Avant Garde

Pépite méconnue à l'époque et pourtant il était exceptionnel, je l'ai découvert par pur hasard en parfumerie vers 2015. Parfum très classe, un peu dans le style gentleman mystérieux. Je pense que ça vient des accords de tabac qui rendait la fragrance très masculine. La lavande apportait ce côté chic et propre. Ce qui démarquait vraiment et donnait un côté unique, cette note de cire d'abeille incroyable. Je ne sais pas comment l'expliquer mais ça donnait une sensation de propreté supplémentaire avec la lavande. Ce combo boisé profond masculin cireux propre était un régal. Je me souviens qu'il avait une projection de dingue l es premières heures. Les années ont passées et j'ai voulu me reprendre un flacon (J'ai gardé en souvenir mon flacon d'époque tellement ce parfum m'a marqué) J'ai été tellement déçu de voir qu'il n'était plus fabriqué depuis pas mal d'années... Je me suis lancé le défi de retrouver un flacon sur le net quitte à mettre le prix (100/150€) J'ai réussi à en trouver un 100ml sous blister d'époque en 2024. À la réception, quel fut ma surprise de voir que le flacon avait fuit depuis plusieurs années au niveau de la base du spray... Une odeur de plastique synthétique émanait de la boîte. Malheureusement la fragrance s'est oxydée et n'a plus du tout l'âme d'époque... Il n'est que l'ombre de lui même avec 0 performance il faut limite coller son nez pour sentir un semblant d'avant garde très synthétique et sans aura... J'ai retenté l'expérience une 2e fois avec un petit format 30ml toujours sous blister et même expérience à l'ouverture.... Le flacon a fuit dans l'emballage et a toujours cette odeur de synthétique... Malheureusement je ne pourrai jamais ressentir cette odeur légendaire qu'aucun autre parfum n'arrive à la cheville. Ce qui est dingue c'est qu'avec tout les parfums qui existent il n'y en a pas un seul qui s'en approche et aucun dupe n'existe à l'heure actuelle. Repose en paix Avant garde de Lanvin et j'espère qu'un jour je vais pouvoir revivre un coup de foudre olfactif digne de ce parfum.

Avant-garde is a beautiful, but subdued, fragrance that really is quite unique. Gentle aromatics and a soft pepper note introduce a velvet beeswax sweetness that creates a resinous, ambery sensation of warmth and depth, enhanced by spices. Avant-garde embraces its wearer in a very pleasant ambery, woodsy tobacco aura. The dry down is sublime. “Gentle” is a good way to describe Avant-garde: the overall impression is one of subdued discretion and understatement. It smells so good it’s almost intoxicating but if only one (or all) of its many facets were more pronounced, and bolder, it would be a real masterpiece Sillage sits close and intimate after the first hour and performance in winter is up to six hours, but others seem able to detect it long after I have ceased to. A polite, inoffensive fragrance - the opposite of “in your face”. Also enigmatic insofar as it smells pleasant, reassuring and somehow familiar - but mysterious and unidentifiable at the same time, if that makes sense. As a fan of fragrant woods and of wood fragrances Avant-garde was a “coup de foudre” and I grabbed a bottle as soon as I tested it. A gentlemanly woodsy fragrance. I have a sentimental attachment to Lanvin - one of the first fragrances I wore as a teen was the old Lanvin Pour Homme in the octagonal (hexagonal?) bottle, and my Mum (who eschewed frivolities like makeup as a “stupidity tax” used to oppress women) used to wear Arpège on special occasions. The obscene prices on eBay are just depressing - the rudimentary economics of supply and demand infuriatingly transform any discontinued fragrance into a rare and precious commodity. Really wish I’d had the foresight to buy at least one spare bottle because I used to like wearing this at work and on days of unstructured leisure. Avant-garde, although avant-garde in many ways, is unique but not quite revolutionary. It’s a shame it’s been discontinued - with just a bit of tweaking and refinement it really could have been a legend.

Wow. I was on the fence for a VERY long time with this one (since Feb 2016), trying to decide whether or not it would be too sweet for me. To give you some reference, on my skin CK One Shock is a big Christmas-y no no, Rochas Man makes me dizzy and Mugler's Pure Tonka is just pure overkill. So when I saw beeswax, amber, benzoin, nutmeg and all those sweet spicy notes, I was a little apprehensive, despite the overwhelmingly positive reviews. According to everything I could find online, I was expecting a subtle, sweet spicy scent REMINISCENT of LNDL, with perhaps a soft vanillic touch - but overall, a modern and attractive composition. So after pulling the trigger on the B-B gun (blind-buy), and wearing this for 3 days, I can tell you that that's a perfectly fair description. Right from the first spray, I was like, "WHOA! La Nuit de L'homme! NICE!" To me, the similarity is ridiculously OBVIOUS. But I'll keep this brief. I won't BS you guys - when Avant Garde settles down, it's basically 50% LNDL, and 50% some weird dense, powdery, sour/sweet concoction that's definitely not beeswax. Like literally, I'm smelling a damn beeswax candle right now as I'm writing this and that's not what's in this fragrance. And whatever it REALLY is, it kindof ruins it for me. Nonetheless, I WILL SAY that the final drydown is a gentle, but well blended vanilla. Nothin' but. So is it subtle, sweet and spicy? Yes. Is it SIMILAR to LNDL? Indeed. More synthetic though. Is it too sweet for me? Not really. Glad about that. Modern? Boy howdy! But definitely not as attractive as I was hoping. Boo hoo. I'll stick with my YSL thank you very much. Longevity is OK; projection is terrible, but at least they got 50% of the scent right. And yeah, CLEARLY not a summer scent IMO. Ages 25+?? Overall - 6.5 / 10 - Still, if you want a cheaper alternative to La Nuit de L'homme, this is the best I've smelled so far. Oh well. I guess you can't win 'em all...

I hopped into my Uber, heading to the Lirr. And the driver asked me what i was wearing. "Um, clothes..." No, what perfume are you wearing? "Oh, Avant Garde" Spell that.."Sure" I'll buy that for myself, are you going to a party? "No, heading to work" It reminds me of A*Men Mugler. "I guess because, maybe because of the Beeswax & Benzoin." "Wait, why did you ask if i was going to a party?" Because you smell nice."Thanks" Co-workers Said they liked the scent as well. And then the custodian ask me the same question as well. I like it thus far.. Caught off guard by the Uber driver. But i might add this in to my weekly rotation of scents. I get the Angel man ref, but this stands out on it's own. This was a instant like, but it's nothing ground breaking. At least to me, someone else might find it earth shattering for all we know. I need to order more travel atomizers. So i can reapply this later on in the day. But other people could still smell it passed the six hour mark and a gust wind hit us. The sweetest of this thing doesn't go away, which i love. Gourmand frags for the win(GF2TW)! I notice there's a reformulation, in a new bottle. Brownish color bottle...Did anyone try it? And if yes...is it better or worst? I used nine sprays...both wrist, behind my ears, back & front of my neck, chest, front and back of my shirt. Will I buy this again?...Yes! SKU Number: 3386460037242 Batch Number: 04B49B265 (Production Date: 2011-09-22) Age: 25+ From: Notino Size: 100 ML Scent: 7/10 (Nice) Value: 7/10 (Cost $25.69) Sillage: 6/10 (Arm's length) Longevity: 6.5/10 (Six hours plus) Creativity: 5/10 (Expect way more) Projection: 6/10 (About an hour & a half) Versatility: 8/10 (Anytime after the sun sets & anywhere you wanna be remembered) Compliments: 7/10 (Nice) And thanks to Joenick68 & Shavenonthedarkside for telling me to buy this frag. I'm very happy with the purchase. Until next time, I'll catch you on the flipside.

Well.............I finally caved. Let the record show that my opinion of this fragrance has OFFICIALLY changed. And here's why: In my review below (Jan 2017), I remarked how I blind bought Avant Garde and was originally disappointed with the scent due to its overbearing sweetness and all-too fleeting resemblance to LNDL. I therefore hastily handed the bottle off to my father, never to hear from it again. Or so I thought... You see, from that moment on, nearly every time I saw my parents, my dad was wearing a "healthy" dose of Avant Garde, and it just smelled fantastic. Creamy tobacco, sweet, powdery vanilla and a touch of deep honey. Over and over it kept taunting me, and I was quickly regretting my impulsive decision to purge my mind of what I considered to be a poor buying decision. But WAS it??? A few days ago, I saw my father again, and sure enough, that sweet aroma met my nose the instant I got within firing range. BAM! No, it wasn't LNDL, but I didn't care. And frankly, I couldn't take it anymore. I knew what I had to do. That evening, I went online and scooped up another bottle before going to bed. Finally. I was able to sleep soundly, dreaming of suits and ties, cool weather, business events and vanilla Rice Krispies. So what's the moral of the story? Whenever you invest in a product, person or idea, learn to set your initial impressions aside - give them a chance to grow on you - or you may just end up regretting it. You know, I thought I had learned this lesson with A*Men, but I guess I was wrong. I sure as hell won't be making THAT mistake again. Scent - 8.5/10 Longevity - 6.5/10 - fixed with a travel spray Projection - 6.5/10 Overall - 7.5/10 - 5 months later...I love it.