Along with the usual suspects — Tabu, Old Spice, Jean Naté — drugstores in the United States these days seem to carry a few fragrances also found in department stores. In the drugstores I visited, they’re an odd collection. In the Rite Aid downtown, I found minis of Britney Spears Curious and Calvin Klein Escape, but also a 50 ml bottle of Christian Dior Dune Eau de Toilette for $35. I thought Dior had tightened up its supply outlets. What is Dune doing in a store known for its deals on multipacks of Pringles? In my neighborhood Walgreens, Guerlain Shalimar sits next to Elizabeth Taylor White Diamonds and Coty Emeraude. Shalimar? For real? How did that happen?
Continuing this week of drugstore fragrances, I picked up a mini of department store fragrance I’d never tried: Giorgio Beverly Hills Red “extraordinary Eau de Toilette spray.” It seemed emblematic of some of the other mid-level perfumes I saw at drugstores in that it was an old favorite that still had a following but didn’t have enough cachet to regain its lost seat at Nordstrom.
Giorgio Red was created by perfumer Bob Aliano and launched in 1989. Jan Moran in Fabulous Fragrances lists its top notes as osmanthus, ylang ylang, orange blossom, peach, bergamot, spices, cassie, tagetes (marigold), hyacinth, cardamom, aldehydes; its heart as jasmine, carnation, Bulgarian rose, marigold, May rose, gardenia, tuberose, orris, lily of the valley; and its base as amber, musk, patchouli, sandalwood, oakmoss, vetiver, tonka bean, cedarwood, vanilla, and labdanum. Jan Moran adds that “each drop contains a blend of 692 ingredients.” Whew! I need a from the nap from just thinking about all those notes.
Giorgio Red is yet another horse in the 1980s race of gigantic oriental perfumes kicked off by Yves Saint Laurent Opium. On first sniff, I thought of a combination of Estée Lauder Cinnabar and Dolce Gabbana (the one with the red cap.) I smell cinnamon, labdanum, amber, clove, sweet wood, and musk. Giorgio Red is aldehydic, but has barely enough lift to get its spice-laden derriere off the ground. Like Cinnabar, it is a rounded whole without many surprises.
But unlike Cinnabar, which is as ageless as velvet and tapestry, Red feels dated. Red screams for an Ungaro blazer in lime green, large houndstooth. It wants shiny lips and sheer black panty hose. It wouldn’t mind Duran Duran playing in the background, and it has a framed Nagel poster in its hallway. Giorgio Red is also loud. If you seek its comforting, warm spices — and I surely understand if you do — take care to put on just a tiny bit at first or you will be the one who inspires your office’s policy banning perfume.
Red’s day in the sun was short. The soon-to-be coolest kid on the block, the lean, aquatic Calvin Klein Escape, was just two years off and a world away in terms of style. Still, Giorgio Red can be had for a song (my .33 ounce bottle was $4.50), and its predictable spicy, chewy, aldehydic scent makes a cheap and easy pleasure.
My guess is that many Now Smell This readers, after sniffing their way through scores of sample vials, will pass up Red as a sort of Yankee Candle of the oriental perfume world. But it wouldn’t hurt to have a mini in your glove compartment if the dog does something unfortunate in the car on the way to the vet. And for the many people who don’t know Serge Lutens from the Jolly Green Giant, Red is a lovely, easy, delicious (and inexpensive) perfume.
183 Comments
Read more about commenting at Now Smell This.
Oh gracious. This was one of my first great perfume loves. I sniffed a magazine strip, fell in love, and hunted it down. I was a broke single mom, but didn’t even care about the cost – and it remained on my birthday/Christmas lists for years. It was my signature scent for a long, long time, and the one by which most people recognized me. I wonder if I’d even like it now? Thanks for the memories!
I’d love to know what you thought if you smelled it now! I can totally imagine being smitten with it. It’s easy to like. But it’s also easy to get bored with once you’ve smelled things more complex.
Angela, it’s funny how you write “something more complex” considering the list of ingredients seems to make this a real Kitchen Sink Perfume! But I know what you mean — number of aromachemicals doesn’t equal complexity.
I had that thought, too, after I pressed “enter”, but really it doesn’t smell very complex to me!
I’m really hesitant to go back and sniff those old teenage to college and beyond loves—-I have memories of feeling like I smelled great, being told I smelled great….what if I revisited Ralph Lauren or Liz Claiborne and GAGGED! Would my memories be tainted? tough decisions….
Yes Daisy, some things are best left as originally remembered. But then there are great loves such as Safari in it’s original formulation that can be revisited again and again-and the deep love is still there.
I should find an old bottle of Rive Gauche….I wore that thru the mid 80′s while everyone else was wearing Opium.
Gosh – I go all the way back to the 70′s with Rive Gauche. The packaging seems so ahead of it’s time, doesn’t it?
yes, Rive Gauche was so different from everything else at the time…made me feel pretty darn sophisticated for an 18 yr old! I discovered it thru a girl in my dorm who was a “mature senior” , as well as beautiful and she sang Opera for goodness sake! And she smelled fabulous….I was pretty much in awe of her all year. No sooner had she graduated than I dashed out and bought my first bottle of Rive Gauche (I couldn’t in good conscience ‘steal’ her signature fragrance while she still was at school, right?) By the beginning of sophomore year it was MY signature fragrance! Ha!
Safari–another one by Ralph Lauren.
Oh Daisy, Lauren is still nice, right? I hope so! I haven’t smelled it in a long time, though.
Reformulation City, babe.
Luckily, I snagged an old partial bottle on teh bay for about $5, and it smells wonderful.
awww, reformulated? rats.
I’ll have to zip over to evilbay to see if I can find any of the old stuff.
oh, forgot to say—isn’t that dark red chunk of glass bottle just wonderful? love it.
Boo hoo for Lauren, but I’m glad there’s still some of the good stuff out there.
Spice-laden derriere is right. I had a bottle of this when I was in high school, and even I, the Queen of the Massive Teenage Sillage, was overwhelmed by it. My aunt bought it for me, and when I wore it around her she turned her nose up at me and asked why I wasn’t wearing “that lovely light perfume” she got me. She then argued that it couldn’t be the same thing, and I was the one who had it all wrong. (She is not the most pleasant person.) In spite of it being a bit much on me, I really did like it, although I ended up giving it to a friend. I wonder what I would think of it now.
What a story! Too bad about your aunt–I always think of aunts as supposing to be like Auntie Mame (the aunt I aspire to, personally.) If you do smell it again, I’d love to know what you think!
Well, my aunts (both of them) are eccentric, so they have that going for them. And the unpleasant one did at least share my love of perfume, and always bought me a bottle for Christmas. (Back when I was on better terms with her, and she still sent me gifts.) Every now and then I toy with finding vintage L’Air de Temps and Coty L’aimant for her, since those used to be her favorites that I would buy for her. But I’m sure she’d be appalled that I bought her something “old.”
B. and I were going to watch Auntie Mame on Sunday, but decided to watch Grey Gardens instead. Now that I think about it, both are about offbeat women, although I’d want to be Mame, and not either of the Edie’s.
Miss Kitty, did you watch the original Grey Gardens documentary or the newer biopic with Drew Barrymore and Jessica Lange? I have seen the latter, so I’m curious to know what it was like, how it compared. I’ve seen the doc. numerous times. Love it, but sometimes the Edies’ relationship comes too close to resembling my sister and I!
Sorry – mean’t to say I “haven’t” seen the one with Drew & Jessica.
We watched the movie, and it’s been years and years since I last saw the documentary. My memory is therefore hazy, but I would say the filmmakers did a really good job. I was amazed at how much Drew Barrymore managed to not be Drew Barrymore. She didn’t look exactly like Little Edie, but she had the mannerisms and the voice down. It covers the time before and after the documentary was made, so it fills in a lot of gaps and gives you a better idea of where they both came from.
I need to watch the documentary again, and it actually just came in at the library for me. It was hard for me to watch because I just felt so bad for them. (And ok, I worry that’s going to be me and my mom someday.)
LaMaroc – I saw both the documentary and the movie in one sitting! Thought that the film was actually an amazing recreation of the documentary, perhaps so true a copy that it was almost superfluous in a way, except that, as Miss Kittie says, you understand more about why they ended up as they they did. Again like Miss K says, I reckon that my mother and I could have turned out that way, but for the grace of God! I don’t think I would ever want to see either film or documentary again, as they were both heart-breaking, but I am glad I have seen them once and am full of admiration for Drew’s and Jessica’s performances.
Miss K, I wonder what Auntie Mame would have thought of the Beales? I have a feeling they’d have lots in common.
I wonder what perfume they would have worn.
I feel like Mame would have been Mitsouko, but can’t pin down Edie and Edie.
Good, I’ll rent it then. I was most worried about Drew Barrymore. She is very “Drew” in everything else I’ve seen her in. It is kind of a sad, painful story, but then they also seemed to be enjoying themselves in their delusions too, so I loved that, and the fact that they were probably pissing off all of their snooty neighbors. lol
Auntie Mame is in my DVD player right now! I watched a bit of it at lunch. It was the very first play I ever saw on B’way years and years ago.
I hope it’s the Rosalind Russell version (my favorite)!
I’m putting that on my Netflix now.
I think I’ve sung all the hit songs from Mame at one time or another (my HS choir director was a huge Broadway fan), but I’ve never actually seen either the production or a movie version.
Of course!
Mals – definitely watch the Rosalind Russell movie that Angela referred to. It’s a classic!
Love the story about the aunt mentioning the “lovely, light perfume.” HA. And I really do need to see ANY of the Grey Gardens!
I think seeing the documentary first is the best way to go. Love that movie.
I JUST asked a woman at Bingo (I work the money room at bingo for my kids’ school) what lovely perfume she was wearing! Giorgio Red! It is lovely when she walks by and smells much more expensive than it really is! I was surprised!
Perfect!
This fragrance always reminded me of EA Red Door, nice but always talking too loudly. Plus, no can do osmanthus – like a big punch in the nose.
A quick aside, if I don’t comment for a few days, I get logged off even though my password is saved. Does this happen to anyone else?
I haven’t smelled Red Door in years.
It logs me out from time to time, too. I’m not sure what that’s about. I use Safari–I wonder if that’s it?
I use Safari too…and I get logged out at the weirdest times. Doesn’t seem to be related to gaps in commenting as sometimes I’ve commented only moments before…reading, go to respond and suddenly I get: “log in to comment”! Might not happen for weeks….then happens a couple times in a day or two. It’s weird.
I use IE at work and Firefox at home… so it’s not a browser thing.
Me, too. I think it has something to do with logging on to the same account via multiple computers. I also log on with my blackberry sometimes when I’m out and then it logs me off on one of the computers. Maybe?
That was my first thought, but then I noticed that I’ll be logged in at home, on the weekend, and then I’ll refresh the screen or something and be logged out. No matter, my sn and pw are pretty easy for me to remember.
It isn’t a multiple computer issue–I have only one computer at home, no Blackberry or iPhone or whatnot, and I don’t log in to this site at work or anywhere except home, yet I also get logged out randomly sometimes.
Hi Bear, just wanted to say that yes it does happen to me too and it’s really annoying to have to get a new password through my email and such. I even tried to change it to a easier password, one I could remember instead of letters and numbers but it messed with that too. I practically panicked at not being able to log on here.
ha
And I guess I am not sophistcated enough to appreciate these 80′s drama queens Angela because I can’t even put them to my skin much less huff them. Just not my thing I suppose. My Aunt Sonia wore these heavy hitters with so much flair when I was young, I always think of them as hers alone -especially Giorgio!
T, that just might work to your advantage! I bet you smell subtle–and marvelous.
Just had to log in to reply, LOL.
I’m using Safari; anytime I shut down completely, I have to re-log in. (I am the queen of not fully closing down, just going to sleep, and the Reigning Poobah of the Universe when it comes to having oodles of windows open at a time. Which OS-X doesn’t like. Hence, I am rather crash-prone around here. Darn video and flash apps.)
Were we talking about Red?
Thanks everyone for the responses. I use Internet Explorer, just glad to see I’m not alone in the purty-smellin’ boat.
I only shut down when I crash… oops. This past week, that’s been often. Think my laptop is telling me something… like, get a new one.
This is going to be like one of those “choose your path” novels. Choose…
PATH 1: I am an enabler
My response: But of course! Silly old laptop, doing its best to creak along, but just not ever going to perform as well, only going to get worse as more updates come along.
PATH 2: I encourage reusing
My response: Oh, but it could just be clutter, especially in working memory. (Just like my own brain, lol.) Extra cookies and such could be slowing things down to the point your system says “pfffft,” and enforces a time out.
Pick whichever one makes you happy / makes you like me.
E – throwing advice at you: back up EVERYTHING. NOW.
Just last week, my sister called me in tears because her Mac had been cranky and slow for several days, and just after she called the only Mac computer guys in town to schedule a checkup, her hard drive died… along with “only copy” photos and video and certain tax documents. She’s in a world o’ hurt at the moment.
It did not help for me to remind her that *I* don’t have videos of *my* adorable children as babies, either. But that’s my Big Sister failing, to disagree with her plaint that her life is the most wretched, horrible, disastrous thing ever, and all the bad stuff happens to HER.
(Digression. Sorry.)
Oh, good heavens; you are right, of course. Excellent advice. Worthy digression.
Here, let’s bring it around; back up now, in order to avoid being RED in the face later…
Mals: Unless that hard drive’s really fried (and I mean, literally fried/smoking/melted), a computer professional should be able to recover your sister’s data files off of the disk. Encourage or help her to look around for a good service for that.
Thanks, Joe – the Mac guy told her the hard drive was recoverable… for about $900. Which she doesn’t have. (And I love her, but I’m not shellin’ out them kinda bucks for her ‘puter. At least now she’s not making fun of me for owning a dinosaur PC…)
Time Machine, sisters. That’s all I have to say. That and a roomy external hard drive.
$900 to recover her stuff? That’s robbery.
she should hang on to that hard drive—all she needs is a nice computer geek who is willing to retrieve her stuff for a fee. might want to swing by a best buy or something some day and chat up some of the resident techies…mention that she has this fried hard drive that she’d be willing to pay someone a couple hundred bucks to get the files off of….
I was about to tell you about going to a geek or nerd, then saw that Daisy has already done so! When our computer died we were told by a huge company that sells/fixes pcs that it would cost us £1,000 to get a small amount recovered by a “specialist” firm. A friend told us about a little workshop run by two geeks (like the ones in Buffy?), who not only loved their work but retrieved everything for us for £30! So tell her to ask around – there must be some chaps there who do this.
I used to wear Red Door when I smoked Marlboro Reds in high school. I don’t know what the “red” thing was, but I know I could only tolerate that perfume because I’d deadened my senses with cigarettes, so I had no idea the monster sillage that was roiling in my wake. (I think the only reason I was tolerable was that everyone else I knew smoked, too!) I smell Red Door now and whether freshly sprayed or hours into the drydown, it is nauseating to me.
Giorgio Red, on the other hand, I still kind of like. It’s more spicy/incensey but I’ll agree with Angla that Cinnabar is far more better. The company Parfums de Couer still produces a version of Giorgio Red that I used to buy when I was too poor to buy Cinnabar. I don’t remember the name but they also had their own version of Opium that I believe was called “Samurai”? lol I bought that when I needed cheap thrill/car air freshener, too.
I love Tabu, a really tremendous and underappreciated perfume, that smells even more fantastic with cigarette smoke. Fortunately, nobody I know smokes, but I will always be reminded of Aunt Evelyn with her Chesterfields (!!!!! unfiltered!!!!) and Tabu!
Unfiltered! Yowza – I haven’t seen anyone smoke unfiltered cigarettes since the last time I was in Europe! That’s hardcore.
I know a drag queen who wears Tabu exclusively, and it suits her perfectly!
LaM, you’re making me think it would be a fun game to take all the names of dupes and see if people could match them to their real counterparts! Samurai=Opium? I’m not sure I would have got that straight off.
Lol! I know, I have a hard time remembering them. I can’t even remember the Red knock off and they still carry it in the stores! Now I’m questioning “Samurai” but I know it had some Japanese connotation. Kabuki? Geisha? Parfums de Couer still makes “Fairchild” apparently, which is the Oscar knockoff. I guessed wrong, I thought it was Vanderbilt. But then Vanderbilt was about as cheap as the knockoff so that’s kind of redundant!
It was Ninja.
LOL! Yes, that was it! Thanks, AmyT. It was driving me crazy.
I’m the last person in the world to give anyone computer advice, but I *think* this has something to do with cookies — the various Web sites you visit send cookies to your computer so it will remember the site the next time and not take so long to load, but eventually they expire, and you have to log in again. Please take this with a big huge grain of fleur de sel, however, as I know next to nothing about computers!
This was my signature scent in high school and a great deal of college. My high school boyfriend LOVED it. I definitely don’t care for it now but it does bring back a bit of nostalgia whenever I sniff it.
It’s easy to love! I understand that. I also think it’s easy to get tired of.
I really gotta get back to my local Walgreen’s….while not a Red fan, I am now wondering what I’m missing in their fragrance case!
And they have a BOGO this week.
I’ll have to look up BOGO (perils of not being a texter–I don’t know half these acronyms.)
Buy One, Get One (free). I used to be a big Payless Shoes shopper, and that was their big thing. So I know all about BOGO.
Thanks!
Check it out! You never know. I’m toying with going back for Dune.
They have Dune at all the drug stores around here, and even a few bottles of the disc Ralph Lauren Turquoise which I am always so tempted to buy. I used to wear Dune, but I’m not sure if i want to go back….
It’s so strange to me that Dune is the Dior they picked up.
If you want a partial bottle of vintage Dune, I’ve got a bottle that needs a new home. Email me at: nina at wanderingmind dot com
Wow – OK – we’ll have to swap then!
In the off chance that comment was directed at me, I’ll shoot you an email and we can negotiate!
Well, hey, you know we’re in the middle of a big 80′s revival right? I’ve seen Fidji mentioned several times on the fashion blogs I follow. Giorgio can’t be that far behind. Maybe. (But I’m voting for Fidji.)
Dune and Shalimar have been at my drugstores for ages. Right next to Oscar de La Renta, Nina Ricci, Grey Stetson, and many other former greatest hits…
Yeah, mine also has things like Kenzo Amour, L’eau D’Issey, Angel, the Poisons, etc. Future greatest hits?
Nice drugstore! I’m kind of nostalgic for the olden days of cheap soliflores and chestnuts like Sand & Sable.
And Woodhue! That was always my favorite. It would probably be too expensive to produce now even in niche!
I have a sample of that, and I love it. I’m always keeping an eye out for it at thrift stores, but so far Tigress shows up a lot more often.
A, I think I’ve been underestimating drugstore perfume offerings. I went to three drugstores today in search of the fragrance to do for Friday (finally ended up with Babe) and I had a hard time finding all the cheap oldies but goodies I wanted!
I was crossing fingers that you’d do Ciara sometime…
O.K., well that seals it! I’m definitely doing Ciara soon.
Loving this series, Angela!
The 80s were My Time, and I have the pink & black striped mini and lightening bolt earrings to prove it. That being said, even I couldn’t handle Giorgio, the original in the yellow and white box. A friend’s mother wore it at that time and I couldn’t handle how heavy her perfume was. So, I’ve never given a second thought to Giorgio flankers but this doesn’t sound awful in small doses, altho I’m not interested; after all, I keep a mini of Obsession on hand, ha! I really like it, too, just a spritz on a winter scarf is great on a very cold day.
I think sweetlife was right above, and we are definitely experiencing a return to the ’80s–at least a little bit. There was good ’80s for sure, but there sure was a lot of bad ’80s. Giant prints, blinding colors, wicked eye shadow? Not for me.
Ah! The 80′….
I used to be an avid reader of Town & Country mag. Among all the glamour, adverts for Red–and testing strips–felt so glamourous and so far removed from the poor, kd eating, student life I was living….
I have a superstition that Town & Country has the most accurate horoscopes. Now I’ll have to scope out the scent strips while I sneak a peek at Aries.
Angi – your vintage/classic reviews this year have all been like a walk down memory lane! Now all you need to do is a review of the original Salvador Dali and Deneuve and my fragrance memory circle will be complete!
My older sister used to wear Red for many many years when we were in our early 20s, so it is a fragrance I associate with her. About 9 years ago she off-loaded a half used bottle that I took. I tried wearing it, but it not only made me think that I smelled like my sister, but it also couldn’t compete with my first major oriental love, Coco. So I gave to to the Salvation Army. But it really is one of the old powerhouse fragrances. It is fun to remember.
I haven’t smelled Deneuve for ages and ages, but I remember liking that one!
I bet someone got that bottle of Red you gave away and is loving it. So you can feel good you’ve done something good for the world.
I am still kicking myself for giving away my bottles of Deneuve and Dali. This was back in the day when I would get rid of some bottles if I got over ten, so I could give myself permission to buy more. My, how that’s changed. And now I want all my old bottles back. (Even if I’m pretty sure that my bottle of Deneuve had turned.)
Argh! Well, let’s just assume the Deneuve was completely fried, unsalvageable. That makes me feel a lot better.
This tale has parallels to the descent of Norell, doesn’t it? Which ended up available “exclusively” at K-Mart?
It is interesting to watch the retail trail…sloooowwwwwly squeezing out every retail dollar as they nonetheless slooowwwwly kick it to the curb…
Last year I found 3 “older” bottles of the original Fendi at our Kmart marked down to $9.99. Especially after it’s been discontinued, they seemed like a real bargain! I kept one for myself and fascilitated the other two for Smokeytoes who loves the stuff. It is always good to watch the local low-end shops. You just never know what comes in and will end up hiding behind the Brittany Spears fragrances of the world!
It’s true! I snagged Joy EDP for under $20 at my local Rite Aid when they were clearancing out all the “old” perfumes to make room for the new stuff. I should have snapped up more stuff.
Good score!
Holy cow! good shopping done by you!!
Well done, both of you!
Very sweet! Almost legendary!
I do love Fendi. I have a friend who wears it, and whenever I smell it I think fondly of her.
Interesting! I hadn’t even thought of that comparison, but you’re right!
At least 3 times when I’ve asked someone what delightful perfume they were wearing, the answer was “Red!”
Once it was “Tabu!”
I think it’s one of those fragrances that’s easy to like at a distance–and smell at a distance, too! Same goes for Tabu.
I used to work work with a woman that would layer red red door and burberry. -cringing with the momory- It was not pleasant. -still cringing-
Oy! I’m cringing just thinking about it! I remember Red as being kind of a sillage monster and just can’t imagine feeling the need to ADD something on top of it! Good lord, RUN! SAVE YOURSELVES!
I always knew she was coming well before I could see her.
And she wondered what this odd fashion was for wearing turtlenecks up over the nose.
hmmm….new turtleneck trend maybe….but how to explain all those crossed, bulging eyeballs….why, it’s almost if everyone can’t get any oxygen….
Holy smokes! Was there any hair left in her nostrils?
I always check out the frags at Walmart and Walgreens, although Walmart seems to always be heavy on Paris Hilton “fragrances”. But I found a bottle of Tatiana there once – that took me back!
My local Walgreens has Dune and Shalimar also – and Fahrenheit, which I keep thinking about buying because I don’t know if I love it or hate it.
If you have a Gordman’s in your area they get in some odd random perfumes along with their overflowing stock of JLo, Paris Hilton, Celine Dion, etc. I’ve found a cheap score now and again. My mom loves the original Paul Smith Men on my dad and I got three large bottles of it on clearance for somewhere around $10/piece.
Great deal!
I went to the Walmart in Billings today and was disappointed at their offerings. I was hoping for some good, cheap perfume, but the most interesting thing I found was a bottle fo White Diamonds gift packaged with a teddy bear.
White Diamonds with a teddy bear sounds really wrong. Like a sad kernel of an idea for a short story.
Yes. A short story involving a mobile home park and pack-a-day smokers and a TV going all day long.
Oh Red…
There was a very unpleasant girl in my junior high class who used to practically take a bath in the stuff, so unfortunately the rather brazen (and potentially lovely) Red remains linked with the extremely brazen and *not* lovely young lady who wore enough of it to hit you like a truck whenever she was nearby.
My often reviled “drugstore perfume” would have to be Ciara. I never smelled it until my mid-twenties as the clean/oceanic/Sunflowers (I have to put that one in its own loud category) seemed to be waning. Mr. Ab. Scent smelled it on a lady while shopping, asked her what it was and then bought me a tiny bottle to see what I thought.
It didn’t grab me at all so I left it and a bottle of VS Amber Romance, which I bought since he liked it but I couldn’t stand to wear, in the laundry room of our first apartment before we moved out and assumed someone would like one or both enough to take them.
A couple years later as I started to more seriously explore perfumes and wore Obsession and Angel after discovering my love for gourmands and orientals, I snagged a bottle of the most intense form for a song off a frag discount site and loved it. It doesn’t get a lot of love from some who remember it from back in the day. But for me, it was a new fragrance experience since I didn’t really give it a fair shake a few years back and I find wearing it quite softly makes for a lovely and snuggle-inducing perfume. So I love my little $14 bottle of Ciara 100% and still get nostalgic when I pick up a bottle of the original Charlie since it brings back memories of my mother from my early childhood. Charlie always smelled so soft, sweet and nice on her since she was good about not over-applying, and though I don’t think I’d ever wear it, it is pretty.
And of course, I’ve already professed my love for Malibu Musk…
Great story! I had a stepmother once who wore Ciara. I keep seeing the bottle around at thrift shops, and I think it’s time I picked one up.
I haven’t smelled Ciara in about 100 years, but I seem to remember thinking back in the day that it smelled like a poor relation to Bal a Versailles. I’d be interested to hear your opinion, A. if you do get that bottle.
My mother wore Ciara in the late 70s. I’d be curious to smell it now to see if it would take me back.
I used to like Ciara, but it was definitely a fragrance that suffered from over-application by the masses. Whew.
Hi all!
Ah, yes, the 80s! I wore and still wear Red from time to time. Now I spray it about 2 feet away and walk thru it – no spraying directly on the body! But after it dries down, it really is a lovely scent. I haven’t found anything quite like it. I also wore Ciara and Cinnabar. A guy once commented about Amarige which is a huge floral oriental and I just had a sample of it. Couldn’t really stand it but he thought it was awesome! I think I will always like Red as long as it’s just a faint scent, not a full blown spray of it!
I think you have the right philosophy: apply with caution!
I just love it when some of the ladies here refer to their hubby as Mr. fill in NST name : Mr. Aparatachick, Mr. Ab.Scent…etc. I think my CEO would hit the roof if he were referred to as Mr. Daisy….maybe I’ll try it later just to experiment…:-D
Daisy: He doesn’t have to know. We won’t tell him.
I think I’m going to start referring to The CEO as He Who Must Be Obe– um, Kept Ignorant.
LOL! I call my boss – She Who Must Not Be Named.
“Mr. Daisy” sounds like a cartoon character! Maybe a cranky donkey or something like that.
oddly close…. lol just kidding.
Snort out loud.
Angela, you’ve made me want to get a little sniff of this as well as EL Cinnabar.
I think one of her cousins gave my Mom a small bottle of Red a couple Christmases ago, but I’ve never smelled it and likely won’t, now that I’ve gotten my mom hooked on Angel & Coromandel. Haha.
Your mom likes patchouli, Joe?
Oh yes. She still says her favorite was Ava Luxe Sweet Patchouli, which sadly isn’t made in the EdP formula anymore.
Good work with your mom! How nice to go home and smell Coromandel.
I never wore Red but it was one of those fragrances that I always stopped to sniff at the perfume counter (back when it was actually sold at decent perfume counters) and debated about buying. I probably never bought it because at that time Red and Giorgio permeated the air at the big balls held around the horse sales. So at one time, women with far, far more money than I had, loved it!
Wandering down memory lane I forgot to say – great series Angela! Thanks!!
I’m glad you’re enjoying it!
I bet Red smells pretty good in the stable, really. Maybe better than it did at the balls!
So true! I can remember one particular occasion in a big tent in Saratoga, NY on a hot, humid night in Aug. and the entire place smelled of Giorgio!
Angela, that comment reminds me of a comedy sketch I saw on tv years and years ago set in a Swedish chemist ( I think that would be called a drugstore in the US) where they spoke English but with heavily caricatured Swedish accents…
Customer (on entering store): “I would like a Deodorant”
Sales Assistant: “Ball or aerosol?”
Customer (slightly baffled and taken aback): “No, it is for my armpits.”
Yes, some of us read the word “ball” and our thoughts go elsewhere…
In 10th grade biology, some cheerleaders came to class late. They said, “Sorry Mr. Douglas, we’re late because we were painting our stools.” Mr. Douglas said, “Never say that to a biology teacher. It means something different.”
I wore Red when it first came out in 1989, and it was my winter scent for several years. I really enjoyed it then, but when I’ve tried it recently, it’s just too, too much! My current winter perfume is Black Cashmere (the original) which I absolutely love.
I can definitely imagine loving Red then burning out on it. Nice choice with Black Cashmere!
awwww….
Really makes me sad to see one of my all-time (still) favorites getting so little affection. I love this stuff. It is the only scent I ever stalked someone to get the name of. I literally sniffed my way down the mall trying to find the person wearing that lovely scent. I know it’s old, and big, and dated, but then so am I, so I suppose we fit well together.
I rarely tell anyone what I’m wearing when I put this scent on, because when I do, I get that funny look people give you when they wonder if you’ve escaped from the loony bin. But like any addiction, I may be somewhat ashamed to admit to it, but I can’t quit it.
Luckily for me, I work in an office with 35 guys (I’m the only woman). And they appreciate a scent with ….shall we call it ‘body’? lol I suppose in an office full of women, I couldn’t get away with my big, sillage-monster favorites.
I’m glad it suits you so well! I bet lots of people compliment you on it, too. Don’t quit Red!
Don’t Quit! I still have days when I throw on Obsession or Youth Dew – wear your Red proudly. I’m thinking that I need to snag a mini and bring back some memories of the early-90s when I wore Red.
My mother told me today about having a manager at the grocery store follow her to ask what perfume she was wearing. Youth Dew, of course, the only thing she wears.
However, she did admire Femme Jolie on me a while back so I may surprise her with a small bottle for her birthday. I’d like to add some variety to her scent wardrobe.
Oh do get her Femme Jolie! Share the joy! If plenty of us buy it, maybe Laurie will keep it on her list. She has taken it off once before. Love it bits. I’m thinking of getting a purse spray in addition to my 17mls, once Laurie is back on deck. That, and a few others of hers …
What a great gift! She’ll be one of the proud and few (compared to everyone who wears Youth Dew.)
Red was my signature scent in college. Even then, I recognized it was a little much, but I didn’t care. I thought it was perfect for me since I am a redhead. My best friend wore Cinnabar and another friend wore Ysatis. This is turning out to be a fun week of drugstore reviews!
Wow, you guys made quite an aromatic posse!
you all must have created your own fragrance-force-field…..I can appreciate that, I like a fragrance-force-field myself some days.
No kidding. It’s so interesting how the collective consciousness changes its taste and tolerance. There just aren’t many places today where three women could show up scented like that and not gag people. But in the 80′s more was more.
I *loved* Red back in the day; in fact, Red is one of the scents I recall stopping to sniff every time my mom and I went to Dillards’ or (later) Belk’s. I never was brave enough to spray it, though… especially now, since I KNOW it’s been reformulated; to me, it now smells a little too sweet and not spicy enough.
Does anyone remember a short-lived flanker named Red 2 (or perhaps Red2 or Red2)? I believe it’s from the late 90s, and all I recall is that it was nice. I’ve been wondering for years what notes were in it. (My mom’s been wanting a bottle of it for years, also, since she loved it back when it was released, so I’m also looking for a bottle)
I hope you find one, and I hope it smells as good as she remembered!
I used to love this in the early 90s – I wore it exclusively until it got thrown over for Spellbound. I’ve been afraid to smell it – thinking that it had probably been reformulated and ruined and I didn’t want to tarnish my memories of it. I might have to grab a mini and check it out now though.
It’s cheap enough to pick up a mini for old time’s sake.
Red has definitely been reformulated. I used to wear it back in the day, and if you could put a category to it (what with those 692 ingredients) I think it would have been an floral-oriental chypre, very oriental and VERY eighties-huge. I smelled a new bottle a while back and it has been destroyed: it has that fresh-synthetic top note that appears to be in just about everything these days, however inappropriate (it was also used to ruin the once-glorious Tresor), and it casts a pall over the whole construction.
Speaking of Cinnabar, I got a coffret of old-school Estee Lauder miniatures today, and tomorrow I’ll see if any of them has been seriously reformulated. Lauder is usually pretty good about keeping their classic scents the way they were, but if they’ve messed with Knowing or White Linen I am going to go on some kind of rampage.
Lauder usually does such good work. I don’t want to hear about you rampaging!
Not to worry. White Linen is pretty faithful to my eighties memory of it–it might even be a bit louder than it was, but the basic idea (brilliant aldehydes, indeterminate flowers, sunshiny warmth) is intact. More than any other house I know of, Lauder seems dedicated to the idea that scents are memories and worth preserving.
Glad to see some Lauder-love. I am a fan as well – I always cringe when people dis Youth Dew, and the original Private Collection never fails to impress me. I wear it when I want to come across as distingue (sorry, I don’t know how to do the accent mark here).
Ah, the 80′s. I’m remembering my high-heeled ankle boots – hot pink with black Hermes-type wings covering the Velcro closures. I danced many a night away in those, that’s for sure. While wearing Opium, of course.
Wow! Those boots sound amazing! Though the 80′s influence is evident in current clothing collections, I don’t expect we’ll see the same influence in fragrance.
Wow! Boots with their own soundtrack and accompanying perfume! Perfect.
I could never wear the big orientals back then – Opium and Cinnabar had something going on that suffocated me. Some kind of cooking spice-ish smell. I don’t think I ever smelled Red.
I would love to revisit Tatiana and Jontue.
I did revisit Dune recently, and although I liked it, I couldn’t quite go back. Maybe I could for $35, though…
I used to love Tatiana, and my mother wore gallons of Jontue. Need to smell that one again.
I, too, experience the random timing with the “log-in” disappearing.
As for Red, I liked it which is interesting because I’m an ozonic/aquatic lover. I also liked Cinnabar and Spellbound. I have a bottle of Boudoir. Liking all these orientals is unusual because they have ingredients that I can’t stand but they are so well-blended that the things I do like must be predominant. I remember liking Wings by Giorgio too, but my absolute favourite was Ocean Dream!
An oceanic! That makes sense. I wonder if there’s an oceanic oriental? Maybe Dune is the closest.
Yes, Dune is an apt choice for an “oceanic oriental”. (Don’t like it; too heavy.) How about Un Lys Mediterranee? I don’t hate it but also find it heavy and very long-lasting.
Stephanie Saint Aignan Embruns d’Ambre is an oceanic amber, very unusual and lovely.
LOL at “Yankee candle of the oriental perfume world”!
: – ) Our drugstores have a similarly eclectic mix, though I have yet to find a Guerlain nestling amongst the multipacks of Pringles,,, And this despite my local dept store directing me to the dump bins of Savers the Chemist’s at my mention of Guerlain “because they carry a lot of really old stuff like that”.
Did you find any Guerlain in the dump bins (Maybe I should be asking “do pigs fly?”)? Do you guys have Yankee Candles in Britain? I sure hope not.
They bought the name “Red” from Geoffrey Beene, who had a fragrance called Red back in the 70′s and early 80′s. My sister wore it, but I can’t remember what it smelled like. Does anyone remember this?
Gosh, I seemed to have missed a bunch of comments on this post–sorry it has taken me so long to respond.
I vaguely remember Geoffrey Beene Red, too, but I couldn’t tell you what it smells like.
This is such a great post, Angela! I was reading through all the comments at lunch time and almost forgot to get back to work – was quite embarrassed when a colleague dropped by and there I was just sitting there looking at the screen and thinking about 80s perfume, LOL!
I wore spicy orientals at an earlier point – high school – when it was Youth Dew, Secret of Venus Zibeline, and Corday Toujours Moi. By the 80s I was into big florals: Chloe, Calyx, and Rochas Lumiere. It’s funny, I liked the scent of Giorgio, Red Door, Rive Gauche, etc. well enough, but I don’t think I ever bought them. Those were the days when I thought I needed just one signature scent and only wore perfume to go out. Hard to imagine that now!
Toujours Moi! I smelled some recently, and it was nice. I bet back in the day it was fabulous.
I used to work as a beauty advisor at Walgreens. And we really did have such a strange array of perfume. Most of the customers I dealt with bought the usual celebrity fragrances ugh. But as mentioned we carried Dune and Shalimar. I remember Shalimar being a huge seller, even though I hated it. I remember putting out warehouse and a bottle of Opium had broke, it took me a day to get the smell off me. Maybe I was just too young to appreciate the scent, but even now, I wouldn’t jump for those perfumes.
You were lucky it only took a day to shake the scent of Opium! Overdosing on Opium like that would turn someone against it for life, I’d think.
This one is burned in memory – I still love it. The first time I smelled it was not terribly long after it came out in the 80′s – it was my freshman year, I slept over at a friend’s house and watched Mystic Pizza, there was a fuss going on because her younger sister got a round barrel brush stuck in her hair, and the next day we went to Target and I convinced her that she should buy Erasure’s A Little Respect tape rather than the Bangles’ Eternal Flame. I smelled this at Walgreen’s and marveled at how adult and sophisticated it smelled next to the testers of Xia Xiang and Intimate Musk (remember the original blue boxes with the red/yellow couple figure?). I remember loving the Paulina Porizkova print ads too. In my head, the big 4 80s scents were Red, Poison, Coco and Escape (although strictly speaking wasn’t Escape the 90s?).
That’s hilarious! You paint a great picture–I see the whole evening, stuck brush and all.
Angela, I can’t believe no one responded to your remark about the Nagel print. I had a coffee table book of his work. Not a print on the wall, but close.
I still shudder when I see them.
I would put this down as one of my top favourite perfumes ever!!! I absolutely adore it and at the moment I wear it just about every day! I’ve got the body cream as well, and spray the perfume not only on my myself but on my clothes overnight to wear next day, and as this stuff lingers for EVER I smell gorgeous all day long!! I will never let myself run out of Red, I’m learning I like the deep, warm spicy smells more than light florals.
It’s so nice to find a fragrance you really love! And at a decent price, too. You’re lucky.