Giorgio Beverly Hills 1981 Review

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Hey Hey! Ho ho Ho Y’All,
What the…? I hear you ask. Why? Well, they have introduced an Eau de Giorgio 2012, I haven’t smelt it but just the thought of my teen years spent smelling the original has brought back big smiles, happy memories and a little melancholy. When my fave SA from a closing down sale offered me a half full ex tester bottle for $5 I jumped at the chance, just for the joy of jay walking down Memory Lane.


Photo Stolen paradiseemporium

Putting Giorgio Beverly hills on made me tear up with memories. The scent is burned into my olfactory memory centre like looking at the sun during an eclipse can burn your retina. Giorgio Beverly Hills was one of the fragrances that all Mum’s would wear in the 1980’s, so hugging Mum, family & friends and being engulfed by this enormous, wonderful and terrifying powerhouse fragrance was just how life was. It was the women who made all the decisions in our lives, we would watch them making a million split second choices, they ran their houses, domestic help, businesses, families and social lives in a way that just doesn’t seem to exist any more. Yet they still seemed to have time to relax, laugh and live. And everyone pretended they lived in Dynasty.

Photo Stolen blankstareblink.

OMG! How can this have been an every day scent? It is almost toxic in its utter hugeness. Everything happens at once! Flowers, fruit, wood, moss… BOOM! No wonder Giorgio Beverly Hills was banned from many restaurants, cinemas and work places. Ha! I am adrift on a sea of gorgeousness, there is nothing else, even sound can’t enter the walls of my Giorgio prison. BOOM! Close my eyes and I am alone in the world, just this enormous scent and I.

Fragrantica gives the notes and history as

Top notes: Orange blossom, peach, apricot,  bergamot
Middle notes:  Ylang-ylang, tuberose, gardenia, jasmine, rose, orchid
Base notes: Sandalwood, patchouli, vanilla, amber, cedar, oakmoss, musk

The Giorgio Beverly Hills fragrance was launched in 1981 by Fred Hayman and then-wife Gale Hayman with a fanfare normally reserved for a major perfume house launch, and never before seen for an independent boutique brand. Love it or hate it, the fragrance captured the public’s imagination in the 1980s, and was perfectly suited to the era’s glamorous and over-the-top fashions.

In 1987, the Giorgio Beverly Hills fragrance was sold to Avon for an astounding $165 million, and the boutique subsequently changed its name to Fred Hayman Beverly Hills.

This has been a terrific journey, I hope you have enjoyed the ride. Are there any scents that take you back in a heartbeat? That you smell and all of a sudden you’re in a memory time machine? Please share, I love to read other peoples stories.

Also, check out the PerfumePosse (<<JUMP) today. I have a guest spot and a special deal for you over there.
See you tomorrow,

Portia xx

15 thoughts on “Giorgio Beverly Hills 1981 Review”

  1. Oh,Lordy…I remember this ‘FUME’!!…What is so unbelievable,is that we did wear it all the time,work included…The reason might be that everyone was into BIG perfumes…I shudder,when I remember it…gak…hugs to you…

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  2. Remember that during the 80s everyone smoked at their desks; cigarettes, cigars and pipes too, so a little Georgio in the workplace did not overpower anything!

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    • OMG! I remember! Life was so good then, hmmmm smoking, hmmmmmmmm. We even smoked while sewing fabrics worth hundreds of dollars a metre, that would end up in gowns worth thousands. He he. Could you imagine that now?
      Great comment! Thanks,
      Portia xx

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  4. Since we’re doing an 80’s flashback and you so serendipitously provided a Dynasty picture, my answer would be smelling Forever Krystle, the Dynasty scent that my mom wore while I was in my teens. I thought it smelled fabulous on her, big florals, musk, vanilla and amber…. BOOM! My mom can rock the BWFs, but my own relationship with them is very rocky.

    I suppose it isn’t a big surprise that Mom could also could rock the Giorgio.

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    • I am all Forever Krystle. What a fragrance! I love them but feel a little silly wearing them in public. Like wearing grey corduroy high waisted flares, they seem too much of their time. I soldier on and do it though.
      Portia xx

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  5. Ah back in the day I used to go into B.H. just to walk down Rodeo Drive and star gaze. Then pop into Giorgio to spritz on some Red For Men. It was so much fun! This took me back. Thanks.

    LANIER

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  6. Okay Portia! Now you have done it! I opened Pandora’s box and I found Red on sale at Amazon for $17. God help me everything went black for a moment …. when I came too. I had purchased it. Look for a review forthcoming.

    LANIER

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