Rare Sapphires

Wow. What an interesting scent. It's telling that Avon's fig scent came out some time before the recent fig craze. Despite the company being accused of being "old," they consistently create scents that are ahead of their time. This is one. It is also not an every-day scent, which likely contributed to it's being discontinued. Fig isn't a universally loved note, at least not until the past few years when we started finding it in everything! Prior, the dusty, green, sweet, juicy,near tropical note was less familiar and therefore would have been considered "challenging." On that note, Avon, please bring this back! This is such a fantastic scent. I certainly wasn't expecting this! I tested it yesterday on the back of my hand, and then put it on again this morning. The fig note dominates initially, but the woods and florals come out shortly thereafter, to create a really lovely composition. I'm getting quite a bit of lily, as well as some bright tartness which I assume to be the grapefruit, though I can't quite make it out. The great thing about this is it's not linear at all. Every time I sniff my hand after wearing it a couple of hours, I am met with a different note, and quickly joined by some lovely combination of the others. I do believe I will be purchasing a bottle and adding it to my Rare collection. It is unfortunate that the vintage Rare scents appear to be considerably better than the recent formulation in the cut bottles.

This is one of my favorites from Avon, I have a vintage round bottle with the fan cap. This is a warm woody fig tree fragrance with some sweet fresh fig and sun warmed gardenia. There is no lily or grapefruit on me at all, but mid and base notes always do come out stronger on my skin. This is expertly blended and perfect for all seasons, but I do feel it suits Autumn really well. The cedar and fig tree give it a dry feel (some have said pencil shavings and I can see that a bit, but I like that so I don't mind it), but the fresh juicy fig + gardenia temper it into something almost a hint more tropical. Definitely a favorite---from the notes to the bottle design, to the 5+ hours of wear (not bad for an Avon cheapie). It doesn't hurt that Sapphires are my birthstone, so I had to have this one. :)

I have no idea if this scent was reformulated, because I have the original Rare Sapphires. I bought a brand-new EDP bottle at a tag sale many years ago, for five dollars! Sapphire is my birthstone,and the bottle was gorgeous, so that attracted me even if I hated the scent and did not want to wear it. But I LOVE the delicious fig notes! This is "something different", very rich but not overpowering. It is woodier than Womanity, with a sharp white grapefruit accord towards the drydown.There is a definite "fig leaf" note too. Sillage and longevity are both good.

If you like the smell of unripe figs and fig trees, you will probably like this one very much. I personally find it one of the most interesting perfumes of Avon. Unusual, fresh, summery! Like walking by a fig tree in a hot summer day, heading for the beach... (And actually if you can't afford Philosykos by Diptyque, this one is a good alternative!)

Creamy, figgy, white floral, woody. So beautiful. In my search for finding perfect fig scents, I went for this (snowdrop was a surprising bonus!) Not disappointed at all. In fact, I purchased an additional vintage bottle. Mine have the fan topper instead of the topper in the photo.

Beautiful, white, soapy gardenia with some creamy fig, at least on me.

Got this as a blind buy based on the reviews here...and I agree! It is definitely a different kind of perfume. To get an idea of how fig smelled like in a fragrance, I had tried Atelier Cologne's Figuier Ardent. I had liked that, and found it nice, light, and sweet. I thought that perhaps this one would be something like that...and it was! Sort of. Differing from Figuier Ardent, the bitterness of fig leaf was more prominent in this fragrance. Perhaps it is the vetiver or cedar, but there is an almost tobacco-like pungency underlining the sweetness of fig when I first put this frag on. This initially turned me off and had me regretting the purchase. However, about a minute or two in, the tobacco-ness was gone, and in its stead is the prolonging sweetness of fig and maybe a tinge of lily or snowdrop to keep it light. On my skin, this frag seems to just linger as a sweet fig. Not sugary, but nice and light, like earthy daisies~ I definitely find myself sometimes loving this frag, and sometimes disliking it...but I guess this is why this frag is interesting. It's a lovely scent in the fact that it has something you're familiar with, but then again, it is not completely what you know. There's always a bit of strangeness within the familiarity. It is certainly not a mainstream headturner, but it is a scent that would have people wondering "What IS that scent? It's oddly good..." This is je-ne-sais-quoi in a bottle. It'll definitely give you that extra quality that people are wondering about but can't quite put their finger on.

At first it smelled like fly spray and furniture polish but then I read these reviews and began to appreciate the beauty of it - yes figs all the way. Classy figs if there are such a thing. At first the sillage was very strong and I thought it was disgusting but now I just keep spraying it all over myself because I really really like it. It's a very odd one. I should have read the reviews more carefully though because it's not what I expected: I expected more of an Elizabeth Taylor Diamonds and Sapphires glamour, but I can't describe this as glamorous, more classy avant garde, quirky. It doesn't smell like Womanity by Thierry Muglar but it has the same sort of weirdness about it. Not for everybody. I had to get used to it.

No idea why it is called a woody fragrance, it isnt at all woody to me. I smell fruit and citrus with a prominent smell of blubells and violets. To me it is beautiful sophisticated and uplifting however it takes a certain personality to pull it off. I would say it is for the mature lady with refined manners who is child like and innocent at heart & always pleasing and harmonious in her dealings with others. It is very blue and fruity, possibly even sweet smelling depending on one's skin chemistry. It is earthy and dreamy at the same time. Not to mention that it lasts around 6-8 hours which is incredible for an avon scent

For me, fig is very much a love it or hate it scent, and there's more in Rare Sapphires than any other perfume I have. I'm glad that this is soft enough to enjoy without being overwhelmed by the generous fig factor. This is long discontinued and I'm glad I bought it because the bottle is so pretty, I love the calming blue color of the perfume, and the scent is noticeable but fresh and light enough to be easily worn. I do like the cedar and vetiver here, maybe these help to keep the fig in check as far as sweetness. A soft and pleasant fragrance that's still easy to find and very affordable.

I have the entire RARE line and am testing them one by one. When I first spritzed this on my skin-2 spritzes-I just smelled an ozone like freshness. this is a vintage bottle so I have no idea if it has aged well. I read here about many fig or grapefruit tones but to my smeller it was very "light" ...no real standouts...a bit powdery(as usual)and woody. On me it dried to a smell reminding me of Shower to shower powder...fresh and perhaps botanical. OK for everyday -I'll give it a 2.

I have been on a fig kick and I couldn't resist trying this one out. I must say that I do not regret it at all. I was able to buy two vintage partially used bottles on ebay for less than $12 and I absolutely love them. Of course,there are more expensive fig scents out there, but for me this one is a hidden gem. The fig note is both creamy and soft and I really enjoy it.

I don't get grapefruit at all. In the top it is a tart tart rhubarb or plum. Then some light florals and that dryness of fig leaf. Not getting a ripe, sweet fig at all. In the final fading base, it was almost like iris.

It does really smells like philosykos !!! To me smells like dusty fig and until the end i can easily smell coconut. Mature, long lasting and timeless smell. Check it out !

Very unique, although it's a fruity frag, my skin picks up the woody notes more. Since they brought this back, heres hoping they bring back emeralds and rubies...

We have it in Poland now. The notes are: Grapefruit, gardenia, fig Very different kind of scent. But interesting:)

This is unique, it starts with a sweet fig, fruity, cedar blend. This reminds me a little bit of Elizabeth Taylor's Sparkling White Diamonds... only this is a more grounded alto range with the notes of spruce/cedar/vetiver. This becomes much softer within the first hour to hour and a half. You have to wait this out to see if you like the blend with your skin. I'm still in the discovery phase. I'm not exactly sure if this will be something that I can wear, or not. It is definitely "unique" - there's nothing even close to this. This smells like a Christmas Tree at times, so much so that you could use it as room spray around Christmas time. This would be a mood perfume for me, I do not like this well enough to consider this as a signature fragrance. Avon's Rare collection has some great reviews. I personally really love Rare Pearls and Rare Gold. Rare Amethyst is also a really nice purple type perfume. ----------- Seriously, if you are actually seeking something that smells more like bug spray, I would look into Avon's Rare Emeralds which smells almost identical to the Green Skin So Soft formula which is known within the hiking community to be a fairly good insect repellant. My friends who are really into hiking and camping swear by that Skin So Soft formula and always carry a bottle with them when they are going on a trip. (Contact Avon's Product Department to really narrow down which perfumes would be best as an insect repellant, but my guess would be the Rare Emeralds paired with their Skin So Soft Body Oil, Lotion, or Creams).

WHERE IS THE FIG??? _______________________________________________________ Ever since I discovered fragrances, one of my favourite notes has been fig. I find it to alluring, charming, interesting and provocative with a hint of shyness. When I read that Avon had a fragrance with fig, I wanted to try it out... and unfortunately, I did. It opens with an explosion of lily - more like the stench of lily. On my skin it almost is like catpiss and it stinks. I kept waiting for the fig... but there was nothing more than reeking lily. Some people may like it, but unfortunately, it's not for me. Longetivity: - 3/10 Sillage: - 4/10 All in all: 1 out of 10 points.

I found this to be one of the oddest fragrances that Avon ever came out with. To call this woody is an understatement. The only note that came out on my skin was the cedar. Not even a masculine fragrance kind of cedar, just cedar. No florals or fruits of any kind. I've never smelled this on anyone else, or at least haven't recognized it on anyone else. I would love to know how it worked out for others.

The bottle looks different in my catalogue. It is advertised as being floral-gourmand, and the main notes are grapefruit, gardenia and fig. In my opinion, it is NOT gourmand. The fig note is strong. I do not like this, it lacks character.