Time for a some much needed rehabilitation. Time to get the record straight. First a confesession: the bottle is downright ugly. BUT... the frag inside is divine, worthy of the lovely 'one of a kind' Miss Violet Eyes.
I won't make myself popular with trend junkies and fashion victims here by talking about this hidden gem and positive at that! For a lot of youngsters and readers of Cosmo and Seventeen, Liz Taylor, and her frags are 'old crap'. IMHO you have two kind of perfumes: good quality (good sillage, great longevity) frags with an own face; and bad, cheaply produced generic interchangable 'breezes in the wind' creations of the 'Mad Men' at the 'Ad Agencies'. Don Draper would love the tsunami of fruity florals. Hell, he even would have invented them! But for himself, he would prefer strong fighter Liz and certainly her 'Passion'. The strange thing is that those fleeting celeb fruities are often more expensive than some good long lasting original frags. If you can combine the best of both worlds: good ones that are inexpensive, then even Don Draper is happy and you go up on my personal ladder that leads to perfume wahalla. 'Passion' is 80% on the way to become highly estimated. But because of the affordability and prejudices, will never make it as a 'classic' in 'take yourself too serious' reviewer circles. The irony is that Liz started the 'celeb fragrance' trend, but now is pissed upon by the fans of the 2012 'sweetie pie' celeb scents.
The much villified 'Passion' by Liz Taylor belongs in the 'good' category, to be clear'. Liz herself is already in heaven or hell arguing with Richard Burton and driving god or the devil crazy, and her 'Passion' deserves to follow her there.
Heaps of sh*t have been poured over this fragrance. It is strong, it has presence, it is remarkable, it is accessible to a large audience, it is versatile. Remarkable frags get a lot of flak. The caravan of fruity florals, you just let pass without comment and fade away by themselves. No need to analyse them. 'Passion' smells like the great Miss Taylor herself was: explosive, unique, strong, no b*llshit, deliver the goods or get your *ss kicked. She rocked big time! An original. Like her 'Passion'. To be clear: I'm no particular fan of Miss Taylor as an actress. She was 'A Personality' and she launched some remarkable fragrances, of which I like 'Passion' for women best. And I always review a fragrance on its own merits, by the way. I don't care about the fashion du jour, what's in and what's out. For me it is about the fragrance. Forget the bottle, forget the box, forget the face and forget those violet eyes in this case. This is the proof: by praising this 'unfashionable 80's icon' I'll get sh*t poured over me by the vat-load, by the fruity floral brigade. I like 'Coco', 'Le Baiser du Dragon', 'Black Orchid'... and it always puzzled me why this 'Passion' that is one step below those classics but a lot of steps above most contemporary 'one year and then gone' fragrances, has been kicked into the pit of oblivion and fashion conspiracy contempt.
'Passion' is like the apt name: it is strong, takes no prisoners, demands total surrender to discover its deep beauty and it is love or hate, with a thin line between the two. Wild, no holds barred, liberating passion! Liz was definetly a stong woman, well 'Passion' matches her strong character and personality. Most of Liz's fragrances ('White Diamonds' 'Diamonds and Sapphires'... as we all now Liz had something with gems, and with aslos 'passion' for that matter!) are florals, but 'Passion' is a true complex oriental in the vein of 'Obsession' and 'Coco'. But more powerful, less rounded maybe but still velvelty, a bit syntetic smelling maybe (but also much less costly than those classics à la 'Coco') 'Passion' aims directly for a woman's heart/emotions/lust/desire and a man's libido (men are simple creatures, I know) instead of distributing candy to underaged fantasy girls. 'Passion' is like Liz in 'Whose afraid of Virginia Woolf?'. No compromise, hard and tender, bitchy and sweet, yelling and purring... but always strong and with an awesome presense. Like her fragrance 'Passion'. You are in awe of the sheer power and 'ugly beauty' of the frag.
Don't you think that the bottle looks like a bit like an early, unfinished and maybe ugly stariting version of the 'Alien'-bottle? But 'Passion-the-Frag' is as strong as Muglers masterpiece. And preceded it. 'Passion' is overwhelmingly sultry and rich. The name 'Diva' was already taken by Ungaro, but this should be named 'Diva'. It is everything 'Obsession' is, but then stepped up some degrees. And that also means almost 'at the top' and very close to 'over the top'. But if you like radical, strong, unforgettable, in your face, strong fragrance suprises like 'Alien', 'Obsession' and 'Opium', you'll like 'Passion' and pay much less for it than for the YSL, CK or Mugler name brand. Time to try this great, great juice for some dollars. 'Passion' is in every sense grand, 'more is more' and 'more than more is even better'.
Look at that collection of notes. Wowwzzers! And the result is: 'Wham, bam bam bam bam bam, thank you very, very much m'am. And I’ll be surely back soon for more and more and more. Of your fragrance.' This is a shameless 'Womanity'. A celebration of the power of female seduction and sensuality. And so the 'mother' of all openly 'dirty in a good way' sensual scents like 'Boudoir', 'Bal à Versailles'... It is an adult woman's world. Girls are not yet allowed. Like the unforgettable Neil Diamond song in Tarantino's 'Pulp Fiction': 'Girl you'll be a Woman soon'. Fantasy Girl, you will be allowed to use Passion when you are 'a Woman'.
Top: Aldehydes, artemisia, coriander, bergamot, gardenia
Middle: Honey, tuberose, sandalwood, orris root, patchouli, jasmine, heliotrope, cedar, rose
Top: Leather, musk, vanilla, coconut, incense, civet, oakmoss.
The strongest notes all together. And a lot of them. Extra strenght. That is maybe why a lot of people don't like it. It is too strong, too intense, too dense, too overwhelming, too 'elusive' for a lot of people, too confrontational with their own sexuality. Because, together with 'Bal à Versailles' and 'Boudoir' this is 'da sexual bomb'! But less velvety than 'Boudoir' and as dense but less animalistic than 'Bal à Versailles'. Most fragrances have one of the three levels as the strong one and the two others as less strong. Here all three levels are full on! And then some more. I have to admit that in an earlier review I talked about the strongest base I had ever seen, but I must recant. 'Passion' has the strongest base I have ever encountered. Look at that force! Leather: dzong!, musk: dzing!, incense: padam!, civet (artificial): wham!, oakmoss: whoosh!. Only the coconut and the vanilla tone it down a bit. Also note that the 3 classic notes of a chypre are present, neatly divided in the different levels: oak moss in the base, patchouli in the middle and bergamot in the top. So there is a classical chypre hidden in this intricate passionate fragrance. And much more. Aldehydes (the power of Chanel 5), artemisia and gardenia (a favorite note of Liz) in the top. Plus some coriander to spice things up. Talk about starting with a bang, Marc Jacobs! From a peppery whimper (Jacobs) to a real bang with Liz-the-Maneater! Only the bergamot makes it a bit fresher. The middle is also of the strongest I have seen. Nine notes! And of the heavy caliber: Honey! Tuberose! Heliotrope! Jasmine! Sandalwood! Patchouli! Orris! Cedar! Rose! Enough to even knock your granny out, but a lover-of-strong-fragances' dream come true! All these notes are fused into one heck of a strong fragrance. The effect is a mix of animalistic, floral and spices, without radically choosing for one direction. It takes the best of all three aspects(animalistic, floral, spicy), but as a result is less radical than 'Bal a Versailles' (animalistic) and less floral-dirty (indolic jasmine)-velvety (Boudoir') that choose more for one aspect. But as unashamedly sensual, bold, 'come hither' and à la Mae West risqué: 'Is that a gun in your trousers or are you just happy to see me?' 'Very happy, Mae!', 'Passion' cna hardly be beat. 'Passion' would be Mae West's sig frag without a doubt.
'Passion' is like 'Obsession': a strong fused scent. But because of the ceaper price, less rounded, more straight in your face, more 'like it or leave it'. It is like the Liz at her top: vibrant, unmissable passionate, complex and certainly not linear, always 'on' and 'there', filling a theatre all by herself, intense, a force of nature that steamrolls over you with your total consent.
Most present at first spray are civet, tuberose, incense, aldehydes, gardenia, sandalwood, honey. But it is such a complex fragrance that it changes constantly. The notes are totally fused, but depending on your skin chemistry, every note makes an appearance during the long development. The phrase 'bang for your buck' was no doubt invented for 'Passion'.
So forget the ugly bottle: the fragrance is divine. Again not for the faint of heart and certainly not for the lovers of aquatics, fruity florals, sporty fragances, eau's, 'légère's', 'summer editions' or 'infusions de...' frags. This fragrance rocks hard, and doens't care about upsetting your nose formed by 'Aqua di Gio'-style frags. It oozes 'oomph' and packs a whallop and a punch. Like the power fragrances of the '80's style', whatever that is. Good 'old lady' stuff that is realistically prized.
I'm sure that each night God lets Liz and Burton in heaven (or the Devil in Hell) play 'Who's afraid of Virigina Woolf?', booze it up and then organise a wild passionate party in his heaven/hell. On one condition: that Liz wears her magically, bewitching, heavenly/hell bent 'Passion'. A true gift to the gods with a devillish twist. At an affordable price. What do you want more?
Jan
19
2012