Cheap And Tarty For Christmas (Avon: Rare Gold, Eau de Parfum)

Member Name: karenuk

Product:	Avon: Rare Gold, Eau de Parfum
Date:	22/12/01 (250 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: nice bottle

Disadvantages: stinks!

As many of you know, I am an Avon devotee. I have recently received another load of Avon products, hurray! But this opinion is about something I received as a birthday present back in October – a perfume called Rare Emeralds.

Avon has a set of three ‘Rare’ perfumes available. Rare Rubies has a red top and is described as floral and spice. Rare Gold has a gold top and is described as ‘tantalising exotic blooms’ (your guess is as good as mine!). Rare Emeralds has a green top and is apparently an ‘exotic florals with citrus’ fragrance.

The Rare Emeralds is in a dark green box with a gold logo, which looks quite classy. The design of the bottle is nice too, quite simple but effective. It is a see-through frosted glass, a kind of flat-bottomed oval shape with a dark green semi-circular ‘fan tail’ top. However, with the contents in, it does look like a bottle of pee.

It is a press button design, which squirts out a small amount of perfume at a time. So far, so good (except for the bottle of pee bit!). But I’m not really sure about the smell – and, after all, that’s the most important thing about perfume! This is okay, better than some I have tried, but it smells cheap (and isn’t!). This reminds me of a perfume I was given by a boyfriend in 1988, which cost a couple of quid and smelt like it.

Rare Emeralds is quite a heavy, musky scent. I don’t think it smells floral, nor can I smell any citrus in it. I would say it’s almost smoky. It is quite reminiscent of how you would expect a sordid bedroom in a red light district to smell! (And no, I don’t know, I’m guessing!)

I have a 50ml bottle, which usually costs £10, but is on offer in Brochure 3 (2002) for £8. You can also buy the Perfumed Body Spray for £2 in this catalogue (normally £3), Bath and Shower Gel for £2 (£3), Body Cream for £2 (£3) and Perfumed Talc for £1.50 (normally
£2.25).

These all come in the dark green packaging with the gold logo, so would make a decent looking present for anyone who does like the Rare Emeralds fragrance – but I don’t, particularly. You can also buy similar ranges in the Rare Rubies and Rare Gold collections.

I have yet to find my perfect fragrance. I love various body sprays, especially the Yassou fruity range from Avon (peach being my favourite) and the Delicious one from Superdrug. These are available for between £1 and £3 each, much better value than a bottle of expensive perfume like Rare Emeralds. Sometimes it pays to be cheap…

Summary: