Dupe Alert! Avon vs. Bath & Body Works

If you have ever fallen in love with a scent only to see it discontinued later, then you know how I felt when Bath & Body Works discontinued their White Tea & Ginger line several years ago.  I absolutely loved the body spray especially, and stocked up on several bottles of it when it began to disappear from stores.  Since then, they repackaged and released it once again as a limited-edition "flashback fragrance", but I still have one bottle left, so I haven't tried the new version yet.

Left: Bath & Body Works, Right: Avon

However, I have tried the latest scent from Avon in their Naturals line, called Green Tea & Verbena, and let me tell you: it's almost a dead ringer for my old favorite!

 

In comparison, I would have to say that on my skin (everyone's is different) the White Tea spray smells slightly "warmer," while Avon's Green Tea has a floral-lime tone to it.  After about an hour of wear, White Tea has a sort of "cedar" smell mixed with lemon; while Green Tea has faded, but smells still like the original scent.  (Please pardon my lack of scent-describing skills!  I'm working on it.)

For extra staying power, I may pick up the body wash or lotion, but no matter what, I'm thrilled to have this kind of scent available to me through Avon!

Thanks for reading!

Avon Haul and First Impressions: Campaign 20

Note: I submit my Avon order every other campaign.  This means that I receive products from two campaigns at once, but half as often as the regular timetable.

Here it is, finally!

Product Sneak Peek! C20 2013

Goodness, I'm not sure where to start!  Avon has all kinds of interesting goodies coming out lately.  I think I'll begin with their first seasonal makeup collection since the release of Avon's True Color Technology.

Savage Beauty Fall 2013 Collection

Avon Haul and First Impressions: Campaign 15 & 16 2013

Note: I submit my Avon order every other campaign.  This means that I receive products from two campaigns at once, but half as often as the regular timetable.

Not a huge haul this time around and a little late (sorry!) but here's what showed up on my doorstep last night:

Avon Haul and First Impressions: Campaign 13 & 14 2013

Note: I submit my Avon order every other campaign.  This means that I receive products from two campaigns at once, but half as often as the regular timetable.

Here's what showed up on my doorstep last night!

Avon Haul and First Impressions: Campaigns 1 & 2

Note: I submit my Avon order every other campaign.  This means that I receive products from two campaigns at once, but half as often as the regular timetable.

Happy late Monday!  I got my Avon order in tonight, which is earlier in the week than usual due to the holiday shipping schedule.  Here is a pic of most of what I got:

Lots of pink and black this time!

Nail Experts Gel Base Coat;
Nailwear Pro + polish in shades Red Reveal, Coral Reef, and Pastel Pink;

Nail Art Enamel in Black Drama;

Raspberry Hibiscus Shower Gel;

Faceted Iridescence Earrings;

Cream Eyeshadow Brush;

Irresistibly Sexy Lipgloss in Undressed Nude;

Beauty Carry All Bag (pictured below);
Bejeweled Key Chain, K (not pictured);

Body Illusion Legging in size XL (not pictured).

I'm trying out a layer of the gel base coat as I type this.  Application was typical and smooth; drying time was very quick, to a surprisingly glossy finish.  After about 20 minutes there was no residual smell, which told me that all the chemicals were gone (meaning faster drying time for subsequent layers of polish!)

The Nailwear Pro + polishes aren't exactly a new thing anymore, but I got them because recently I've noticed that I have a lack of pretty, feminine polishes in my collection and sometimes I feel like a sparkly blue is just a bit too juvenile for me. Red Reveal is a true blue-red and great for my skintone.  Coral Reef is a beautiful, deep peachy-pink which will be perfect for spring and summer.  Pastel Pink is a nice creme which, although I haven't tried it yet, looks like it won't take a dozen coats to be opaque.

The shower gel smells nice, although a bit synthetic fruit-ish.  More hibiscus than raspberry, it is very sweet and reminds me of the pomegranate mango scent.

 

I got the cream shadow brush because looks like it will be great for applying powder shadows wet. The bristles are dense and stiff but soft to the touch and not too thin; however the brush head is pretty small, about the width of my pinky finger.  I think it will do nicely.  Although I was tempted to order one of the new cream eyeshadows, ultimately I decided not to since I prefer to use a pencil as a base instead of cream shadow.

So far I'm very happy with the Nail Art Enamel; the brush is long and flexible and the formula is thin but opaque and smooth.  My only complaint is that the tip of the brush seems a little rough-cut.

Undressed Nude lipgloss: I'm always looking for that perfect nude lip shade, so I picked up this one.  It looks a little bronzey in the tube, but applies pretty sheer with multicolor shimmer.  The applicator is a little different: a slightly flared doefoot with a sort of "cup" for gloss in the end.  What I can't get over is the scent... it's faint, but is like a slightly sweet sunscreen.  I'm pretty sensitive to smells, and so I couldn't even leave it on my lips for the evening. :(

Now for the bag: I thought this beauty bag would be a plain, clear blue bag.  Not exactly!  The plastic is grooved in such a way that it distorts objects which aren't right up against the side.  The yellow arrow is pointing to the bottle of Red Reveal sitting inside the bag, maybe 2-3 inches from the polish I am holding up.  Pretty cool!

As for the leggings and the keychain, I'll keep it short: leggings are super comfy and a keeper; keychain is small and cheap-looking and will be going back to Avon.

I hope this was helpful, and if you have any questions or comments, please feel free to post below!

All thoughts stated in this post are my own, honest opinions.  I have not been compensated to review these products, and all were purchased with my own money.