Three years ago, I finally reviewed a scent that I’d had in my collection for a while. As a longtime fan of Calvin Klein scents and fashions, I added CK In2U Eau de Toilette into my collection without much thought. This was a regift from my mom, who didn’t enjoy the scent profile but figured I would probably like it. I spent a lot of years enjoying CK One – it was an extremely popular unisex scent, worn and loved by both men and women – though I’ve never worn it myself. So exploring another Calvin Klein scent seemed like a fun, nostalgic nod. As mentioned, CK In2U is an eau de toilette, so it’s a less concentrated scent that doesn’t have the wear time of an eau de parfum, but lasts longer than a cologne. I went into this review knowing that this fragrance is here for a good time, not necessarily a long time.
The top notes are pink grapefruit, Sicilian bergamot and red currant leaves. This gives it a bright, citrusy opener that has a slightly fruity spiced and herbaceous undercurrent. As a general rule, I don’t prefer the sour and bitter citrus top notes (think lemon, lime and grapefruit), but I thought that the bergamot note (which is much sweeter to the nose) would balance it. Unfortunately, the bergamot balanced the grapefruit to the point of neutralization, rendering the two citrus top notes somewhat nondescript in this fragrance. The currant leaves were a pleasant contrast to the citruses, and gave the scent a little more personality in the opener.
The mid notes are sugar orchid and white cactus. Similar to the grapefruit and bergamot, I found these notes underwhelming, though I’m sure that they serve to give the fragrance a bit more complexity and body. I could detect the orchid note, but the white cactus was not identifiable to me: I’m guessing that’s because I don’t have any other fragrances with cactus notes, therefore I had no basis for scent comparison. Overall, my impression of the mid notes was pleasant but not impactful.
The base notes are vanilla, red cedar and amber. Now these three notes are very familiar to me. I love amber scents, and I enjoy the opulence and sweetness that comes from this note. Red cedar is normally one of my favorite notes, and it happens to be VERY prominent in this fragrance. If you don’t like woody notes, then you should just go ahead and bypass this one. The vanilla is timid in this scent, but it’s there, and it adds a little extra sweetness to the base. It isn’t doing any heavy lifting, but it’s a good addition.
Despite having amber and red cedar in the base, this scent is listed as being crisp and clean. I actually agree with this scent description: the citrusy top notes and floral mid notes significantly softens the woody base. I liked the scent overall: it’s a fantastic summer option that works really well for indoor/outdoor events (I think it would be really delightful for a day on the yacht or brunching with friends). It’s easy to wear, has an uncomplicated profile, and allows the wearer to shine. I think what I like best about this scent is how it’s crisp without being acidic: it’s fresh and outdoorsy without being rustic. That same fresh profile is why, even though I think of this as a summer fragrance, it could easily transition into the fall (particularly, the base notes work well with cooler weather). Fresh scents work all year round, since they are usually pretty inoffensive and smack of cleanliness.
It’s worth noting that this scent has the CK signature: something about the formulation is tremendously reminiscent of several other popular Calvin Klein fragrances (like CK One). If you don’t usually like CK scents, then this one should be avoided. Something about it definitely reminded me of CK One and Eternity. This isn’t unusual for perfumers: many of them will have a basically template that they use, adding different top and mid notes until they come up with something new but not completely original. So if you enjoy the signature, you may like this scent. I also want to note that the scent can be found several different vendors, though I recommend Amazon, FragranceNet or Walmart for the best prices. It retails for around $20 per bottle.
Here’s my review of CK In2U on YouTube:
