Unspoken

Avon's take on the aldehydic floral is one that bites with galbanum and cuts through with hyacinth, sending a serious message with quotations of flower, fruit, and wood orbiting through, and a honeyed layer that stops it short of being brutal. With (almost) contemporaries like Calandre, Esteé, Rive Gauche, Moon Drops, it CAN hold a candle to them, and may say "don't fuck with me, fellas!" the loudest! Its growl does begin to be more of a purr a few hours in, but it's a delicious buttery sandalwood coquetting with one hell of a moss heap. Unspoken actually does say a lot, but perhaps it's the wearer who is speechless.

Unspoken is a really pretty perfume. And not what I expected for a 1975 offering. I smell raspberry and peach in the opening, fizzled with aldehydes but not overbearingly so. Normally, aldehydes and I don't see eye-to-eye because they take on a formaldehyde effect on my skin, but not with this perfume, not at all. For a change, they dance as they should. Woods take over very quickly, benzoin and incense kicks in and warms up the scent. Honey begins to sweeten the pot, a darker musk thickens Unspoken, while a distinct cedar pops its head periodically. You can appreciate the moss in this perfume for its' grounding abilities to lay a foundation and keep a tight balance for the multitude of notes. The fruity opening is quite different from a fruity perfume that you'd fast-forward to 40 years later. Why? Unspoken isn't a sweet concoction reminiscent of some gourmand treat. Sure, you get those edible fruits in the beginning, but they're surrounded by aldehydes, and once they disappear you only occasionally get a whiff of them circling the other notes. As Unspoken progresses you realize this is a vintage, a perfume with reality and one that gives you the Journey thru its course. It does keep circling around tho, fruits, woods-musk, cedar, benzoin-incense, so it's a surprisingly diverse perfume. Down to closer skin scent in 2 hours, gone in roughly 5 hours on 2 sprays. And that's from the "Ultra Cologne Spray" sleek packing, modern bottle from 1975. Pretty strong for a 41 year old juice. Wearable by anyone who enjoys perfume with a true and distinct variety of notes that are pure in their nature.

Research has shown that many women wear the fragrances they fell in love with in their youth, well into middle and old age. Women in my age range, 60+, are still buying Charlie, Revlon's 70's smash hit scent they described as "Kinda young, kinda WOW!" back in 1973.My bottle of "Unspoken" was also a thrift shop find and I am currently wearing it as a character in an original play at a local college.She was a baby sitter to 2 young boys as a young widow in her mid 30's, back in the mid 80's. I considered Calandre and Coriandre as well as Norell as possible scents for this lady, but, they all seemed a bit high end for a working class person--so I took a look at my Avon collection and decided this scent fit perfectly. The name, "Unspoken" also has a symbolic meaning in terms of this play's plot, so this is a good fit all around.I agree that both Moon Drops and Estee smell a lot alike, but there is a sharp, green quality to both those scents and I don't get that from Unspoken, maybe because of the honey note--and Calandre is much softer, not as rich and Rive Gauche is a LOT more floral than this one. Unspoken is, however, a perfect representative of the popular, aldehyde driven scents from the 1970's!!

There is not much I can add to this review ahead of mine--I found my Ultra cologne in a local thrift shop where Avon products from the past often appear--I picked up a lot of figural bottles for my collection and some that I actually wear--these sealed bottles seem to keep the scent from turning--this wears pretty much as I remember it from the late 70's--and it REALLY takes me back to that decade--Like Charlie, Norell, Rive Gauche and Calandre, Unspoken takes me back to when perfumes had depth and presence, even the inexpensive ones.

Easily one of Avon's best. A beautiful ambery chypre floral... With a hiss to it. Unfortunately, the aldehydes register as dissident, strange, very strong. They're throwing my nose off of this perfume. Every time I revisit the sample, I have the same reaction. Blown away by hostile winds. Unfortunately this has happened to me with several of the popular Avon perfumes now. A shame. If you persist, there's a lovely, natural smelling chypre floral with a rich amber base awaiting you on the other side. Hopefully it serves you better.