Timeless
Avon (1974)

Timeless has a spectacular sparkle of aldehydes and bergamot in its opening that puts in the same league as its more "upscale" counterparts, sustaining as a rosy blush and greenish jasmine descends, then its nucleus of cedar and opoponax comes to the fore. Bitter and sweet coalesce, and Timeless feels simultaneously quenching and powdery (patchouli+orris), a stimulating astringency that makes my nose transfixed, marveling at all the layers. While some Avon fragrances seem to have a more rapid timeline of development, Timeless is paced and "cinematic."

To be clear, it's really quite impressive. In a cynical modern fragrance landscape where there's a dizzying assortment of niche offerings all claiming to be luxurious and of premium quality, I must say that after smelling many of these they have come nowhere near stealing my heart like the noble Timeless. It feels so much more earnest and authentic, and the knowledge that it was such a hit for Avon attests to that. This ranks up there with Vol de Nuit and Miss Dior in its mystique and beauty. It's the ultimate ambery chypre, unequivocally unisex, and deserves a fountain of praise.

Avon Timeless (1974) is as it sounds, and is a fragrance made with what was likely then perceived as a timeless oriental design hearkening back to fragrances like Coty Emeraude (1921) and Guerlain Shalimar (1925). By the mid 70's, these fragrances were pushing or over 50 years old, and probably seen in the same light that we see fragrances from that decade now, so it was a deliberate act of anachronism on Avon's part to put something like this in their catalogs back then. For this reason, Timeless will undoubtedly feel more like it belongs in the company of Chanel No. 5 (1921), Patou Joy (1930), Myrugia Habanita (1921), or Lanvin Arpège (1927), than anything from its own era, when shrill green chypres ruled the roost. I think that was part of the appeal, since the more mature women of the 70's probably thought things like Givenchy III (1970) were rather rakish, in the same way women who were young 50 years ago when Timeless was new think fruity florals are childish now. Since we're also talking about a buying demographic that would never have wanted to, nor been able to afford using Tom Ford's overpriced retrochic recreations had they existed then at all, and Avon suddenly found a unique niche to fill. It's no secret anyway that Avon feminines were about as traditional and mature in style as their mens fragrances were pragmatic and simple, so there was always something in the catalog that appealed to grandma and mom, not just the latest and greatest for kids to use. Although over time, the kids were left behind and Avon became only about grandma, but that wouldn't be until much later.

The opening of Timeless is pretty plush, which you might expect from something attempting to re-create the splendor of the roaring 20's perfume era. I've noted how vintage or classic Avons are simple yet high quality, choosing to save on number of materials or R&D costs by reusing bases rather than skimp on material costs themselves; but here it seems Avon pulled out all the stops and spent a little more to make something that is on parity with designers of this style in terms of complexity. Aldehydes and bergamot open up Timeless, which then falls into gardenia notes and a rich orris note that resembles Emeraude or Guerlain in execution. Timeless meets somewhere between Emeraude's green and Guerlain's powder, but is smoother than both thanks to rounded patchouli and Avon's house amber compound. Rose and white florals lead the rest of the way into the base of oakmoss, sandalwood, cedarwood, olibanum, opopanax, civet, and Guerlinesque ethyl vanillin. The transition from top to base is still much quicker than your typical long-unfolding designer of the same baroque style, but Timeless does at least have a heart, unlike many Avons that go from opening to dry down then stay there for 9 hours. Best use is going to be in colder seasons, or whenever you want something grand and matriarchal in style. Men can definitely wear this too if they like classic French orientals such as anything I've listed above, or even things like Tom Ford Noir for Men (2012). This is actually a laughably cheaper alternative to that one, to be honest.

Unsurprisingly, this became "Avon's Shalimar" and has since 1974 been one of their consistently better-selling women's fragrances, staying on the books through many package variations and concentration permutations from cologne and concentrated perfume, through ultra-cologne, then though more-modernized eau de toilette concentrations (still ostensibly labelled as cologne by Avon). Granted, you have to really like Avon's labdanum-heavy amber, as it is here in pretty high order, as well as the thicker applications of incense, orris, and musk notes that define the experience over the more-even blending of the upmarket varieties after which Timeless is patterned. Still, there is something rich, commanding, and at once also cozy about Timeless, and that's probably the way the woody musky bits play with the oriental bits and green floral bits. Everything here is straight down the middle gender-wise and something like this now could come out from a niche brand and have a price tag with an extra zero with nobody the wiser, which says a lot. Then again, it also says a lot that we expect rewarding fragrance experiences to be overpriced these days, as the overton window on value in this industry has been shifted so much that we expect utter garbage for anything less than extortion at checkout. I can't vouch for modern bottles of Timeless, but considering how numerous and common the various vintages from the 90's on back are, I'd just the same skip them and go on Etsy, Mercari, Bonanza, or eBay for you fix. Better late than never, that defines Timeless. Thumbs up

This is so heavy. I love it.

I owned quite a few back in the days. A very good scent with a great sillage.

Timless is divine. If you appreciate Femme by Rochas but you think the leather and woody notes are to strong to wear, i think you will love the smoothness of timeless. Is as powdery and citrus as Chanel N5, MUY ELEGANTE. And I agree with the idea that this smell like Madame Rochas, but in a more soft version.

So cheap and So good!! If you like the classics you must try Timeless..

This is my favorite scent since Knowing.Topping Tabu and Obsession Night and Mitsouko.~ weird ~