Victoria Eau de Cologne

I'd get down on my knees daily & beg for this to return to the stores again!!! Back in the day that this was popular, I was a teen & couldn't afford the full size bottles on my baby sitting wages. I managed to acquire a purse spray of this beautiful gem along with the heart shaped purse spray of rapture. To me Victoria was such a mature, confident, boss beautiful lady with a sexy edge. I pictured her in a polished business setting, her long locks tied up in a french twist, real pearl or diamond studs in her ears, wearing a lace edged silky cami peaking out of her button down blouse tucked into her pencil skirt with those classy back seamed stockings & classic heels. Victoria was my absolute fave and I savored it for only the most special occasions (anytime or season). Rapture received my wearing attention far more frequently overall (but especially in cooler weather & nights). By the time I could afford full bottles of either, Victoria had left the stores to never return. My Rapture purse spray still had plenty left & so I commited to investing in their garden line as I really didn't love let alone really like most of their upscale scents that followed soon thereafter. The OG Amber Romance, Vanilla Lace...later... Enchanted Apple, Exotic Bouquet, Tender Embrace, Riviera Sun, Tender Orchid all became my rotation of go to's over the following years. Much later... Mood Succulent, Eau So Sexy, Wicked & Tease became easy reachers for this busy mom. Amber Romance & Tender Embrace were probably the most complex of the later faves. But still didn't hold a candle to OG Vic. Unfortunately, my old Victoria purse spray didn't weather time well. It's a musty version of it's former self. I so long to smell & wear this scent memory again & again. I've never smelled anything even close to it. However, today I was out sampling some new scents at a few shops. I stumbled upon something that made me think of Victoria. Chanel Allure Sensuelle. No, it's not at all the same or even really all that similar in scent notes. What brought me back was the way the scent layers unfolded, the complexity & depth that was executed with such amazing mastery...so balanced & smooth. This is a similar by gone era beauty by scent memory comparison. So if you loved the original Victoria anywhere near as much as I did, you might want to give Chanel Allure Sensuelle a try at the very least. If you're not usually a patchouli lover, please still try it out as I've never met such a smooth & well behaved patchouli before. Even I'm pretty partial to patch frags I really adore the good ones that sing sweetly & don't scream in your face.

So I first stumbled upon this fragrance around 1990. Lerner's, Limited, Victoria's Secret and Express were all owned by the same Columbus based business Tycoon. There was a clothing outlet in Columbus Ohio that sold store returns from all of the aforementioned. I purchased a sweater and on it had the most gorgeous scent. Clearly it was a return and the former owner doused herself in the original Victoria. I finally discovered it was Victoria and went crazy and splurged a huge amount on a new bottle. I think it was $38 or so at the time and in the 1990 that was a lot for a 20 yr old. I also had the body wash and body lotion. I have yet to find anything like it. If anyone has a scent that smells close please let me know. I just remember a sweet yet incredibly sexy scent. I came across a used bottle years ago at a goodwill and it was rancid so these do not hold up unfortunately. Back in the day, Limited, Lerner and Vicky's were great stores. They actually had well made clothing. Limited went bankrupt selling off to another company who is down to a cheesy web site at best, NY and Co. has mediocre clothing and anything I got from VS has shrunk or fallen apart. Shame. Just like the discontinuation of the original Victoria, this chain's quality has gone down the drain. UPDATE: sorry this is such a long review. I just got a vintage bottle in the mail. OMG it was FRESH smelling. This has taken me back almost 3 decades. Here is a description now that I am newly smelling it again: Sweet without being nauseating (this was the first phase of sweet perfumes I believe. It smells sweet like honey. Not a nasty caramel or sugar cookie sweet but beautiful warm honey. Floral yet I am having a hard time explaining the floral notes. I am thinking some honeysuckle type and a faint rose There is a mimosa note in hter as well and the final dry down is sweet powder. Holy Mothter what a creation. Why they stopped it is beyond me. It would be selling off the shelves to this day. It's vintage but not sceaming old or dated. I have over 100 perfumes and smell new ones all the time. I have come across nothing that resembles this at all.

I am reviewing this a second time. I purchased this when it first came out around 1989ish. I forgot all about it until maybe six years ago when I purchased a bottle off of eBay. It was totally rancid and horrible that I could still smell the beautiful smell in the background. Determined to not give up. I finally found a huge bottle and it was perfect. I used it here and there but forgot about it and ended up selling it. What a mistake. Fast forward, over the years I have tried to locate it online and every bottle was celery turned and horribly rancid. I about gave up hope until I located another bottle. I am so happy to say it has not turned. I have no idea how that is possible but it smells just as good as I remember it to. And for a cologne back in the day, this stuff was a powerhouse. I am storing this little Diva in my dark closet and pray she continues to smell great. I can describe it as one of the first to enter into the gourmand territory. I don't know exactly what the notes are, and I am having a hard time finding the right words to describe it other than sweet honey and clean. Why they discontinued it is beyond me. My guess is that it would be due to the ingredients no longer being able to be obtained. To today's standard I feel this would definitely fit in. I mean, we are slowly getting out of gourmand and over the past decade, niche fragrances have been all the rage. This could definitely fit niche fragrance. I honestly feel that if Victoria's Secret brought this back, it would be a hit. I sprayed my arm 4 hours ago and since washed it off, and I can STILL smell it. It was just that good and well made!

PLEASE BRING THIS BACK?!! This was my first “grown up” fragrance purchase. Victoria is a lacy cami with matching panty under a long houndstooth jacket and a short black skirt. This classic Victoria fragrance defined the luxurious, classy, with a kick of sexy and a subtle but definite promise of something naughty hanging out in the mist somewhere. It was the perfect scent for the elegant experience of going into a (deliciously scented!) Victoria’s Secret back then. Pure class... not the bubblegummy teeny bop...trying way too hard it is today. Unfortunately today it feels like Victoria’s “secret” has been blabbed in every high school hallway everywhere. But, I digress... I’m not the best at sorting out individual notes anyway but this fragrance always boggled me! It felt too complex & well balanced to pin down exactly what’s what in there. The complexity of it is why it felt grown up to me. Maybe that’s what added to the appeal & mystery? All I know for certain is when that hint of raspberry hits, I melt and can’t stop sniffing myself!

Not sure how accurate this is but I saw a post listing the notes as follows: Top Notes: bergamot, raspberry Middle Notes: jasmine, lilac and Bulgarian rose Base notes: vanilla, oak moss, sandalwood and patchouli (Edited to add: Stacia79 also listed these notes in her 2018 review) My husband gave me bottles of this perfume starting in the mid 90's and it will always hold a special place in my heart. On me, the above notes seem to be fairly accurate but in addition I get what I can only describe as a crumbly, butter cookie accord. I don't get any oak moss or sandalwood. The notes that stand out to me are: bergamot, raspberry, jasmine, rose, vanilla, patchouli and crumbly butter cookie. I stopped wearing perfume for awhile when I was pregnant and had small children so I carefully tucked my last gift set away inside of my grandmother's antique linen chest and didn't think about it for years. It is still just as beautiful today - over 20 years later.