Carolina Herrera Carolina Herrera 1988Eau de Parfum

Version from 1988

Carolina Herrera (1988) (Eau de Parfum) by Carolina Herrera

Bottle Design André Ricard

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Carolina Herrera (1988) (Eau de Parfum) (Carolina Herrera)

7.6 / 10 59 Ratings

Carolina Herrera (1988) (Eau de Parfum) is a popular perfume by Carolina Herrera for women and was released in 1988. The scent is floral-fruity. Projection and longevity are above-average. It is being marketed by Puig.

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Perfumers

Carlos Benaïm, Sebastian Gomez

Fragrance Notes

Top Notes	Blossoms, Fresh notes, Exotic notes, Fruity notes, Green notes
Heart Notes	Jasmine, Lily
Base Notes	Sandalwood, Amber

Ratings

Scent

7.6 (59 Ratings)

Longevity

8.8 (36 Ratings)

Sillage

8.4 (37 Ratings)

Bottle

7.0 (40 Ratings)

Submitted by Kittycat, last update on 03.06.2020.

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Reviews

01/31/2019

9
Scent 9
Longevity 9
Sillage 9
Bottle

Alex1984
43 Reviews

Alex1984

Nocturnal whispers

Carolina Herrera is mostly a wonderfully deep and rich jasmine. Not green, fresh, screechy. It’s the deeply sweet and carnal variety, more like night blooming jasmine. The tuberose, present and strong lends its buttery fullness to the jasmine, while the other floral notes simply enhance and balance the formula. The base notes are rich and ambery, slightly dark, and the civet casts a slightly powdery/talcum veil that at once lends more carnality to the whole, and on the other hand creates a dreamscape. The vintage original formula is obviously stronger, richer, fuller; every note is amplified and feels decadent, while the base is darker, mossier, and far more animalic. It feels Beverly Hills, Rodeo drive shopping, New York businesswoman all at once. But at the same time, I picture a southern belle. Unlike other florals of the era, Carolina Herrera has a certain innocence, down to earth laid back attitude. She can be the perfect hostess, dress up for dinner, and unwind in her porch sipping spiked iced tea. Like a true 80’s fragrance it exudes class, sillage and power. It never smells artificial, but always mesmerizing and grand.

The current formula is still quite good; it has a present sillage and longevity, the smell leans more towards a fresh green jasmine with a bigger dollop of tuberose to counterbalance, and the base is more woody. The cons? It’s lost it’s animalic beauty, the flowers smell more artificial (cellophane wrapped bouquet straight from the florists fridge) and the mossy feel is gone. The new one is similar to Gucci Bloom, albeit nicer. While it’s obviously different, it still smells like Carolina Herrera. If you can find vintage, go for it. Both edt and edp pack more than current edp.

Review based on a mid 90’s edt, in the big black polka dotted box.

3 Replies

10/17/2018

8
Scent 9
Longevity 8
Sillage 6
Bottle

Süsskind

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Süsskind

Very helpful Review 9

Opulent surprise

The other day I came home from work, there was a white cardboard on the kitchen table with golden dots and the simple inscription "Carolina Herrera, New York, Eau de Parfum". My husband, who has been wearing Herreras 212 exclusively for almost two decades, which also suits him well, had ordered it for me; just like that, as a surprise, without knowing it himself. He usually always asks me what I have on my wish list, but because he thought that nothing wrong could come out of Herrera, this time he simply flew blind. I have to say that I didn't have the scent on my radar before - sometimes you just turn around your favourite scent locations, even if you run the risk of only being curious about scents that you can judge well. But dear heaven, one should be surprised much more often once!

What flies towards you from the plainly elegant bottle is incredibly beautiful. We are dealing here with a bombastic bouquet of flowers shimmering in all colours - orange blossom, fresh green, lily of the valley, narcissus, jasmine, hyacinth, ylang ylang, apricot, and oh my God... Tuberose. This wonder of fragrance, heavy and warm, sweet and sensual, the queen herself, the mistress of the night, as she is also called in India. All this is discreetly orchestrated by musk, amber, vetiver, cedar, rosewood and oakmoss, in order to at least partially ground you again a little, because one thing is clear: this scent pulls the ground away from under your feet, but you don't fall on your nose, but realize that you can fly.

The opening is a fabulously pure, opulent tone, as if by a large choir singing through the theme in one voice. Only after this opening do the individual voices break down and continue singing in perfect harmony; a full-sounding bass, a finely balanced tenor, a reliable alto - and above all, setting the tone and moving, the soprano, followed by all the others to form the basis for his refined flights of fancy. We are dealing here with intoxicating, sweet music, with grandeur, large orchestra and a gold-decorated music club hall. If Carolina Herrera's scent were music, then he would be an opera, at least by Verdi, and at least with the Callas in the female leading role. Certainly nothing for every day, but if you give yourself to it, it is a sensual, enchanting experience.

The shelf life is truly remarkable: with a gentle spray I get through the day and can still perceive the scent on me in the evening. By the way, if you dose it sparingly, it is not only suitable for everyday use, but also a wonderful, elegant and charming companion for all situations in life. However, one should proceed extremely cautiously with the dosage. I think that this scent quickly turns into an infernal stench when exaggerated; so it doesn't belong in children's hands, but wants to be carried by an adult personality who knows that less is sometimes actually more.

I'm surprised, by the way, that I can find so little about this scent here. Who does not know it yet and feels attracted to flowery, feminine scents should definitely try it out. And I'm grateful to my husband for showing it to me.

2 Replies

11/26/2012

jtd
484 Reviews

jtd

80s style (hyperbolic, superlative, immodest... you choose)

People who lived large and loud in the 1980s will tell you that the bigness of the era was a reflection of exuberance and the sense of endless potential. It wasn’t. It was mostly just un-nuanced and noisy.

Enter Carolina Herrera, the perfume, not the person. It’s a child’s stick-drawing of a tuberose blown up to billboard size, shaken with a shot of over-concentrated sugar-free grape kool-aid. Both monstrous and shrill, it was overconfident where it should have been self-conscious. Classically 80s in style, Carolina Herrera reminds me how tedious and draining those conversations with people on blow were.

1 Replies

08/18/2012

9
Scent

Coutureguru
223 Reviews

Coutureguru

Top Review 10

Bottled "Bitch"!

CH is one of my all time favorites! I am a drag artist and am in posession of a vintage Chanel suit of chocolate brown cashmere and mink collar! I call it "the divorce suit". It has a pencil skirt, peplum jacket and the mink collar is TO DIE FOR!!! CH suits it down to the ground ... I have tried to wear no 5 with it ... it's just not bitchy enough!
This one is my "bitchy" fragrance! Like Ivana Trump said ... " don't get even ... get EVERYTHING!"
Carolina Herrera is some incredibly heady stuff! If you want to get laid wear this!!!
20 to 60 this juice is SUPER SEXY!!!

2 Replies

08/18/2012

7
Scent 10
Longevity 10
Sillage

Sherapop
1239 Reviews

Sherapop

Helpful Review 5

Giorgio minus the headache plus a triple dose of civet!

My first thought upon donning CAROLINA HERRERA was that it was pretty close to GIORGIO. Big, bad, tuberose-centric 1980s powerhouse. To be fair, however, I need to clarify that CAROLINA HERRERA is a much higher quality perfume than is GIORGIO BEVERLY HILLS--at least in its current formulation, the one available at drugstores such as CVS (where I obtained a bottle for a pittance). My understanding is that, once upon a time, GIORGIO, too, used to be made of higher-quality materials and perhaps in that incarnation it would not have induced severe headaches in me. But the current version is not really a wearable perfume, at least not by me.

CAROLINA HERRERA is somewhat more complex compositionally than is GIORGIO, primarily because of the massive blast of civet! My manufacturer's carded sample vial came from a discounter, so I do not know how old it is, but the liquid had evaporated a bit, so I may really be testing something closer to extrait than eau de parfum. In any case, based on the reviews of others I've seen, the eau de parfum is already a pretty potent potion. It has been said that Angelina Jolie likes this perfume, so that probably already means something. Recall that she used to carry an amulet of Billy Bob Thorton's blood around her neck, in addition to engaging in plenty of public displays of lustiness.

I think that I may have missed the CAROLINA HERRERA boat. This might have smelled better to me in times past, but by now I have been spoiled by the likes of FRACAS, BLONDE, and my latest tuberose acquisition, Miller Harris NOIX DE TUBEREUSE, all of which are much more wearable by me. Still, CAROLINA HERRERA is real perfume, and civet lovers such as HRH Emperor Oliver give this "live dangerously--and loudly" perfume double paws up with flaring nostrils!