Beverly Hills (Perfume) by Gale Hayman

Beverly Hills 1989 Perfume

Sapho
10/01/2025 - 04:53 AM
6
Helpful Review
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8.5
Scent

Marilyn Monroe, not at home in Beverly Hills

I bought this perfume because of its bottle, kitschy without end and therefore impossibly beautiful. With a glittering panther on the cap that somehow reminded me of Marilyn Monroe with its curves.
This perfume has been available since 1990 and was created by Francis Camail, a perfumer who also created Eau d'Hadrien and Grand Amour for Goutal, among others. Fragrantica provides a detailed list of the fragrance notes. Top notes: Ylang ylang, orange and bergamot; heart notes: Cloves, gardenia, tuberose, cinnamon, jasmine and rose; base notes: Civet oil, ambergris, benzoin resin, sandalwood, tonka bean, patchouli, cedar and oakmoss. The fragrance notes tell us that this perfume has everything you would expect from a classic eighties fragrance. It begins with a delicate ylang-ylang note, to which citrus lends a certain astringency, until the main players take the stage. Although the opulent tuberose is present, it is never overpowering and blends harmoniously with the other floral and spicy notes to create an intoxicating accord, the fading of which reveals delicate tones that promise a floral chypre - in short, an opulent caress. Enter the diva, Marilyn Monroe. Anyone who appreciates this actress, and I do, knows that she was never really at home anywhere. As the child of a mentally ill mother, she was passed on from foster parents to a children's home and spent her whole life searching for a home, and yet at the same time always on the run. In 1949, she met the star agent Johnny Hyde, who left his wife for her. He owned a villa in Beverly Hills, where the couple lived for a few months. It was a very large house with 548 square meters that had everything a young woman could wish for, large, bright rooms, a park-like garden, but Marilyn didn't feel comfortable there and eventually moved to the Beverly Carlton Hotel. Was the house too perfect, does this perfume also seem too perfect to me? An old Japanese vase only becomes perfect when it is cracked, and for me a perfume needs a subtle disharmony that breaks the accord to make it interesting. Certainly worth a test for lovers of eighties fragrances.
11 Comments
Medusa00Medusa00 5 days ago
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Oh my dear, you really got me with your description. Marilyn really was an unjustly underestimated and poor soul. Like a candle in the wind, as Elton sang. Watch list!
SaphoSapho 4 days ago
I could imagine that you will miss one or the other edge in the fragrance...
SerenissimaSerenissima 8 days ago
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Oh, yes: that sounds tempting!
I had already looked greedily at the great flacon in your collection.
MairuwaMairuwa 10 days ago
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Transferring the Japanese aesthetic of the imperfect to perfumes seems very interesting to me - perfumes that are too smooth and harmonious often seem lifeless to me. Edges and contrasts often create the necessary tension. The association of the bottle with Marilyn Monroe is also interesting. I wouldn't have guessed that from the curves...
SaphoSapho 10 days ago
Yes, that's exactly what I meant - lifeless.
FloydFloyd 11 days ago
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Great cross-references to Marilyn. A pleasure to read.
SaphoSapho 11 days ago
She was a very good actress and an interesting (and unhappy) woman.
ElAttarineElAttarine 11 days ago
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I didn't even know it yet - thanks for the great description and the link to MM!
SaphoSapho 11 days ago
I am glad that you enjoyed it.
PollitaPollita 11 days ago
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Never heard of the brand or the fragrance. It would certainly have gone well with Marilyn.
SaphoSapho 11 days ago
I think so. A typical Hollywood fragrance.