See Prices

More

We may earn a commission when you buy from links on our site, including the eBay Partner Network and Amazon.

Charisma Avon 1968 Cologne

7.5 / 10 34 Ratings

A popular perfume by Avon for women, released in 1968. The scent is floral-powdery. The production was apparently discontinued.
Compare

More

We may earn a commission when you buy from links on our site, including the eBay Partner Network and Amazon.

Main accords

Floral

Powdery

Spicy

Fresh

Animal

Fragrance Pyramid

Top Notes

Aldehydes

Coriander

Hyacinth

Bergamot

Peach

Neroli

Heart Notes

Carnation

Jasmine

Lily of the valley Rose

Rose

Ylang-ylang

Orris root

Base Notes

Sandalwood Musk

Musk

Styrax

Ambergris

Civet

Tonka bean Vanilla

Vanilla

Ratings

Scent

7.534 Ratings

Longevity

7.021 Ratings

Sillage

6.422 Ratings

Bottle

7.029 Ratings

Submitted by Baeumchen · last update on 02/01/2025.

Source-backed & verified

Smells similar

What the fragrance is similar to

Charisma Cologne Mist

Reviews

3 in-depth fragrance descriptions

11/28/2016

8.5Scent 8Longevity 8Sillage

Oriane
140 Reviews

Oriane

Helpful Review 3

Addictive Cool, Green Floral

Top Notes: Neroli, Hyacinth, Coriander, Bergamot, Peach, Aldehydes.

Heart Notes: Carnation, Jasmine, Narcissus, Ylang-Ylang, Orris, Rose, Lily of the Valley.

Base Notes: Musk, Sandalwood, Amber, Styrax, Tonka Bean, Vanilla, Civetta.

This review is for a vintage EdC.

Recently, I purchased some newer Avons that impressed me more than I thought they would do, so I decided it was time I investigated some vintage Avons, and Charisma was the first one I purchased. In all honesty, this is one of the nicest "old style" floral fragrances I have ever smelt. I cannot believe how well this vintage has stood up over the years. If it smells this good now, I can only imagine how wonderful it must have smelt whence it was first bottled.

Charisma is a cool, green floral. Upon first spray I perceive aldehydes which lift the floral and animalic notes. It smells very fresh but classic. It does not remind me of any recent fragrances. I love carnation, and the carnation in Charisma is wonderful. It dances in and out with jasmine, rose, narcissus, orris, and hyacinth.

The heart notes bloom on my skin for roughly two hours. The deep dry down is green and lush. Projection and sillage are excellent for two to three hours. Longevity is excellent compared to more recent fragrances including my most expensive CHANEL Les Exclusives. Charisma is noticeable on my skin for five to six hours before it really begins to fade away. If I apply it at night before going to bed, I can still detect it on my skin the next morning.

My experience of Charisma prompted me to purchase several other vintage Avons, and whilst not every one of these has impressed me as much as Charisma has done, overall I am greatly impressed with all of the vintage Avons I have purchased thus far. If only all fragrances were made this well today!

Fragrance: 9/10

Projection: 8/10

Sillage: 8/10

Longevity: 8/10

09/08/2013

8Scent 5Longevity 5Sillage

Sorceress
216 Reviews

Sorceress

Helpful Review 2

Charisma-An Elegant Vintage Perfume For Both Good & Bad Girls Wanting The Same Effect

Charisma begins heavy on the civet, wrapped in deep musky overtones of bergamot. This is a fragrance of mystery, for people who are willing to go out on dares, ladies who wear trench coats with beautiful lingerie underneath and killer heels. This is a black eyeliner, false eyelashes, red lipstick, pull out all the stops perfume. Just when you think Charisma has melted away, she will come back to haunt you with delightful fumes. This frag will surprise you.
Charisma sits low and stays closer to the skin for a reason. For when the other person takes your arm and begins to sniff your wrist, go a little higher, sniff the crook of your elbow, you'll see a difference in their eyes. This is not a child's perfume. If Charisma was developed at the turn of the 1900's, Mata Hari would have chosen it.
Luckily today, it's available at flea markets/thrift stores/Ebay etc., and if it's been properly preserved, you can enjoy the delights of it and use it lavishly. When Avon first introduced their perfumes they used quality ingredients. Their perfumes that we now call vintage are absolutely beautiful fragrances and should be explored.
I have a splash and don't get the aldehydes stinging my eyes in the initial outburst. I do appreciate the hyacinth dancing around with Lily-of-the-Valley, Jasmine, Orris Root and Ylang-Ylang. These flowers dance a waltz, they don't overpower. They're refined. Charisma has such a glorius mix of notes, blended so perfectly, it is a hidden vintage treasure for noses that appreciate the true glamour of perfume before regulations have interfered and reformulations have changed the mixes.
Charisma has been likened to Coco, but I just cannot appreciate the similarities within the two. If anything, I'd compare it to Tabu, but Tabu is for bad girls, Charisma is for both good and bad girls wanting the same effect. It's not strong in it's sillage, but it's strong in it's effect. It's a hidden power perfume. An elegant perfume that still boils down to a delicious scent that will be appreciated.
Sometimes a fragrance needs to be discovered on your body and not discovered in the airspace around you. Charisma fills this need.

05/26/2014

8Scent 7.5Longevity 5Sillage

Somebody
227 Reviews

Translated · Show original

Somebody

Top Review

Days Like This

lead me to dig out one of my "exotics" once again and wear it. Today it’s Charisma, and I am quite surprised that some perfume lovers actually own it, yet it hasn’t been commented on yet. It truly doesn’t deserve that, and I want to rectify this as soon as possible.

It takes me on a time travel back to the late 70s. I was just entering double digits and often visited a lady in the neighborhood, whose mixed-breed dog I regularly got to walk. For that, I received “payment” of 1 DM and afterwards tea with pastries from the bakery. Since I loved animals and enjoyed roaming fields and meadows with the dog - aside from that one time when we were both attacked by a free-roaming shepherd dog, but that’s just a side note - I was all the more delighted with the “extras” and enjoyed having tea with the neighbor like an adult. To me, she was an elderly lady, even though she surely wasn’t older than her mid-fifties. Today, one would call that “Best Ager.” She was also employed, which was not a given back then in a more rural area, and she paid great attention to her appearance. She regularly received visits from the Avon consultant, and I sometimes had the pleasure of testing the products. I was particularly taken with the vibrant nail polishes and the pretty perfume bottles with such melodious names as Ariane, Tasha, and Charisma.

Those were - aside from the bottle of lavender scent on my grandmother’s nightstand - my first experiences with perfume, and when I had the chance some time ago to get a full bottle of Avon Charisma in a beautifully cut glass flacon, I grabbed it blindly and have not regretted my nostalgic-sentimental act.
Although it has apparently not been produced for a while, the quality of the scent has not suffered.
The top note is aldehydic-fresh with a floral undertone and transitions into a beautifully balanced sweet floral heart that strikes me as very feminine and elegant. Charisma is not sweet, but somehow mild and creates the perfect balance for me between floral, green, and animalistic. In the base, I distinctly perceive the combination of sandalwood-vanilla-civet and find it flattering like a silk scarf.
Overall, the scent reminds me of classics like Chanel N°5 or Blue Grass without the intention of wanting to copy either of them. Since none of the components are used in extreme concentration, I ultimately find Charisma even more harmonious and pleasing. For me, it is easily wearable and contemporary, and I will not be pushing the bottle back for the upcoming warm months.

By the way, the former neighbor recently passed away at a great age, and in a few years, I will belong to the “Best Agers” myself…

Statements

6 short views on the fragrance

Ergoproxy

5 years ago

7.5Scent 8Longevity 6Sillage

21

12

Classic floral-spicy scent with a typical soapy tone and a hint of animal note in the base. A bit matronly, I think, but good.

Translated · Show original

Parma

1 year ago

7.5Scent 6Longevity 6Sillage

9

13

Strong aldehydic-soapy, delicately spicy floral bouquet, strongly leaning towards green. Too retro and aldehydic for me. If you like that: worth a test.

Translated · Show original