Charisma

Uso este perfume desde hace más de 30 años. Puedo decir categóricamente que es un perfume "afrodisíaco". No existe ningún hombre al que le desagrade. Es absolutamente sexy y atrayente. Muy atractivo y cálido.

Surprised to see another Charisma Review so soon after Swedmolinari's on an Avon vintage fragrance. I'm waiting for an ebay unopened bottle of Charisma scheduled to arrive December 24. I studied the Pyramid after reading a couple of the reviews and wondered why I hadn't reordered a bottle in years. This when I love Occur for the civet note. When I wore Charisma in my young years, I knew nothing about civet. I just knew I liked "that" perfume.

The Golden Age of Avon Fragrance! To appreciate this Avon era completely, DO watch the Youtube posting entitled "The Joy of Living With Fragrance (Avon)"! The first half shows the source of perfumery ingredients, with lovely images of lavender fields and such. The second half? Glamour......... A gorgeously coiffed 60's woman enjoys all the Avon fragrances ~ one for each mood and moment. What a trip back in time! I took such a trip yesterday, courtesy of a fabulous Fragrantica member. She sent me a full 6 oz edc of Charisma, perfectly preserved in an Avonshire bottle! ( For those of you who don't know, Avon offered several fragrances in variously shaped, reusable vases. This blue and white pattern is known as Avonshire.... ) If I had a nose, I could properly detail each glorious note. Alas, I don't. The only fragrance comparison that comes to mind is Liz Taylor's Passion. Give Passion an added dose of powder and replace the castoreum and gardenia with gentle jasmine. THAT is what I smell! And if you care to compare notes, they share about 10 in common. While the overall impression of Passion is strength, Charisma takes a softened, ladylike approach - suiting my chemistry perfectly! Slightly soapy, nicely powdered, and warmly floral. Sillage is much lighter than Passion, but longevity is about the same. Rather good for a mere cologne, don't you think? No doubt about it..... Christmas came early this year! HIGHLY recommended.

I wore this long ago and I agree it is very nice. You have to wonder why Avon would discontinue a scent this good. I guess you can only carry just so many different kinds and this sort of scent isn't of the vanilla/fruit type that rules the mainstream market.

I was gifted Chanel No. 22 as a teenager. Wearing it made me feel so sophisticated! I sued it up many years ago, and have been searching for an affordable bottle of 22 for awhile. I saw Avon Charisma listed as similar to Chanel No. 22 here on Fragrantica. Charisma is a fraction of the price of No. 22 - I found a vintage 1970s 1.5 oz. "Dolphin" shaped bottle of Charisma for $5 on eBay. It's a potent "fume"...I could smell it while it was still sealed in it's box! 1st impression: Floral, soapy, aldehyde and softly animalic (like a clean animal fur, sorta). Civet is one of the notes/ingredients, and I'm hoping it's cruelty-free synthetic civet - I think so, because thankfully there's no animal pee or poo scent in Charisma. It smells clean and soapy. Real civet used in many old vintage perfumes was derived by the horrible, cruel torture and killing of civet cats. It gave the perfume a fecal scent (yuck!). This Fragrantica chat explains more: https://www.fragrantica.com/board/viewtopic.php?id=113414 Fragrantica reviewer "Cassandra_Lyris" mentioned Charisma as having a "stinky soap" smell. I got that too...a strong aroma of a stale, dried-out bar of old fashioned white floral soap. At first I felt Charisma was too stuffy and prudish for me, but was willing to try it on my skin and let it dry down. Next: Dry down is better, it reminds me of White Linen, Madame Rochas, and L'Air du Temps. Classy, mature, feminine, aldehylic, floral. Yes, I think I do remember Chanel No. 22 smelling like this. Charisma is a quality vintage perfume, with strong sillage and longevity, It's very sophisticated and ladylike....as Frantica reviewer "drugstore classics" wrote, it's a scent that will "take you into the past" and is "very affordable time travel" (I like that!). Don't think I'll keep it in my collection, as this genre of perfume is not for me, but I'm glad I've tried it.