Vintage (now antique) Avon frag comparisons

Discussion in 'Preshave and Aftershave' started by gorgo2, May 28, 2011.

  1. gorgo2

    gorgo2 geezerhood

    Avon's men's frags appear to have peaked in popularity in the '60s, then gradually went downhill to pretty much bottom out by the early '80s; hence, I'm guessing, the increasingly hokey bottles of the '70s. In that time, though, Avon cleverly tried to duplicate many popular scents or scent families. As one who wears these old Avon scents, I've compared some of them to other "name" brands and here's what I'm confident of so far:

    Avon Spicy/Brisk Spice = Shulton Old Spice.
    Try them side by side and there's no doubt. Avon's isn't exact but Spicy is a close, acceptable substitute and Brisk Spice is even closer...very close, in fact, but harder to find.

    Avon Windjammer = Canoe. I doubted this for some time but only because I was relying on what I thought I remembered Canoe smelled like. However, I just found a big ol' bottle of Canoe...while Canoe is stronger (the name brands - even cheap ones - always are), Windjammer is definitely a clone. Of the two I prefer Avon's because it's a tad less sweet than modern Canoe.

    Avon Tai Winds = Hai Karate/Jade East/Oriental Jade. Not a dead match for any of them but it's in that late '60s "oriental" ballpark, for sure.

    Avon Oland= Aramis.
    This one took me the longest to figure out but once I found an older bottle of Aramis, I was sure. Oland was released in 1970, when Aramis was still pretty new and popular. If you find a good bottle of Oland, it's great, but there's a component in Oland that can go bad and make the juice smell too weird to wear. BTW: Avon's Clint appears to be a reformulated version of Oland with a few more greenish/woody notes to it and less of Oland's unusual smokiness. Clint's among their best ever.

    Wild Country has to be Avon's #1 fragrance for men, if for no other reason it's the only one from that era still in production (though it's been reformulated and is now, imo, inferior to the original juice). I also can find nothing like it so I'm fairly sure it was intended to be exactly what it is: a unique Avon signature frag that's not a copy of something else. And it's a good one!

    I also believe Avon's uber-studly Leather is a unique entry. You'd think it was meant to duplicate English Leather. To my nose it does not...it smells exactly like liquified leather with some but very little complementary scentage added, which makes it absolutely fantastic. In fact, Avon's Leather may predate E.L., but I'm not sure of that.

    I welcome any other Avon user's comparisons...there's still Blue Blazer, Tribute, Excalibur, Bravo, Deep Woods and others that may or may not be copies of other, known frags.
     
  2. Hanzo

    Hanzo Well-Known Member

    Excellent coverage of a largely unknown but familiar topic. All of us see vintage Avon scents on ebay but don't know what to make of them, your guide is the perfect key. :)
     
  3. stingraysrock

    stingraysrock PIF'd away his custom title

    Thank you for posting this!
     
  4. Williams Warrior

    Williams Warrior Well-Known Member

    Wild Country, I used to wear this in middle school back in the early eighties. I need to find an Avon rep.
     
  5. stingraysrock

    stingraysrock PIF'd away his custom title

    I have a full vintage bottle of it that we can horse trade for the next time we meet up. I don't care for the scent.
     
  6. PanChango

    PanChango Not Cute

    Thank you for posting this gorgo.

    I largely have no idea what the scents are like, but there are some unique bottles out there.
     
  7. gorgo2

    gorgo2 geezerhood

    If I may, I'd advise you to find an old full bottle (Stingray's) and compare it to the smallest, cheapest size of the overpriced, altered current version of WC...a sampler, if you can get one. Of the people I've known who are familiar with both old and new WC, I've yet to meet anyone who prefers the new version. I know I don't. :sick007

    Thank you, it's my pleasure. As always, your nose's mileage may well vary.

    I'm just glad to have seen a resurgence in vintage Avon interest over the past year or two. Is Avon top of the line? Was it ever? No, but you know that going in. And in today's economy, given the remaining variety, sustained quality, availability and laughably cheap price ($1 average for full bottles is what I see at yard sales and junk shops; sometimes just a quarter), it just can't be beat.

    I'm even more glad to have witnessed a couple of true fragsnobs (not here) -- guys who'd never, ever expect anything good to come out of a glass model of a Stutz Bearcat or a baseball glove -- admit they were quite impressed by a couple of them, most notably Leather, of which not enough good can be said.

    True, but I pitch the bottles and recant the juice. No, I take that back, there's just one I've kept: the Spartan warrior head full of Tribute, I like that one. I don't find any of the bottles tacky the way many do; they are what they are. I just don't need the clutter of rodeo cowboys, jumping trout and the Spirit of St. Louis.

    Oh yeah, the ship in a bottle is the only other one I'd have, but I can't find it and don't want to overpay on ebay. If anyone has one... :)
     
  8. Williams Warrior

    Williams Warrior Well-Known Member

    I'm down with that.
     
  9. stingraysrock

    stingraysrock PIF'd away his custom title

    If Avon Leather is anything like the English Leather "Leather" scent they had I must find it. I am not a fan of the English Leather original scent, but the "Leather" scent was a favorite of mine.
     
  10. gorgo2

    gorgo2 geezerhood

    I've tried EL's alternate versions (Wind Drift, Timberline, etc) but never knew they made a flat out "Leather." Will have to keep an eye out for it. I have original EL but like you I'm not particularly crazy for it.
     
  11. stingraysrock

    stingraysrock PIF'd away his custom title

    Yanno... now that you say it (and I Google it) OLD SPICE made the Leather flavor that I liked so much!
     
  12. gorgo2

    gorgo2 geezerhood

    I've tried probably 3 bottles of it over the past few years. It's a great idea that I really wanted to like but there was something in it that just seemed off in all three bottles, both right outta the bottle and after drydown.

    So instead I mixed 60/40 of Avon's Spicy and Leather (60% Leather) and got something similar that did not have the off component OS Leather has every time I try it.

    Used the old OS Leather bottle for it, thought. ;)
     
  13. gorgo2

    gorgo2 geezerhood

    By the way...if anyone has or can get some Oland cologne (which is an interesting frag but usually almost unwearable as is), do what I just did. Mix it 80/20 with plain old witch hazel (20% Oland). It's quite wearable and now reminds me very much of something familiar that I cannot place! I think it let some of the notes in Oland that were covered up, finally come out. If anyone could try this, let me know what you come up with.
     
  14. Rybot

    Rybot New Member

    Funny gorgo, I was just thinking about doing this the other day as I was drifting off to sleep! Very neat pontifications! I had always wondered what Windjammer was akin to, but had also heard that Canoe is a Clubman clone?

    Allow me to add my humble thoughts:

    Avon Wild Country = Pinaud Clubman. I've got the two bottles within arm's reach, and admittedly, while Clubman has some extra spice to it, the drydown is very similar to my nose, with a predominant powder note. I find Wild Country to be the sweeter of the two. Sorry to hear that the new version doesn't compare favourably to the vintage. Luckily I've got a good supply of vintage to keep me going!

    Avon Deep Woods = Polo Green. At least it is to my nose. I put some on this morning (I admit, only the second time I've worn it), and that's what it reminded me of. My last frame of reference though is a bottle of Polo Green from the early 90's I had as a pre-teen.
     
    gorgo2 likes this.
  15. gorgo2

    gorgo2 geezerhood

    I'd read that too, but not to my nose (mileage varying, as always). I don't know what it is about Clubman but there's some note in it that I've never been able to tolerate and so cannot wear it. Whatever it is, it's aside from the way overdone (imo) powderiness to the drydown, which is far more noticeable than WC's...there's a bit of powder there, and overall is sweeter, but it's tolerable powder that plays nice with everything else. Powder is one thing I do not get from WJ or Canoe. But again, noses are different!

    I know Polo Green has been around a long time but it's one I have never smelled. Will have to stop by a store counter to see. Thank you much for your additions; keep them coming!
     
    Last edited: Mar 20, 2016
  16. PLANofMAN

    PLANofMAN Eccentric Razor Collector Staff Member

    Moderator Article Team
    I remember really liking Avon's "Black Leather" in the 90's, does anyone know what that was a clone of? It's now been long discontinued and was replaced by the (in my opinion...) vastly inferior "Black Suede."

    Polo for Men (Polo Green) is a classic, but you should also check out Polo Modern Reserve, it's a reformulation of Polo that tones down the musk.
     
  17. Williams Warrior

    Williams Warrior Well-Known Member

    Polo Green is one of my all time favorites, just be carefull with the application. One pump is all that is required, any more and you'll clear a room, like Clubman.
     
  18. thevez2

    thevez2 uses Gillette's new Tarantula Razor - 8 blades!!

    I love, Love, LOVE vintage Avon after shave. I have tons of it. Some of the bottles I buy for the bottles themselves, to collect. I recall my grandparents having some of these bottles in their bathroom when I was growing up, so it's a nostalgia thing for me. Plus there are just some very interesting bottles out there (See below for a few).

    But mostly I buy the bottles for the wonderful juice inside them. I'm a huge fan of almost all of them. I don't like Oland or Everest. But Spicy, Wild Country (not modern), Tai Winds, and Deep woods are some of my favorites. I concur that Wild Country is very similar to Clubman. I read somewhere that it was inspired by Clubman, so I don't believe it was meant to me a true clone.

    My very first after shave was Avon Sea Zone. I miss that a lot. I think I had the AS, bath soap, and talc. I wish I could get more of the AS. I've seen it on eBay but prices are outrageous. If memory serves from 20 years ago, it might have been similar to Aqua Velva. But maybe I'm just imagining that since it was blue.

    For those who are in the Grab Bag (round 2) I can assure you that there will be some vintage Avon added to the box when it gets to my house.

    Gorgo, I do have the ship in a bottle, but I'm not sure if I want to part with it or not.

    Avon barber pole, DE razor, and shaving brush:
    [​IMG]

    Just a small sample of my Americana collection:
    [​IMG]

    These are Avon Apothecary bottles. These are what I decant my Avon After shave into for actual use. The other bottles are too cumbersome for use, I keep a couple out for decoration though. The clear bottle I use for witch hazel.
    [​IMG]
     
    barbersurgeon likes this.
  19. tomnat

    tomnat accepting applications

    I love those apothecary bottles. Very cool.
     
  20. Williams Warrior

    Williams Warrior Well-Known Member

    Avon used to have the best of the best when it came to AS and Cologne bottles. My dad used to have a light house, motorcycle, and a roadster, I wish i knew what happened to them.
     

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