Ciara Revlon 1973 Perfume Concentrate

Spray cautiously. This is potent stuff! There is such a mixture in here I feel as if I’m rolling in fields in a surrealistic daydream. In comparing my Charles Revson Ciara (vintage) to my Revlon Ciara (newer) , there are very distinct differences.
The opening in Revlon’s Ciara is tack sharp and more assaultive. It hits your nostrils with a thinly-veiled shrill opoponax and tonka bean. It’s a bit of a wait for the drydown for the beauty of this perfume. The Charles Revson version opens immediately with a smooth rich intoxicating blend of spices, tonka bean, leather and opoponax with a hint of vanilla. It’s full-bodied and straight out of the past and you can inhale it, feel it and wrap it around yourself. It’s a juicier composition where the Revlon one seems to be cracking in its components.
This is an ideal comparison of where new, unfortunately, just doesn’t cut it. The woodiness seems stale and musty in Revlon’s version, yet Revson’s is an old cabin in the woods that has been taken care of with love. It’s the same with the leather in the two versions. Revson’s leather is a beautiful settee, that although still in pristine condition, has been well-used and loved for years. The leather is soft, comfortable and broken in. The leather in Revlon’s Ciara is non-existent or at best, perhaps pleather.
I love the incense quality which both have. Spray too much and you’re sitting in a church pew. Ciara is a sweet perfume that can overpower if applied heavily and becomes far too cloying. It’s a beautiful fragrance that only needs to be dabbed lightly to be appreciated for its’ warm beauty. This is wonderful in cold weather, the lower temperatures just seem to bring the smokiness of Ciara out. There’s a slight hint of fruit, barely there, but it’s so overshadowed by the incense and other notes you’ll hardly sense its’ presence.
Love that the raspberry adds a wonderful dollop of juiciness to this quaint perfume. Charles Revson made heaven in a bottle when they created this little beauty, that’s for sure. It’s intoxicating, it’s mesmerizing, it’s a heady brew. Such a shame that it’s not what’s in those Revlon bottles stamped with the same name. If you have the opportunity to sample the original, please do. You’ll understand why so many love vintage Ciara. It’s almost magical in nature.
How to tell the difference between vintage and new? And what is the difference between the 80-100-200%? The 80 would be considered the cologne strength, the 100 is the eau de toilette and the 200 is the eau de parfum. If you buy the newer, I'd say go for the strongest concentration you can to approximate the vintage feel.

I've had Ciara less than a week and have worn it repeatedly. I love it so much that I sent off for another TWO bottles (it's on sale). This is a seductive oriental that belongs with the likes of Bal à Versailles, Cartier's Panthère, Guerlain's L'Heure Bleue, etc. It's so gorgeous, I almost want to spray it on my face so my nose is always smelling it. Is there such a thing as a perfume nasal suppository? If not, there ought to be for reliable delivery of this deeply beautiful and sensual scent. Most of Ciara's notes are quite ordinary. The result is not.

Ciara by Revlon is one of those drugstore scents that you may dismiss time and time again but find yourself enchanted the moment you decide to give it a fair chance.

I adore resinous scents, particularly those with opoponax, incense and/or spices. Ciara combines all three notes beautifully, creating a warm and richly scented oriental, perfect for Winter and night-time wear.

The scent is a little old-fashioned, perhaps even slightly dated, but there's something very likable about these heavy orientals from the 70's and 80's. They tend to be very animalic and lasting. Ciara has a strong sense of character and a bold presence which really appeals to me. One spritz is all it takes to be enclosed in a glorious cloud of perfume which lasts and lasts.

I occasionally wear Prada Opoponax No.8 which comes bearing a rather expensive price tag. Ciara is similar to this fragrance, and let's be honest, it's much more affordable. As it turns out, when you wear Ciara not many are aware of its affordability, assuming that the scent itself could be that of a high-end designer brand.

I once bought this on a whim. I saw it at Big Lots (a close-out retail chain that makes Marshalls look like Neiman Marcus) marked down so many times it practically had a note that said, “Take me home, please!” I vaguely remembered Ciara as the fragrance of my mother’s bohemian friend back in the 1980s. She wore diaphanous floral-print dresses with lace trim, worn platform leather boots of buttery soft tan leather, and a hazy cloud of Ciara. Her style of dress was a perfect representation of what Ciara was down to its incense-heavy soul. It was sweetness but not of the saccharine kind and a rough hewn edge that did not fail to be delicate too. It is a bottle full of contradictions, above all being a Dom Perignon scent for a Pabst Blue Ribbon price.

One would be foolish to discount this gem based on its price point. It's a classic for good reason. It rivals its higher priced peer, Bal a Versailles, for the title of skankiest leather. It's long lasting and just plain gorgeous, much like the style of my mom's bohemian friend.

At first spritz cinnamon and spices and the drydown an odd medley of wood resins
mrryh and to me RUBBER! i can smell rubber in this the bottle is mediorche
like cheap drugstore perfume in fact it is you can find this in any drugstore
but the plus side to this is the color
of the liquid like a Reddish orange color it does have it's exotic quailties to it despite over almost 4 decades the price been lowered the reformulation and it now an drug store perfume not a prestious high end elite
club but i'll warn you this is very
strong one spray that's it.