Vintage (now antique) Avon frag comparisons

The light house was probably old spice, like the one I have below.

The cool thing about these is there's still tons of them around. So search antique stores, flea markets, or even eBay to find the ones you remember your dad having. I'm sure it wont take long to collect them.

 

I have a small blue car (can't tell what make; the plastic back end that covers the cap is gone), 3 fl. oz. full of Sea Zone. It's from '95 so I don't know if that's when Sea Zone was first out or if it was a special re-intro. Now that you mention it it does remind me somewhat of AV, but I only use their Musk so I'm not too sure on that...kinda sweet and spicy at the same time, but not like Old Spice. It's OK but has been sitting untouched since I found it. Let me know if you're interested.

Does your ship in the bottle have the plastic stand the bottle is supposed to rest on?

The only other Avon bottle I have as a keeper is the cobalt blue schooner...it's full of 50/50 Spicy and Old Spice, appropriately enough.

 

I just re-smelled it after some months of ignoring it. It very, very strongly reminds me of some blue storebrand a/s...I'm thinking it's very close to some blue juice I've smelled at Dollar General...not Barbasol's, I don't think...maybe Swan's? Whichever modern product I'm remembering, Sea Zone is very close to it.

I also have a green Avon car bottle from the mid '90s full of something called "Original" A/S. Anyone know it? It's different and likewise very familiar (Skin Bracer?) and has a methol kick Sea Zone lacks. Sea Zone is OK but of the two I much prefer the Original.

Just took a closer look at the grill on the green car...it's an Edsel, if you can believe it.

http://edsel.net/avon.jpg

Black Suede I've seen lots of (I don't care for it either) but Black Leather sounds really interesting..never heard of it until now. Must be pretty rare.

Excalibur is kind of leathery, and isn't hard to get ahold of. Clint is less leathery and more woody, but good.

Then there's Leather. happy088:happy088

 

Addendum: BRAVO

Avon Bravo = Tabac and/or Clubman.

Over at Basenotes, a couple guys observed Bravo's similarities to both of those classics, so I broke out an unused bottle to see. They're right. The opening flowery/fruitiness of Bravo always put me off to the point of near nausea and I'd quit paying attention right there. This time I waited about a minute for that to dry off, which it did, completely.

What remains isn't very strong or sharp -- maybe I have a weakened bottle -- but it definitely resembles both Clubman (which I don't like) and a newly acquired bottle of Tabac (which I do). Luckily I find it leans more toward Tabac but with a clear note of cedar, which I'm a sucker for, and zero Clubmanesque powder (yay!). So now Bravo goes into rotation.

Recommended if you can find it.

 

I got two poodle shaped avon colonge bottles. one black and one white. The white one has a sticker on the bottom that says "Here's my Heart" 1 oz bottles.

 

Interesting gorgo regarding Bravo. I know where there is a bottle for cheap. I was intrigued so I may pick it up!

There are also bottles of Tribute there. Do you have any comparisons for that one? What about Everest? I have an "on the level" Everest bottle which is very cool. As for the scent, I find it to be formal. Not an every day scent to be sure.

 

I've not yet been able to compare it to anything but if memory serves Tribute goes back to the early '60s. So if it is supposed to clone anything, it'll be an old-name classic. I didn't particularly care for it right out of the bottle so I mixed in some Aspen I had laying around and it VASTLY improved it...that's the nice thing about these Avons, once you know the general frag family they're in, the do lend themselves to mixing that usually works.

I have had some but I'm out right now and can't recall what it smelled like. I think it was a later one. Google Perfume Intelligence and check out the fairly comprehensive (but not always complete) listings they have for Avon, sometimes it helps narrow them down.

 

Marketed for ladies, as you can tell from the bottle, but judge for yourself if it's wearable by a man today, maybe layered with other stuff. Avon's Somewhere is for ladies but to my nose it's this close to being wearable by a guy...I've actually worn it a few times, layered.

 

WooHoo, I just picked up 2 new Avon fragrances! I got a 1953 Buick Skylark full of Clint AS and a Straight Eight (re-issue) full of Island Lime. I've been wanting to try these 2 for so long and I finally foudnt hem at a thrift store. And for only $1.50 each. I also got a Wild West 1.5 oz bullet decanter with Wild country for 25 cents. It was a good day!

 

What do you think of the lime? IMO it rates up there very highly; I love it but it just don't last long at all (be warned).

Remember my tip about Clint--if you don't care for it, cuz lots of guys don't, add some sweet grass oil (can be had cheap on the bay) and then try it.

 

I couldn't wait until my next shave to try the lime. I threw some on when I got back to my desk. I love it. I concur the strong lime scent does fade rather quickly, but the remaining scent is quite pleasant too. Can't wait to mix in a little osage rub to this to give it a menthol boost.

Out of the bottle, Clint smells OK. But It has a stong scent, and I can tell that it might not be as good on me. We'll see in a couple days. Lime gets a real test drive first.

 

I tried the Bravo - I sincerely hope that Tabac does not smell like that, because it is AWFUL. I seriously can't stand it! It's like nothing I've ever smelled before and I'm generally open minded about these sorts of things... I'm not really sure what to do with it.

I don't really see the Clubman comparison though. To me they are two very different scents.

 

Well I had planned on using Island Lime tomorrow AM, but I got a box from gorgo today which contained a bottle of sea zone. This is the first AS I ever used. Got it from my Grandma while I was in high school, she sold Avon. Smelling that juice really brough back some memories. I'll be using that tomorrow for sure.

Thanks gorgo!!! Did your box arrive?

 

Got the ship in the bottle too; excellent condition. It's already full of Avon's Spicy.

 

That Captain's Pride bottle is a very nice looking bottle! Personally I prefer the Avon bottles that have some versatility, like the aforementioned bottle. Other examples include the apothecary bottles, the Bay Rum jug (which I have from ebay, now holds ogallala). The other bottles I find too bulky or silly for every day use.

Used Excalibur today, nice woodsy, musky scent. For me this ranks up there with Deep Woods, Windjammer, and Wild Country as some of my Avon favourites.

 

Same here. I've pitched most all of them at one time or another. However, some of the novelty bottles are nicer than others and I was surprised to learn that a few are actually worth some money. Example: there's a lantern bottle out of the '60s that I never see in the wild. It came with three different colored "lenses" (colored transparent glass showing the contents). I have an flea market guide from 1972; even back then, these three were said to go for around $20, full or not. Most of the others, a couple of bucks, if that.

Ex. is one of my favs, too...definitely not mistakable for unisex.

BTW...I know better than to buy something w/o smelling it, if I can. I just got back from an antique mall where I gave $3 for what I thought was the handsome 1963 bottle full of Tribute, a bottle I'd only seen pics of before (a short cylindrical, clear/blue/silver greco-roman motif bottle). Anyway, I get it home and find it's been refilled with some vaguely minty something or other. It ain't bad, whatever it is but it's NOT the Tribute I'm used to. That'll learn me.

 

Well I took Jeff up on his offer and took the Wild Country Cologne from him. It's in the shaving brush bottle, I think it smells great after all these years.

 

I have some of the Oland, and I must say it smells very distinct not bad at all very good in fact, I haven't tried wearing any yet but I may take a gander at it soon. Thanks for the info on it, I curious as to what year it came out in.

 

It came out around 1970. You appear to have lucked out and got one of the better bottles, which are very good.

Some folks over at Basenotes have been doing some research trying to narrow it down, if you're interested.

 

Wore Windjammer today. Very nice fragrance, has an interesting aquatic note (?) to it, I believe. Settles down to the typical Avon base.

I'm gonna hit up the thrift store again soon, last time I went, I scored me some full bottles of MEM english leather/timberline (8 oz. each)! There's always some Avon stuff there.