Seazone
Avon

Avon Seazone (1992) was advertised as a "Marine Fresh" fragrance line, although in practice it is anything but, which is actually quite the good thing. It seems under the exterior of a 90's "first wave" aquatic is actually a dark floral incense tobacco fragrance, since maybe the aromachemicals needed to make an aquatic were still novel and beyond Avon's reach due to cost/supply chain issues, or that Avon just was using what they had for the house lines because they owned Giorgio Beverly Hills at the time and had the Wings for Men (1994) fragrance on the horizon as their proper 90's aquatic. Either way, Seazone is a lovely surprise in a bottle and more wearable than your typical summer-only aquatic fragrance from this period, and comes in one of Avon's better-looking bottles from the decade. I guess Avon needed their own version of a holdout/layover late-coming fragrance from the 80's released into the early 90's since designers seemed to be doing that and they needed to be cool too.

The opening of Seazone hits you right away with lavender, mint, and sage, while the starring frankincense note wafts up moments later. There are some dark citrus tones in the opening too, the usual limonenes and floral acetates only a perfumer can pinpoint, that usual generic fresh opening in other words, but the lavender/sage/mint come through. The frankincense is flanked by muguet in the heart illuminated from behind by a surprisingly rich and virile musk/patchouli base, recalling 80's musky flower bombs like Lapidus pour Homme (1987) and Bogart Furyo (1988), which is weird but enjoyable when superimposed onto an "aquatic" frame. The incense continues to be the main attraction alongside the floral musk until the end, with trace amounts of oakmoss and tonka as well adding a tobacco feel. Wear time is eight hours but detectable perfomance hovers slightly below average. Best use for something like this is pretty much year around in all but the coldest weather, in most situations barring romantic or formal ones.

Seazone came in a full range with soap, aftershave, balm, and a ton of other things, leading me to believe this was a bigger push than what would ultimately be their best seller for men of the decade, Mesmerize for Men (1992). Like Mesmerize for Men, Seazone has a lot of "oriental perfume" properties but unlike Mesmerize for Men, I have some trouble believing they were intentional. Avon Everest (1975) also feels distantly related to this too, like this is a reworking of sorts. Also please ignore comparisons to Ralph Lauren Polo Sport (1994) you see, as these are patently false and the product of casual fragrance users looking for a point of reference, since every Avon fragrance "must be copying something". Ultimately, Avon Seazone is about as much of an aquatic in execution as the later Voyageur by Jean Patou (1994), getting you just far enough into the theme to justify its existence then doing what it really wants to in the drydown regardless of what you thought you signed up for initially, and that's fantastic to me. Seazone. Seazone run. Run zone, run. Thumbs up.

This was a 90's cologne with strong marine notes, hints of tobacco, and a slight bit of citrus. I used to have sample of this since my mom bought Avon and I used the samples (wipes) for an after-gym freshen up. I had that 90's Polo Sport-ish type smell that was common for the time. I know that I enjoyed wearing the fragrance but don't recall compliments. I owned the spray, the aftershave balm, and the splash aftershave and I can say the aftershave balm was AMAZING. It soothed the skin like no other balm I have ever used and the fragrance was better than the cologne spray itself. I am so tempted to pick this up on e-bay for nostalgia. It's a personal preference scent that may not get you compliments but I guarantee someone will enjoy it for themselves.