Spectacular

Spectacular doesn’t have the ba ba boom factor you’d expect from the alter ego of Alexis. Instead, it is Alexis, just with the fur off and the negligee on. It’s Alexis by night; once the clothes come off, it’s time for seduction. Spectacular, for me and on my skin, falls in the realm of Passion, Occur, the first Versace from 81..meaning it has the same opulence, the same animalic floralcy, but a bit dialed down. While I believe Alexis would wear a heavy night time fragrance during the day, at home it seems fitting she would wear something as equally sensual but less intense. Don’t get me wrong, Spectacular is intense and heavy and heady, and I own a 1989 edt. But the aldehyde cloud that surrounds the most prominent gardenia, surrounded by a silky peach, tames the beast. The flowers are hard to pinpoint, the gardenia steals the show and only allows the incense to make a statement. That, and an unmistakeable civet that never stops roaring. It’s like the day counterpart of Passion. Was it trying to imitate it? Underneath it all though, there’s a gentle green streak that gives a powdered and chypre feel to the fragrance. While it’s heady, sensual, floral and highly animalic, it does so in morning attire. It’s not a gold lamé dress covered by an exotic fur, it’s more like a hot pink ensemble, with black lace underwear and silk stockings. What Alexis (again) would wear to the office on any given Monday. Is it Joan? Is it Alexis? It’s hard to tell, given that depending on the persona, one would feel it’s both and neither. One thing’s for sure, it’s an 80’s child thru and thru; a powdered floral with a classic feel, an assertive chypre with enough drama to fuel a soap opera and a sexy animalic light oriental with enough pizzazz to compete with anything from La Nuit to Fendi passing through Opium. So, for me, this is Joan Collins/Alexis Carrington Colby to a T. She’s just showing us her ‘delicate’ iron clad side. Spectacular sillage and longevity, as would be expected! Edit: the more I wear it, the more I smell a crossover between Passion and Occur. Simply...spectacular!

04. november 2012 Many thanks for finally adding this one to the database! I have this one both in pure parfum and EDT version and i have managed to wear parfum only by far. Oh my! I had a feeling it sould be good, however i had my doubts, but i didn ́t expect it to be THAT good. I don ́t know which concentration the previous user reviewed BUT this is massive white floral with huge tuberose and gardenia, but it also has an amazing dry leathery undertone. All that is bathing in a sea of civet in the drydown. Magnificent! I think this is very Joan Collins as you would expect it to be based on her most memorable character Alexis from Dynasty! This perfume makes a statement and is bold. Let me say, that though it reminds me a lot of Poison original, but it is not quite the same, it is less heavier but true to 80 ́s spirit. And it lasts for almost 20hrs one drop of perfume. The drydown is all about leather and civet, simply spectacular! Somehow the drydown reminds me of "La nuit" by Paco Rabanne, however again softer, not that überstrong animalistic note. Those of you, who like bold fragrances will like this one as well. I have enjoyed every minute while wearing this fragrance, it will not give you nausea, but it will surely make you very noticable from the rest of the crowd. A big love from me! Highly recommended.

I agree with the review below. Civet is not powdery and aldehydic as Spectacular or as bombastic. Civet purrs, Spectacular roars! This is much closer to fragrances like Elizabeth Taylors Passion or Givenchy Ysatis, or Elizabeth Arden's Red Door. Waxy florals that burn and melt like candle wax under flame. This smells like beautiful mature women of the 20th century in their finest clothes, leather gloves, jewels and furs going to Catholic Mass and then later that evening going out on the town w/ a handsome and rich husband. The mingling perfumes of fire, incense, melted candle wax and various 20th century floral aldehydic, chypre, and floral amber perfumes, and the scent of fine leather gloves, purses and fur coats creating a cloud of perfume that is offered up to the heavens as a prayer. It is a thing of beauty, like a piece of fossilized amber found in a remote land. From another time, a time barely remembered by many and never lived by most today. If you want to understand the decadence the richness and the absolute glamour of the 20th century, get your nose on this fragrance.

If anyone expects this fragrance to reflect the villainous character Joan Collins played on a primetime soap opera, they'd be in for a big surprise as there's nothing scandalous here. This is womanly, luxurious, classy, distinct, and very high quality. This beautiful perfume is more in line with designer brands like Chanel, Givenchy, and Dior, than other celebrity perfumes of the day. I am really astonished with how well made it is. A true floral aldehyde that is chockful of top-quality ingredients masterfully blended. The note profile is very similar to Giorgio, though it smells nothing like that. Giorgio lacks the animalic notes so well done here. Overall, I'm really surprised that this is not better known. It is a true standout even among fragrances of that time. It really is Spectacular! Oh, and that dry down ... sigh!

Extreme high quality. Animalic, bold, brave like a declaration of real love. Civet is strong but surprisingly not pungent at all, gives a glmourous vibe to everyone who wears it. Tuberose is to die for here. Forget about white florals from nowadays...here you can find NATURAL white florals, nothing chemical, nothing unusual, just like a huge garden. I also feel a peach vibe and and patchouli, among the incense on the base, civet , amber, rose and a high quality leather. Definitely a niche recipe and the ingredients smells so natural, nothing chemical in it. The esprit de parfum is a really sillage and projection monster. The longevity is until the next day. Stunning! 9.5 out of 10

Spectacular by Joan Collins is a retro classic that never goes out of style. One for Dynasty fans and those who enjoy outrageously dated perfumes like I do. Powdery styraxy yellow florals, dried fruits, dusty old honey and tobacco smoke pair with incense, hairspray, shoulder pads and gold plated earrings and I love it. If Vendetta, Scoundrel, Diva and Nino Cerruti Pour Femme had a baby this would be that love child. Throw in some Ysatis, Occur, Poison and Passion and here you have it. I love this and it's already become a top 10 for me only recently discovering it for a steal.

Much more bombastic, powdery, musky and aldehydic than my beloved Zoologist Civet. Also a bit more floral and bit less ambery. At least in the opening I think this is much closer to something like Ysatis from the same era. Spectacular is a good name, and it ́s a great perfume, but to my nose this cannot really compete with the more sophisticated and less bombastic Zoologist. Edit Worth every 12 dollars I payed for this... the opening is just a bit to "perfumy" and too much much for me, but the drydown is fantastic, deep and complex, smells like $200+ not $12...

@Lucia - what a spectacular review! Amazing. I m just warning you, don t let you tricked by the (let s say) new formulation (still available on fragranceX and most of ebay sellers (in 50 ml amount 99% of available items) it is different, weaker and not something to represent the spirit of this astonishing fragrance. Sure, mostly because of the chemical ingredients and IFRA killers. Try to find the original, pre - bar code editions, before 1995 (the best are 1989-1992, no matter the Esprit or EDT, both high quality). There you can find the magic.

omg this opens beautifully! starting off i get civet, leather, incense and gardenia. it's so pretty and balanced. i am genuinely surprised by how good this is. it's like a vase of gardenias and incense burning in a used bookstore full of leather bound books. later in the drydown i get something almost like lily...i think maybe narcissus and ylang ylang with a soft musk. anyway, i am in love with this one.

aldehydes, tuberose, amber, civet, incense, ylang, benzoin, sandalwood; this is a total floral aldehyde but with this amber/incense/benzoin resinous base that is unlike other frags of the time; lovely, but why isn't oakmoss listed? It's in the final drydown, not prominent and bitter like some chypres but still a bit woody and mossy and dry

Actually EDT comes both in splash and spray. I have both splash and spray versions of EDT in 50 and 100mls but of course there is an esprit version in a splash bottle with a pump. Not all solash bottles are esprit versions :) Just saying

Reviewof a vintage, open bottle. It's truly a captivating, floral, sweet, and sensual scent. No alcoholic opening—right away it envelops you in a rich amber aura with a delicate powdery touch. A vintage gem. The image of a fabulous lady.

Its been a long time since I had this, it stunk to high heaven, so I threw it down the rubbish chute...the bottle had broken on the way down, still reeked weeks later when you opened the chute!

This is classified as as chypre floral here. I don't think its very chypre, but it is very floral. The gardenia is most prevalent, and there is the sweetness of peach that is almost as strong. I find this to be a very sweet, creamy floral overall. I could not detect any civet till drydown, but if you wait for it, its there. This fragrance is about Joan Collins the actress, not Alexis Carrington the character. I find it to be rather elegant and classy, feminine, and wearable. This is reminiscent of a past era, the 80's, where florals were sweet and loud, but this is more classic to me, and doesn't smell dated, especially at the beginning. The longer you wear this, the more civetty it becomes. At the base, there is a quite a discernable animalic note. Most of today's fragrances avoid this type of note altogether, unless they are reformulations of an older scent, so I guess this aspect would place this perfume neatly in the past. Still, worth a try, but civet haters, beware - the opening and middle phase will fool you.

Tie me to the eyes, tell me it's an Amouage and I'll believe you in the next second! Amazing perfume, I watched years ago with an interview with Joan and she said that the perfumers who worked on this perfume are those of Chanel. The ingredients are so well selected, balanced and structured that you have the sensation, even now, it is a niche perfume. Smells expensive, quality, wealthy. I am convinced that they used natural oils, including civet, because this perfume was conceived and manufactured between 1985-1988, being launched only in 1989. It is a masterpiece, it does not leave you fooled by the color of the box or perhaps by the strange look of the glass, you will discover a fabulous, unique, very persistent fragrance that develops and emanates hours in a row and stays on clothes for weeks. A unique perfume, a recipe from which today's perfumers would have what to learn if they wanted! 9 out of 10.

Two important notes worth mentioning that don't appear in the Fragrantica pyramid above: oakmoss (of course), and a beautiful carnation construction, which, to my nose, seems to glide above the rest of the heart, above the rose tucked neatly into the folds of the sweeter, white blooms enveloping it. 'Spectacular', while not quite living up to its name, is nonetheless a vibrant and interesting floral-chypre, at once sweet, dry, and a little powdery, likable, and only a little eccentric, and featuring all of the usual cast from this genre of perfumery (rose, patchouli, oakmoss, labdanum, vetiver, musk), while distinguishing itself by its unusual floral-bouquet. It's been 16 hours since I sprayed, and it still clings to my skin in its retro-gloriousness. Against the mob, I'm adding this to my late-springwear rotation.

Carolyn, th splash bottle is the limited deluxe edition of Esprit de Parfum, 100ml (a huge amount for an esprit) and came in a luxury box with bulb atomizor. I have both EDT and Esprit, they are the same as composition but the esprit is, obviously, a very concentratef version of the EDT and -in my nose- a bit more animalic and leathery. But both spectacular!!! These are the old, first edition. There are some reformulated editions available (totaly changed) on some sites (especially in 50 ml amount) but the best are the pre barecode ones, espcially the 1989 one, the 1st.

Passionata, you are right, my bad. I wasn t sure it it was also a splash EDT edition - being launched in the end of 80s, it was obviously a splash version existed. So, EDT, EDT splash, Esprit de parfum deluxe edition and small purse parfum (also a purse deluxe spray 7,5 ml) All ... spectacular if we talk about vintages.

Well, that perfume was not so Joan Collins as you could expect: no Boucheron, no Giorgio Beverly Hills, no Poison. It was a nostalgic white florals, white woods, santal, a lot of moss, with reminescences of the original formula of Soir de Paris. Unusual, smart elegant, considering the '89. Considering Alexis.

EIGHTIES SPECTACULAR I remember when this fragrance was first released in the UK back in 1989. Joan Collins name was attached to it but it came as no surprise as she had already launched her own line of lingerie. I was too old to wear the lingerie which would have suited me in my 20's or 30's but I am never too old for any perfume! Joan Collins was marketing this fragrance to her American audience, but it was not lost on her British fans. Spectacular is an early celebrity fragrance. The 2 other major names in the celebrity world to launch their own perfume included Elizabeth Taylor (Passion 1987) and singer Cher (Uninhibited 1987). Joan Collins was as big a name as either of them. She received a lot of publicity and media coverage for it. She seemed to be honest about her intentions: to make money! Greed was good in the 80's but this didn't boil down to greed. She stated quite clearly in interviews that she knew that she couldn't be an actress forever so she needed to transition into a new venue. Fragrance was one way for her to make money to pay her bills. Why not? Nothing illegal about it! And when a fragrance is this good we wished she had continued to make more of them which Elizabeth Taylor did with one hit after another - White Diamonds, Diamonds & Rubies, Black Pearls, Violet Eyes etc. Joan made only a few fragrances. I believe after this one she only released I AM Woman which I also wear and will review another time. Spectacular opens with good old fashioned fresh and soapy aldehydes. For me the opening is very nice, despite that chemical or rather aroma chemical blast. It's a classic, a Chanel No 5 style opening. Later on it develops into something like Paco Rabanne La Nuit only sweeter and more floral, and less musky. Citrus swims in these aldehydes and a sweet peach so that the opening is indeed fruity though still more aldehydic than anything else. There's so much going on in this fragrance after the opening that I don't know where to start. After the aldehydes settle down, the florals open their blossoms and the perfume really kicks in. It's an 80's power perfume with lady like feminine sweet flowers for mature audiences only. The rose reaches my nose, so does the white florals of jasmine and lilies, narcissus, ylang ylang, and gardenia. For many this is a gardenia scent and it is, absolutely, but I feel that on me the gardenia is harmonizing with all the other flowers, which is rare for showy gardenias. This is a green floral gardenia that allows space for the other flowers to do their thing. I smell creamy almost fruity banana ylang ylang (similar to the ylang in Diva by Ungaro) and creamy tuberoses. This is quite a mature floral fragrance so if you are experienced with aldehyde florals this is definitely for you. It's classified as a chypre but it's truly just a floral. The dry stage of this perfume is a hodgepodge of more Oriental notes like sandalwood, light woodsy notes, light musk, green patchouli, warm benzoin, incense, some powder and iris root, and amber. It's warm and spicy, unisex (at least the dry down is unisex) and quite beautiful. It's well formulated. I don't know who Joan's nose was but whoever it was did a fantastic job. The dry own is not as animalic as I was expecting with a civet or civetone chemical note in it. You mostly smell the sandalwood and the powder. Womanly, stylish, elegant, sophisticated, glamorous. Spectacular does indeed smell like something Joan Collins would wear herself. This was made at a time when celebrities did wear their own perfumes because they had so much invested into it that they were behind the selection of notes and worked as a team with the noses behind the scent. The result here is very elegant and no nonsense, like a modern updated fruity floral with spices and wood, a combo of No. 5 and La Nuit, very 80's, very elaborate with Joan Collins' grand dame signature on it. I wore it to big operatic events when I was teaching students who were on their way to being in the limelight in the opera world. Joan was and still is a beautiful woman. This perfume captures her spirit in every way. Posh!