Modern Balance
Avon (2001)

Modern Balance by Avon (2001) is neither modern, nor particularly balanced, but that's why it's fun. Here we have a fragrance that conflates its own name with the act of smashing mid-century mint aftershaves with an herbal leather base and then peppering it with some synthetic wood notes. I mean, I guess the Iso E Super sorta makes this modern in the sense that people weren't doing heavy doses of that for "woods" back in 1930 or even 1960, but whatever. Avon in the turn of the 21st century was lead by CEO Andrea Jung, who was spending big coin on expanding ranges, demographic categories both age, sex, and income-wise, plus trying to put Avon upmarket into physical retail outlets. Anything goes was the name of her game, and it produced a lot of quirky and fun if short-lived additions to the Avon catalog, especially for men. Modern Balance therefore was that special kind of buried treasure epic unsung cheapie that if you blinked, you'd miss it. For those unwilling to "stoop so low" as to order Avon in the first place, or even buy it aftermarket where you'd need to in order to get this now, move along. This one is also not for you if you ascribe to the philosophy of compliments and mass-appeal, as this contains the potential for neither. I also find myself a bit at a loss for words describing this one accurately, but I'll give it my best shot. It's just that weird!

What you effectively have here is the compromise between layering Aqua Velva Ice Blue by WIlliams (1935) over Tsar by Van Cleef & Arpels (1989), then after it dries, shooting some aldehyde leather over it. For the vintage nose, this combination surely sounds fantastic, as the mint merges quite well into what feels like a juniper-led fougère core ripped right from Tsar. Ginger, geranium, lavender, sage, and patchouli take you down to an eventual base of oakmoss, cedar, leather, and a sheer musk likely borrowed from the previous year's Avon Uomo (2000). I'm sure there is more than that going on here, but with no real note pyramid beyond abstracts, and no real standout accords beyond the mint, patchouli, and fougère elements over leather, I can only describe what I smell based on what I can relate the synthetics to from my experiences with other scents. Wear time is appreciably good, and performance is also good despite being a "cologne spray", something Avon was still doing long after the rest of the market moved onto naming eau de toilettes for what they really are. The bigger question is who was this scent made for, and why did they even bother with something like this in 2001? Well, we'll never know the answers to either sadly, as chypres by that point were extinct beyond emerging upscale niche lines. Maybe the "modern balance" here was delivering something old-school with then-current aromachemistry? There's no use speculating, but if you enjoy mint in unorthodox situations, you could easily rock this as a signature scent.

For my part, Modern Balance is a scent I never got to order or try when it was new, like practically all the other 2000's Avon men's fragrances I own. This one was here then poof, so I was forced to forget and only literally 20 years later did I finally remember it and tracked it down. Sure, this cost me more than it would have new in 2001, but it wasn't expensive compared to other discontinued fragrances from the era. Just look a up a bottle of Gucci Rush for Men (2000) or any of the 2000's masculine Lanvins. Yeah, no thanks. As a comparative cheap thrill blind buy, I was delighted to discover something so ironically anachronistic with a title of "Modern Balance", and the super-plain metronome bottle with "Modern" embossed in front, and "Balance" embossed on the back, is a modern art revelation. This stuff lends itself well to wet shaving with the combination of mint, green aromatics, leather, and patchouli, so it is not surprising that Avon made an entire suite of grooming product to match, which is something they had stopped doing for every men's release like they once had. This obscure deep cut of an Avon men's fragrance is not for everyone, even among fans of the house, but I'd be lying if I said it wasn't original or unique. Such high creativity in this one makes me wish I knew who the perfumer was, but alas. Avon Modern Balance is a vintage fragrance in denial about itself right from the start, and I love it. Thumbs up

one of my old 'loves' from my Avon time. It's very elegant, fresh, woody and spicy alike. You can't expect too much from Avon, but Modern balance is one of a kind and I still love it, even to this day.

Nice scent with a note of ginger. Nothing special but original enough to try. Good as a budget, everyday perfume.