Sophia

I found two small bottles of vintage Sophia: one parfum, the other "concentrated cologne," and decided to do a thorough testing before I reviewed this scent, so began the day by layering the two. The concentrated cologne was strong and bitter initially, and took a good two hours to calm down, while the parfum opened as a pleasing old school classic fragrance. Florals include a predominate rose, joined by jasmine and lilies; as the day progressed, I began to pick up cedar, cypress and oakmoss. Never did detect any patchoulli. At nine hours, it is a nice golden-hued floriental, not sweet, not fruity, and with the florals harmonizing to create a single chord. I like it quite a lot. Let me add that I had never heard of this fragrance, even picking it up and asking aloud "Sophia? I never heard of that. I wonder which Sophia?" which the clerk found endlessly amusing-- I imagine that for him, there is only one Sophia.

Womanly in the old school way. Before it was a mortal sin to be....older AND sexy. Receptive and kind. Old fashioned in the best way. When sexy women were also mothers, sisters, aunts, and adult. Women who cared for husbands, children and home and were proud, happy and beautiful doing so. Opens with citrus and aldehydes: fat, waxy and fleeting. Moves quickly to the florals, jasmine and rose, (well blended I'm sure I'm missing others) and then oakmoss. Lovely oakmoss and vanilla dry down. I usually hate vanilla and it is ALMOST too sweet for me, but it is wonderful here. Complex and elegant simplicity. Beautiful Sophia. BTW Sophia, if you ever happen to read this, my husband still has a thing for you! *edited to add: pure perfume reviewed and he is 55, so I'm sure too old for you!

A very beautiful spicy balsamic rose scent An early Ungaro Diva or Chanel Coco EDT. Much more complex than rose/jasmine/amber than the notes show above. An oakmossy rose chypre and I definitely get cloves, labdanum and good quality sandalwood. I am very lucky to own a vintage 50ml and I treasure it dearly.

This is a very spicy floral oriental with a woody base. If someone told me this was a vintage Estée Lauder or Givenchy, I'd believe it. It's very rich, deep and complex. There are a ton of notes missing here. My nose isn't great at picking out the individual notes, especially when there are so many of them, but krmarich has done a great job. Fragrances of the past tend to be a bit loud compared to todays offerings, so those who don't like the aggressiveness of vintages, stay far away. But those of us who love them, this is one to experience. One of the first celebrity scents, I find it fitting for the strong, fiery character of Ms. Loren. Believe me, nobody will mistake this for a current celebrity scent. To me, this has a Cinnabar - Youth Dew - Tabu - Tigress vibe to it. It smells like something from the 40's to me, not the 80's. I'd say this is to be worn with cats eye eyeliner, plunging neckline and vintage furs.

Ah, but this reminds me of a chypre. The animal of leather and civet, some arid peppery notes, amber, white florals, something creamy, many things you can't quite identify.....Perfection! krmarich pinpointed it beautifully. I find many notes here reminding me of other favorites with leather or soft spice. I think of Avon Occur, Avon Black Suede, and the unsurpassable Balmain de Balmain. The resemblances are very mild and can only describe the deeper aspect, not the airy, greener side. Estee Lauder scents come to mind here. To my nose it is only the animalic notes that could be called 'sweet'. So amazing, I believed it had to be an upper-end department store brand or designer. It would not in the least surprise me if Sophia Loren helped with it's creation and wore it proudly. Thank you , Sophia , for sharing your quality taste.