Cotillion Cologne

Ahhhh Aunty Debbie, my family's Avon Lady. Of course my family only ordered the glassware (which was actually really fun) but perfumes were strictly forbidden. My maternal Grandma, whom I lived with growing up, hated perfumes of any and all kind. But, as fate would have it when her son, my uncle Dale, married Debbie's sister, my aforementioned (in the Jovan Musk review) Aunt Karen, Debbie became our Aunty too. She never got along well with Grandma (few people did...) so occasionally she'd casually slip my sister and I mostly empty sample bottles of her Avon colognes. She'd always assure us, "Don't worry, it's not perfume, it's cologne!" 😏 Amongst these the Queen in my eyes were the bottles of Cotillion. Carnation, and a light rose dries down into a myrrh heavy sandalwood, with the slightest cassia and cloves. I picked up a new old stock bottle off of Etsy and I was pleasantly surprised that the new "Crystal Point Saltshaker" hadn't lost its top notes like the tiny final crystal tube I've been holding onto for about 30 years. I moved both bottles to an atomizer and sprayed away sure I was about to have a lovely day out running around. That is not what happened at all... After taking my mom to a doctor's appointment I had to run back home for something real quick (I forgot something, of course), and in the 30 minutes the drop off trip took my entire kitchen, hallway, bathroom, and two bedrooms had filled with water to about a half an inch deep. Our self filling water filter had burst right after I left. So, how well did Cotillion hold up to 8 hours of removing 20 gallons of water and about $2,000 of damaged furniture and clothing from the house? Surprisingly well! I found the hotter and moister I got the better it actually smelled, which is certainly not what I was expecting. Not normally a summer scent, but through that stress it was oddly comforting. So, I think I'm going to wear it again today with a little bit of B&BW's Cashmere Glow and ice my sore back while their scents mingle and keep me feeling snuggly and comfortable. (Which I did indeed do and they smelled great!) Also my hubby really liked it too, and the fact that he had the energy to compliment my scent before bed after the nightmare that was yesterday is really saying something. (Small edit: A friend of mine recently sent me a little sample decanted of a vintage bottle of Guerlain's L'Huere Bleue Eau du Parfum (circa the 70's I think) after she heard how much I loved Cotillion. Yep, definitely Avon's sister scent. Little me had good taste. 😂 )

I bought this new in the box from Goodwill in 2018 sometime. I wish since I started collecting colognes and perfumes early this year that I had not used almost half the bottle and threw away the box when I first got it! I last used it early this year right about the time I started collecting. The problem though, is that it was quite weak. It smells like a more flowery and feminine version of my recently found scent of Persian Wood, also an Avon scent.

This is my favorite out of all vintage Avon-s I have. Like someone below said, it reminds me of Shalimar with the burnt vanilla. There's something smoky, syrupy, but also incense-y. Have the little roller ball and love to put behind my ears and between my shirt and skin. Strong yet elegant. Good for work or relaxing. Will def buy myself the spray from ebay when I'm done with this one.

It took me a long time to grow into this fragrance. I never liked the name and the whole idea behind it, young women attending cotillion balls as debutantes, so that has likely skewed my opinion of the scent. I can now finally wear it, but it was on my dislike list until recently, when I decided to take it out after several years and try to work with it a bit. Now I know why I didn't like it when I was young and it seemed all my older aunts were wearing it. It's always seemed to me a more mature fragrance, even in the 70s when I first smelled it: definitely one I had to adjust to. It's one of the dryest perfumes I have ever smelled, a dry woody/spicy fragrance with what seems like carnation, maybe some iris and incense, also a bit ambery in the drydown. I do enjoy the sandalwood here enough to change my opinion of the scent to a like, even if not enough to wear often. It reminds me a bit of perfumes like Femme by Rochas and Balenciaga's Quadrille, the style of those anyway.

This isn't a badly aged Avon perfume. I own the white swan version with the golden crown, adorable bottle. It's certainly an aged perfume, but it's still easily competitive with other classics that have perhaps a better reputation such as Chanel. It's creamy, earthy, some white floral arrangements, some musk. Something sweet underneath it all, overall not a bad perfume. Not really my style but a nice cheaper alternative to more expensive versions of similar creations. If you like classics and you like moss and woods and white florals, you'll probably dig it. 6/10