I have a confession to make. I love Avon. I know, I know, it’s probably not the most fashionable thing to say and I realise there are some people who would have feelings quite opposed to this, but I am very fond of the brand. For me, it’s all about nostalgia.
I remember the local Avon lady when I was a little girl. She had bright red lipstick, blue eye shadow and was the height of glamour to my innocent eyes. My Mum would buy items from the catalogue and sometimes we’d even get Avon birthday and Christmas presents. I always loved the perfumes and although my sisters and I never got those, I would often sneak a spray from Mum’s collection on her dressing table.
Later, when I had kids of my own, I would get the catalogue from my local Avon lady. In fact, I became an Avon lady myself at one point! My baby sons loved Avon too – especially the catalogues. There would always be Avon catalogues on their bookshelf. Why? For the “scratch’n’sniff” perfume of course.
Over the years, Avon’s range changed quite a lot. Back in the 70s and 80s they had a delightful range of solid perfumes. They would come in beautiful novelty shapes like a leaf, a shell, an owl, a turtle, a piano, and I even remember a guitar. Some of them were brooches, some were lockets, rings or just pretty ornaments that could be displayed on your vanity. You can still find these vintage designs from second-hand dealers and often they will come with the solid perfume still inside. The perfume amount ranges from barely there to practically untouched, but one thing remains constant: the enduring scent.
One of my favourite Vintage Avon Solid Perfume rings from my private collection.
Now bear in mind that some of these vintage solid perfumes are from the 60s, so how can these perfumes remain useable* after 50 years? The main reason is their composition. Solid perfumes have a high concentration of fragrance infused into a wax base and they don’t contain water or alcohol. This means that they don’t spoil and they don’t evaporate. In fact, solid perfumes have many advantages over the common Eau de Toilette (EDT) spray.
To make it easier to compare, I’ve compiled a list of some of the key advantages of Wilderness Lab Solid Perfumes.
(Bear in mind that I’m generalizing with the EDT features as there are so many different brands out there. I’ve tried to list the features that are most commonly found in the mass-produced retail market. As always, check ingredients as well as the brand’s practices before you make a decision.)
Incidentally, I no longer purchase from Avon. They pulled out of Australia a couple of years ago, so the Avon Lady is a thing of the past. Still, I’ll always love them. After all, they were the start of my life-long addiction to perfume.
*For safety reasons, I’m not recommending that you actually use a 50 year old perfume. By “useable”, I mean it appears and smells absolutely fine as if it was just bought yesterday.