Poison is a power-house eighties perfume, and in my mind it conjures up images of giant shoulder pads and shiny purple spandex. This is an extremely nostalgic experience; as a kid I’ve often associated these heavy fragrances with strong, powerful women who often wore grey business suits and had hair that was standing in place by large amounts of Aquanet. Poison often fell into the same territory as Passion by Elizabeth Taylor, and were usually worn by “scary” women who spoke too loudly and always had bright red lipstick to match their sharply painted fingernails.
Wearing any vintage perfume is going to be a blissful olfactory experience, good or bad…products back then were heavy and complex; there is no room for discretion and Poison is not meant for the timid at heart. We live in an age of prudent and linear fragrances; many are comfortable staying within the confines of those enclosed spaces. A few will toe the line, but most will be repelled by the loudness and outrageous products that used to be the reigning kings and queens of the fragrance world. You may hate it- but you can’t deny that Poison and those of its kind have revolutionized the industry.
That being said, this fragrance has been horribly reformulated. Whatever happened to the intoxicating florals and strong (almost animalic) woodsy notes? This is truly a shadow of its former self- another unfortunate victim of the “dumbing down” of perfumes- it has been commercialized and no longer embodied the notorious character it once was.
The current poison opens up with a strong blast of plum and tuberose, it goes on thick and syrupy…and stays on for the entire duration of approximately 5-6 hours. I don’t sense a lot of changes in the dry down, but honey and amber makes a subtle appearance once the plum starts to soothe through to a manageable level. I am not a huge fan of tuberose but it is delicately masked by the heavy fruit and honey, I don’t sense smokiness but that is because the sweetness pretty much overwhelms any bitterness to this fragrance. Like other reviewers, I can’t easily pick out any of the base notes…it all seems to be a jubilee of different accords exploding in every direction all at once.
Overall Poison carries a sentimental vibe for those who have experienced the highs of its era, there’s a wistful ingenuity with these kinds of things. As time marches on all too swiftly and discarding its memories to the past; I suppose just the sense of being able to savor a piece of history (no matter how diluted) would be considered privilege enough.
Longevity: 10/10 Sillage: 10/10
Top Notes
Middle Notes
Base Notes
