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Avon is *just* as bad as Yves Rocher, I know that to my cost. For awhile, Avon's MARK division had good, strong, lovely scents, but the last two I bought (Peony Apple and Berry Cranberry) were the weakest yet. What do I buy? I am going online and buying the fragrances I love from ebay and other sites, such as Bonanzel (sp?) , Ruby Lane, or Etsy. So far (knock wood!) I've not been ripped off with imposters or dilutes. I buy fragrances from roughly 1988-1995 : I have some from earlier than that, even all the way back to the 1960s , and *so far* all of them have been good....None have "turned". Since Yves Rocher is French, I'm guessing EUropean perfumers are as bad as those in North America, about switching to "environmentally friendly" bases that are cheaper for them and a lot weaker for the consumer.

And this is *JUST* a guess/theory on my part : But it is well known that moslems refuse to wear alcohol including sd alcohol, which WAS the base for many if not most fragrances. I know Avon and some others went to alcohol free fragrances for the moslem market overseas. Is it *just* possible that the "environment" excuse was BS, and it's really because it's cheaper and easier to just make EVERYTHING for the moslem market, rather than doing a batch for Jordan, Egypt, SA, etc, and another batch for Europe, North America, and Asian markets? Just make everything halal friendly, just as some fast food joints in the UK and the USA went to all halal meat first for areas with large moslem populations, and then pretty much everywhere? I know I got a bottle of Jovan's Wild Honeysuckle that was for the moslem market overseas (lots of squigglies on the box and on the label on the underside), and it smelled wrong and weak. This was back in the late 1990s, and I bought it from one of those discount beauty supply catalogs. I later bought a "vintage" bottle off ebay, and it smelled as I remembered, so I am sure it was the alcohol substitute that made the other bottle smell "off" and gave the scent no staying power.