Knowing by Jean Kerleo for Estee Lauder 1988

/ australianperfumejunkiescom

Hello Lovelies!

I have had a soft spot for the Estee Lauder (EL) fragrances since someone at a Lauder counter gave me a mini bottle of Beyond Paradise Blue and I wore it for a week while on holiday, came back home and purchased my first bottle, while not a signature scent it has had pretty high rotation through the years and I have a back up bottle because of its discontinuation. I also have a vintage Youth Dew and a couple of Brasil Dream due to its discontinuation too. The rest of the range has completely passed me by so far but because our Guest Blog writer Tim extols the virtues of EL I felt I’d missed something and so when I saw a little Knowing on eBay while buying something else from a seller, I grabbed it.

Knowing by Estee Lauder

Estee Lauder site says: When on a holiday trip in the south of France, Evelyn Lauder, was intrigued with a floral scent that wafted through the garden below her balcony. She searched for the source and found that it was the pittosporum flower, which she immediately knew could be the floral center of a wonderful fragrance.

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Mimosa, pittosporum, rose, tuberose, plum, melon, coriander, green notes, aldehydes
Heart: Patchouli, iris, clove, laurel, jasmine, orris, cardamom, cedar, lily of the valley, bay leaf, orange blossom
Base: Sandalwood, vetiver, patchouli, oakmoss, civet, musk, orris, amber, spices

This is the last of its kind, a big brassy 1980s stand out floriental chypre. Everything but the kitchen sink perfumery, but maybe just the kitchen sink taps we wouldn’t want to go overboard.It opens bright, green, herbal and quickly the flowers come in too. The opening is surprisingly long lasting and instead of changing to the heart in a noticeable way Knowing moves gradually towards the sweet, cool, floral heart, cool as in both not warm and hip. Even the orange blossom here is cool. Have you ever been involved in a hot sweaty sex session with someone but your skin has stayed cool to the touch except where the two of you are joined? That’s how I feel Knowing by Estee Lauder is, so much action and almost complete forgetting of yourself but with a cool, unwarmed edge. You have to have a certain presence before you would wear Knowing or it would wear you, that’s how flamboyantly shoulder padded it is (Thank goodness the shoulder pad is coming back, I’ve missed them). There is an animalic undercurrent that serves only as building blocks at this point.

Much later in the day you will start to notice a warming of the flowers but not in a sweet way, its more a herbal and animal warmth and then the amber comes in and pumps a richness in until tomorrow morning when you shower it all off and start again.

In eastern Australia and on many international islands the Sweet Pittosporum has reached weed status, even though it is native here, causing shade, fire and outstripping local flora problems. It is so easy to grow and quickly reaches a height of 14 meters, so it is often used for screening hedges around the world

Photo Stolen ThePerfumeGirl

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ThePerfumeChronicles and TheMuseInWoodenShoes reviews for further reading
TheFragranceShop has 75ml EdP Tester under $60 after discount!
SurrenderToChance starts at $3/ml

I hope you have enjoyed your wander through my fragrant musings about Knowing.. My day has finished and I am still immersed in a fragrant cloud of Knowing. I can only hope that you smell this good to yourself,
Till tomorrow.
Love,
Portia xx

19 thoughts on “Knowing by Jean Kerleo for Estee Lauder 1988”

  1. Estee Lauder scents remind me of Christmas in Melbourne. My lovely Aunt used to put minatures on the Xmas table as an extra gift along with the crackers, and Estee Lauder was a regular feature. One year I did get a minature of Knowing, I’m sure I’ve still got half a bottle in a draw somewhere…. I really must consolidate my samples sometime! Happy Sunday. xx

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  2. Dearest Portia
    You did a wonderful job explaining the characteristics of Knowing ! It’s is very unique and quite hard to interpret . While its pretty low on my Lauder favorite list I admire it’s composition and It has a huge devoted following ! And u are so right , it is the last of its kind. When I smell Knowing it brings to mind a strong 80s silhouette of shoulder pads , High waisted belted slacks, short asymmetric blowdried hair styles and bright swipes of blush ! It’s polished , grown up and very feminine ! Oh , and the lasting power is exceptional !
    I hope u and all the perfume junkies around the world are happy , safe , fragrant and are amongst love ones !
    Tim x

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  3. Hi Portia

    Lovely review!

    Love EL for being a department store brand with so many fab fumes! Tried Knowing once but cant remember it, so must seek it out again.

    I love the original Private Collection, have you tried it?

    M xx

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  4. I had a small bottle of Knowing and recently I’ve been toying with the idea of getting a bottle again. It does pack a punch so it’s not for the faint of heart really unless you spritz lightly. It wasn’t a favorite of mine but when I ran out of other things to wear back before I had a lot of perfumes I resorted to wearing it. It grew on me and I remember it being one of my most complimented scents. I remember a guy I had a major crush on in college always said how much he liked my perfume which at the time was Knowing. Unfortunately he never liked me too. Oh well.

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  5. What an excellent description of Knowing! Shoulder pads…indeed LOL. The cold is closing in now here in Sweden, and when I wear it during frosty days it totally glows (plutonium glow, that is). Perfect winter perfume. Did you get the leather aspect? On me it the leather starts after an hour or so, and stays to the bitter end. Knowing, the predator rose – you got to wear it like a Boss.

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  6. I am just getting into Estee Lauder, Beyond Paradise for Men is on its way in the post. Others on my list to try are Cinnabar (which i understand to be wonderful but was so unfairly eclipsed by arrival of YSL’s Opium when they debuted back in 1978.) , Sensuous Noir, and thanks to your wonderful review …Knowing is on my list.

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  7. I love many Estee Lauder’s perfumes… in theory, when I smell them on a blotter or, even better (!), from the bottle. But many of those that I liked this way applied to my skin were a complete scrubbers so I didn’t dare to try this one yet. I probably shoud though (I have a sample of it sitting in my collection for more than a year).

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