As long as Rochas Femme is still on the market, it takes a lot of moxie to name another fragrance “Femme.” When I think of Femme, I envision Edmond Roudnitska’s creation and an elegant yet curiously raunchy perfume that suits a woman of singular character. This Femme ignores focus groups and cleaves to an artist’s imagination. The Femme woman stands out today for her sure — if unfashionable — presence, and although opinions might be mixed, you don’t forget her. What’s Avon going to do with that?

“All eyes will be on you in this glamorous silhouette of rich jasmine petals and stunning magnolia touched with radiant amberwoods,” the copy on the Avon Femme sample’s folder reads. Additional notes include pink grapefruit, violet, plum, wild orchid, peach skin, musk, and woody notes. Hmm. Peach skin and plum. Jasmine. The wood and musk that some perfume houses use to simulate oakmoss. Could Avon possibly….?

Nope. Avon Femme is worlds away from Rochas Femme…

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Welcome to our annual Drugstore Week, where I’ll review an easy-to-find, bargain fragrance every day! This year, I won’t be sticking strictly to the drugstore, but will be foraging through the offerings of Target and Avon, as well. To kick off the week, I present Avon Flor Violeta.

It’s been a while since I’ve sampled an Avon fragrance. Truth be told, the Avon perfumes that come to mind first — Bird of Paradise, Cotillion, Sweet Honesty¹ — are names I remember from the bottles in my grandmother’s vast Avon figurative bottle collection, which seemed to center around poodles and old cars…

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