KILIAN
BORN TO BE UNFORGETTABLE
2024
PERFUMER
Alberto Morillas
COLA ACCORD
LIME
CINNAMON
NUTMEG
VANILLA
CEDARWOOD
This is a rebranding and re-release of Bad Boys Are No Good… (2018).
‘Kilian Hennessy’s inspiration: KILIAN PARIS presents Born to be Unforgettable, an explosion of cola freshness that recreates the experience of a sparkling cola sip. It hits like an explosion, sparkles like true character and takes a classic cola into exciting new sensations. A scented creation featuring a cool and confident attitude impossible to forget. The perfume: The accord opens with a kick of fresh lime that leads into a signature blend of Cinnamon, Nutmeg and Vanilla to craft the cola sensation. The fragrance then leads into round and full-bodied Cedarwood notes of long-lasting impact.’ – Kilian
I am admittedly not a fan of Kilian’s output in the years leading up to this, but despite that I had some (misplaced?) hope for Born To Be Unforgettable.
Born To Be Unforgettable seems to be one of a slew of Kilian releases that is an older fragrance reformulated; in this case Bad Boys Are No Good, But Good Boys Are No Fun. I have not tried Bad Boys and at least, with Born To Be Unforgettable the name has become (a little) les cringeworthy.
This being an older release could spell potential and a cola fragrance definitely had my interest, but that quickly backfired. As the cola scent also quicky fades, but even from the first moment, this didn’t give me the vibe that I was hoping for at all. Yes I’m a snob, but this is 100% an average designer fragrance in a Kilian package.
It seems to be the usual, cola and lime, with spices that resemble cola making up for the scent for the start. But to my nose, they smell more like the spices, not like the drink. Something in Born To Be Unforgettable’s spices, woods and vanilla smells purely designer and a plasticy, cheap smelling one at that; I’ve smelled nearly identical accords in many a Sephora mainstay (I couldn’t tell you from memory which exactly). It just doesn’t smell good, nor does it smell like a cola drink.
It’s a weird mess of sweet and spices that feels like it belongs in a Jean Paul Gaultier release, like there’s some of that aromatic, herbal shower gel blended into this that clashes with the vanilla and it feels like it has no business being in a fragrance that is marketed as a cola scent. I could also see this woodiness in one of the lesser Boss releases.
Now, I understand that a lot of people enjoy those men’s designers that smell like this and my dislike of it is just an opinion, but I don’t think it’s a good look for a brand like Kilian (at least this fragrance is cheaper than most of their releases).
The scent from cola that you get is okay, but it’s missing longevity, it’s missing a sparkling texture and it’s overpowered by Sephora men’s corner essence.
Up there with the most disappointing releases of 2024.