Versus Donna

To have discontinued Versus Donna is one of the worst capital sins that perfume industry could do against women. Red is my favorite color, and to me Versus Donna's bouquet is the apotheosis of red: not only cause of the brilliant bottle (what a pretty bottle, a little beautiful sculpture, nice to touch and to the sight!) or cause of the presence of red fruits... the whole combination of notes that compose this perfume hits my senses like a glorious vermilion aura. The first time I met Versus Donna (1999), I was flashed by its fizzy, tangy prelude, by the blazing hotness of that incredible blend of fruits, aldehydes and spices. As the scent develops, floral notes bloom on the skin (how bold and impudent are that roses and tuberoses!), amber, musk and sandal make the scent become more and more smooth, deep and dark... the initial flare of the beginning turnes into a sensual, velvety amaranth. That were my subjective feelings when I sniffed my skin. Since I was a child, red has always given me an uncontainable joy (red clothes, red hair, red accessories, red car, red mugs, I love everything red!)... and so Versus Donna did when I wore it: I would have spent whole day splashing V.D. on me! When I finished my second bottle of this magic potion, I found with great regret that V.D. was discontinued (the two bottles I bought in 1999 were already leftovers of stock). Fifteen years have gone before being able to find online another bottle of my red dream. Maybe cause of an inappropriate storage (the bottle was not sealed), maybe cause of the old age of the perfume, when I opened it I felt a slight rancid undercurrent which pervaded the whole scent... such a pity! But I could recognize the wonderful notes I had yearned for so long, too, and this was enough to bring me back to the time I was a young woman, when I felt bold and sexy and "red", the time i was wearing V.D. everyday.

Girls, you won't believe where I found a vintage bottle of this gorgeous perfume!! At a humble supermarket near my house!! They used to sell brand name perfumes back in the 90s and some years later, for some reason they stored the units that hadn't been sold back in their basement. Now, years later, they brought them back upstairs HALF PRICE... Therefore, you can imagine how thrilled I was to see all these vintage gems right before my eyes in 2014, and, most importantly, properly preserved in a cold, dark basement!!! Back to Versus Donna now, it was last August that I tested it at the supermarket's stand. At first I thought it smelled like detergent. It was unbelievably heavy. But later on, I started getting wafts of something devine. Mainly rose and the berries. And it was so sweet and gourmand!! Even in the heart of the summer, in a mediterranean country, it smelled irresistible!! Still, it goes without saying that the perfect time for this gem is the winter because of its warmth and richness. I'm going to use my vintage perfume very sparingly, that's for sure. And if I'm lucky enough, I'll get 2 or 3 other more vintage perfumes from my local supermarket before they vanish into thin air!! :-(

I agree with you reviewers, definitely a sin to have perfumers discontinue this. In the 1990s i found it in Sofia...where I'm at now in Johannesburg this is unheard of. I SERIOUSLY cant figure out why the most precious and loved fragrances get discontinued. Don't designer houses ever look at sites like this one, nowadays, CONSIDER them, to see, & READ comments, and get a feel for which perfumes are old favorites, are missed etc????? Dont their marketing departments care the least bit? I mean come on, we are in 2015 for crying out loud. They should seriously become more proactive. And i mean this for maaaaany other discontinued, unobtainable fragrances. I remember so well how this scent smelt...a sweet, feminine and sensual blast, somewhere up there with Hypnotic Poison, Givenchy Very Irresistible Sensuelle, mixed with John Galliano...but...in truth there is no match for it, its that unique. I was a kid when i had it, and never knew the notes or anything like that, but i still loved it and treasured it, and it was my signature, a perfume i wouldnt even share with my girlfriends! I'd do just about anything to get it again

I found it 11 years ago, when I was desperately looking for Escada Margaretha Ley. A young shop-assistant showed Versus to me... maybe 'cause of the color of the confection? I don't know! Now I really don't remember if Versus Donna Versace reminds in somewhat Margaretha Ley, but certainly in that evening I felt in love with it's amazing red, transparent bottle (red is my favorite color, of course!), and immediately after with it's wonderful, warm and sensual scent. I remember I definitely got crazy for its sexy, spicy, fizzy and exotic notes, and I got crazy as well when, after few months, I realized Versus Donna Versace was almost impossible to find. I wonder why marketing is so cruel to women! Now I don't remember very well the main notes of Versus Donna, so I cannot analyze it very well... I only hope to find it somewhere, because it has been a great lost for my nose and for my skin!

Wow! this is some good stuff. At first spray you are assaulted with a rich plummy note with a hint of the nutmeg.Then along with that you catch a whiff of the rose, so lovely and sweet.Finally it develops into this fruity vanilla amber sensation. Just really nice. I know I am not the greatest at describing these perfumes, but I know what I like.And I really like this perfume.Sweet, spicy and sassy all at once. You can't go wrong. Hope I can find this again. My only complaint is that the lid doesn't work so well on my bottle. But such a small complaint. Love it!

This is so unique....I keep buying bottles 😂 it’s a treasure and I would dare anyone today they’ll say this is a niche perfume. I cannot agree more with @snick04.....since Versace sold their cosmetics to EUROITALIA they ruined their perfumes. EUROITALIA on the contrary did a huge success with D&G in the 90s.....wicked!!! ...and now all the D&G perfumes have been ruined by P&G LOL. Makers are super important and key in the chain of a perfume creation....what it has been done and succeeded by some labs, it cannot be re-done by others

I was on my very young age when i 'borrowed' this perfume from my sister. My own perfume ran out that time and i couldn't go out without any fragrances on me. I was surprise with the smell. On my skin it turn up as vanilla, jasmine and little bit rose. So flowery! According to my son I smelled like a vanilla ice cream. Unfortunately they discontinued this perfume.

It is such a shame that it is discontinued. By far my favourite from Versace house. Donna Versus is all about roses and rasberry....actually raspberry and aldehydes turn it into a dark red almost black rose. This is a "cold beauty" scent, dark sexy and mysterious. It is still fairly reasonably priced, so don't miss an opportunity to experience this beauty!

Versace Donna opens with a blast of hot spices, like paprika and cayenne, then quickly moves to a complex aromatic vanillic woody fragrance reminiscent of the 1980s, and finally becomes a very strong baby powder for a lasting drydown. Lasts into the next day. I get an impression of paprika, cayenne, vetiver, and oakmoss not listed in the official notes.

Oh my ... How can i describe this one, i just can't , the best thing is to try it ! Which is impossible now, since it's discontinued ... I think there should be a group for this kind of scent : The sexy scents . Just like Gucci's "Envy" it's so seductive , womanly . Can turn the most shy woman into the most dangerous heartbreaker ;-)

Versus Donna is an extremely powdery, big, 80s fragrance for women. I get a lot of powder, raspberry, amber, oakmoss, vintage sandalwood, and a complex blend of other notes. The fragrance is long lasting and seems to bloom larger as it wears.

The most wonderful perfume... not for the faint hearted. Strong, sultry, va-va-va-voom! You don't wear this if you're trying to be discreet! Such a shame it's so hard to get now. Fond memories.

Dark fruits, vanilla and benzoin. Warm, sensual and very special scent. Very sad it is discontinued scent. Luckily got a big bottle and going to enjoy it till the last drop.

One of the best fragrances ever created. Extremely sexy and special. Modern yet classy and stylish. Incredible work of art by late great Gianni Versace,

This is nothing but a masterpiece. I've had it for few years, but my mind is blown every time I wear it. They just don't make them like this anymore.

Missing it exactly as much as the 90's :) A LOT. That was a great perfume.

This is the best perfume for me...my first fragrance, sweety and lasting

WAUW! This is bursting with fruit, i ADORE this one! 10/10!

Loved this sweet scent. Sad I cannot find it anymore.

My first and only love, miss it so much

Lou Lou was my number 1 signature choice ages 18-22 and Versus Donna 22-24. Both epitomised the era of huge overpowering perfumes but both still complex, interesting creations. Overpowering yes but not boring. I was distraught when this was discontinued. The red berry juice on sweet amber base with a number of smaller notes of violets and rose and tuberose with other flowers and resins making it interesting layered and beguiling. Years later I found a bottle from a discontinued fragrances shop but to my surprise I didn’t have the same love for this one as the first time around (LouLou fares better on that front). It was an early 90s Versace, Gianni era, at its finest. Hyper feminine, sexy and bold. On a list of notable perfumes not to be forgotten.

I've got it as an extra from a swap and I even like it more as a swap bottle. It has defin. 90's vibe and a qiant longevity and sillage, over 8 hours. I got raspberry and spicy vanilla on my skin, Quite linear, but that's ok with me. It's sweet and mature scent, good old school fragrance, warm and sensuall.

I have no words to express my feelings about this one, some good old memorys.Very bad it is not there any more.If some one got it pls send me a message !

Sun Moon Stars with added raspberry. Intense! Either Love or Hate.

best parfume ever ...hope i can find it...

I finally got to try this,and i am glad i did!The most sexy berry scent ever!This is not childish berry,but sexy provocating berry.It smells like spicy berry,mix of raspberry and cherry with spices.When i find a big bottle of this,i will so buy it..an afrodisiac with other words.

one of my first perfumes...it was very strong and very sweet. I love it for the sweetness but it is too strong and I used to have headaches if I applied two or more sprays.

I like this one very much.I smell lots of berries ,plum and violets.It is not a complex frag,it is more mono-smell,sweet and warm.Deffinatelly very sexy:)

It opens with puckerish berries still on the basket breaking into syrup and plastic roses, carried by a flashing and caressing Sophia Grojsman styled powdery-ambery benzoin/violet/peach accord, plush and 90's like a crushed velvet smock mini-dress. Saturated and lipgloss bright yet patterned- fruit still-life painting casted fluorescent, like most specimens from this Lost Generation of fruity-florals, no white musks, bossy patch, flooding marmalade or ambroxan bust, just the creative impulse for fun of the uncorrupted fruity-floral pioneer. The colouring is wonderful too, blazing reds and violet-blues like Warhol's portrait of Elizabeth Taylor. My memory is linking it with Tocade, a more eurotrashy Diamonds and Rubies and a speculative brighter Amarige version of Tresor, rasperry-sherbet instead of peach-honeycomb. Very britpop scene on the Primrose Hill set. I will be hoarding these period things like the Bouvier women of Grey Gardens hoarded possums and memories.

One of the best of designer fragrance releases of the 90's. Versace was hot before it sold its fragrance and cosmetics license to EuroItalia. Now everything they put out are flops. I have no idea who manufactured Versace parfums before EuroItalia but I'd bet they were done by a niche house. They really stood out at the time. All were beast mode fragrances and no other designer fragrances even came close. Versus Donna had a heartiness to that had unisex appeal. The only thing on the market now that comes close is Velvet Vanilla by Mancera. The only distinguishable difference is Velvet Vanilla is only slightly less spicy but they're so similar that people who dont know you're wearing Velvet Vanilla will assume its Versus Donna by Gianni Versace.

I'm truly in love with this perfume. I remember being gifted with a bottle by an ardent suitor. He knew I was a perfume-freak. At first I was hesitant to use it because it might give him the notion that I like him too. But, alas, I fell in love with the scent in an instant and gradually fell in love with him. Those were the most romantic days of my life and this perfume became my signature scent that time. Unfortunately, we parted ways yet the memories were as bold and captivating as the fragrance. I wish I could still find this in stores not only to recapture those memories but also to make new ones.

Today my Versus Woman arrived. Unsniffed, and totally not quite knowing what I was in for. From the reviews I read, I thought I was in not trouble. Trouble I thought for 8 minutes....then I knew I bought it right. Yes it is is what I like, if you like Poison, Christian Dior, then you will love this. It is a little darker and oh so MMmmm...... Plummy, nutmegy, violety, musky, jasminy, lily of the valley and spicy stuff. Very womanly and sophisticated... Love it it for sexiness and warmth....xx

A sophisticated oriental scent, this was made before the death of Gianni Versace and then discontinued. A fabulous perfume opening with very spicy, sensual notes, it then proceeds to ensnare and attract followers as it turns to a more floral scent. The base is almost tribal, with a North African feel, unusual for a 90s perfume. A fabulous dating scent, creating allure and sophistication but with an innocent feel accentuated by the milky drydown. Perfetto!

if you want to smell for a days, use this one. first, i smelt it on my friend, and i thought what a terrible perfume, but, few months later i tried it, and i liked it on my skin... if you don't like heavy perfumes, i think, you will got headache of this one. this fragrance i can recognize so easy... it is very specific.

I can't recall how it smells but I know it smells really good on a friend. The thing about perfume is that it can really relates you with someone; time shared, things you did, where you went. Feels like it was only yesterday. Funny thing is that during those few seconds I feel young again.

I love this perfume from the moment I first smelt it, around 15 - 20 years ago. I have been wearing it ever since. Its my signature perfume. Unfortuately, Ive heard that they have stopped making it. Im so upset. Does anyone know if there is any other fragrance that smells similar?

I have just purchased this beauty and I absolutely love it. I will continue to wear it more and I am sure my love of it will increase with each wear. It is just divine. It is a warm grape, raspberry scent that you rarely smell anymore. If only they still made them like this.

Please be awear ladies, there is alot of fakes around, especially on ebay. I recently bought one and they claimed it was a splash bottle at 100ml, versus never designed a splash bottle of that size. Does anyone know where or has anyone got a genuine bottle of this!perfume?

As a teeenager, I had a deep seated belief that Versus Donna was the sexiest women's fragrance ever, that there wasn't a guy it couldn't seduce and it must be handled carefully hence. This perfume was insane! *Not at all migraine safe.

I used to wear and love this beauty in the late 90's. When I wear Vanitas, now, it reminds me about Versus Donna. Is that possible, or just my memory is wrong as come to think of it I was wearing it 20 years ago....

This is one of the best smell for long days of winter. So bad if it not exist in the Parfumery shop. I am waiting to have once again the bottle in my hand. 10 is small for this creation of Versace House.

I'm still using it right now. I stock up the stock when the staff told me it will be discontinue...... Now I only left 8 in stock. So sad

the perfume i used when i was in college (1997). smells so strong.. like a cough syrup. but the drydown is nicer

Just received this today, finally found it online. Wonderful I love it.