New Perfume Review Avon Honey Blossom- Spring Floral Gourmand

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There are brands which make the trends. Those are few. There are brands that imitate the trends. Those are many. The least creative is to slightly tweak the trendsetter fragrance. That is all too often the choice. What can set a brand apart which does follow trends is if they can find their own version. That is what I found in Avon Honey Blossom.

For about two years now one of the prevailing fragrance trends is transparent floral gourmands. As I’ve mentioned in the past at least this is not an overplayed sector of perfume space. It is starting to become that way because of the early success of this style with the younger perfume consumers.

Gabriela Chelariu

For a brand like Avon they are looking to follow the current trends. Which means it was time for a transparent floral gourmand. They turned again to perfumer Gabriela Chelariu. From my perspective it was her participation which made me want to try Honey Blossom. She produced last years Velvet for the brand which I thought was one of the best perfumes of the year. In that case I was impressed with her use of overlapping synthetic ingredients to create a fuller effect than I expected. There is less of that in Honey Blossom because Ms. Chelariu stuck to a simpler formula of floral and gourmand.

The floral is a clever apple blossom on top. This carries a hint of green, a smidge of apple, along with a gentle floral-like quality. This is the kind of multi-faceted ingredient Ms. Chelariu used to construct Velvet. This is kept much simpler with a mixture of what is listed as “honeysuckle blossom” but to my nose is “honeyed water”. It imparts a sweet dewiness to the apple blossom capturing an early morning bloom covered in tiny droplets. It forms a nice honeyed floral effect without becoming sticky sweet. The sweet is on its way as vanilla rounds things out. As before the vanilla is kept opaque so as not to drown out the other ingredients. It finds its space completing the floral gourmand with comfort.

Honey Blossom has 8-10 hour longevity and average sillage.

I am becoming more impressed with Ms. Chelariu the more I experience her perfumes. She has so far shown she knows how to get the most out of her ingredients; and her budget. Honey Blossom is a great spring floral choice if you’re looking for a floral gourmand.

Disclosure: This review was based on a sample provided by Avon.

–Mark Behnke

New Perfume Review Avon Velvet- Smells Like a $100

Posted on by in Mark Behnke, New Perfume Reviews and tagged , , , .
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One of the things I assert when speaking about perfume is you do not need a big budget to make a great perfume. One of the brands I point to when backing that up is Avon. Ever since Isabel Lopes took charge of the fragrance offerings there has been a noticeable increase in quality. Ms. Lopes has been willing to offer richer styles of perfume to the Avon consumer. I have a friend who keeps me supplied with new Avon releases. It always surprises me when I come across one which shows off the idea budget is meaningless. Avon Velvet is the latest example.

Isabel Lopes

The palette of multi-faceted synthetics has given any perfumer a lot of latitude to pull off any effect they desire. The perfumer behind Velvet is Gabriela Chelariu. If the name isn’t familiar to you she has been a long-time stalwart in the mass market perfume sector. Ms. Chelariu knows how to make the most of her budget. Velvet is the best perfume she has produced.

Gabriela Chelariu

One of the techniques to getting the most out of your perfume is to find overlapping notes to form each of your accords. Velvet is at its most basic a fig, rose, and patchouli construct. Ms. Chelariu uses two supporting ingredients to each vertebra in that spine. It results in something unexpectedly great.

Ms. Chelariu opens with a creamy green fig. The red fruits of pomegranate and raspberry are used to round it out. You read that and think overwhelming sweet fruit. What you get is a green fig which is subtly sweetened. It is a fantastic accord. It continues in to the heart as rose sets up as the keynote. Ms Chelariu uses dark lily and heliotropin. The heliotropin transitions from the milky fig to the rose. The dark lily freshens up the deeply spicy rose. It leads to a smooth patchouli which is one of the variants which is a cleaner version of this ingredient. A set of musks which provide the warm skin accord is where this ends.

Velvet has 12-14 hour longevity and average sillage.

Velvet is a perfume which could pass for a niche release easily. Even though it is made of less costly ingredients Ms. Chelariu turns Velvet into something which smells like a $100 or more.

Disclosure: this review is based on a sample provided by Avon.

–Mark Behnke