Candid by Avon

An 80s vibe? Avon considers Candid a classic, and the current bottle already sounds like an old-school fragrance. It was a hit when the brand tried to stand out by slightly imitating high-end scents, with a floral opening and a warm heart from sandalwood that still charms today. I have the 1993 bottle, and it smells exactly like I remember from my childhood, when a rep would come to my house with a sample bag and I, so young, barely understood what perfume was. Candid was one of the first I adored and didn’t feel matronly like my mom’s; it was the first one I truly understood and that made me want to buy my own perfume.

No wonder it’s still in circulation after nearly half a century. I thought it might be heavy, but not at all; maybe the regular bottle suits me better, since this rollerball version left me breathless. It has my favorite flowers and spices (sandalwood) and vetiver, wow, so rich! It’s refined, so simple. It brings back memories of my childhood when my favorite people smelled like this or similar perfumes. Maybe the vetiver or neroli is the soapy connection to Nina Ricci’s Air du Temps, I’m not sure, but it smells like nostalgia.

It was my mom’s perfume and I adored it. It’s potent, woody, and floral, with great sillage and longevity. It never went unnoticed when she wore it. I always thought it was an original scent.

I love it! My mom wore it when she was single and still uses it… we’ve always had a bottle for her and one for me. It’s fresh, light, yet elegant and powerful… simply delicious… my mom has kept a lock of her hair scented with this fragrance for over 30 years… the scent isn’t as strong anymore, but it’s still easily detectable.

I recently bought a mini of Candid. Avon made really great fragrances, especially in terms of aromatic quality; maybe in creativity some launches were similar to other creations but with a distinct twist. What happened with Candid was that as soon as I opened it, I was automatically transported back to the past, to my childhood, feeling this scent on the necks of countless women, so familiar it seemed to occupy the same spot in my mind as any new perfume I use now. At times I felt Candid was a less woody version of the classic Anais Anais (1978) by Cacharel, I also thought of its similarity to Jontue by Revlon (1977) but less balsamic. The signature of Candid is a white floral with well-executed touches of sandalwood, blending with oakmoss, ylang-ylang, and flashes of vetiver. It’s simpler than Anais Anais in complexity, but no less interesting. Over time it becomes powdery, soft, nothing dense. The bergamot shines more. It has its own thing. This review is for an 80s mini.

What a beautiful memory of this perfume!! How was I able to steal it from my cousin! (What a shame) I loved it so much!! It was sweet and fresh… Very pretty!

I was about 10 years old when my mom used it, today I’m 37 and I want to get it to give it to her again, she loved it, she always had extra, she didn’t want to run out of her perfume. Today she remembers it and I wish it would come back because she liked it so much.

Who cares about catalog perfumes? You have to try everything. This scent takes me right back to my teenage years. On birthdays, we used to get little Avon perfumes as gifts, and that’s how my collection started: heartfelt presents from friends that I wore just as much. It’s quite sweet and floral. When you apply it to your skin, you feel joy, like walking into a flower garden on a spring morning. It lasts well and is very affordable. I hope people my age remember it the way I do.