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, blackberry, grapefruit, ylang-ylang, and Amalfi lemon; the heart notes reveal African orange blossom, jasmine, hyacinth, cinnamon, iris, and lily of the valley; while the base notes settle on amber, sandalwood, oakmoss, patchouli, vanilla,…
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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, blackberry, grapefruit, ylang-ylang, and Amalfi lemon; the heart notes reveal African orange blossom, jasmine, hyacinth, cinnamon, iris, and lily of the valley; 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 favorite uncle gave this to me for my 15th birthday, and it made me feel like the sexiest girl in town. I wish I could find it again!
Ugh, what memories with this sensual bomb from the 90s. I wore it at 17 and loved that scent; 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 lol, I even wore it to the gym and totally charmed my trainer with that narcotic vibe! Hehe. Back then I knew nothing about perfumes and just wanted to be trendy 😎. 30 years later, I finally get it: a festival of powerful, captivating notes perfectly blended, like a mind-bending sandalwood elixir lol. Oh, how I miss it; it’s one of those gorgeous, dense 90s masterpieces that leave a mark 👣. Hoping to find a bottle to delight in its intoxicating beauty again. Powerful, great sillage, incredible performance, 10/10 👌
Amazing perfume. I wore it in my teens. I remember I couldn’t wear it with white clothes because it stained. It was spicy, woody, almost no floral notes. Reminds me of Calvin Klein’s Obsession. It was for night or winter wear, with a unique presence.
It will always be my favorite perfume of all time, it’s a shame they discontinued it. The last bottle I bought was in 1995, and I didn’t want to finish it; unfortunately, I lost the bottle and all the joy it brought to my vintage collection. I’ve been looking 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 an insane marketing push, the brand launched its first fragrance with model Claudia Schiffer, catapulting her career and making Guess one of the most talked-about brands in the US. Claudia Schiffer as Brigitte Bardot, spreading sensuality in simple outfits with bold makeup and a playful attitude—that was the concept of the video and the perfume. The fragrance is a delight of warm amber, vanilla, penetrating, suggestive, subtly spicy. Hints of cinnamon and patchouli turn up the erotic heat on that amber, which on its own is enough for several sighs. It starts with an interesting sweet mandarin top note that then fades into the base notes but never disappears completely. It’s impossible not to make the connection with Bijan from ’89 and Calvin Klein Obsession from ’85, resembling the former more but shining with its own unique glow. The fragrance leaves a powdery, vanilla, amber halo with fine touches of moss, benzoin, and cinnamon—it’s a treat. Pure sensuality.
I loved this perfume, which is no longer available in Argentina. I wore it at 17; it was that type of perfume that you don’t really smell on your own skin, but everyone else does. Still, I loved it.