Passion by Elizabeth Taylor is a bold amber-floral Eau de Toilette that combines sparkling aldehydes, gardenia, ylang-ylang, coriander, artemisia, bergamot, and lily of the valley with tuberose, jasmine, rose, honey, warm spices, sandalwood, patchouli, iris, heliotrope, and cedar. A dramatic base of incense, leather, oakmoss, musk, vanilla, coconut, and animalic warmth gives the fragrance its distinctive depth.
Introduced in 1987 as Elizabeth Taylor’s first fragrance, Passion helped establish the actress as one of the earliest and most influential celebrity fragrance entrepreneurs. Unlike many later celebrity perfumes built around light fruit and sugary vanilla, Passion is complex, smoky, floral, woody, spicy, and unapologetically powerful.
The fragrance opens with a strong mixture of aldehydes, flowers, herbs, and spices. Gardenia and ylang-ylang provide creamy floral richness, while coriander and artemisia create an aromatic, slightly bitter contrast. As the fragrance develops, tuberose, jasmine, rose, honey, sandalwood, patchouli, and powdery florals create a dense and luxurious heart.
Its dry down is the most distinctive stage. Incense, leather, oakmoss, musk, vanilla, cedar, and coconut create a warm, smoky, slightly animalic trail that feels dramatic, sensual, and unmistakably vintage.
Passion is particularly well suited to women who enjoy statement fragrances, classic floral perfumery, smoky incense, leather, warm woods, and scents that remain noticeable for many hours.
What Does Passion by Elizabeth Taylor Smell Like?
Passion smells floral, smoky, spicy, woody, powdery, musky, leathery, and warmly sweet.
The fragrance opens with aldehydes, coriander, gardenia, artemisia, ylang-ylang, bergamot, and lily of the valley.
Aldehydes create a bright, sparkling, and slightly soapy effect. Gardenia and ylang-ylang add creamy floral richness, while lily of the valley introduces a greener and more delicate floral quality.
Coriander gives the opening dry aromatic spice. Artemisia contributes a bitter herbal nuance, and bergamot provides citrus brightness that helps lift the dense floral composition.
As Passion develops, spicy notes, sandalwood, tuberose, honey, patchouli, orris root, heliotrope, cedar, jasmine, and rose form the heart.
Tuberose and jasmine create intense white-floral richness. Rose adds romantic depth, while honey introduces warm sweetness. Orris root and heliotrope provide a powdery texture, and sandalwood creates smooth creaminess.
Patchouli and cedar give the heart earthy and woody structure. The spice accord adds warmth and helps bridge the floral center with the darker base.
The dry down combines incense, leather, oakmoss, sandalwood, musk, cedar, vanilla, coconut, and a traditional animalic accord.
Incense creates noticeable smoke, while leather adds darkness and sensuality. Oakmoss provides an earthy, green foundation, and musk creates warmth and persistence. Vanilla and coconut soften the composition without turning it into a modern gourmand fragrance.
Overall, Passion smells like creamy gardenia, tuberose, jasmine, and rose wrapped in honey, spices, sandalwood, smoky incense, leather, oakmoss, vanilla, musk, and dark woods.
What Are the Top, Heart, and Base Notes?
Release Year: Introduced in 1987; some fragrance references catalog the commercial release as 1988
Top Notes: Aldehydes, coriander, gardenia, artemisia, ylang-ylang, bergamot, and lily of the valley
Heart Notes: Spicy notes, sandalwood, tuberose, honey, patchouli, orris root, heliotrope, cedar, jasmine, and rose
Base Notes: Incense, leather, oakmoss, sandalwood, musk, cedar, vanilla, coconut, and an animalic accord
The opening is floral, sparkling, herbal, and spicy. Aldehydes create brightness, gardenia and ylang-ylang add richness, and coriander and artemisia introduce aromatic contrast.
The heart becomes warmer and fuller through tuberose, jasmine, rose, honey, sandalwood, patchouli, iris, heliotrope, cedar, and spices.
During the dry down, incense, leather, oakmoss, musk, vanilla, coconut, sandalwood, and cedar create a smoky, warm, earthy, and persistent finish.
Is Passion for Men, Women, or Unisex?
Passion is marketed as a fragrance for women.
Its gardenia, ylang-ylang, tuberose, jasmine, rose, honey, powdery iris, and ornate purple presentation create a traditionally feminine identity.
However, Passion also contains incense, leather, coriander, artemisia, oakmoss, patchouli, cedar, sandalwood, and musk. These darker and more aromatic notes give it a character that can appeal to anyone who enjoys bold vintage fragrances.
It should not be confused with Passion for Men, which is a separate fragrance released after the women’s original.
How Long Does Passion Last?
Passion typically lasts approximately 7 to 10 hours on skin.
Some wearers may experience even longer performance because of its dense floral, woody, musky, mossy, and resinous structure.
Performance can vary according to skin chemistry, temperature, humidity, application amount, bottle age, storage conditions, and whether the fragrance is applied to skin or clothing.
The aldehydes, gardenia, ylang-ylang, herbs, and bergamot are most noticeable during approximately the first hour. Tuberose, jasmine, rose, honey, sandalwood, spices, and patchouli then become more prominent.
Incense, leather, oakmoss, musk, vanilla, cedar, and sandalwood can remain noticeable for many hours during the dry down.
The fragrance may last considerably longer on clothing than on skin. Conservative application is recommended because Passion can remain detectable throughout an entire day or evening.
How Strong Is Passion’s Projection?
Passion has strong projection.
The fragrance creates a noticeable scent trail from its opening through much of its floral and smoky development.
Aldehydes, gardenia, ylang-ylang, tuberose, jasmine, honey, incense, leather, musk, and patchouli can project well beyond the wearer’s immediate personal space.
The strongest projection usually occurs during approximately the first two to three hours. It gradually becomes warmer and closer to the skin but can remain noticeable for many hours.
Passion should be applied carefully in offices, restaurants, vehicles, medical environments, elevators, and other enclosed spaces.
What Fragrance Family Is Passion?
Passion belongs to the amber-floral fragrance family, historically described as an oriental fragrance.
It also contains woody, smoky, powdery, leathery, floral, spicy, mossy, musky, and animalic characteristics.
Its most noticeable fragrance qualities include:
Amber floral
White floral
Smoky
Warm spicy
Woody
Powdery
Leathery
Musky
Mossy
Animalic
Aldehydes, gardenia, ylang-ylang, coriander, and artemisia create the dramatic opening. Tuberose, jasmine, rose, honey, sandalwood, patchouli, iris, and spices form the heart.
Incense, leather, oakmoss, musk, vanilla, coconut, cedar, and sandalwood provide the dark and persistent base.
What Seasons Is Passion Best For?
Passion is best suited to fall and winter.
Fall may be its strongest season because incense, leather, patchouli, sandalwood, honey, oakmoss, spices, and musk become especially smooth and expressive in cooler temperatures.
Winter allows the fragrance’s dense florals, smoky woods, leather, vanilla, and mossy base to develop without becoming overwhelming.
Passion can also work during cool spring evenings, formal events, or air-conditioned indoor occasions.
It is generally less suited to extreme summer heat because its tuberose, jasmine, honey, incense, leather, musk, and animalic warmth can become intense.
Best seasons: Fall and winter
Also suitable: Cool spring evenings
Best summer use: Formal indoor events with very light application
Use cautiously: Hot and humid daytime weather
Is Passion Better for Daytime or Nighttime?
Passion is best suited to evening and nighttime wear.
Its incense, leather, tuberose, jasmine, honey, patchouli, oakmoss, musk, vanilla, and sandalwood create a rich and dramatic personality that works naturally after dark.
It is especially effective for formal dinners, theater outings, holiday celebrations, anniversary events, cocktail gatherings, and elegant nighttime occasions.
Passion can be worn during the day by someone who enjoys strong vintage fragrances, but conservative application is essential.
For daytime use, one or two sprays may be sufficient. For evening events, two to four sprays generally create a substantial presence.
What Occasions Should Passion Be Worn For?
Passion is especially well suited to dramatic, formal, romantic, and cold-weather occasions.
Recommended occasions include:
Formal dinners
Anniversary celebrations
Theater outings
Holiday gatherings
Cocktail events
Evening receptions
Black-tie occasions
Religious celebrations
Winter weddings
Romantic dinners
Elegant parties
Special family events
Fall evenings
Formal professional functions
Statement fragrance occasions
Passion is not primarily designed as a light gym, beach, or casual warm-weather fragrance. It performs best when its richness and glamour fit the environment.
What Age Range Is Passion Best Suited For?
Passion is generally best suited to approximately 35 years old and older, although fragrance preference matters more than age.
Its aldehydes, gardenia, tuberose, honey, incense, leather, oakmoss, powdery iris, patchouli, and animalic warmth create a more traditional profile than modern fruity or gourmand fragrances.
Women in their thirties, forties, fifties, and beyond may appreciate its dramatic performance, complexity, and vintage glamour.
Younger fragrance enthusiasts who enjoy classic perfumery, incense, leather, mossy fragrances, or powerful floral ambers may also find Passion compelling.
The fragrance requires confidence more than a particular age.
Is Passion Office Appropriate?
Passion can be office appropriate, but only with very conservative application.
Its aldehydes, flowers, incense, leather, honey, musk, and patchouli can project strongly and may overwhelm coworkers in enclosed spaces.
One spray may be sufficient for a small office. Two sprays may work in a larger professional environment, especially during cooler weather.
Passion may be better suited to formal business dinners, executive events, professional receptions, or evening work functions than crowded shared offices.
Is it good for dates? Yes. Passion is especially well suited to formal dinner dates, anniversary celebrations, theater outings, and cool-weather romantic evenings. Tuberose, jasmine, honey, incense, leather, sandalwood, vanilla, and musk create a dramatic and sensual presence.
Is it a safe blind buy? Passion is not the safest universal blind buy. It may be a rewarding purchase for someone who enjoys strong vintage fragrances, white flowers, incense, leather, oakmoss, patchouli, and animalic warmth. Shoppers who prefer light, clean, fruity, or modern sweet perfumes should sample it first.
What Fragrances Smell Similar to Passion?
Shoppers who enjoy Passion’s rich flowers, incense, woods, leather, musk, and classic dramatic character may also appreciate these fragrances from the South Beach Perfumes catalog:
White Diamonds by Elizabeth Taylor
White Diamonds combines aldehydes, lily, neroli, tuberose, jasmine, ylang-ylang, narcissus, carnation, rose, amber, musk, sandalwood, oakmoss, and patchouli. It shares Passion’s aldehydes, white flowers, ylang-ylang, sandalwood, oakmoss, musk, and glamorous character but feels brighter, more powdery, and less smoky.
Diamonds & Rubies by Elizabeth Taylor
Diamonds & Rubies combines lilac, peach, red rose, almond wood, spices, jasmine, orchid, ylang-ylang, vanilla, amber, benzoin, musk, cedar, and sandalwood. It shares Passion’s rich flowers, spices, amber, woods, musk, and dramatic femininity but feels fruitier, sweeter, and less leathery.
L’Air du Temps by Nina Ricci
L’Air du Temps combines aldehydes, carnation, rose, jasmine, gardenia, violet, iris, clove, sandalwood, oakmoss, musk, amber, and cedar. It shares Passion’s aldehydes, gardenia, jasmine, rose, powdery iris, spices, sandalwood, oakmoss, and classic style but feels lighter, more floral, and less smoky.
These fragrances are not exact copies of Passion. Each captures a related part of its personality, including aldehydes, white florals, incense-like warmth, spices, woods, oakmoss, musk, or classic glamour.
What Is the Difference Between the Available Concentrations?
Passion for Women is primarily available as an Eau de Toilette, commonly abbreviated as EDT.
Despite its Eau de Toilette designation, Passion often performs more strongly and lasts longer than many modern Eau de Parfum fragrances because of its dense floral, woody, mossy, resinous, and musky composition.
Passion Eau de Toilette
The Eau de Toilette is generally:
Sparkling and floral during the opening
Rich, spicy, and powdery through the heart
Smoky, leathery, musky, and woody during the dry down
Strong in projection
Long lasting
Best suited to fall, winter, and evening wear
Suitable for formal and statement occasions
Passion has also appeared in perfume, body lotion, dusting powder, miniature, and gift-set formats.
A more concentrated perfume presentation may feel richer, smoother, and closer to the skin while requiring fewer drops or sprays.
Passion for Men is a completely separate composition and should not be treated as another concentration of Passion for Women.
Learn more about fragrance concentrations
Is Passion Discontinued?
No. Passion for Women remains available through established fragrance retailers and distributors.
Its distribution may be less prominent than White Diamonds, but the original Eau de Toilette continues to appear in standard spray sizes, gift sets, and related body products.
Availability can vary according to retailer, bottle size, country, and production cycle.
Because Passion has been produced for decades, shoppers may encounter differences in packaging, bottle details, ingredient lists, box colors, and manufacturing information.
A temporary sellout of a particular size does not necessarily mean that the fragrance itself has been discontinued.
When Was Passion Released?
Passion was introduced in 1987 as Elizabeth Taylor’s first fragrance.
Some fragrance databases list 1988 as its launch year, which may reflect differences between its introduction, distribution, or cataloging date.
Elizabeth Taylor’s official fragrance history identifies 1987 as the year she released Passion.
The fragrance became an immediate commercial success and helped demonstrate that a celebrity fragrance could become a serious, long-term business rather than a short-lived promotional product.
Passion was followed by Passion for Men and later by White Diamonds, which became the most widely recognized fragrance in Elizabeth Taylor’s collection.
Who Created Passion?
The individual perfumer responsible for Passion has not been consistently identified in reliable brand and fragrance-reference materials.
Because no dependable perfumer credit is widely documented, it is more accurate not to attribute Passion to a specific creator.
What can be confirmed is that the composition was designed as a complex floral amber with aromatic, spicy, woody, smoky, mossy, leathery, and animalic elements.
Aldehydes, gardenia, ylang-ylang, coriander, artemisia, bergamot, and lily of the valley create the opening.
Tuberose, jasmine, rose, honey, sandalwood, patchouli, orris root, heliotrope, cedar, and spices form the heart.
Incense, leather, oakmoss, musk, vanilla, coconut, sandalwood, cedar, and animalic warmth create the base.
How Many Sprays of Passion Should Be Used?
The recommended number of sprays depends on the environment, temperature, and desired projection.
Office or enclosed professional setting: 1 spray
Formal daytime occasion: 1 to 2 sprays
Dinner or date night: 2 to 3 sprays
Evening event or celebration: 2 to 4 sprays
Outdoor use in cold weather: 3 to 4 sprays
Because Passion has strong projection and excellent longevity, it is better to begin with a small application.
A balanced application can include one spray on the upper chest or one spray on the back of the neck. For an evening event, one additional spray may be applied to a wrist or side of the neck.
Avoid excessive application in offices, restaurants, vehicles, elevators, theaters, medical environments, or fragrance-sensitive spaces.
Is Passion Authentic?
Yes. Passion sold by South Beach Perfumes is authentic.
South Beach Perfumes sells authentic designer and celebrity fragrances sourced through established distribution channels.
Because Passion has been produced for decades, bottles may come from different production periods, packaging generations, or international markets.
Boxes, labels, caps, bottle colors, decorative details, ingredient lists, logos, and batch-code placement may vary.
Gift sets, miniature bottles, body products, and tester packaging may also look different from standard retail presentations.
Older and newer bottles can vary in fragrance color, opening intensity, projection, and dry-down character because of reformulation, ingredient regulations, production periods, and storage history.
These differences do not automatically indicate that a fragrance is counterfeit.
Learn more about our product guarantee policy
Who Should Buy Passion?
Passion is an excellent choice for someone who:
Enjoys strong vintage fragrances
Likes aldehydic perfumes
Appreciates gardenia and ylang-ylang
Enjoys tuberose and jasmine
Likes rose and honey
Prefers incense fragrances
Enjoys leather accords
Likes oakmoss and patchouli
Appreciates sandalwood and cedar
Enjoys powdery iris and heliotrope
Wants strong projection
Needs a long-lasting evening fragrance
Enjoys formal and dramatic perfumes
Collects Elizabeth Taylor fragrances
Prefers complexity over minimalist freshness
It is particularly appealing to someone who wants a fragrance that smells floral, smoky, warm, spicy, woody, sensual, dramatic, and unmistakably classic.
Who May Not Like Passion?
Passion may not appeal to someone who:
Prefers light fruity perfumes
Dislikes aldehydes
Does not enjoy tuberose
Finds gardenia overwhelming
Avoids incense
Dislikes leather accords
Prefers aquatic or marine fragrances
Wants a subtle skin scent
Dislikes oakmoss or patchouli
Avoids animalic fragrances
Prefers modern sugary gourmands
Wants a fresh summer perfume
Is sensitive to strong projection
Prefers minimalist compositions
Dislikes vintage-style perfumes
Its smoky floral, leathery, mossy, and animalic character is central to its identity. Shoppers who prefer clean citrus, watery florals, or dessert-like fragrances should sample it before purchasing.
South Beach Perfumes Expert Review
Passion by Elizabeth Taylor is one of the boldest and most distinctive fragrances in the Elizabeth Taylor collection.
The opening immediately communicates its vintage character. Aldehydes create dramatic sparkle, while gardenia and ylang-ylang provide creamy floral richness. Coriander and artemisia introduce aromatic bitterness, and bergamot gives the opening a small amount of citrus lift.
The heart is dense and expressive. Tuberose and jasmine create powerful white-floral intensity, rose adds romantic depth, and honey brings warmth. Sandalwood, patchouli, cedar, iris, heliotrope, and spices give the floral bouquet a powdery, woody, and earthy structure.
The dry down is the fragrance’s defining stage. Incense creates smoke, leather adds darkness, oakmoss provides earthy depth, and musk contributes warmth and persistence. Vanilla and coconut soften the composition but never turn it into a conventional gourmand perfume.
Its greatest strength is personality. Passion does not smell generic, light, or trend driven. It creates a recognizable scent signature and remains noticeable for many hours.
It performs especially well for formal dinners, anniversary celebrations, theater outings, holiday events, winter weddings, evening receptions, and women who want their perfume to make a confident statement.
Its intensity is also its greatest limitation. Passion can feel too smoky, floral, powdery, leathery, or animalic for someone accustomed to modern fruity or aquatic perfumes. Careful application is essential.
Compared with White Diamonds, Passion is darker, smokier, spicier, more leathery, and more sensual. White Diamonds feels brighter, more aldehydic, and more formally floral.
For someone who enjoys gardenia, ylang-ylang, tuberose, jasmine, rose, honey, incense, leather, oakmoss, sandalwood, patchouli, vanilla, and musk, Passion remains a powerful and historically important fragrance with unmistakable Elizabeth Taylor glamour.
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