Sorceress

I feel as if I've dropped into a liquid candy vat and I'm floating amidst colorful waves. No disrespect at all to those that enjoy this gourmand treat and I would never mark a perfume as age-specific or gender-specific either. There are many gourmands I enjoy and relish when in the mood. I'd suggest looking at the notes of this perfume before purchase because ice cream, fruity notes, pear, sorbet and raspberry will tickle your olfactory senses to the max. I can understand the fun of a blazing hot summer day poolside wearing a non-serious perfume such as this. Who would want to wear a cloying vintage when temps hit 90+ degrees? Agua del Sol, althugh flighty in its longevity, is aimed at frivolity, not seriousness; playfulness, not seduction; light-heartedness, not domination. Wear it with a giggle and smile. Just keep the bottle handy for constant re-application.

This is super-strong on my skin, and how I wish I could enjoy it more. I received it in a box-lot and it wasn't what I was going for, so it became part of the collateral afterwards to check. I have worn it through 4 seasons, and it always remains the same, strong almost stifling, cold and hard to embrace. This is not a cuddly perfume by any means. One would think a fruity perfume with vanilla would hopefully be, but for my skin, sadly, it is not. Perhaps it is the combination of both cassis and black currant that is giving this more of an ammonia-like power scent. It is definitely heady and at times, over-whelming. Not a whiff of vanilla for balance, or even ylang-ylang is not showing. Imagine a cleaning product based in ammonia, wrapped in a berry scent for the masses with musk as an undercurrent. There you have it-Meliora. It lasts for hours upon hours and radiates wonderfully. Just not for me. Perfume behaves so differently on each individual.

I enjoy the Rares and own all of them, starting with the vintage bottles. They are all different in their own unique way. Each is strong, with the exception of the newest, Rare Amethyst, launched in 2015. That might be because it caters to the current trends or the current market production processing. It's still a pleasant perfume tho.
Two sprays of the others and you're good for hours. DIamonds is sweet, not gourmand-sweet, but floral sweet. The jasmine and gardenia are strong florals here and warmed by woods and amber. Patchouli pops in lightly, it's a sweet patch, but it's there. The balance is good and this Rare is a classic along with its' family.
Great to wear in the winter and fall, cooler weather. Spritz lightly till you see how Rare Diamonds reacts with you. It most definitely can come on strong. It's certainly different in today's world of sweet and fruity compositions and will remind you of an older style fragrance that meant business.

I picked up a bottle of Bright Night recently, still in the box, full, with tag. It's absolutely beautiful. The tag markets it as a cologne, which is outrageous. I put this on at 6 p.m., and I could still smell it at 2 a.m., 8 hours later. This stuff is potent!
I used a sprayer I put in the bottle instead of dabbing, so the effect is from spraying. I find a sprayer performs better than dabbing it on.
This spicy oriental reminded me of EL Youth Dew, which in a way makes sense. Youth Dew came out in 1953, and Bright Night in 1954. I like the Bright Night bottle better with its glittery lucite top and the curvaceous-formed bottle. It only has a hang-tag to identify the perfume name tho, except for the box, of course. The bottle has no identifying marks, except for the name Avon on the bottom of it.
I definitely get aldehydes in the beginning. Strong aldehydes. That's what led me to comparing Bright Night to Youth Dew instead. There's also an incense vibe to it, cinnamon, resins and balsams are strong along with amber, too. I do get peach, also. This is blended very well with many notes.
Bright Night is an amazing vintage. This is perfect for wintertime, watching the snow fall, sipping hot chocolate, wearing those cozy sweaters and hearing the embers in the fireplace. For such an "elderly" perfume, it's held up wonderfully. Amazing, not just for Avon, but for the state of perfumes.
If this was marketed under any other name, and discovered as a vintage, I'm more than certain people would be swooning over it and clamoring to buy it. I love Avon, and have been wearing it for decades. They've put out a lot of perfumes, and I don't like all of them, but I do certainly enjoy the ones I own. Back in the day, they produced some amazing perfumes, and Bright Night is one of them.

Unspoken is a really pretty perfume. And not what I expected for a 1975 offering. I smell raspberry and peach in the opening, fizzled with aldehydes but not overbearingly so. Normally, aldehydes and I don't see eye-to-eye because they take on a formaldehyde effect on my skin, but not with this perfume, not at all. For a change, they dance as they should.
Woods take over very quickly, benzoin and incense kicks in and warms up the scent. Honey begins to sweeten the pot, a darker musk thickens Unspoken, while a distinct cedar pops its head periodically. You can appreciate the moss in this perfume for its' grounding abilities to lay a foundation and keep a tight balance for the multitude of notes.
The fruity opening is quite different from a fruity perfume that you'd fast-forward to 40 years later. Why? Unspoken isn't a sweet concoction reminiscent of some gourmand treat. Sure, you get those edible fruits in the beginning, but they're surrounded by aldehydes, and once they disappear you only occasionally get a whiff of them circling the other notes.
As Unspoken progresses you realize this is a vintage, a perfume with reality and one that gives you the Journey thru its course. It does keep circling around tho, fruits, woods-musk, cedar, benzoin-incense, so it's a surprisingly diverse perfume.
Down to closer skin scent in 2 hours, gone in roughly 5 hours on 2 sprays. And that's from the "Ultra Cologne Spray" sleek packing, modern bottle from 1975. Pretty strong for a 41 year old juice. Wearable by anyone who enjoys perfume with a true and distinct variety of notes that are pure in their nature.