Emprise

Emprise makes me shiver as I apply it: cold, metallic, ultra-green, with spring florals reclining on frosty, frothy, bulging moss. I like this kind of shiver, but it is surely an acquired taste. Despite a sizable dose of carnation to gussy up its interior, the lily of the valley keeps it from being too spicy or warm. It almost smells like the 70s idea of futurism, much like the design of its bottle. "The future is now" it says, as it holds you in its grip. It feels like Charlie opted to suit up and litigate with a steely disposition rather than skip through the meadow in a caftan and write poetry. This is an impressive one from the Avon canon.

Alphairone below is exactly right. This wears like Charlie but polished to a metallic, all-business sheen. Charlie has long been a standby in my wardrobe for spring and summer, but Emprise has been feeling especially appropriate as the chilly, foggy, Northern California winter begins to close in. The hyacinths of spring may be long gone, but a sturdier beauty endures. I imagine to many modern wearers this might feel dated, harsh, or even scary, but if you are a fan of other green 70s frags, you may be blown away by this streamlined little marvel.

This vintage Avon frag opens big and dries down quickly. Generally I'm not a big Avon fan, but Emprise is quite nice. The dry down is surprisingly quick, but the woody notes linger close to the skin. I wish the big opening notes stayed on longer. Emprise is inexpensive but it doesn't smell cheap. I'm not very familiar with Avon frags, but E. is a fine scent and very wearable. It's clearly a vintage and yet it isn't dated. A younger person could wear this frag just fine. Emprise isn't particularly feminine, I'd call it unisex. Something about it reminds me of Aliage by Estee Lauder. After a side by side test I prefer Emprise over the masculine Aliage.

This has an Cold and Metallic Opening consist of Lemon & Bergamot dries to an spicy subtlety of carnation earthy orris jasmine blooms with it's androgynous scent that are bit masculine and feminine and the delicate Lily of the valley. the drydown is the usual mossy mix in with Sandalwood and the sweetness of amber. 70's chic in a bottle i love the design with it's 70's Futuristic Look and i also look the color very sexy like your in a Disco with orange lights around you But Sadly this scent falls short to wow me.

This smells suspiciously like Charlie, and shares several of the same notes. Emprise has more carnation and oak moss to my nose, but I think Avon was copying Charlie when they came up with this one. It unmistakeably comes from the same era.

Emprise means Control, ...and this is how marketing can too easily color one's perception of a scent. Most likely the name is meant to suggest that wearing or smelling this fragrance will somehow imbue mastery or empowerment upon the one so anointed. Though an alternative hypothesis might be that this scent is so enthralling that it will control whoever smells it. Question: Is the wearer immune to this enthrallment? Hopefully not. Avon's marketing team must have certainly wanted to control sales with such a name. Anyway, on to the scent itself. Emprise's opening is an odd blend of lemon and clove (carnation), like an uncanny hybrid of fresh citrus cologne and oriental spice. Soon more soft florals and greenly bitter oakmoss come into to round out the composition, both above and below. The contrasting elements play out like a compromise, ...but not in a bad way. The balance between spiciness and greenness in Emprise is especially notable. This is one of those delightfully wearable fragrances that becomes distinctive without going to extremes. I must plan to wear this again soon. Consider me enthralled.

I was 15 when I first used it. Having arrived in my perfume wardrobe after Charlie I used to regard Emprise as a poor carbon copy of its Revlon mate. A few decades after that first impression, I can tell that thought was not totally right. Charlie is Charlie and I won't discuss it as it was one of my very first perfumed loves so - period. Emprise was richer in oakmoss and carnation preserving an airiness that Charlie did not have. Both were the emblem of a generation and both were witness to a moment in our life when we wanted not only to dream of what to do in our life, but most of all we wanted to build solid foundations for our life. I did. Also thanks to Emprise (and Charlie).

I bought this several years ago at a tag sale. The lemon/bergamot top notes appealed to me, but there was something in there(I suspect the carnation) that made me sneeze terribly so I gave it to my sister. Nice bottle! Update: Recently I asked a man what he was wearing, that smelled so brisk and unusual, and he said he was using "an old Avon perfume my wife doesn't wear anymore, Emprise". So it could work as a male scent, too!

One of Avon's best...IMHO. Review based on 1/2 oz Perfume/Parfum version Classic chypre....with just enough "brightness" to even out the earthiness. Similar in blend to many chypre scents from the past. Bravo !!