Clive Christian — 1872 For Women
Essence
Clive Christian 1872 For Women (also marketed as “1872 Feminine”) is a 2001 floral-fruity-citrus released in Parfum/Eau de Parfum concentration as part of Clive Christian’s foundational “Original Collection. It was composed by perfumer Patricia Choux, who created several of the house’s earliest fragrances (including both versions of the famously expensive No.
Scent Profile
The note list is long: top notes of bergamot, Amalfi lemon, rosemary, tangerine, pineapple and blueberry; a heart of lily-of-the-valley, violet, freesia, osmanthus, rose, jasmine and orchid; and a base of oakmoss, Virginia cedar, musk, sandalwood, patchouli and guaiac wood. In wear it resolves into a fresh, hesperidic rose-chypre: a sparkling citrus-and-fruit opening (the pineapple and blueberry giving a soft sweetness, rosemary a green herbal lift) over a clean, lily-of-the-valley-brightened rose heart, settling into a light chypre drydown of oakmoss, cedar, patchouli and musk. The house centers the marketing on Rose de Mai, claiming it takes 170 heads of the “painter’s rose” for a single drop. The dominant wearers impressions are “clean,” “soft,” “herbaceous,” “slightly powdery,” and notably unisex - many find the rosemary-and-oakmoss greenness the most distinctive feature. The most damning and most-repeated comparison is to Calvin Klein’s CK One: multiple reviewers independently say it smells “oh so similar to CK One,” a clean citrus-soap-musk effect at odds with the price.
Performance
Performance is generally regarded as good but not extraordinary, and weaker than the house’s pricing implies. The UK reviewer at Scent Samples logged that “1872 for women has good overall performance with average longevity of 6-8 hours,” with most projection concentrated “in the first hour” and a recommendation of “4-5 full sprays to get the best experience.” Wearer accounts on and vary from “longevity great, projection medium” to complaints of poor staying power. The honest summary: respectable EDP-strength longevity (mid-single-digit hours), moderate projection that fades to a clean skin scent, and a quality of materials that registers as smooth even to skeptics - but not the towering performance the luxury positioning suggests.
Wearing Context
1872 For Women is a daytime, spring-and-summer, fresh fragrance - it has been called a top “summer fragrance” by enthusiasts and a clean, “zen, calm, yoga-retreat” everyday scent by others. Its cleanliness and herbaceous-citrus character make it versatile and office-appropriate, and its frequent “unisex” reading means men sample and wear it too (several reviewers prefer it to the masculine 1872). Admirers also dress it up for formal occasions - one reviewer pictured it as a scent “to wear to receptions and balls, to operas, ballets and symphonies” that “turns admiring heads with refined sillage. It is not a sweet, gourmand, seductive or cold-weather scent.
Comparisons & DNA
The DNA is a fresh fruity-floral-chypre with a green, hesperidic spine. Its inescapable comparison is CK One - the clean citrus-musk resemblance is the single most-cited point in wearers reviews and the chief argument against its price. More flatteringly, fans compare its citrus construction to the layered citrus accords of Roja Dove’s work, and its herbaceous rosemary facet to spa-fresh scents like Clarins Eau Ressourcante. It is closely related to its own line: the masculine 1872 (Geza Schoen’s aromatic citrus) shares the heritage and freshness, and within Clive Christian’s Original Collection it is the lightest, most “everyday” option versus the spicy X and the opulent No. A near-identical sibling, 1872 Tarocco Orange, was later spun off from the same base.
Reception
Reception is sharply polarized, and the price is always the fault line. The headline critical verdict is dismissive: in Luca Turin and Tania Sanchez’s Perfumes: The A-Z Guide, 1872 for Women received one star out of five, summarized as a “green floral,” with Turin’s verbatim quip that it is a “Strange, chemical thing that smells like cheap shampoo you accidentally swallowed while showering.” (Note: the higher rating sometimes cited for “No. 1 for Woman” - three stars, “woody floral” - refers to a different Clive Christian perfume and should not be conflated with 1872.) Wearers opinion is far warmer but split: aggregate sits at exactly (longevity ), with passionate fans calling it their “all-time favourite summer fragrance,” “the perfume that has it all,” and “royal,” while detractors call it overpriced, “like a nursing home,” or simply a luxury-priced CK One.
Versions & Reformulation
1872 For Women has a layered provenance and is widely understood to have changed over time. The lineage runs from the original 1872-era Crown Perfumery formulae, revived when Clive Christian relaunched the Crown house as his own in 1999 and issued the Original Collection (with 1872 For Women dated to 2001). The house states the scent is “created according to formulae and methods originally used by Crown Perfumery,” with “strictly vegetable” ingredients. The fragrance has been offered in multiple concentrations (Pure Parfum 30 ml, EDP 50/100 ml; current marketing cites a 20% concentration for the feminine).
Acquisition Notes
1872 For Women remains in production and is sold through Clive Christian boutiques and the brand site (priced at £275/100 ml in the UK per Scent Samples; the official US Clive Christian site lists 1872 Feminine at $610. 00), as well as luxury retailers like Neiman Marcus and Luckyscent. Given the near-unanimous “great-but-overpriced” verdict and the CK One comparison, this is emphatically a “sample before you buy” fragrance - decants and samples are widely available and are the sensible entry point.
Notable Facts & Lore
- The richest lore is the Crown Perfumery heritage the whole 1872 concept rests on.
- The Crown Perfumery Company traces to corsetier William Sparks Thomson, whose son developed lavender smelling-salts to revive ladies fainting in tight corsets; the company’s first true perfume, Crab Apple Blossom, followed (c.
- 1865-1886), and by 1879 Crown was exporting half a million bottles of 49 scents to 47 countries.
- Queen Victoria granted use of her crown in 1872 - the year and the symbol the modern fragrance honors.
- Crown’s products were reportedly aboard the Titanic’s first-class cabins in 1912, and its lavender salts accompanied Amelia Earhart on her solo Atlantic flight.