projection is good on my skin, which doesn't explain why it's so cloying. I guess it's just something about the scent. Longevity is good, 6-7 hours.

If there is coconut in here, it's very toned down. I was expecting something like Only The Brave Wild, with a tropical vibe, but that's not the case at all with Eternity Now. What I get is Sweetarts.

It's hard to find a fragrance any closer to Sweetarts than this actually. This is very unisex as well. Starfruit? Not too sure what it smells like as a note. I do get citrus notes in here, mostly lime, and tangerine. Perhaps some cranberry? A little floral. It reminds me of I am King a little bit, i think that is the only fragrance that I can closely compare it to. Although it also reminds me of 1 Million, Joop!, and many others, it doesn't so much smell like them as it does smell like I am King; not entirely, but enough to make the comparison.. ya know what I mean.

There's a hefty dose of vanilla underneath the fruity notes, creating the creamy feel. While tonka becomes more prominent in the base. There's a slight powdery vibe here as well.

Overall I think it's a very complete fragrance. It's different for sure. Not really my cup of tea.. though I forced myself to use up my mini bottle so I wouldn't have the burden of having to wear it again.

Longevity is mehh.. pretty bad. 3-4 hours tops. Projection is quite good though, at least average, if not, above average. It's not beastly like 1 Million, or A*Men, but it will definitely get you noticed. again though, personally, not something I wanna be noticed wearing, as I find it rather juvenile.

Gaaahhhh! I made the mistake of putting this on my skin. It started with a decent freshness. I even smelled the coconut for a moment. Then came the dry down. Smells like sooooo many designer frags for men that I've tried, and it's a headache inducer to boot. No thanks. I've been scrubbing for a while now and it hasn't come off yet. Feel like I may need to ram some Vick's Vapo Rub up my nose to escape it!

Really nice! Different from the original Eternity in a pleasant, convincing way.

Eternity Now for Men by Calvin Klein is one of my solid go to scents of recent times. It has a well-made fruity citrus (thanks to the core star fruit note) and vanilla formulation that remotely resembles the Hugo Boss #6 line, yet the tonka and cedarwood fortify this into a pungent, smooth scent that I never tire of.

The DNA of the original Eternity doesn't seem to be present here, which isn't a bad thing as it allows Eternity Now to be its own fragrance with a more "modern" quality to it.