In Spenny vs Penny we compare the products we love, with those following in their (sometimes pricey) footsteps. Here we compare two perfumes, to see if the cheaper option measures up to its pricey counterpart.
I’m no perfume connoisseur, but I know what I like: Marc Jacobs Daisy and Rihanna Reb’l Fleur. What can I say? My taste is old school. I’ve switched between using these two scents for the past 10 years, depending on which one Santa brings me for Christmas.
So when Avon contacted me about its new fragrance, Eve Truth, which customers are comparing to my beloved Daisy perfume, I was intrigued – dubious but intrigued. It’s a fraction of the price at just £14 and anything that will save me £30 is worth a go in my eyes. So I put it to the test.
As soon as the perfume arrives I rip open the packaging eager to get a whiff of this new, potentially money-saving product. I spray it at my desk and I’m shocked – as is everyone around me – at how similar it smells to the Marc Jacobs perfume.
It’s uncanny. In fact, I might even like it more than Daisy. It’s slightly fresher and has that familiar sweet scent I’m used to. I spray it on my wrists and neck at the beginning of the day, smug in the knowledge that I can now bag my daily perfume for a fraction of the price.
By lunchtime, this smugness has worn off. I check my wrists a few hours later and that familiar Daisy scent has gone, trailing off into a deeper vanilla-type smell. It’s subtle and I can only smell it if I bring my wrists really close to my nose.
A colleague steps in to explain about “notes” – the top note, heart note, and base notes. “The top note probably has similar notes to Daisy,” she tells me. “But now it doesn’t smell like it, the heart and base notes are obviously different.”
Eve Truth, created by French perfumer Laurent Le Guernec, apparently features notes of amber, gardenia, peony, and cedarwood, Avon tells me. Daisy features wild berries, sandalwood, and violet. Perhaps there’s more crossover than we realise (if we really knew our stuff), but obviously it’s not an exact match.
After trying the Avon perfume and realising that familiar sweet scent seemed to fade after a few hours, I decide to put the Daisy perfume through the same rigorous and highly-scientific whiff test.
I put the Marc Jacobs perfume on my wrists and neck first thing in the morning, checking my wrists throughout the day to check whether or not it is longer lasting than Avon’s. At the end of the day, I can still smell it, in all its sweet glory.
For me, it’s a no-brainer. If you want that Daisy scent to stick around all day, you’re best going for the more expensive version. It’s not often I think the spenny product is worth the money – especially when it came to shampoo bars – but for me, this is a no-brainer.
Interestingly, the Avon perfume is an eau de parfum, and my Daisy is an eau de toilette – meaning really, the Avon scent should last longer, but I found it to be the other way round.
There’s no doubt that Avon’s Eve Truth has similarities to Daisy – especially on first scent – but if you want it to last, you’re going to have to keep respraying throughout the day. A budget option, you could say.
As for me? I’ll stick to waiting for my next Daisy perfume at Christmas.
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