Passion (1987)
by Elizabeth Taylor

Oh, how I wanted to love this. I remember the late 1980s when all middle-aged women wore this - I was too young for it then but not too young now. ;) I sought out vintage parfum and vintage EdT on ebay - about $3 for both, plus shipping.

Boy oh boy, how our tastes & palettes have changed in those 25 years! This is far too masculine for me, or anyone who likes their perfume on the femme side of unisex. That said, it makes a great masculine!

I'm glad to have tried it. I quickly got rid of it!

26th March, 2011.

I bought a small sampler pack which included Passion, Red Door, Sung, and Design (all from the 80s). After trying the other 3 and being relatively disappointed with their 'big 80s' smell, I finally tried Passion, and surprisingly really liked it. It has a rich velvety texture and reminds me of cinnamon. It seems like a nice winter fragrance for going out to a luxurious restaurant, or for staying in a cozying up under a warm blanket.

27th June, 2010.

I've never been drawn to celebrity scents knowing that the makers and marketers are relying on the celebrity's name to sell the "product" instead of the quality. With that said, I avoided Elizabeth Taylor's "Passion" like the plague. Yesterday a friend called and told me that he'd found a little purple bottle of perfume in his basement while he was scrounging around. He said that the print on the bottom was so small he couldn't read the name, but he would bring it by later. As soon as he laid it in my hand I recognized the ugly little bottle and knew it was Passion. Not interested in what I had always assumed to be just another loud fruity/floral, I sat it aside and went on about my business.

This morning I looked it up in Luca Turin's "The Guide". He had one star and two words for it: Fog horn." I laughed and figured that with a review like that, I'd better start with a tiny drop. I wanted to hate it...but I didn't. Even with a small drop the opening is a bit much and over-the-top, however, all of those screaming cheap synthetic notes pass quickly and the scent starts to settle into something totally unexpected: A warm, woody, ambery, smokey, smouldering chypre in the vintage vein that veers slightly into masculine territory. Who would have thought it? Given when it was made, the company it was made by, and the price, I don't expect that there are very many quality ingredients in it, but that doesn't change the fact that in small amounts this is absolutely gorgeous and lives up to it's name. I don't care what Luca Turin says about it. In the far drydown, this is reminiscent (spelling?) of the classic Ma Griffe and I'm not surprised as my Harmann & Reimer Fragrance guide lists the basenotes as oakmoss, castoreum, civet, cistus, cedar, musk and vanilla. Basenoter cedriccentric, in his review of Sarah Jessica Parker's Lovely, says that E.T.'S Passion is one of the best celebrity scents after Lovely.

Given the fact that 3.7 ml of the pure parfum are plentiful on Ebay for under $10 (including shipping), I would advise anyone who loves chypres to try this and make up their minds for themselves.

13rd May, 2010.

I purchased this scent back in my tween days, at the insistence of an eager, helpful young female clerk. She gushed about how much she enjoyed it and made it a part of her personal collection. This was around Christmas time and my mother offered to foot the bill for this one, so I bit... and regretted it as soon as I got home and dabbed some on.

It may have very well just been my body chemistry, or the fact that at the time I was a whippersnapper who had little to no actual appreciation to perfume, let alone the adage, ''less is more.''

This is a very musky scent whenever I wear it; just a touch too masculine in my opinion. It's been a while since I last tested it, but if memory serves, Ms. Taylor's ''Passion'' and I just don't get along.

18th January, 2009.

Not bad, but I think its because my mom has been wearing this for years and I've gotten used to it. Its a bit overpowering and smells like many older women's fragrances. Not for the younger crowd. Its a bit funny, but the smell of this one reminds me of the color purple...guess its just the association with the color of the bottle. But I find that whenever I come across a fragrance that is even remotely like this one, I think of a purple cloud lingering around the person wearing it.

3rd September, 2008.

I had a bottle of Passion many many many years ago. And I liked it. It was sweet and sexy - not instantly, I mean. You had to wait a bit for it to warm up on your skin. I found in it the same sexyness I found in Chamade (but Chamade is the top of the line for me when it comes to perfume). I dont think it is "old lady's". It is very feminine, seductive. And yes, citing Bonni, "something you'd expect Elizabeth Taylor to wear". Better saying, something I would expect Cleopatra herself to wear. But it is not heavy, never gave me a headache. Good staying power, and a few drops go very far. Very nice fragrance. But then again, I have not seen it in years. Believed it had been discontinued. A thumbs up.

5th May, 2008.