Avon Frosted Swirls Frosted Vanilla Eau de Toilette

*~*Introduction*~*

I've a huge hoard of toiletries and beauty items and though I keep meaning to use up what I own first without buying anything new I often fail miserably. As I have just placed an order with my favourite beauty company Yves Rocher which includes at least 3 small EDT's, I decided to at least make an effort to start using up any half empty bottles of what I class as everyday EDT's and came across this by Avon - 'Vanilla Frost' from the Frosted Swirls collection. I had totally forgotten I had bought this and after digging deeper in my cupboard I also found a few of the other fragrances in this collection, though decided to start using this first and as I have been using almost consecutively for around 10 days now will share my thoughts on the product.

My review will now focus on Vanilla Frost Frosted Swirls EDT by Avon..

*~*Price, packaging & availability*~*

As this is an Avon product it can be purchased from a brochure via a local Rep, or online @www.avonshop.co.uk though it's worth noting that there is normally a delivery charge for P&P so it's worth checking what the minimum spending amount is before ordering online.

I purchased this along with two others in the Frosted Swirls collection when they were launched and paid around the £2.50 mark as they were on an introductory offer price at the time, though the RRP varies from £5 upwards as they only seem to sporadically appear in the brochure now making them more of a seasonal EDT. If interested though they can be purchased brand new on Ebay where I have seen several of the different Frosted Swirls for as little as £2 upwards though this isn't inclusive of P&P.

Packaging wise this is a very simplistic affair being a tall slimline 15 ml tube that is cylindrical in shape. Being only 15 ml it's a perfect handbag size and as it's made from a solid plastic material it's hardy enough to withstand a few knocks when 'thrown in my bag. The tube is completely transparent with only a sticker for decoration wrapped around the centre depicting snowflakes on a green/ turquoise base with silver stars and a silver swirly font. The EDT can be seen clearly through the gaps in between the sticker and we can see exactly how much of the substance is remaining which personally I like when it comes to packaging (of any beauty item as I don't want to be estimating how much has been used each time).

*~*My experience of using this*~*

I purchased this along with the three other Frosted Swirls EDT's as mentioned which are:

• Frosted Berry
• Frosted Winter Bloom
• Frosted Vanilla (which I'm currently reviewing)

My thoughts on receiving them in amongst my Avon order were initially how small they appeared! I know 15 ml is relatively small anyway but I do think the introductory offer of £2.50 is enough to pay as they are certainly not worth the RRP of £5 in my humble opinion.

On removing the green tinged plastic lid I was met with a fairly small, but equally adequate plastic nozzle, which when pressed emitted a fine water like mist evenly on to my skin.

The frosted vanilla is described as ''... exotic woods swirled with rich vanilla..." and when spritzed comes across at first as being quite sweet, though not sickly so, and lingers delicately for at least 10 minutes before starting to turn slight deeper. Once the fragrance starts to settle and dry against my skin it definitely becomes more deeper and warmer with the emphasis still lying heavily on the vanilla.

I found that the longevity of Frosted Vanilla to be a bit of a let down as after spraying on to my skin it started to fade almost immediately to the point that I was reapplying almost every hour or so as I just couldn't smell it after this time. For a £5 item I think this is a very disappointing aspect regardless of the fact it's a limited festive edition or not - when applying a fragrance then you want to be able to smell it on your skin for more than 60 minutes.

Packaging wise there is something slightly 'cheap' about these EDT's and I think it's simply down to the fact they are made from plastic and not glass, though having said that they are more robust I suppose.

*~*Recommendations?*~*

I am a fan of anything vanilla - whether it be in beauty form, household (candles/ wax tarts etc) or food/ drink so I half knew what to expect when I was buying this EDT. I tend to find vanilla based fragrances seem to last longer on my skin so was very disappointed that this just didn't cut it which was a disappointment as the actual vanilla offered here is a beautiful balance between sweet and woody. I have only been using this EDT for a short period of time as mentioned at the beginning of my review and less than 2 weeks of consecutive use it's already empty with just a few dregs remaining at the bottom of the tube.

I would suggest that if you came across this extremely cheap to give it a go by all means, such as in an Ebay lot or in an Avon sales brochure, but I wouldn't want to pay more than £1 for it simply for the fact it's not an economical purchase as it has to be constantly reapplied which is a bit of a pain to be honest.

This is a lovely vanilla fragrance that I do honestly like when wearing but because it fades far too quickly I can only give it a rating of 2 stars unfortunately...