Sunset Boulevard

Sunset Boulevard quickly settles down to a pleasant skin scent. It opens with a blast of all naturally sweet orange juice, honey and jasmin, very lightly spiced. As it dries, spices fade out, and the honey thickens to support the heady blooming mix of jasmin, lily of the valley, and orange blossom. A touch of orange remains throughout, but it is a sweet orange marmalade, not tart sparkly citrus. It's not too sweet, so it is easily unisex. This particular mix of white flowers is definitely a retro style blend found in many older classic perfumes that are most often used with oakmoss or musk. However, instead of musk or moss, Sunset Boulevard relys on a thick underlying base of honey-sweetened orange marmalade and this effect makes Sunset Boulevard ultra smooth, soft, rich, deliciously beautiful and unique. Wearing close to skin, lasting power is about 8 to 10 hours, with silage soft to moderate, depending on how much you use. Sunset Boulevard is not at all loud, overpowering or offensive. It's pleasingly easy to wear anywhere, any time of year.

I did not approach this fragrance with an open mind. I know the movie, so I had an expectation that this would smell as though it was from the 1950's, the movie's time period. And it does!!! My first impression was "I have smelled this before! This smells 'familiar'but I don't know what the previous perfume is . . . it would have been something smelled on others not on me. Most Likely it was something that my very status conscious aunt wore, something from the high-end clothing store where she worked. But I don't get ANY orange and on me this is definitely not a unisex fragrance - it is too feminine to be labeled unisex, though a secure and adventurous man could wear it. Honey, musk and flowers - this is what I smell - with a tiny bit of powder.

Be patient with this noiresque beauty. If you're looking for something unusual and something that develops slowly over time, then this is the fragrance you've been searching for. It has quite a sharp, masculine, spicy opening which threw me at first. After a couple of hours, it's quite powdery and floral with a hint of sweetness with the honey and a hint of incense. I think the bottle is gorgeous! It's a real throw back to the 30's and 40's. You can see the bottle sitting on Gloria Swanson's dressing table!! I bought a large bottle for AU$15.00 and was wrapped at how unusual the fragrance is. I recommend it to anyone who likes taking risks with sophistocated, haunting scents. It really is gorgeous!

This perfume is what started my passion for perfumes, it is beautiful,soft, delicate and luxurious, yet persuasive and tantalising. It’s a sexy fragrance, got a lot of compliments from men. And from women too. This is something that you definitely want to wear on a first date, in the afternoon-evening. This is a confidence booster Beautiful honey notes, white flowers, juicy orange,a hint of vanilla? (Maybe). Reminds me of the 1920s with that beautiful Art Deco inspired bottle, and you definitely get that Hollywood glamour feeling whilst wearing the perfume. Ladies, wear this and you will have him begging for more.

Delicious. I just received a gift set that included a CANDLE (I'm a sucker for perfumed candles), bath gel, body lotion AND a large cologne spray. It does open sweet, but not cloying or cupcakey. It's a mature and gentle sweetness. As a huge fan of honey over sugar in my tea, I'm thrilled with this gentle scent! I am also getting musk and florals. No orange to my nose. Yet. I will update if it occurs. In the meantime, this came in a HUGE HEAVY funky bronze covered box that weighed a ton. I have to keep the box just for the kitsch value alone!!!!

These notes are not correct. This is not honey nor honeycomb but just the honeyed floral sweetness you get from orange blossom. It also is not fruity. Maybe the top went off in my bottle but there is no orange either, just the orange blossom. This definitely has oakmoss to give it a sharpness and serious musk. Aldehydes in the top. Rose and sandalwood in the base.

I remember the first time I tried the vintage I didn't like it so much so that I gave it away. Getting the opportunity to try it again, I really regret that. This is lovely! It's warm, soft, sweet, feminine and delicate and honestly not that retro. Agree with shushkin, this is a honey/neroli bomb so if those notes work for you, I imagine you'll love this. 8.5/10

A blind buy online, as this is super cheap and pretty much unheard of in my country, plus I am quite a fan of Gale & Fred Hayman scents. The notes looked a whole lot like my fave of the moment 'Armani code - white floral, honey and orange blossom' strangely though I don't get any of these notes and I get a scent that smells vaguely familiar to Fred Hayman's touch (which is like red door but slightly more chemical smelling on me)but more natural mixed with Spellbound and Escada Margaretha ley which just happen to be my fave scents and incredibly hard to find or discontinued in my country. At first spray I got a blast of corriander/cumin but it quicky dried down to a wonderful haunting fresh/sweet oriental floral with a handful of spices and musk however I am finding that the cumin note keeps appearing and is starting to annoy me each time I wear it - I have ended up gifting this away but not a huge loss since it is so cheap.

I forget sometimes just how nice Sunset Boulevard is! I have so many perfumes now that this one tends to get lost 'in the shuffle' at times and gets a bit overlooked. I've been wearing it today though for the first time in awhile and it does really appeal to me. I really don't detect the orange in this at all, which is a good thing because orange isn't a favorite note of mine in perfumes! What does come through, luckily, is the white flowers and the creamy smooth honeyliciousness (yes, that really is a made up word!!) which is just right and not too sweet on my skin. The longer Sunset Boulevard is on my skin the better and better it smells. It's a very unique perfume and smells very classy to me despite it actually costing very little compared to a lot of far less impressive perfumes. So, it gets a big smile of satisfaction and 5 out of 5 from me. :-))

This fragrance is surely intended to have a very retro feel and transport you directly to Cecil B. de Mille's close-up on Gloria Swanson. That thought is a little disconcerting, like the perfume. Why? Because it has a sweet note that just doesn't belong here, now. I find it disturbing, just like Gloria's eyes, looking through the camera and directly into mine. Unique and unsettling somehow, I'm not sure that I want to wear it too often. How does a perfume manage to make me feel like this?

This is definitely an 80s type of rich, straight between the eyes honey fragrance. I briefly get a sniff of the orange but mostly its a honey/neroli bomb with perhaps slightly spicey musk forming the base. This is for wearing at night otherwise folk will start passing out around you if your in an elevator for example!! It has the same power as for example Revlons Ciara. The more I wear it the more I like it. Big sillage and great longevity.

I bought it as a present for my mum and I love it. It is not a light perfume but not a heavy one by no means, at least IMO. I don't find it sweet at all. In fact it smells much more complex and expensive than it really is. It lasted the whole night through on my wrist and I only sprayed a tiny drop gently, just to test it. There may be people who can't wear it but one thing is for sure, it worths its money. I may keep it.

I received it as a gift. I have never smelled it before. I love orange in fragrances. I find the union of orange, flowers and honey very original and fresh, but sweet. I like it.

Sadly I did not like this fragrance, which is a shame because I like her other products and perfumes, especially Delicious. I find this way too heavy, overpoweringly strong, and slightly bitter.

Sunset Boulevard The Movie The Location The Fragrance While this 1998 perfume was probably not created as a fragrannt depiction of the 1950 Paramount Pictures classic film Sunset Boulevard, the association is there. This fragrance takes me to Norma Desmond's home on Sunset Boulevard. It has that vintage or shall we say antique in an expensive and superb fashion. This is such a beautiful fragrance. I got mostly white flowers of gardenia, jasmine and tuberoses, some oranges and a lot of honey. This is a warm California summer in a bottle. It really does feel like you're walking down all of Sunset Bouelvard all the way to the Pacific Coast High Way in Southern California. The honey is the warmth of the summer sun, and the jasmines are real California flowers that grow there. There also appears to be notes of orange blossom and probably even bergamot. It's a real orange fragrance. Gale Hayman is the former Mrs. Fred Hayman who had his own boutique Giorgio of Beverly Hills on Rodeo Drive. This fragrance used to be more expensive but is affordable now. So what are you waiting for? It gives me the same lush beauty as the orange blossom in Cartier's So Pretty which also transports me to Southern California in springtime. I was enchanted. Sunset Blvd is perfect for casual day time wear in spring/summer.

Not sure if all the notes are complete for this fragrance as one of the most dominant of them all is a very heavy and thick musk. This is a noir-esque indolic white floral that starts off with a syrupy honey which gets buzzier/spicier as it wears on. Reminds me of the honey in Miel de Bois, very animalic and alive. As mentioned below, the orange isnt really fruity, more candied with the usual suspects of white flowers. As it dries down, its gets a little harsher before smoothing out into a thick and malleable musk that is very similar to the musk in Coty wild Musk. The scent isnt huge on sillage but has epic staying power of at least 8 hours in this musky stage. I've never smelled it as strong as it is in this scent! Overall, it is a little old school, but not overtly so. I do recognize hints of Red Door, but this one feels comfortable and is easy enough to wear without being oppressive and smelling dated. Theres a reason why the reviews here are practically all positive- its actually a pretty darned good fragrance that is almost unknown. Edit: I was wrong about the staying power- its not epic, its monumental. I can still smell the musk drydown after 24 hours!

Beautiful! This is a citrus and honey fragrance warm and summery. That honey gives it an oily balsamic aspect but it's still very much a sweet honey. The orange is fresh and there could also be some orange blossom in it. Not lemon, definitely oranges. It's like orange groves in California. The white flowers could be little jasmine petals and maybe gardenia but they're not too strong. It's something to wear in the summer at the beach or on a cruise or when I'm sailing. This is the type of perfumes I love. If you like citrus and honey check this out. This is hard to find and although not discontinued it's only selling on ebay. I found it enchanting. I love it. I'm sporting this baby in July when I head out to California for the summer. I might even wear it on Sunset Boulevard where the Beverly Hills Hotel is located or the Wilshire Hotel the "Pretty Woman" movie hotel. This is a luxurious and feminine fragrance and although dated it still charms everyone. I wore it the other day and received many compliments. Beautiful orange and honey along with white jasmine.

Jan Moran lists the notes as: Top: green ivy, ylang-ylang, bergamot, water lily, lemon Heart: Jasmine, orange blossom, lily of the valley, cyclamen Base: musk, mousse de Chine, amber, sandalwood, vetiver I would agree with @gtabasso that there are aldehydes at the top. I’m testing a small spray bottle for the first time in 2025. I have no idea where it’s been or how it’s been stored. The opening was rough, with that turned aldehyde smell. But that only lasted a few minutes and I’m intrigued by everything else that’s going on here. The general impression is honeyed amber musk, but with more detail if you lean in. Sadly, I don’t get any lily of the valley, but all the other notes are in evidence, although the ylang-ylang is very faint. I wouldn’t wear this out anyplace (the musk is too prominent for me), but I’m glad to have it in my collection. EDIT: I didn’t give it enough time! The LOTV comes through after about an hour and significantly lightens the musk. It felt like a beam of sunlight on a heavy day. I like this more and more the longer I wear it.

I certainly wouldnt consider this an oriental, its very sweet (quite sickly at first) & after an hour i can still smell honey. I detect a very slight orange smell but the white flowers do come through, id say it was more lily of the valley with a heavy honey base than an oriental. Not unpleasant but not brilliant either. Thankfully this is a bargain price so you wont feel you have wasted your money if you dare to try it. Update 3 hours later. This has really come out now & i take back what i said earlier about it being not brilliant...its really rather lovely. Just like Royal Secret, this is one that needs time to mature on your skin for the true scent to permeate through. I say try it if you can.

Just had a spray of my first bottle of Sunset Boulevard and unlike other reviewers I dont find it that sweet smelling.I can def smell some honey and lily of the valley and to be honest it is an ok smell.Not overpowering at all.My only problem with it is that on first application I think it smells slightly like Elizabeth Ardens Red Door,which is one perfume I really dislike.Will give it a chance to settle,it was cheap so cant complain too much. Will update later on how it develops

Cloying and headache inducing at first. After a long while it settles into a tolerable floral honey mix with a hint of orange, still a little too sweet for my liking. I recognize lily and jasmine and there's at least one other flower that I can't quite place (might be lily-of-the-valley?). The honey takes its time but once it's unfolded it feels rather cozy. I like the creaminess. It lasts about 7 hours on me. ----- Update: I'd like to revoke the "at first".