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og9333 – :
I have vintage purse size bottle of this fragrance. It is very lady like, feminine – gardenias in the breeze.
superstar – :
Womanly in the old school way. Before it was a mortal sin to be….older AND sexy. Receptive and kind. Old fashioned in the best way. When sexy women were also mothers, sisters, aunts, and adult. Women who cared for husbands, children and home and were proud, happy and beautiful doing so.
Opens with citrus and aldehydes: fat, waxy and fleeting. Moves quickly to the florals, jasmine and rose, (well blended I’m sure I’m missing others) and then oakmoss. Lovely oakmoss and vanilla dry down. I usually hate vanilla and it is ALMOST too sweet for me, but it is wonderful here. Complex and elegant simplicity. Beautiful Sophia.
BTW Sophia, if you ever happen to read this, my husband still has a thing for you!
*edited to add: pure perfume reviewed and he is 55, so I’m sure too old for you!
FOMA333 – :
Thank you Angelica 000! This is a heady 80’s powerhouse. Very long lasting with great projection. A mature woman could probably pull this off more than a youngster methinks. All sophistication and class.
EFEKTIK – :
The “dry-down” is similar to Dior MisDior…but it doesn’t have its big SILLAGE, and longevity. My bottle is vintage (of course, as this has been discontinued for long time).
no1user – :
I loved this perfume. To me this was real perfume for young girls back in early 80’s, not these perfumes of today that leave a strange basenote on the skin. I wish Sophia Loren can bring it back, could be just a drugstore cheapie and it would be great. Rose and Jasmine can’t be all that’s in it.
rekotov – :
I was intrigued by the positive reviews from all the ladies about this little known celebrity perfume.
Sophia Loren launched a fragrance??!
What would it smell like I wondered.
I saw the YouTube Commercials with Sophia Loren herself promoting this fragrance and read up on when it was launched (1980) and the ads from that year. I have never been more fascinated by a fragrance.
I received my purchase from eBay a set of two fragrances the Cologne Spray bottle and the miniature dab on bottle. I love both of them.
This is a sweet soft powdery rose fragrance. Linear. Nothing like a 1980’s go big or go home fragrance. In fact if you put it side by side next to Ungaro Diva (which I really like) it’s a very subdued delicate subtle feminine rose perfume. Diva is a showy glamorous spotlight stealing rose. Sophia is a little rosebud. This opens with aldehydes, so you have to be familiar with aldehydic perfumes like Chanel No. 5, Arpege by Lanvin, L’Air Du Temps by Nina Ricci and First by Van Cleef & Arpels & also a bit like Fidji by Guy La Roche. Ultimately Sophia does not smell like any of those frags however and has a unique personality of it’s own. This is a very humble stay at home mom type of perfume.
Although yes the opening is terribly old fashioned (your mother or grandmother perfume from 30 plus years ago) it softens into a very enjoyable rose scent. Not a realistic rose. A bloom on the stem kind of smell. Powdery. And it has a jasmine in it as well that smells wonderful. There’s a bit of neroli & orangey smells which actually match up with rosebushes.
The florals are so pretty. After they fade, the woodsy notes emerge Cedar wood is very fragrant in this perfume. Gorgeous cedar.. Also something a tad on the animal side, possibly a musk note or civet note. There’s plenty of oak moss and amber. I suppose this falls under the category of chypre. In the dry down when the fragrance begins to disappear there is a really sweet vanilla note that is totally detectable.
So beautiful.
My feelings about this perfume are that it’s classy, elegant, simple, no nonsense, soapy clean, powdery and very womanly/mature. This does not belong on younger girls but more of the happily married mothers out there who enjoy smelling like a rose.
My husband took a whiff of this perfume last night and did not like it but I’m not wearing it for him. This is for me.
shef7369 – :
There is no way this is just Jasmine and Rose. It’s very soapy (not in a bad way) and I am getting Oakmoss I think. It’s not very heavy and I actually think it can be worn during the day in cool temperatures.
abedydype – :
Sophia is an underrated but fabulous vintage beauty. I have nothing but love for this lovely little perfume. I agree with other reviewers that have sung the praises of the eau de parfum mini dab on bottle in a red fitted box from Coty. I purchased mine from a source on eBay. It was over the holidays just after Thanksgiving so the delivery was very slow due to the increased postal service and package delivery activity. It arrived on the second week in December and I was captivated by this beautiful fragrance. My initial impression smelling it from the bottle is that this is a soft, delicate, mature, feminine fragrance. No other perfume comes to mind so I can’t make any comparisons, although if I had to make a comparison, it has a Chanel No 5 type of scent, but far more powdery, as if it was No. 5 talc powder. Sophia is an aroma of the boudoir: lingerie, talc powder, rose, sachets, and nude skin. It conjures up the image of the ravishingly beautiful Italian actress Sophia Loren in a long nightgown, sheer and sexy, with her luxuriant and lustrous dark hair cascading over her breasts, as she prepares to go to bed or to dress for a night out. There is a photo shoot or perhaps a film scene where she is wearing a black nightie that seems to match up with this imagery. In the early 1980’s, Sophia Loren modeled for this perfume and wore it herself. She even made a TV commercial and applied the perfume on her neck. This is a womanly perfume, far from the girly sugary sweet stuff in the fragrance world of today.
The opening is a classic old fashioned and soapy aldehyde. The smell is similar to soap suds in the bath tub. A dash of lemon and bergamot orange, and a fragrant neroli come with these aldehydes. So yes when you first put your nose to it, it can be quite a powerful punch to the sense of smell. I think in it’s opening it is most like Chanel No. 5 which has aldehydes galore. The eventual development of the civet and musk, along with patchouli, vetiver and oak moss, is also similar to No. 5. But unlike No 5, when you give it some time, it’s a sweeter and more powdery perfume. The opening might not be to everyone’s liking but the fragrance rewards you with a dry down of vanilla, gorgeous vanilla, powder and a cedar wood that is to die for.
Amongst the fragile florals: White flowers of delicate white roses, surreal, ephemeral, jasmine and lilies, carnation, lily of the valley. This is a rose fragrance but she is just as much a white floral as she is a rose perfume. The jasmine is beautifully done. The lily of the valley embraces green notes of vetiver, lemon grass, neroli, and other greens like patchouli leaves. The patchouli may not be as strong as other patchouli based perfumes but I think the reason is that the nose behind this fragrance (unnamed) went for a more vanillic direction. The vanilla is clearly there as it dries down, and the vanilla seems to match up automatically with the light woodsy notes of cedar and sandal. The whole thing has a white and beige color scheme. It smells like vanilla cream and cedar wood, but never does it become too overwhelming nor too strong, other than the opening with the aldehyde blast. The rest of the time it is a very relaxing soothing and soft floral vanilla and woodsy aroma.
I have received many compliments wearing this beauty. At my age, this perfume suits me perfectly. She is not a saucy insolent girl on a cell phone taking selfies like Kim Kardashian. No. She is a lady. Sophia Loren was actually far more sedate dignified and lady like in person and nothing like the sex icon sex goddess she appeared to be on the big screen. So this perfume does seem to match up with Sophia Loren’s true personality. She is a very beautiful woman inside and outside and this scent makes me feel just as beautiful as she is.
STELT – :
a light spicy floriental that leans toward chypre; oakmoss is a note; unfortunately, this does not last and is not strong, elegant but I was looking for something spicier
ra1qhc – :
ABOUT VINTAGE COTY SOPHIA
1981
There was an ad in a magazine that I remember looking at that promoted this fragrance as a young woman’s “cheeky” or saucy fragrance of rebellion, of an upstart, or a tart. She might have money but she doesn’t have class. I wondered is it possible they could create such a personality in a fragrance and why on earth would Sophia Loren model for it? “Let Them Talk” said the ad. Sophia might have been one of the most voluptuous and sexy women of all time, but her personality was actually quite lady-like and contrary to the image of her as a sex goddess or seductress. So for me this simple fragrance and it’s not-so-sexy and sober notes represent the real Sophia, the every day Italian housewife Sophia. She must have worn this fragrance herself indeed, and by the 1980’s, she was already a very mature and motherly lady of leisure.
This is a powdery boudoir perfume.
The little splash miniature glass bottle with the flower stopper and the neck tag that comes in a red fitted box is the first edition and the truest to the composition as a concentree or pure parfum. The aldehydes are evident as one begins to apply the perfume. Soapy aldehydes, lacking in luminous brilliance and not as headache inducing as other aldehydes. This is the same kind of soapiness that is present in CREPE DE CHINE by Millot. This is also a bit like the opening to some other fragrance whose name eludes me right now, perhaps the 1st Estee Lauder or even a bit of Chanel No. 5, without being too close to the formula. The opening lacks citrus or any fruit notes although it’s possible it has some bergamot orange in it. The way this fragrance opens is rather typical and uneventful.
The fragrance develops rather quickly, almost in a linear fashion, and turns to powdery floral notes of roses and jasmine. Fragrantica lists the rose and jasmine as being the only notes in this fragrance but that is so ridiculous. There is more going on than just rose and jasmine. This is a gossamer jasmine, almost like a tulle fabric in ballet tutu, very delicate jasmine. The rose is matching up with the soap scent (rose scented hand soap) and powder in the style of wardrobe/drawer sachets scented with rose. But the rose and jasmine embrace the deeper base notes of musk, vanilla and amber.
Identifying the base notes was the hardest part. There is moss of oak, cedar wood or other wood notes like sandal, to compliment the moss. There is also amber, resinous and warm, swimming in vanilla cream. This part of the fragrance – the vanilla cream – and the amber is spicy and savory like a scent that would clash or mix with 5 star restaurant food. I am wondering just where Sophia Loren would have worn this to because it seems to suggest she’d have put it on in her boudoir/bedroom, in front of her vanity mirror and dresser table, then she would slip into something classy but nevertheless beautiful and sexy, a tight skirt with halter top, heels, or a little black dress. She would meet with someone at a restaurant that served either old Italian meals or classic French cuisine. Her perfume would be the talk of the dinner, because it is so much like a vanilla or gourmand scent long before the gourmand frags ever came of age. This is a romantic perfume, a dinner date perfume, a married lady’s fragrance which she’d wear only for her husband, or to get only his attention.
There is a civetone or muscatone (civet and musk) chemical aroma which does not smell like actual civet or musk in the style of Bal or Coco Eau de Parfum. This is a light musk. It has more oak moss than musk. I don’t believe this musk is unisex nor aggressive. The powder and vanilla, the amber and the florals, are all suggestive of women, ladies and grand dames. This is absolutely beautiful.
When I wore this back in the early 80’s (1981-1982) Margaret Thatcher was Prime Minister and she met with Ronald Reagan often. I was a schoolteacher who was part of an event in which Reagan met with Thatcher and London’s school district administrators to discuss the British equivalent of “education on drugs to children” that is to teach school age children the dangers of drug and substance abuse. I wore this perfume with a Chanel suit and it really matched and smelled great with the suit. Reagan was very close to me and smelled it on me and even said to me “Mrs. Lawson I hope that you don’t think I’m being too forward but may I ask the name of the perfume you’re wearing. It smells so beautiful and I would love to know where I can buy it for my wife Nancy”.
I will never know if Nancy Reagan wore this perfume but I was floored and flattered that a man of Mr. Reagan’s stature and celebrity even spoke to me! I was more interested in grabbing his attention than Margaret Thatcher’s. This is a perfume I will never forget in m entire life. It’s a shame that not too many people on Fragrantica are even wearing it or discussing it. It’s divine.
leha04 – :
I have a vintage 1980 miniature little dab on bottle. I applied it gently on my wrists on both sides and on the collar of my blouse. When you remove the red little box you are presented with a little glass bottle and oddly shaped stopper, looks like a fish or flower. The scent is hard to describe. It smells like nothing I’ve ever encountered in perfume before. This is a rose with wood. I have Lanvin Oud & Rose from their Les Notes de Lanvin line and that scent is kind of like this one, except Sophia is a lot more woodsier. This is woods and oak moss tons of oak moss. It’s a rose that grows in the forest. It has a womanly mature quality. It’s powdery like old fashioned talc powder on a vanity dresser table. If it’s meant to describe Sophia Loren all I visualize is Sophia in a diaphanous sexy baby doll nightie applying powder and perfume in front of her mirror and dresser table. This perfume is a bit “old lady” ish to me but that doesn’t mean it’s not good. If you like rose and woods scents, this is probably going to really delight you. I can’t compare it to any other fragrance that is out in stores right now nor any classic fragrance like Chanel No. 5 No. 22 Arpege Shalimar etc. It’s just so different. All I get from this perfume is a strong aroma of roses woods and oak moss. This is pretty strong stuff even for small dab on bottle so I apply gently and don’t over do it. I also don’t wear this very often. It smells like something to wear to church or to a funeral. We all have to go to those events in our life time so it’s good to have a perfume to reach out to for those moments. This is not bad just too mature for me and too old fashioned. I do love it but I’ll wear it very infrequently. It’s elegant and darling. I bought one for my mom. She loved it.
duedDrerseGofr – :
FROM SOPHIA LOREN WITH LOVE
Sophia Loren the most beautiful sexy Italian goddess of all time actually had a fragrance!!! As a vintage classic perfume collector and a fan of the Golden Age of Hollywood, you know I was going to go after it. Well now it’s mine. I must say that while it does not smell like a sex bomb perfume, nor does it capture the sexual allure of Sophia, it’s still such a beautiful remarkable fragrance. This is a rose perfume so if you’re big on rose fragrances, this is for you. It’s not a realistic rose. It’s light, powdery and soft and you really only get those delicious rose petals on your skin as the fragrance progresses towards the dry down. The dry down is so amazing. This fragrance is from 1980-1981. Contrary to popular belief, this is not the first celebrity fragrance. This perfume came seven years before Elizabeth Taylor’s Passion, but it was preceded by fragrances like Zsa Zsa Gabor’s Zig Zag sold by Dana Perfumes in the 60’s, Elvis Presley’s Teddy Bear in the 50’s and Audrey Hepburn’s L’Interdit sold by Givenchy. But Sophia is the first celebrity actress to put a face to a fragrance. She made an exclusive contract with COTY (my favorite perfumer house by the way) and modeled for the advertisements in magazines and in TV commercials. This was being sold as a perfume “to wear with passion” and “the perfume of loving and living”. There was even a magazine ad which depicted a couple of gossipy older women who were talking about this fragrance as being for women who were not traditionally conservative or at all conformist and were more liberated women. I don’t get this vibe at all. It’s such a classically feminine fragrance, it’s simple, elegant, soft and beautiful. It was Sophia Loren in her quieter older/later years, and she was definitely behind the creation of this fragrance, at least as far as choosing which accords and notes to put into it. This was also the fist time Coty created a perfume for a celebrity and the tradition continues to this day. I can see Sophia Loren wearing this perfume in the 80s. Fragrantica does not list the notes but I will. To my expert nose they are as follows:
Top Notes: Aldehydes Lemon Neroli Bergamot
Middle Notes: Rose Jasmine Carnation Lily of the Valley Oak Moss
Base Notes: Amber Musk Oak Moss Patchouli Civet Vanilla
This is the progression it took as I inhaled the fume and let it envelop me with it’s beauty. This is a REAL PERFUME, so this is not for those body mist or fruity-floral powder vanilla sugary chocolate gourmand perfume lovers. It has nothing in common with today’s fragrances. It has a beautiful femininity that sets it apart from any other fragrance. At the heart of this fragrance is a red rose, which becomes quite powdery but in a delicate, sweet way, and this sweetness is enhanced by the vanilla base. However, this is not all about vanilla nor even all about roses. There is a muskiness animalic note which is probably deer musk or civet, or both. Probably both. The animalic accord doesn’t seem to warm it up, but it gives it a depth and muskiness. The patchouli is there but it’s not a big player. The Oak Moss is definitely the bigger player. This is such a woodsy fragrance. I love woods so this was a dream. This is like going deep into the woods and finding a single rose growing in a glade. Absolutely beautiful. This smells as expensive as the Chanels and just as classic. I am so happy that I ordered this perfume and had to wait a long time to get it. The wait was worth it. This is a fantastic fragrance. If you would like to buy Coty’s Sophia, please go for the small miniature glass bottle with the strange looking flower shaped stopper that comes in a fitted box annd stand. It’s a little red box and the glass bottle even comes with a tag around it’s neck that says Sophia. That is the perfume that was selling at the time of the fragrance’s release in 1980 and 1981. Later on they issued cologne splash bottles and cologne sprays but you never get the same experience as you would with the parfum in the mini bottle. This is divine perfume. Thank You Sophia.
maralex – :
Ah, but this reminds me of a chypre. The animal of leather and civet, some arid peppery notes, amber, white florals, something creamy, many things you can’t quite identify…..Perfection!
krmarich pinpointed it beautifully. I find many notes here reminding me of other favorites with leather or soft spice. I think of Avon Occur, Avon Black Suede, and the unsurpassable Balmain de Balmain. The resemblances are very mild and can only describe the deeper aspect, not the airy, greener side. Estee Lauder scents come to mind here. To my nose it is only the animalic notes that could be called ‘sweet’.
So amazing, I believed it had to be an upper-end department store brand or designer. It would not in the least surprise me if Sophia Loren helped with it’s creation and wore it proudly. Thank you , Sophia , for sharing your quality taste.
SimonDeathcore – :
I tested this today. I got a bottle and I’m wondering WHY I never tested this back in the 80’s! But then again, I probably wouldn’t have appreciated it as much as I do now.
I have the Concentrated Cologne.
With the initial spray, I get a hint of oakmoss that gets bolder within a few minutes.
I don’t care for most rose or jasmine notes in a perfume because they usually don’t work well with my chemistry.
On my skin, this is mostly oakmoss with a hint of something animalic.
It’s gorgeous. Not your typical 80’s fragrance but its a mature fragrance to be sure….not something fruity, musky, or gourmandy which is how I see most celebrity fragrances. This one has grown-up sex appeal.
Its fairly inexpensive and if you like oakmoss, I think you will love this one!
legleg – :
Sophia does not smell like a 80s perfume at all. It smells like something made a decade earlier. It is very similar to Charles Revson’s original Ultimal II fragrance. Nice but nothing special.
tieswedlili – :
The first and best of the celebrity fragrances from the days when Coty was still a perfume house and classic brand. A well-rounded fragrance with a chypre kick in the top that quickly evolves into a creamy floral oriental spicy base. I have a bottle labelled cologne but it wears more like perfume.
The last high quality affordable perfume to be created by Coty before it became Coty Inc. It saddens me what Coty has become.
egor1011 – :
This is a very spicy floral oriental with a woody base. If someone told me this was a vintage Estée Lauder or Givenchy, I’d believe it. It’s very rich, deep and complex. There are a ton of notes missing here. My nose isn’t great at picking out the individual notes, especially when there are so many of them, but krmarich has done a great job. Fragrances of the past tend to be a bit loud compared to todays offerings, so those who don’t like the aggressiveness of vintages, stay far away. But those of us who love them, this is one to experience. One of the first celebrity scents, I find it fitting for the strong, fiery character of Ms. Loren. Believe me, nobody will mistake this for a current celebrity scent. To me, this has a Cinnabar – Youth Dew – Tabu – Tigress vibe to it. It smells like something from the 40’s to me, not the 80’s. I’d say this is to be worn with cats eye eyeliner, plunging neckline and vintage furs.
egoruk11 – :
This will always hold a special lace in my heart because my mother’s mother was named Sophia, so my Dad bought it for my Mom as a gift. Amazing fragrance that represents everything Sophia is….classically beautiful, elegant and memorable.
CaskCogelals – :
I found two small bottles of vintage Sophia: one parfum, the other “concentrated cologne,” and decided to do a thorough testing before I reviewed this scent, so began the day by layering the two. The concentrated cologne was strong and bitter initially, and took a good two hours to calm down, while the parfum opened as a pleasing old school classic fragrance. Florals include a predominate rose, joined by jasmine and lilies; as the day progressed, I began to pick up cedar, cypress and oakmoss.
Never did detect any patchoulli. At nine hours, it is a nice golden-hued floriental, not sweet, not fruity, and with the florals harmonizing to create a single chord. I like it quite a lot. Let me add that I had never heard of this fragrance, even picking it up and asking aloud “Sophia? I never heard of that. I wonder which Sophia?” which the clerk found endlessly amusing– I imagine that for him, there is only one Sophia.
arfat75 – :
I found out about this fragrance on this site and being an admirer of Ms. Loren, I put it on my wishlist. I found a small bottle of perfume and you know what it reminds me of? Diors Poison! I’ll keep my eyes open for a larger bottle. I like it.
dik458 – :
This was the first celebrity fragrance. It has fallen into obscurity over the years and has long disappeared off retail shelves. I found a stash in my mother’s vanity! Coty was once the greatest marketer for inexpensive quality fragrance. This proved to be one of the best. For chypre lovers, that is…
It opens with bergamot, lemon and oakmoss. It has a genious heart of neroli, jasmine, rose, lily of the valley and oakmoss, perhaps more. It closes with more oakmoss, patcholi and vetiver. Toss in some civet and vanilla and you get a stunning complex refined and yes, mature bold chypre. It was a bit over the top for todays noses.
It last for several hours and makes one think, no, they dont make um like this anymore. The cost was about $4.99 a bottle in the day. Hey, the glamour of Sophia Lauren was just a spray away. I wonder if she still keeps bottle around? Frankly, it was the best celebrity launch, IMO…
kucJIotHuk – :
Is this really still around? It seemed old fashioned when first introduced. Just too, too gooey sweet. Not at all what one would associate with a beautiful, exciting, intriguing woman like Sophia Loren.