Essence by Avon

SirSlarty is right on...Kenneth Cole Reaction with a twist. Essence is a little wetter and more green in its opening, and there is an icy feel in the midnotes before transitioning to a rather dense but generic wood. For longevity, spray 1.5x your normal dosage. I like it, but not totally crazy about it. Great for office, especially in drier weather. UPDATE: Thumbs up now. Why? AVON nailed it. It is drier weather now and I decided to just give it a spritz and it is def better in drier, cooler weather. Grapefruit that manages to be better than synthetic and the woody base is better as well. It is a third and better leg to the Nautica Voyage Kenneth Cole Reaction doppelganger.

I've not particularly been a fan of Avon in the past as the fragrances that Ive tried Ive tended to find that they've been a bit on the weak and watery side. I bought this blind though as it was very inexpensive. However, after reading the reviews I expected my previous experiences with Avon fragrances to be confirmed. This fortunately is not the case though, certainly not on my skin anyway. Avon Essence is a very crisp, clean and green fragrance in a similar style to Paul Smith Man. While it does stay close to the skin, in my personal experience Ive found that it lasts up to 6 hours plus. A scent that is good for the warmer months and will leave you feeling fresh. A definite thumbs up.

My grandmother bought me an Essence gift set which included a 75ml EDT and a hair and body wash. At the time I wrote it off as a cheap, dated stocking filler stink, but on returning to it since my frag awakening, I now see it differently...

...but not much.

I don't, as yet, have enough experience of fragrances to be able to pick out and name the different notes or describe the accord, other than to say that for me, it has a rather dry and woodsy base over which I detect a fresh, green but somehow synthetic heart, and top notes that remind me of sweet basil that seem to slip away all to quickly. This isn't a young fragrance and, for me, is very unsexy.

Essence is not one of the most cherished fragrances in my modest collection by any stretch of the imagination, but I'm happy it's there because it doesn't really smell like anything else I own ...plus, it's cheap and it reminds me of my nan.

Reminds me of KC Reaction on a woodier base. Lasts just as long as Reaction, too (which is really short anyways).