Guess Original

Oh yes, the 90's! Thanks Fragrantica for adding this truly beautiful and now very rare beauty!:-) I'm just walking down memory lane..... Picture this: 1990, summer, 11 pm around 28 c (but nicely windy coming from the beach) me and my friends having some nice "Margarita's on the rocks" at the "Clevelander" at Ocean Drive, South Beach! Just one sniff brings me right back to these wonderful times in my early 20this. Back then, I was an "au-pair" living in Key Biscayne (another beautiful place) and live could not get any better..... ;-) It was the time of the "super models" and South Beach just started to get a name in Fashion shootings. Claudia Schiffer was "the face" of Guess, all made up like the beautiful Brigitte Bardot, and the fragrance just smelled like her: veeeeeeery sexy! The fragrance starts at first very spicy and strong, I do not get much of the citrus top notes, but shortly settles into a gorgeous, jasmine, orange flower with vanilla middle note. The base is adding a touch of sandalwood, amber and musk. I can smell some civet too, but it seems not be listed. To me it is more spicy than floral ...thus, makes this perfect "Spicy Oriental" fragrance! Rumour has it, that the fragrance got discontinued because it stained clothes....what a pity this is! Just a couple of month ago I was lucky enough to get my hands on a new 3.4 oz bottle here in Switzerland for a very cheap price! On the internet you still can find this fragrance if you are willing to pay $ 425.00 for a 3.4 oz bottle. If you happen to find this one for a reasonable price, go get it! It is truly a beautiful fragrance for all of you who love strong and spicy fragrances like "Fendi" or "Obsession"....

I have a sample and this is GORGEOUS and I remember it from my teenage years. I also recently acquired a sample of Todd Oldham and they smell similar but Guess is a 10 n TO would be a 8.5 if I had to rate. I love the orris note in Guess. Also, I smell no resemblance to Spark, I love Spark too. Nor do I smell a resemblance to Xoxo Heartbeat. Heartbeat, IMHO is a dupe for Shalimar Souffle Intense. Guess Original is like nothing else I've ever smelled. It is powdery, balsamic n spicy and to my nose, the orris root is the dominant note. Such a beautiful and unique perfume. Well worth the high prices it's going for IMHO and I rarely say that!! 6/5 *****s!! Edit: Received my sample of MCM Obelisk today. I literally can't tell Guess Original and Obelisk apart. Along w Organza Indecence, these are my 2 fave vintages. Edit: I broke this one out today because fall is around the corner in Philly where I live, I can't wait!! To get with the change of season coming soon, I'm busting out my heavy, sometimes brooding vintages. That's exactly how I describe this one-brooding. Gorgeous. But I don't get the comparison to Wonderlust even a little bit. I like Wonderlust, it's nice, sweet, cute, easy to reach for. Imo, it's everything that Guess Original isn't. But, we all have different senses and to an extent, smell is subjective. Sort of. Unless it's oud/leather/saffron. I hate that trio. Those notes are not subjective. If you tell me it's there n that you smell it, holy hell thank you for telling me and I'm gonna believe you hehe Lol. Anyway, that was just a side note, sorry for rambling. But in all seriousness, does anybody not see the resemblance to Wonderlust? Or is it me?

This fragrance is categorized as a Chypre Floral, but I don’t get that at all. It’s more of a spicy oriental I think. It’s warm, deep, and spicy. It is so beautiful and sexy. And that’s both going from memory and from a treasured vintage mini I recently acquired, which smells exactly as it should yet even deeper. I caress and gingerly sniff this thing, guarding it like Gollum and his ring. It’s pretty ridiculous lol. I was an impressionable 12-13 year old when Guess was a hot sexy thing, complete with smoldering black and white photo campaigns featuring Claudia, Shana, Eva, etc. That was my beauty standard (I don’t wanna hear anything about “unrealistic beauty standards” these days). To this day, Guess jeans are the only ones that fit me right and the only ones I wear. The original Guess perfume takes me right back to that era teetering on the edge of the decadent 80s and restrained 90s. Fashion in the early 90s was beautiful and feminine before grunge took over. This scent was strong and spicy, feminine, and sexy. No other Guess fragrance after this one comes close to the original, imo. They’re nice, but “safer”. I tried the Fragrance Shoppe dupe a few years ago and found it was fairly close. I have to try it again. I’d also like to try MK wanderlust (many thanks for the recommendation). Otherwise I am considering saving up to splurge on an unopened vintage bottle if I can find one. UPDATE: I broke down and bought a nearly-full bottle that was not at an exorbitant price. I am so happy to have this in my collection. The top has turned vintage-y but once it opens up it is delightful. Spicy and floral and delicious.

When I was wearing Guess in the mid-90s, it was a very popular fragrance worn by many young women. This is the perfume that got me random compliments from strangers, and they always had to ask -- they could never quite recognize it for what it was. It blended with my own body chemistry and the result was something unique and, apparently, appealing to many people. I've heard it described as "syrupy" and gourmand -- one reviewer said they detected a chocolate note -- but I never got any of that. On me, it was orange blossom, then warm amber and jasmine, with (what my nose interpreted as) a plum note that seemed to linger throughout. Something about it felt "spicy" to me, but I can't identify any particular note. It did have a bit of sweetness, but it was never cloying. Like so many others here, I've spent years pining for this. I bought a full size bottle on eBay and regretted it almost immediately; upon the first spritz, it seemed almost like a single note perfume with only a hint of the fullness I remember. This has been discontinued for so long, the fragrance oils in my bottle had undergone various degrees of oxidation. It no longer had any complexity. I recently found a fragrance vendor who makes a lovely recreation of this, and while it's not an exact match, to my nose, it's very close. I have a fantasy that one day, Guess will bring this back by popular demand. If other perfumers can create something so similar, surely Guess can re-release the original (preferably in the same twisted bottle)! Fingers crossed.

I have only a few drops left in a mini obtained in a lot and am grateful to be able to wear this. To me this is a perfect perfume blurring the lines between 80s and 90s style of perfumes because it holds both elements. Moreso, to me, on the 80 ́s genre as it is maybe a little more floral-white floral-- specifically, than many of the 80 ́s of a similar vein such as mentioned Fendi, Anne Klein and so on. A less smoky, less woody, more floral spicyish oriental a Floriental? Now some of you writers are younger than me and perhaps missed the glorious 80s perfumes...And I see how many of you wish Guess resume production of this lovely one. Until that hopeful day, if I may suggest a list of perfumes which are similar. Now I know how a specific perfume is just that and these will not be the same, but nevertheless there are some ideas. Lancome Magie Noire ORIGINAL pre reformulation...has multi coloured yellow orange bands on bottle rare and exopensive on ebay Salvador Dali Salvador Daly original black opaque lip shaped bottle Fendi original Fendi Anne Klein original Anne Klein Paloma Picasso original Paloma Picasso Boucheron original Boucheron Creature - Gilles Cantuel original.. Knowing . Estee Lauder All these above are similar in some ways, and worth a shot perhaps on ebay for some minis. Of those above, my tops are Magie Noire, Creature, Salvador Dali but all of the above will not likely disappoint.