Are you a lover of gardenia fragrances? Does a dab of Kai make you suddenly feel a whole lot better about life?

If you’re a member of the Gardenia Frequent Sniffer Club then you’ve probably tried just about everything gardenia you can get your greedy nose on. I too am a card holding member and have come across my fair share of of pleasant surprises and crushing disappointments.

One of the things I’ve learned on my quest to find the perfect gardenia scent is that most don’t contain any natural gardenia . This is because it’s nearly impossible to distill the fragrance from actual gardenia blossoms and so synthetic notes are often used to emulate the elusive gardenia.

These stand-ins for the real flower seem to be paired most often with jasmine, neroli, rose, tuberose, lily of the valley and/or yang-ylang.

If you love Kai but are looking for something for something a little creamier and less fresh, then you owe it to yourself to try Monyette Paris.

According to the Monyette Paris website, “Decadent and luxurious, it is comprised of a creamy Tahitian gardenia, French Muguet du bois and Island Vanilla Orchid.”

I definitely smell vanilla – a copious amount in fact – and also muguet which is a fancy name for lily of the valley. The vanilla gives it a sweetness but behaves itself from becoming too cloyingly sweet. I’m convinced I also smell coconut too despite it’s not being listed.

Monyette Paris has a tropical vacation air to it with a sexy, sultry vibe. I’ve heard some say that it smells like suntan lotion but I think that is coming from the coconut.

Monyette Paris was voted Top 5 Cult Fragrance by Style.com and also has been mentioned in ELLE and Vogue magazines. The nose behind the fragrance is Tristan Brando, who was inspired by travels to Polynesia and the South Pacific.