Guess Original by Guess
Women 1990
Main accords
Description
Guess Original by Guess is a floral chypre fragrance for women. Launched in 1990, the nose behind this composition is James Bell. The top notes include mandarin, blackcurrant, grapefruit, ylang-ylang and Amalfi lemon; the heart notes reveal African orange blossom, jasmine, hyacinth, cinnamon, iris and valley lily; while the base notes settle on amber, sandalwood, oakmoss, patchouli, vanilla, iris root,…
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When to wear it (votes)
Key notes
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Top
mandarin
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Heart
African orange blossom
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Base
amber
Community
293 votes
- Positive 96%
- Negative 3.1%
- Neutral 1.4%
The olfactory pyramid
A guide to the opening, heart and lasting trail of the fragrance.
The community speaks
Compare the results and tap an answer to add your vote.
In the collection
Leading answer I owned it
755 votes
What do you think?
Leading answer Love it
293 votes
Season
Choose severalLeading answer Winter
211 votes
Time of day
Choose severalLeading answer Night
149 votes
Each question has its own vote count. You can choose several seasons.
Fragrance profile
About Guess Original
Guess Original by Guess is a floral chypre fragrance for women. Launched in 1990, the nose behind this composition is James Bell. The top notes include mandarin, blackcurrant, grapefruit, ylang-ylang and Amalfi lemon; the heart notes reveal African orange blossom, jasmine, hyacinth, cinnamon, iris and valley lily; while the base notes settle on amber, sandalwood, oakmoss, patchouli, vanilla, iris root, benzoin and labdanum.
Flowers White flowers Spices Musk, amber and animalic Woods and mosses Resins and balsams
It may remind you of
Ranked by what the community voted.
More from Guess
More from James Bell
How it wears
Compare the results and tap an answer to add your vote.
Longevity
Leading answer Long-lasting
116 votes
Sillage
Leading answer Strong
140 votes
Character
Leading answer Traditionally feminine
68 votes
Value perception
Leading answer Fair price
55 votes
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Community reviews
6 reviews
Share what you noticed: opening, drydown, sillage and the moments when it works for you.
My favourite uncle gave it to me when I turned 15, and it made me feel like the most sensual girl in the neighbourhood. I really hope I can find it again!
Ugh, what memories with this sensual bomb from the 90s. I wore it at 17 and absolutely loved that fragrance; back then, we all wanted to be the ‘Guess girl’ with muse Claudia Schiffer 👑. Guess Original was my first ‘strong’ perfume (woody and spicy), it made me feel super sexy haha, I even wore it to the gym and charmed my trainer with that narcotic vibe! Hehe. At the time, I knew little about perfumes and just wanted to be fashionable 😎. Thirty years later, I understand it all: a festival of powerful and captivating notes, perfectly blended, a kind of hypnotic sandalwood elixir hahaha. Oh, how I miss it; it’s one of those lovely, dense 90s perfumes that leave a mark 👣. I hope to find a bottle to delight myself once more with its intoxicating beauty. Powerful, with a wide sillage, impeccable performance, 10/10 👌
A tremendous fragrance. I wore it during my teens. I remember I couldn’t wear it with white clothes because it stained. It was spicy, woody, with almost no floral notes. It reminds me of Calvin Klein Obsession. It was for evening wear or winter, with a unique presence.
It will remain my favourite fragrance of all time; it’s a shame they discontinued it. The last bottle I bought was in 1995, and I didn’t want to use it up; unfortunately, I lost the bottle and all the joy it brought to my vintage collection. I’ve searched for something similar but can’t find my 1992 Guess Original; the closest I found was Montblanc’s Présence d’une femme, which is also hard to come by.
Who didn’t want to be the Guess Girl in the 90s? With a massive marketing campaign, the brand launched its first fragrance featuring model Claudia Schiffer, catapulting her career and making Guess one of the most talked-about brands in the US. Claudia Schiffer as Brigitte Bardot, dispensing sensuality in simple outfits with striking makeup and a playful attitude; that was the concept of the video and the perfume. The fragrance is a delight of warm, vanillaised, penetrating, suggestive amber, subtly spiced. Touches of cinnamon and patchouli raise the erotic tone of that amber, which on its own deserves several sighs. It starts with an interesting sweet mandarin top note that later blurs with the base notes but never disappears completely. It’s impossible not to make the connection with Bijan from 1989 and Calvin Klein Obsession from 1985, having more resemblance to the former but shining with its own brilliance. The fragrance leaves a talc-halo, vanillaised, amber scent with fine notes of moss, benzoin and cinnamon; it’s a delight. Pure sensuality.
I loved this fragrance, which is no longer available in Argentina. I wore it at 17; it was one of those perfumes that didn’t seem to be on the skin but everyone else could smell it. Still, I loved it.