Knowing is a perfume by a cult American company Estee Lauder, established mid 20th century in New York by Estee Lauder and her husband Joseph Lauder. Although it began with just a few products for face care, EL soon grew and made some of the legendary perfumes like Youth Dew, White Linen, Aliage and many contemporary masterpiece perfumes such as Beyond Paradise, Bronze Goddess and Modern Muse.
Perfume composition of Knowing is inspired by Pittosporum plant. There are many variations of this plant and their hallmarks are strength, resilience and surviving the harsh conditions. Just like a woman who likes Knowing. The legend has it that Evelyn Lauder, while staying at the south of France, was fascinated by the scent of flowers that grew outside the house she was staying. She was determined to find out what flowers were planted there and learned it was pittosporum. She knew she has to make a perfume with this plant.
Despite the idea to pour the lush scent of pittosporum into the perfume bottle, Knowing is just a classic chypre with dominant rose fragrance. Not the sweet and honey rose like in the eastern perfumes. This rose does not seduce, it inspires. It does not stimulate the emotions but the intellect. A smart rose, like Albrecht Dürer’s paintings. The principles of mathematics, perspective and the ideal proportions so peculiar for this northern renaissance master can be seen or better yet smell in every second of Knowing.
Not everyone can enjoy its beauty. It takes knowledge and experience. For Knowing one needs…well, knowing. Classical chypre perfumes like this one, based on the chord of oakmoss, labdanum and bergamot have almost disappeared from the perfume scene. Not only because oakmoss was in 2001 labeled an allergen-reducing the use of it to a bare minimum. No. The public taste changed. Chypre is now the relict of an old, different time and for younger generations, this kind of perfumes smells like an “old lady”. But one should not judge. This is a matter of maturity. As Shakespeare said: The best a man can do is to mature. And that takes time. The same goes for the nose. It takes time. Chypre perfumes are not for those younger than 30. Only then, after many trials and the maturing of our scent taste can we understand the mysterious and poetic words of chypre compositions. And then, one should start with one of the most beautiful ones – Estee Lauder Knowing.
[Fragrance notes] top notes: aldehydes, plum, melon, green notes, mimosa; middle notes: rose, pittosporum, jasmine, tuberose, cardamom, bay leaf, coriander; base notes: vetiver, patchouli, oakmoss, amber, sandalwood, civet, musk. [Fragrance group] floral chypre.Perfume creator is Elie Roger.
También me gusta este perfume, lo compraba para mi madre, es muy rico y cambia dependiendo del ph de la persona. Es una aroma profundo misterioso que llega al corazón.
Después se lo cambie a mi mamá por Spellbound de lauder que también es riquisimo
Yes, it’s my mother’s favorite perfume as well. It’s one of those that shaped my taste as I grew up and father’s Kouros, Azzaro and L’Homme by Versace…
When I first smelled Knowing I was 18 and loved it instantly. The way it has been reformulated though has made me lose interest in it. Soir de Lune by Sisley smells more like Knowing used to so that’s become my replacement. I guess I just had old lady tastes when I was a teenager because Knowing wasn’t the only perfume my mom told me was “too old for me”.