Ciara

Reviewing an 80 strength bottle that dates from the early 90s or before (I can tell because of the short ingredient list on the box). Right off the bat I didn't like this one, but it very quickly turned into a love. I was jarred by the powdery, semi-aldehydic opening because I had seen Ciara recommended as nag champa adjacent. I had something completely different in mind. I now understand that comparison, specifically in the dry down, but it's not apparent at first. I really enjoy both the opening and dry down. Normally I find synthetics or something icky after the top notes fade. But this one really does smell like the sweet ash dropped by your burnt Satya incense stick. What I also really began to appreciate about Ciara was that it was spicy and sweet without feeling medicinal, which is what I did not like about Shalimar. (Though I probably owe Shalimar another testing since I've now become more interested in vintage fragrances and because it was super hot when I tested it). I don't like straight vanillas or ambers that are too smooth and not spicy, so Ciara has been a real winner. Have I already bought some more 80-strength Ciaras off eBay to replace my quickly-diminishing .5 oz bottle? Yes! I'm so excited to spray this stuff super liberally. Update: My Ciara bottles came. They are from 2008. I was hoping they would be a bit older but then I'm reminded that they are still like 20 years old (!) From what I can tell, they smell about the same as the older bottle. If there are any differences, they are so minor and also could be attributed to the aging process. I do think that the newer bottle is not as strong. It's like the 80-strength of the original 80-strength. Note: I have not tried the brand new version. My recommendation for buying Ciara is making sure that that the bottle includes the 80 strength or 100 strength text on the front of the bottle. I'm seeing that brand new ones listed on Amazon no longer include the strengths. So my guess is that some sort of reformulation happened there. Also, on eBay, be very careful, as I found many listings of new bottles being sold as vintage or 80-strength falsely. Be wary of stock photos!

Big compliment-getter.

I have made a temporary stop in my perfume journey because oh my gosh this is everything ive ever wanted in a perfume, its warm and cozy its powdery its a divine amber it is so gorgeous i am inlove with it!! Its soooo comfortinggg tooo this smells familiar and nostalgic and just so beautiful 🥰😵💫 this is an instant fav

I’m not a Gourmand person I love old vintage perfumes and Ciara is right up there with them she’s a classic in the same scent profile as Shalimar and Bal a Versailles a beautiful Amber incense perfume one of my favorites. The only reason Ciara isn’t more popular or respected like the others is because it’s made by revlon. If you love classic don’t let Revlon scare you off

Obsession and LouLou meet Shalimar and Sun This is a masterpiece! These days, this price, this longevity and sillage!! A seventies and eighties classic lady’s bathroom with luxurous soap, powder puffs, incense and myrrh. Heavy in the beginning and soft powdery soap (that everyone in the room notices) afterwards. You will like this one if you are the Obsession, Youth Dew, LouLou and Aromatics Elixir type who likes to scent out in the crowd

Devastatingly nuclear fragrance, literally gave me radiation sickness. There’s a lot going on in here, the fragrance seems to change every 5 minutes into something else. Minus the powdery notes this smells completely unisex.

Raw musky bitter jasmine that never takes her foot off your neck

ORIGINAL REVIEW: I purchased this based on everyone's reviews saying it's balsamic, spicy, woody, leathery, incensey, strong... all of the things I love. I was looking for something a bit like Tabu or Passion. But on first spray, all I got was imperial leather soap. Plus more soap. And then some more soap. Old soap. Then I smelled my Grandpa. I loved my Grandpa, but I don't want to smell like him. I guess he smelled like imperial leather soap?! Then the leather part disappeared and it was just non-sweet soap. After about an hour, the incense and spice and leather came out, and I got excited and I enjoyed that part. But another hour later, that disappeared, then it was back to soap and powder, unfortunately not the nice sweet makeup powdery sort of smell, and when it's just soap and no sweetness, I feel nauseous. So I had to get it off. All in all, a disappointment for me. EDIT - EVERYTHING HAS CHANGED!: It's 6 months later and I have to backtrack completely on everything I said. My tastes have changed and I was looking at wanting a soapy perfume. I thought about how I initially hated Ciara and figured if I didn't like it because it smelled soapy, I might like it now. I bought from Amazon and the bottle that arrived was DUSTY (but unopened). Well, it smells AMAZING. But funny enough it doesn't smell soapy at all. Not even a little bit. It smells strongly of raspberry, smells resinous, with a hint of incense. The raspberry goes for hours! When I tried Ciara the first time, I couldn't smell even a hint of raspberry. It's crazy! This is a lovely perfume! I can only assume this perfume had a lot of time to mature sitting on Amazon's shelves somewhere and this is what it was meant to be all along. If you buy a new bottle of Ciara, open it and give it some time before you judge it. Don't throw it out on the first day like I did!

The scent is super heavy amber, incense, leather, powder… all mixed together in a way that feels kinda overwhelming and outdated for modern taste. It’s not light or fresh at all, more like a dense cloud that just sits on you.

Today I decided to spritz Revlon Ciara alongside Bal a Versailles to gauge how similar they truly are. I will say off the bat: Bal a Versailles has a challenging opening, with a ton of dry herbs and aromatics, you also get woods, spices, florals etc. By comparison Ciara smells a lot less sophisticated, with waxy aldehydes, plasticky raspberry, and sweetened synthetic amber. After a couple of hours, these differences depart, and the fragrances share a lot of base notes; the dusty leather, opoponax, vanilla, and musks. I'm not fond of it, but I'm thinking I should test an older formulation of Ciara. A ton of people on this page swear the vintage bottles are better.

Ciara (1973) – Vintage First Release Review Bottle reviewed: This review is based on a first-release 1973 bottle of Ciara Concentrated Cologne (100 strength). • Splash bottle with dark amber juice, similar in depth and tone to Calvin Klein Obsession • All lettering on the bottle is dark reddish burgundy • Back of bottle is minimal: only the size (2⅜ oz—those unusual volumes are often indicators of a pre-1976 bottle), brand information (Charles Revson Inc., N.Y. 10022), and “Made in U.S.A.” with periods as written • Cap is a dark amber tortoiseshell plastic column, finished with gold-tone metal on both ends Bottles with all-gold metal caps are later iterations of Ciara; I can’t speak to those, as this review reflects the original release. ⸻ I’ve been wearing this all day - aside from briefly sampling a couple of new fragrance arrivals - I kept catching whiffs of Ciara lingering inside my sweater and found myself returning to it again and again. It’s like basking under a warm winter sun wrapped in a fuzzy blanket! Ciara is a full-bodied amber, incense, and balsam fragrance, but it’s also deeply comforting and instantly relaxing. The amber doesn’t just sit there - it hums, warm and decadent, in a way that feels quietly sexy rather than aggressive. The opening has a brief green bite (likely bergamot), but it dissipates quickly. As it settles, rosewood, spices, and florals bloom, though in my opinion the florals are soon swallowed by the woods. Thankfully, these are creamy, warm woods, not the sharp, bitter woods so common in modern fragrances. Around the 30-minute mark, the heart fully melts into amber, incense, balsams, vanilla, and soft musks, and from there it simply lasts… and lasts… and lasts. Reapplication is unnecessary. I don’t tolerate leather or smokiness in fragrance; and while those notes appear in some Ciara pyramids, I personally don’t experience them as distinct players here. If they are present, they feel structural and supportive, not front-and-center. Incense is definitely there, but it’s smooth and non-cloying, never churchy or heavy. This is a very warm fragrance. If you gravitate toward fresh, cool, or airy scents, Ciara is honestly not worth your time. It’s also not remotely related to the “fresh shampoo” herbal-floral style that dominated much of the 1970s (think original Halston). Ciara lives in a completely different emotional and olfactory space. For me, this is a cold-weather scent; the kind that warms the soul like those random sunny winter days. I love wearing it at home or on weekends, but I would not consider it office-appropriate. As lovely as it is, it’s important to be mindful of others. This fragrance was conceived in a world where most adults either smoked or lived with secondhand smoke, and yes, it is powerful. If you’re lucky enough to find a first-release vintage bottle, I recommend starting with the tiniest dab and letting it develop on your skin. I initially found it a bit cloying - but only because I totally underestimated its strength and went overboard with the sampling 💀. Now, my favorite way to wear Ciara is one light spritz on the solar plexus, letting the warmth stay contained within my clothing. It becomes something intimate and personal—a secret just for me. When I’m feeling low, it’s an instant comfort and mood-lift. ⸻ Final verdict: Ciara (1973) is a plush, unapologetically warm amber - powerful, comforting, and beautifully old-school. Not for everyone, but unforgettable for the right wearer.

I am fairly new to the fragrance scene, but I absolutely love this perfume. To describe it in one word — soft. Especially when it’s dried down on your skin and “settled” — it has a very inviting scent. Like an old perfume, but not a dated one. I got mine secondhand, but from what I have seen, the price is also very nice.

My beloved late aunt that I spent a lot of time with as a child was a fiercely independent, strong lady that loved her horses, smoked cigarettes, wore Lady Stetson, burned incense, and decorated her home with dried flowers and desert rocks. Ciara smells like the memories I have of her.

It is -10 degree in the Midwest this morning. So I lotion up, spray myself head to toe with Ciara then layer many items of clothing on to stay warm indoors. Not sure if my house mates hate it, but I am so happy. I will be extra nice to them for putting up with me. 😉 Very affordable with all the scent notes that I adore on my skin. Will always have a bottle in my collection.

Baby’s first vintage… picked up a half-full travel size for ten bucks at my local antique store. There were two, and I chose the one with a more intact sponge, only for said sponge to crumble after like 4 to 5 presses against my skin LOL. But it’s easy to scrape it all out and it still functions just fine. Balsamic af. An odd medicinal quality to it that I personally LOVE but is def not for everybody. Envelopes me in a warm little bubble that isn’t in-your-face to others. It’s definitely an old-fashioned scent profile. If I had a version of this with an atomizer, I’d probably find it overwhelming. I’m really understanding the appeal of vintage, though, because I don’t think there’s anything like this on the market rn, and I really love that.

I cannot express how much I adore this perfume! I am referring to the 100% version. It is so inexpensive, yet so beautiful! I have quite a collection of fragrances, many of them very costly, but Ciara offers more than any of them. It smells rich, enveloping, inviting, like a warm blanket on a cold Christmas morning as the snow descends quietly outside, or of scudding leaves on a chilly autumn day as the foreboding sky invites thoughts of wood piles and fireplaces. Images of diamond bracelets and warm brandy come to mind. It is quite a remarkable scent and often discarded because of its price tag. No matter how many times I reach for other perfumes on my vanity, I always regret not reaching for this one, as for all the images it conjures, Ciara always brings to a warm, magical place, where I feel exalted and truly alive! There is truly nothing like it!

Back when I was a teenager, I remember this girl’s scent on a school trip. It was beautiful, intriguing, and kind of seductive, but I was way too shy to ask her what she was wearing. Years later, I discovered Bal à Versailles and thought I’d finally found it. The opening was different, more complex and more elaborate, but the drydown felt very close to that scent from my teenage years. Then I found Ciara, and that was it. That was the scent of that girl in the ’90s. This fragrance is such a gem, and so affordable. It smells way more expensive than it is. It really feels like it’s from another era. Like Bal à Versailles, it actually feels older than it actually is; to me, it could easily be from the early 1900s, or at least the 1920s or ’30s. I picture bold, independent, glamorous women from that time (flappers, suffragists, models, actresses, movie stars) smelling like this. It’s a fantastic amber and incense fragrance, but fair warning: it definitely smells like it’s from the past in a good way.

Ciara is a pseudo-spice scent (say that ten times fast). Its heady combination of aldehydes (unlisted) and incense resins does simulate a sense of spiciness, ...even if there is very little of warm (culinary) spices present. The tangy fruit opening is kept sustained, likely with the help of that palmarosa note. Powdery florals and a vanillic quasi-amber fill out the early part of Ciara nicely. The deeper drydown is an odd blend of resins and vanilla, mixed with a florality that is NOT like any of the listed notes. Its something more like violet or mimosa. At this point it is only likely apparent on a blotter or fabric. Overall, Ciara is an an intriguing oddity from a less-explored corner of the amber-oriental landscape. Layering Ciara with other resin and incense-dominant scents might well create a fine synergy.

This was not for me unfortunately. Reminded me of those toiles cakes. Horrible smell.

Ciara has one of the best drydowns in perfume history. When I was a kid it reminded me of candied yams. It's sweet, woody and musky. There's tea-like note in the florals that must be palmarosa. I love that accord. I love the powdery sandalwood and cedar mixed with the musk and balsams. A frankincense-musk-vanilla combo touched by syrupy raspberries in the base of Ciara. I love it more than Bal à Versailles. I only own pre 2007 (short ingredient list) all the way back to the original Revson pressurized bottles and they are all similar. The newer ones are decent too. I just love it so much.

Such a lovely fragrance! I recently treated myself to the 100 strength formulation. I thought I had never smelled it before but I knew I would love it based on the notes, and I was not disappointed. Today is the first really cold morning we've had here in Massachusetts. I spritzed some on before my walk. When I stopped for coffee and unzipped my sweatshirt, Ciara wafted out. Delicious. It doesn't have any coffee notes - though I think I detect some cinnamon - but it complemented my cappuccino and cinnamon chip scone perfectly. (Yes, I eat scones. I'm in my 50's. The jig is up. I'm okay with that). After wearing this for a few weeks, I realized that I do know Ciara. I must have stolen spritzes of it a long time ago as a kid, in Dunnington's Drugstore, probably at Christmas. It seemed like a powerhouse to me then. Nowadays a casual friend wears it. Ciara now impresses me as subtle and ladylike but it does make an impression, even if you're not aware of it at the time you first perceive it on someone else. Warm and cozy without being cloying. There's something about it that seems to clear the cobwebs out my head. This scent is widely available and super affordable, at least in the 100 and 80 concentrations. I am not sure how it will wear in the warmer weather, but I will test it out this coming summer. There is something about Ciara that makes me think the heat will turn it almost fresh. Whether you choose Ciara as your signature, or just spray her on for a cold morning walk, you will always be glad to meet up with her ... just like my friend.

robotworld666 i love you

I added this to a multi-buy frag haul to get free shipping, and, unbeliveably to me, Ciara 100% made in USA is the one out of 5 expensive Histoire de Parfums and Estee Lauders that I love the best! Of course it isn't refined or lasting, but the first spray gives me delicious dry vanilla, incense, and a hint of good 'ole Tabu if I remember correctly. If anyone knows of a dupe of Ciara that is newer and modern and with better performance, PM me and let me know what it is. I love this, but as it is, it lasts less than an hour with several sprays on skin and clothes combined. But I love it. I tend to gravitate toward these types of perfumes (Youth Dew, Boucheron, TL Creation, Tabu, White Diamond Nights, and the one to die for, Fendi Theorema.) they all have that Incense note. I am liking it more and more as I use it daily this week, and gosh-darn, it also reminds me of Boucheron, the latest formulation, which has more citrus in the top and no incense, but very similar florals to my nose. Who knew, I've been spending thousands on my collection, when I could have just gotten Revlon Ciara for $10 bucks! My box/bottle says made in USA and I checked production code on bottle, comes up as 2022-07-19.

😌😌😌 The American Shalimar!

This is really good considering the price point. I picked up a travel size cologne at a street fair for like 2 bucks, it looked pretty old so I'm not sure if it's the same as the modern formula, but I've been incredibly impressed with the longevity. It's quite powerful, I can't even imagine what the 200% formula smells like. I like this as much as many other balsamic amber fragrances I've sampled and it's a fraction of the price.

After the air gets a little chilly, I bust this baby out. My friend wore this in middle school. I don’t know how I still love this, but I do. It’s a really good incense, suedey baby powder thing. Warm-spicy and very strong. Like one spray is nuclear. It gets better after it dries down about 15 minutes- top notes can feel “dusty”- It lasts an insanely long amount of time. I enjoy wearing it to bed or under my shirt on days I need to feel cozy. 🧡

this is sooo tacky and basically unbearable when sprayed on the skin im a big fan

The modern EDT strength Ciara has almost a barbecue smoke opening and doesn't last very long. It reminds me of the air in the Smoky Mountain region of the U.S. where you smell wood burning stoves and smoking meat. I'll have to try it again later but so far I like the EDP much better. Both were purchased from an online retailer in the past year or so. If you want to try Ciara, I suggest the EDP which is more like unlit incense. The EDT is lit incense with smoke.

These reviews do not disappoint! Yes to chewy resin, damp autumn day, stuffy book store. It is not projecting on me, but sitting closely and in a cozy way thanks to the incense, leather, orris, and rosewood. I am getting recently-distinguished-candle and a little lipstick.

I wasn’t expecting this to smell like a 90s headshop but here we are. Incense, tie dye, drug rugs and dusty mushroom candles. Velvet Black light posters optional.