Intrigue
Avon (2001)

The early 2000's were a very interesting time for fragrances in the Avon catalog. Traditionally, Avon had only a few male offerings in comparison to nearly a catalog full of feminine cosmetics and fragrances, but starting around this time, Avon began focusing more on the male consumer to the point where they created a "men's shoppe" within the catalog itself containing new expanded arrays of cologne and personal grooming just for men. I can't say exactly if it ever panned out for them, but for the first time, there were more than a half-dozen men's scents to choose from alongside the usual Wild Country and Black Suede; this fragrance being one of the more unique creations. Intrigue was one of several exploratory men's fragrances that didn't follow the mainstream conventions of the day. Yeah, Avon had aquatics, ozonics, orientals, and all the staples men would want, but then they were making stuff like woodsy chypres and this lovely dark little fougère/gourmand hybrid, when nobody else was. It's interesting in that it has a very rich woodsy base of moss and tonka like a fougère, but doesn't try to offset it with fresh green accords like most, but instead just goes almost to a gourmand level with vanilla, hints of coffee, licorice, ample amounts of bergamot, tobacco, and a smoky vetiver accord that makes it a very rich and.. well.. intriguing fragrance. It's closest comparison is the similar but slightly lighter and more dynamic Yohji Homme by Yohji Yamamoto (1999), but before you try to crucify me for comparing Avon to a Jean Kerleo creation, keep in mind this came -after- and might have been a riff off of that obscure Japanese fashion house.

Intrigue (2001) opens with the bergamot and licorice first much like Yohji, but there is no spice or any real appreciable sweetness in this opening, with a tiny bit of dry lavender instead worked in, which then takes us down into a cavern of coffee, tonka, and vetiver tones before laying on a bed of musk, leather, dry vanilla, cedar, and patchouli. It's definitely a lower-cost-ingredient note pyramid from the usual fragrance of this type from this period, but it's very effective and overall doesn't actually smell like a cheap-out at all. Avon was definitely shooting for the budding gourmand scene with this one, but they probably weren't ready or able to fully commit to the style as their perfumers are usually years behind the higher-budget designer perfume houses, and make something in a style that usually peaked years before they launch their own iteration. Not so with Intrigue, as male gourmands had just started to appear in number around Y2K, after the great success of Thierry Mugler's A*Men in 1994. In fact, they kinda couldn't have timed this any better, but of course, nobody really -into- fragrance takes Avon seriously, and this was light-years beyond the blue collar Joe just getting his feet wet browsing his wife's Avon catalog out of boredom. This kind of rich, rich, and more rich note pyramid is something you have to sort of knowingly want up front, and those guys still think their bottle of Gilette Cool Wave (1994) is perfectly suitable for a night out, so they weren't biting. It's kinda sad because this has perfumisto material written all over it, and anyone found of a good masculine tobacco scent in the fragrance community would be all over this if made by a niche house.

Unlike a lot of other heavy-smelling men's fragrances that rely on fatty notes, Intrigue is just layer upon layer of delectable ingredients that swirl together to achieve a drier kind of richness; it's like an over-steeped cup of Earl Grey tea (probably from the bergamot) with a licorice candy stick shoved in, enjoyed next to a fireplace with a smoking pipe, that you can wear around with you in spray form. This is also a fragrance that understandably flew in the face of what was popular at the time and was thus not the biggest seller for Avon, since they don't usually target niche designers for their inspiration and instead stay with mimicking what's hip with the mall crawl crowd; Avon didn't keep it around very long for that reason. People who liked it loved it, but they weren't enough to sustain a production line longer than a year. Finding a bottle of most discontinued Avon fragrances from the beginning of the millennium isn't too difficult or pricey, as a lot was made and the demand for discontinued Avon vs more prestigious houses is lesser (also read: only maybe 3X the rather low MSRP max unless somebody is being a gouging opportunist), and considering they rename and market fragrances in other territories, sometimes what one wants isn't actually discontinued at all, just sold outside the US. Tragically, that isn't the case with Intrigue, so I recommend trying sample towelettes before blind buying only because if the sweeter gourmand tones of the aforementioned Yohji Homme sound a bit scary, this is basically that but taken to a darker, even earthier, and more intense level. If semi-sweet, rich and smokey scents that flirt with being both a fougère and a gourmand sounds good to your ears, then maybe this is your new favorite.

One of the best fragrances for men by Avon - by far.

It was very mature, woody, fresh, classic and strong - for a real man. I was devastated when Avon withdrew it.