There's a good chance that some of your first memories of perfume were of Avon. Maybe it was the fragrances themselves: Cotillion, Sweet Honesty, Timeless, or Bird of Paradise were a few. Or, more likely, it was the bottles shaped like everything from pianos to Model T cars to colonial dames. If you haven't looked at an Avon catalog lately, you're in for a surprise. First, no more kitschy bottles. Your chance to own Timeless bottled in a giant penny is gone. Next, although Sweet Honesty survived, most of the old perfumes have been replaced with newer, sexier products, like Imari, Christian Lacroix Rouge, and, yes, Bond Girl 007.
Avon began its life in 1886 in upstate New York as The California Perfume Company. David McConnell, who started the company, stumbled on the idea of selling perfume when he found that the free rose oil samples he handed out so that ladies would listen to his pitch to buy books were more popular than the books themselves. With the help of a local pharmacist he created the company's first collection of fragrances, called Little Dot Perfumes. In 1939, The California Perfume Company changed its name to Avon. Avon still sells its products door-to-door, but now you can also buy them online or at special boutiques in malls.
Avon launched Bond Girl 007 in fall 2008 to coincide with the release of the new Bond film, Quantum of Solace. Avon's website says:
The Bond Girl - the epitome of elegance and seduction, she's the perfect match for 007 ... James Bond doesn't stand a chance! Behind the sleek, shapely silhouette of Bond Girl 007™ is your ultimate weapon of seduction - a sexy cocktail of exotic orchid and velvety white peach, refreshed with orange blossom and warmed by sensual cashmere woods that promises to captivate and entice.
Other notes include jasmine, calypso orchid, freesia, amber, and patchouli.
So, does Bond Girl 007 smell like something Bond girls Honey Rider, Pussy Galore, or Plenty O'Toole would wear? Not in my opinion. How about Fiona Volpe, Kissy Suzuki, Tiffany Case, or Holly Goodhead? Nope. Mary Goodnight? Octopussy? May Day? Still no. I'd guess Miss Moneypenny would spend her salary on a nice Rosine rather than on Bond Girl 007.
Bond Girl 007 is a musky-woody scent straight from the school of Jean-Paul Gaultier Ma Dame, Lanvin Rumeur, Boucheron B de Boucheron, and Beckham Signature for Her. Bond Girl 007 starts with a soft, vaguely synthetic floral note sweetened with peach. But its musky-woody base kicks in almost immediately and soon overtakes any floral or fruit notes. The woods are sharp, almost peppery, and the musk is clean, not sexy-dirty. I don't get the patchouli at all. These aren't the warm, sweet woods of Estée Lauder Sensuous. Bond Girl 007 smells like half of the last year's new releases, it seems. Unfortunately, like most of the musky-woody scents popular right now, Bond Girl 007 turns to a headache-inducing bug spray on my skin.
It's not bad that one scent doesn't capture all Bond girls. In my mind, James Bond — and here I picture the early 1960s Sean Connery, or, as a distant second, Daniel Craig — was a connoisseur of women. He didn't have a type. He appreciated a woman's individual beauty like some men might enjoy a fine cigar, but he wasn't long on commitment. I think James Bond would have reveled in diva Piguet Fracas, moody Guerlain L'Heure Bleue, party girl Christian Dior Poison, or whatever a woman wore, as long as it suited her and she wore it with confidence. Besides, if you were a Bond girl, chances were you'd end up abandoned or dead. Who needs to smell like that?
Avon Bond Girl was developed by perfumer Olivier Cresp. It is a bargain at $30 for 50 ml of Eau de Parfum and also comes in a body lotion and shower gel at $10 each. If you like Lanvin Rumeur and its friends, you will want to give Bond Girl 007 a try, especially at this price. If you know that genre of fragrance doesn't work on you, don't waste your time.
Didn’t Miss Moneypenny wear Chanel no. 5? Or was that another female employee of MI5? (This is a vague memory of one of the books, not the movies).
I haven’t read the Ian Fleming books, so I don’t know, but I’d love it if he actually mentioned perfumes by name! Somehow, I bet he did, too.
You might also enjoy “The Moneypenny Diaries”, by Kate Westbrook. A look at Bond’s career from another point of view. . .
Is it sad? I hate to think of Moneypenny pining away in silence. And yet she was so spunky, so maybe she took Bond for what he was.
Not sad at all! A ripping yarn, in fact. Miss Moneypenny reveals the hidden talents we all suspected were there.
That ‘sleek, shapely silhouette’ reminds me more of a ‘hip sippy cup’ than ‘possibly lethal seductress.’ Sounds like the juice would render a similar reaction.
I had a similar thought — to me, the bottle looks like a mini camping lantern!
It does look like a lantern! The top could be its handle. I kind of miss those old bottles shaped like anything you could imagine.
The press release described the lid as “stealthy interpretation of a Bond gadget” or something like that. Stealthy interpretation? I’m not sure what that means, so I’ll go with the sippy cup comparison.
My mom’s friend is an Avon rep so I had a chance to sample this early on. It was just kind of blah to me. I too miss those kitschy Avon bottles! When I was a kid I had them in cats, deer, angels, snowmen … you name it. They were fun.
I know some people love the new wave of musky-woody fragrances, but they are just plain awful on me. I’m so ready for this trend to die! I don’t care how much fruit or pink pepper you want to load in the scent, just please nix that sharp, synthetic wood, clean musk combo.
I’m with you there! When it comes to Avon, I find that most of the newer scents have that same synthetic wood thing going on and they all smell similar to me.
I haven’t tried any of the other Avon scents, but lots of the new department store scents are doing the woody-musky thing.
I’ve never seen any James Bond movie
Was Grace Jones a ~*Bond girl*~ or just in a James Bond movie?
Grace was a Bond Girl in A View to a Kill… although it seemed like she might possibly rather strangle him than sleep with him. (I think that one was the last of the Roger Moores?)
I thought there was a Bond girl that did both at the same time
There were lots of Bond girls who were supposed to spy on or kill James Bond but ended up in the sack with him along the way. You’d think that would dull Bond’s ardor, but no.
Why didn’t they just sleep with him then kill him as soon as they were finished?
I thought there was a Bond girl that strangled men with her legs.
I think they should just replace the Bond girls with German androgynous hotties, like Biiilll (my gravatar yumyumyumyum).
Then I might see one of these movies.
There is a female villain in Goldeneye who habitually crushes men with her legs, and tries it on Bond, unsuccessfully. She is not the “Bond Girl” of the film, in the sense that she is not the female lead. Somehow I doubt you are the target audience of these films any more than I am, but they can be fun, Sean Connery is rather stunning in them (when is he not?), and they are part of the culture, so if you have a chance, watch a few and see what you think. They do have a lot of snappy one liners. “Do you want me to talk? No, Mr. Bond, I want you to die.” (Goldfinger)
Cool gravatar, BTW.
Interesting read on the history of Avon. The only Avon product I’ve ever used is a deoderant my mom used to stock in the house when I was younger. Can’t recall the name…Fresh something or other in a white plastic bottle…roll on.
It really sounds like Avon was a lucky accident. If the founder’s book sales had gone better, he may have never launched what became Avon.
Big fan of the Bond here… Saw a few of the early movies as a tween, read the books in my late teens. I think my pick is still Mr. Connery, with Craig running a close second. Pierce Brosnan looked right, but was too smug. Daniel Craig doesn’t look right, but may have the characterization down. Roger Moore was a joker, Timothy Dalton didn’t seem ruthless enough to me, and forget George Whosis in the Casino Royale parody flick… And I apologize right now if I just stepped on anyone’s Bond-fan toes!
Saw Quantum of Solace over the weekend, and thought it wasn’t as good as the Casino Royale. (Nice tribute to Goldfinger, though, if you caught it.)
My grandmother was addicted to those wonky Avon bottles. She bought the perfumes for the bottles, not for the scents. When she died a few years ago, my quirky brother got her bottle collection.
So, anyway, um, the PERFUME: Yeah, sounds waaaay too ditzy for any self-respecting Bond Girl. Even the early ones, the ones with more bosom than brains. I loved it that the books would occasionally mention how a woman smelled: In On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, in which Bond falls in love with and marries Tracy, the daughter of the head of the Corsican mafia, Ian Fleming comments that Tracy smelt of Guerlain’s Ode. (Three guesses as to what happens to her, and the first two don’t count.)
Did I read somewhere that Ode is scheduled for limited rerelease next year? Somebody chime in here, please, ifyou know. I’d love to smell it.
I’m with you on the Connery Bond. Watching him in Goldfinger or To Russia With Love raises my body temp a good five degrees. Whew! I’ve yet to see Quantum of Solace. Maybe I’ll rent it tonight.
Q o S was for me a bit disappointing – and I am a hard core Bond fan – I even love good old Roger Moore, though Connery was the best. I love the Bond formula for a reason! (I also loved the excellent Bourne movies with Matt Damon, but the two shouldn’t cross as they have tried to do to attract a younger audience I think.)
There was no charm at all in Q o S, and I have no problem with Daniel Craig. But in the appox. 2 hours, I think there was about 15 minutes of sad dialog, and really no character development. The villains they write now are really boring to the point of being a joke, and not a campy joke either like Goldfinger or Dr. No….You would probably have more fun watching Sahara with Penelope Cruize and Matthew McConaughey – a much more fun & sexy movie which Q of S knocked off the story line a lot – and THEN watching “Vicky Christina Barcenlona” to get your fill of sexy sophistication after the action….Make it a Penelope Cruize double header rather than a Q o S disappointment…
Yeah, my husband and I were both disappointed in QoS, especially since we enjoyed CR quite a bit. Too much derring-do, not enough investigation. No repartee, no cocktails, no suavity… what I always thought interesting about Book Bond was that he was brutal and emotionally damaged UNDERNEATH the banter and the tuxedos and the Aston-Martin.
No repartee? No cocktails? Bummer.
I really liked Vicky Christina Barcelona, but I’m way behind on my Bonds, I admit.
Yes, but it could be the perfect scent for that Denise Richards Bond girl – Christmas Whatever-her-last-name-was.
I’m so behind on my Bonds! I haven’t seen that one, although she doesn’t sound like a very compelling Bond Girl.
You really must be behind – I had to imdb her, but she was in The World Is Not Enough with Pierce Brosnan in 1999 and played Christmas Jones – I think that she’s regarded as one of the most laughable Bond girls ever and was completely overshadowed by Sophie Marceau (the princess from Braveheart) as the evil Bond Girl. Denise Richards was actually supposed to be a nuclear scientist in this one. (rolls eyes)
Yikes! I definitely see her more as an aerobics instructor than a nuclear scientist.
Another Bond fan here. Love Roger Moore AND Sean Connery, and Pierce Brosnan was amusing enough to pass the time until we got a replacement. Adored the first Daniel Craig (Casino Royale) even though I was sure I’d hate it. Was very excited about Quantum of Solace, but wow, really didn’t like it at all.
See, the Bond Boys are varied enough that we couldn’t possibly peg them all with one scent. The same is true for the Bond Girls.
I’m with you 100% on the order of Bonds.
But now, I must confess…it took a trip to imdb to even remember if I’d seen QoS (I have). Clearly, it didn’t make much of an impression.
Not a good recommendation!
No. Nor, however, a terrible one, as my memory is notoriously dodgy.
“Besides, if you were a Bond girl, chances were you’d end up abandoned or dead. Who needs to smell like that?”
*giggle*
I know, you might as well be one of the red shirt guys on star trek! Well, a bond girl at least gets sex before she dies!
wait….if it had to be Roger Moore, I’d rather be the red shirt guy…
I have a friend who is a big Roger Moore fan, so she’d be all right with it, but I have to stick to Connery.
Connery or Craig , I agree with eveyone else here it seems, they are the best of the Bonds. Of course Sean Connery is still quite sigh-worthy ….My favorite Sean Connery movie: The Hunt for Red October. excellent excellent excellent movie.
Alas, the fate of the Bond Girl…
It seems that a smart girl would take one look and run the other way screaming : “I want to LIVE!”
True!
My grandmother used to collect those old Avon bottles, and I still have a number of them. I have a Tiffany-style lamp (which used to contain Roses, Roses but is now empty), a little owl, a dancing Victorian girl with a swirling pink skirt, and a Sweet-Honesty-filled kitten with blue rhinestone eyes.
I have read that in the original Ian Fleming novels, Bond was particularly fond of Vent Vert and Caron’s Muguet on women.
My grandma collected the old Avon bottles too and I “inherited” a cat with blue rhinestones eyes from her! But it contains Moonwind, not Sweet Honesty.
I used to have a parrot with Moonwind in it. It was a darling Parrot. You unscrewed his head to get to the juice.
Cute! Same with the cat, its head comes off. I’m afraid to smell the Moonwind, though, LOL.
I have a new respect for Ian Fleming now! I love it that he names perfumes. I want to read the whole Bond oeuvre now.
Hie thee down to the library, Angela! The plots are very Cold War, and there’s a certain amount of misogyny, but the books are well written.
I’ll put a few on hold ASAP, thanks!
Speaking of Avon bottles, do any of you remember their old “Daisies Won’t Tell” fragrance line for little girls? Bottle tops, packaging etc all featured or were shaped like daisies, of course. Marc Jacobs totally stole that idea. (Yes, they were completely adorable).
That sounds so, so familiar, but I can’t quite picture it.
I also had a little roll-on perfume bottle shaped like Rapunzel’s tower, pointy cap and all, on a string to wear as a necklace. I think it held Sweet Honesty, or maybe one of their other “little girl” fragrances. I remember having to prevent a friend of mine from putting perfume on her lips… “No, Missy, it’s not lip gloss!”
There must be some sort of catalogue of Avon bottles out there. It would be fun to see them.
First I have to say that when I was a little girl in the 70s I had a solid honeysuckle avon fragrance in some type of plastic flower thing that flipped up and came on a cord to hang around your neck. Very cool.
Second, and I think last year one of you did a “what would Bond wear” fragrance poll. Just as last year, I’m thinking a Bond girl would pretty much wear whatever was in James’ cabinet after the deed was done: IMHO Chanel Pour Monsieur, Eau de Givenchy, etc., maybe even Dior’s eau Sauvage… but I agree with your above comment that he’d love whatever she was wearing as long as it is with confidence — even just evaporated salt water from the Carribean!! I was also thinking that it would be a short life indeed to smell like a Bond girl!!
And I think Miss Moneypenny would have worn the original L’Interdit.
Of course, Honey Rider had to smell of the sea.
L’Interdit for Miss Moneypenny sounds like a good bet!
I enjoyed reading this so much. Informative and funny.
First, I had no idea Avon had such a quirky little story. And secondly – I love the Bond genre. I was a hardcore Connery as Bond aficionado from wayback until Daniel Craig hit the scene and now I’m torn. At first I didn’t get the casting choice at all. Then I saw Casino Royale and totally had a change of heart. I haven’t seen Quantum yet though, sounds like I’m in for a letdown. Oh – and as for the Bond Girl fragrance – doesn’t sound very enticing, does it?
Maybe it’s the concept that’s off. If the scent focused on just one Bond Girl, for instance, it might have more of a chance.
A Bond girl would wear Mesmerize if she wore Avon. Its an oriental in a beautiful elegant bottle. My X called it, ahem, “hardenize”, I assume we are all adults here with my PG comment.
I have an Avon bottle on my coffee table. It’s a little frosted deer laying down with beautiful silver eyes. It holds Sweet Honest and I wont dare sniff it.
Oh my! lol
I haven’t heard of that Avon! A must-smell, apparently.
That’s funny! Does it smell like bacon? lol
I’ll have to see if they have it at my Avon shop and give it a sniff.
I used to sell Avon in ’94 and it was a top seller. It has now been relegated to the classic “oldies” scents. Oh man, what does that say about me? Count down to 50, June 9th, bummer. I’m moving to a whole new demographic.
p.s. no disrespect to over 50’s. Your as young as you feel. Personally, I’m not where or with who I wanted to be. *I’m* just not ready.
I think 50 isn’t what it used to be. I mean, look at Susan Sarandon–fabulous! But I know what you mean. I was sure I’d have a villa on the Riviera by now.
I’m 54 and nowhere near what I thought I’d be at this point when I was younger. But life is life and it has led me to this place fora reason. The great thing about getting older is realizing that you don’t need to particularly care what other people think of you on all those superficial levels that used to be important..
T, I like the way you think.
Haha, I get there before you at the end of this month!
Oops, that was a reply to alotofscents that landed a bit too far down!
Well, Happy Birthday!
Oh Tama – giggles abound…maybe Avon could release a frag for seduction called “beggin’ strips” and it could come with a stripper pole, and bath salts that look like “baco’s” ….
…and it would attrack a pack of stray dogs!
In a moment of weakness yesterday I ordered the Lacroix Absynthe, Have I made a dreadful mistake?
Thanks for the great article!
I can’t help you with that one since I haven’t smelled it! The name is awfully intriguing, though.
Moneypenny, in spite of her name, never made enough money for a Rosine. Those MI5 secretaries were scandalously underpaid. As for the Bond Girls, there should be a perfume called Mercenary.
correction: Easy Mercenary
Maybe she was a Yardley gal, then.
I always thought of Moneypenny as someone who’d wear a chypre. Or a green floral. Chanel No. 19 would have been great, if it weren’t an anachronism.
And Mary Goodnight (the PA who preceded Moneypenny) was a Tocade girl if I ever saw (read?) one. Or maybe Tresor.
Mary Goodnight! I’m definitely, definitely reading these books.
I only got to try this from a sample wipe, but thought it was okay for what it was and the price. I’ll try a bigger spritz at some point. I do well with that genre, although I find the new LaCroix Absinthe scent they have more interesting.
Love all the Bond talk – still need to see Q o S although I know most people thought it was too action-y and not Bond-y enough.
Daisy, I am with you on Hunt for Red October – that movie is just an all-out man-fest. Connery has the best toupee of his career, Baldwin is at his peak, and you have Sam Neill and Scott Glenn to frost the cake.
well, we might not be scent twins but we sure recognize the hot men….I was thinking about mentioning two of my other favorite/drool worthy men : Scott Glenn and Sam Neill…..but didn’t want to look like I was panting and drooling all over the keyboard…thanks for taking care of that for me! lol
oh and yeah Alec Baldwin was at his peak in Red October, then he got weird/strange/odd and a little scary…now he’s found his humorous side and I can appreciate him again.
And even though he’s not hot (in any way) I always enjoy seeing Tim Curry —he’s a very talented actor.
O.K., must add Hunt for Red October to the list, too!
Oh, you must! It is just about my favorite movie ever! ( And it is quite a nice toupee)
Oh, definitely add it! As much as I love Sean Connery, his presence in a film isn’t a rock solid recommendation of the film itself…he’s made some poor choices. Red October is a great one though… and I’ll admit a soft spot for Entrapment on the fluffier side of things. Not a critic’s choice, certainly, but solid entertainment anyway.
With you and Daisy recommending it, it’s a go!
Tim Curry was hot in Rocky Horror but never again. I like him, too.
Have you ever seen the movie “Clue” ?? It’s hilarious.
Yes, a long time ago but I did enjoy it.
Funny about the toupee!
You’ll know what we mean when you see it.
I’ll keep a look out for it.
It’s not anything extra – it’s just his hair. But since he is bald, they did a great one.
Fun review Angela! Don’t get much of a chance to smell avons so glad this isn’t fueling a flame! Speaking of Bond girls- I did get a spritz of the new Halle Berry fragrance at Walgreens the other day- and I while it is definitely not for me (quite sweet)- it was not too shabby- and I considered a bottle for my mum for mother’s day (she would like it- and I would not be surprised if she picked up a bottle for herself- reminded me a lot of another scent she likes and oversprays- Amor Amor- but not quite as tooth-achey sweet)
As for Bond- Sean Connery is the best bond in my book but who would I rather stumble upon in a swanky hotel bar (especially since my flex capacitor is on the fritz?)- that would be Daniel Craig
I’m all for the bargain fragrance that breaks the mold. I haven’t smelled Halle yet, but it sounds good.
These visions of running into either Connery or Craig at a hotel bar are very enticing, HV. I think a discrete dab of Musc Ravageur or Jubilation 25 would be in order.
And what if either of those guys were wearing Invasion Barbare?
I just ordered my MDCI samples and they’re on their way, btw.
The Connery-Invasion Barbare combination would send my body into sensation overload. They’d have to call the paramedics!
Which of the MDCIs did you order?
I ordered Enlèvement, Invasion, Rivage, Vêpres, and Cœur en Mai. They now offer a 7-sample set for 77€ and I was tempted, but I’ll be satisfied with this set.
Joe: Please please email me your comments about the MDCI which I’m just about ready to order samples too – waiting for next month…but its the next line on my to sniff list!
A, I had nothing to say on this topic until I read through the comments and you mentioned Moonwind and someone else mentioned the parrot bottle with the screw-off head! My step-grandmother must have given my mom a couple different Avon bottles and I’m SURE my mom never wore those fragrances, but I remember seeing “Moonwind” on the bottom of more than one of them. Thanks for the memory.
And those bottles? Disappeared a looong time ago, but remember that saying, “it’ll be worth money someday”? I wonder if they would have. Ha!
I bought my parrot in a thrift store for $4, so I don’t know if it’s time yet to cash in on the stockpile of Avon figurative bottles. Somehow, no matter what they say I just don’t see Avon bottles and Franklin Mint decorative plates ever really funding someone’s retirement.
“Do you expect me to talk, Goldfinger?!”
“No, Mr. Bond, I expect you to die!”
On another note, it was just this past month that I realized that I love perfume solids because of a little kitty pin (now long gone) by Avon. Reading the posts, I think it was Sweet Honesty.
A kitty pin! Sweet. The jewelry-perfume combo is a great idea.