Anaescacy – 2022-06-07:

3 out of 5

I never thought to try Avon scents mainly because of the cringy packaging they frequently employ (cats, frogs, pistols, and antique cars, anyone?). But after reading about Occur! here, I knew I had to try it. It’s nothing like I would have imagined—it’s a dirty, skanky, sexy, dramatic, patch-and-civet bomb that compares easily to Bal à Versailles and Arpège. Totally unisex, too. For me it’s definitely an “I can’t stop sniffing my wrist” keeper.

kainkhv – 2022-06-07:

4 out of 5

Avon OCCUR! is my favorite alltime Avon scent. Avon scents, to me, have sometimes seemed a bit infra-dig because their basenotes were never conspicuously luxurious as your *grande maison* French numbers. The “Avonade”, if you will, was usually comprised of a blatantly faux and rather banal synthetic amber, and all the Avon scents seemed to dry down to it (Actually I’ve recently complained that the Tom Ford scents were also guilty of having basenotes not as uncompromisingly luxurious as the promise of their opening unfoldment; There! I said it!). The Avons’ takeoff and heart were often lovely, though.
OCCUR! is different in that it read as high quality classic perfumery from tête to fond. As others state here, it is probably the skankiest animalic number Avon ever released.
To my nose, the grand scent it emulated was not JOY, BAL or BANDIT, but rather ARPÈGE with a nod to MISS DIOR. But to OCCUR’s credit, it did add a charming sweetness to the imperious aldehydic/animalic Midcentury glam-bomb: notes of honey, coconut, and what I read as as a subtly sweet red apple note. Thus OCCUR! was not an ice-cold Balmain-clad European aristo… she was more your very pretty second grade teacher at Christmas of 1969.
OCCUR! has nothing to apologize for, and indeed, I have swept up a number of flacons of it on eBay over the years.

StepVer – 2022-06-07:

4 out of 5

Hot Damn this is skanky!! Golden honey skank. I love it. Whoa.
Totally a sexy femme fatale rich 1960s lady, even tho it’s Avon and now quite dated. I find dated scents cozy and fun. I wear them for me.
75% skank honey, then a bit woody and perfumey with some chypre moss and mhyrr. Fkin awesome.
I now have a stockpile I bought off eBay for peanuts. Seriously, 4 oz for $9 something including ship. So happy!! Strong cologne strength for sure!!
More animal honey than green, it definitely differs from Intimate and other oldies. Would also be terrific for layering under other oldies that need more animal, like Intimate, BaV, Shailmar, etc… Some scents lose their skank from age or reformulation. I’m so excited to have this!!
Lighter powder and leather as it dries down. But still the muskiest, skankiest I own. I’m giddy wearing it!!
MMM… I LOVE THIS! It’s like Revlon Intimate mixed with vintage Toujours Moi/BaV or Habanita/Tabu. A chypre, but this honey sweet incense. Addictive and amazing!

FuetePunk – 2022-06-07:

3 out of 5

Found a very old bottle of this in Mum’s room and I’ve been wearing it for weeks. I remember liking it but had no idea how ‘expensive’ it smelled. I get moss and leather intertwined with roses and carnations. No sickly sweetness. Just sophistication. This is how ‘perfume’ used to smell. No cheap ‘gourmands ‘ or the bizarrely named ‘aquatic notes’. I realise that the original ingredients are probably banned as allergens. I regret using my quarter bottle of ‘Occur’ almost to the end. But it evokes an age when perfumes were luxuries and had more depth, more meaning than all the flankers and body spray type smells ever did. I’m not talking florals but those notes that are impossible to pin down!

Belfmiffvex – 2022-06-07:

4 out of 5

I like to buy truly vintage Avon scents and this one was a happy stumble upon at a thrift shop. Doing this is almost always a gamble, but occasionally I get lucky and this purchase was one of those times.
I think Avon gets a bad rap for being considered cheap or that their vintage scents all carry the same distinctive notes upon first sniff but I would encourage people to give them a chance. I say this only because I myself was firmly in the category of “Oh, Avon. Pass.” for the longest time but as I started unearthing some of the truly vintage perfumes, I was pleasantly surprised.
Occur! is easily one of these perfumes for me. Found at an estate sale, my bottle is shaped like a butterchurn. Odd! Avon and its collectible decanters! Whenever I find a splash scent from Avon that I like I transfer it into a new spray bottle for easier storage, labeling and application.
On me, this goes on with that punch of aldehydes that I associate with nearly every vintage Avon perfume I try, but this one dries down to a mysteriously smokey scent that I love. Longevity on this bottle lasts all day but softens with each passing hour, emerging from time to time to remind me that it is still there with its smokey honey notes.
I get a lot of compliments when I wear this but I suspect it is because it’s not something one is going to encounter on the regular. This is why I wear vintage scents, I am much happier wearing something just out of the ordinary that keeps people guessing.

Tatsy38751 – 2022-06-07:

4 out of 5

Oh my gosh! I got a small vintage sample to try-what a powerhouse. So, so different from today’s Avon. Leather, animal, incense, smokey, heat. The opening blast of animal is just a tiny touch away from skank. Sweetness and richness from the honey, slightly spicy from the carnation. A lovely boozy amber dry down that lasts and lasts. It reminds me a little of Miss Dior. Feminine, but not at all ladylike!

boom285 – 2022-06-07:

3 out of 5

I bought a 30ml baby owl bottle of Occur! cologne on the Bay for a song. It looks to be from some time in the 70’s. Wow, what a lovely scent! I can’t help but smile when I sniff myself. It reads almost like a chypre version of Joy, just really gorgeous. The just-prominent-enough honey sweetening up the oakmoss and animalic stank is wonderful. And yes! That’s a hint of coconut in the drydown. Coconutty leather… bless whomever thought up that one, because it’s odd and genius. These vintage Avons are true treasures… there just aren’t compositions like this anymore in the mass market, and to think how affordable Avon has always been, the bang that you used to be able to get with your buck in the world of fragrance, experienced now only by those of us who know to hunt them down.

Elultjagbug – 2022-06-07:

4 out of 5

I managed to stumble upon a perfume oil bottle and later a cologne concentration bottle of Occur! What a great classic this is. I decided to wear each on a different hand and report my findings.
The oil opened with immediate Avon “O.L.” essence…if you follow. The cologne went to bright citrus and aldehydes. It’s sort of as if they danced around each other for a bit before settling into more or less the same scent.
To my nose, the oil is definitely the skankier of the two (so naturally my favorite), while the cologne is lighter and almost a floral aldehyde of more modern style.
Because of the intensity of the oil (I applied essentially the same amount of each), I had to clear my nose with a half dozen deep breaths and put the hand with the oil behind my back before being able to really distinguish the notes in the cologne.
Once I did get that whiff, it was heavenly! Powdery, floral, sweet but not sugary, and leathery (yep, I’m sold!) This is elegant class in a bottle.
But of course the oil remains. She is much stronger and more “perfumy” with a strong oakmoss note and the gorgeous civet. The oil is not what I would Call elegant class. The oil is confident, sexy, and just a little bit bitchy, but she has enough class to hold her tongue… If she wants.
It’s the silage that really separates the two. From the tiny half dime size daub I made of each, the cologne gently wafts to my nose while I’m typing this on my phone. But the oil? Same amount and to keep her from overpowering her more reserved sister, I have to keep her behind my back.
So what do I prefer? MORE! haha
I only regret that I have two small bottles, and hope I might find a larger bottle… Maybe a spray, but only of the cologne.
The absolute truth is, this fragrance is every bit as classy and well made as Shalimar or My Sin. Did I really just write that? Durn tootin I did!
Please find this perfume. It is heaven scent (see what I did there?) and you will barely need any of the oil to keep you wafting deliciousness all day.
The honey is the star of the show, but it only serves as a carrier for the other notes. It’s not a honey scent in my opinion. It’s a masterpiece.
And I’m off to eBay…

666vitas – 2022-06-07:

4 out of 5

If any perfume house should relaunch it’s classics it’s Avon and let them start with Occur! Dry, woody, smokey it’s autumn captured in a bottle. Most Avons make me think of tea parties and church socials but Occur! is a rarity in the Avon garden: full of animalic notes that just skirt nasty. The closest classic Avon to a skank perfume. But what makes Occur! epic, why it has such devoted fans, is it’s liberal dose of honey. No other perfume has ever had such a luscious honey note. Warm, thick, and lazy it overwhelms the senses. Bring this one back!

immiptAcite – 2022-06-07:

3 out of 5

I managed to find a vintage bottle on Ebay, it a good chypre woody perfume with a hint of gardenia and lily of the valley in the top notes.
I dont know how the modern version compares.

Corleonesi – 2022-06-07:

5 out of 5

I bought several vintage small bottles of Avon colognes circa 1964 in a .5 ounce-style bottle that has a lucite topper with 4 “A”s off of Ebay hoping that age (made in the early 1960’s) would equal higher quality. I wear lots of vintage Guerlain colognes from this era and have found them to be consistently good. These mini Avon colognes, unfortunately, have been really disapointing. I suspect the Avon cologne that comes in the containers for the individual line may be better quality/more potent – the black bottle with the rhinestone for Occur! for example.
Of the fragrances I bought, Occur! was actually one of the better ones . I put several drops on acid-free paper and let it dry and definitely smelled the honey in woody musky blend. Would love to smell a better quality version.
The most I have been able to do with these colognes is get a feel for these old Avon lines. Rapture and Occur! are the two best fragrances of the bunch but I still am afraid to actually wear them because of all the off notes.
After this experience, I will probably not buy any more vintage Avon cologne. I did get a 1 ounce bottle of Elusive perfume off Ebay for under $20.00 that appears wearable. I also got a super tiny “dram” bottle of Elusive perfume from the mid-70s for around $6.00. The dram size perfume is pretty lousy quality-wise. Not as bad as the 1964 bottles of cologne but way lower quality than the full size ounce of perfume. I have noticed that Rapture smells similar to Mitsouko and Elusive bears a strong likeness to Youth Dew. I have ordered a little bit of Bal a Versailles based on Parfumee’s review, which says Occur! was a low-budget Bal. Hope to get the good stuff that used to be in Occur! without the off notes. There is a great vintage bottle of the actual Occur! perfume in a French crystal bottle on Ebay at the moment but the price is over $100.00!
Update: Wearing the old 1964 cologne and boy is it good! Occur! is an amazing fragrance, one of the best American fragrances I have ever tried. I love chypres and woodsy stuff. Avon really hit this one out of the park. I LOVE(D) the original 1980’s Obsession pure perfume and Occur! cologne smells just as good to me. I tried the Bal a Versailles and it is also great but Occur! to me is just as good. You really have to take a chance and put the cologne on to see what it smells like.

filmoreke – 2022-06-07:

3 out of 5

OCCUR!
AVON
GROUP: MUSK
NOTES: GARDENIA CARDAMOM CORIANDER BERGAMOT ALDEHYDES VETIVER CARNATION JASMINE PATCHOULI STYRAX MYRRH ROSE LILY OF THE VALLEY MUSK OAK MOSS VANILLA AMBER CASTOREUM CIVET COCONUT LEATHER HONEY
SILLAGE: HEAVY RADIATES WITHIN 6 FEET
LONGEVITY: VERY LONG LASTING 7-12 HOURS
REMINDS ME OF: BANDIT PIGUET BAL A VERSAILLES JEAN DESPREZ LA NUIT PACO RABANNE PASSION ELIZABETH TAYLOR SALOME PAPILLON ARTISAN
Occur by Avon was following closely behind the footsteps of Jean Desprez Bal A Versailles. Because that fragrance was incredibly expensive and regarded as being “haute couture” especially when it became known that even First Lady Jackie Kennedy wore it, one can argue that Occur was the more “affordable” Bal for the average housewife. This was a time when Avon perfumes were gorgeous, well-composed perfumes in artistically designed bottles. They came in all shapes and sizes: birds, turtles, cherubs, snails. My mother collected many of them and I fell heir to these fragrances which still have some content.
Occur is an Oriental musk. For me it’s much better than Bal because it has more going on. At the first spritz of Occur, a sweet ginger cardamom mingles with the aldehydes. There is a sweet and spicy scent at the beginning. Coriander and spices. A hint of coconut, but more like coconut oil. Then the fragrance develops into it’s floral heart. While not especially flowery, the scent of carnation, jasmine and lily of the valley are noticeable. It’s more a lily of the valley, green, herbal, and like flowers in a forest. These are not flowers in a bouquet but more akin to wild flowers. It evokes a forest. You’re walking into the woods and surrounded by the natural smells of woods and flowers. Carnations seem green here, and if there was such thing as a green rose, this is what it would smell like. And the jasmine is a night blooming jasmine, fragrant, bewitching, alluring.
Before you can call it a floral, the scent progresses into woods. There’s oak moss in spades. It reminds me of all the classic chypres with mossy tones namely Bandit by Piguet. This is a nocturnal animal in the forest. It is as much an animalic fragrance as it is a mossy scent. The castoreum and civet scents abound and if you have worn furry creature scents like Salome Papillon Artisan you will get a kick out of this one. It also wears like a fragrant fur coat. Luxurious, leathery, and very respectable, like a woman dressing up in perfume because she can’t afford expensive Chanel suits. There’s really more to enjoy and admire here: patchouli leaves, tobacco, incense, balsam, myrrh, honey and styrax. All these notes are heavy hitters. For me the honey and myrrh give it an Arabic Middle Eastern type of mood. It smells like a Persian woman, but that’s not a bad thing!
I love this fragrance and wear it to the opera, to formal evening galas. This is a lush fragrance bomb. It is so intoxicating that I do want to bathe myself in it but it’s best to apply with a light touch so that you won’t offend anyone’s noses while sitting next to them. It is theatrical, mysterious, and evocative of all the great Orientals that would come later. I’m talking about Yves Saint Laurent Opium and Krizia Teatro Alla Scala as well as Coco Eau de Parfum Chanel. The honey is pure beeswax, the myrrh is straight ouf a Muslim mosque and the civet is real. This fragrance packs a punch.
Highly recommended for fans of musk, Orientals and the notes which are listed here which stand out and you’re not afraid of them: patchouli, leather, civet, castoreum, myrrh, styrax, and musk galore.

S1moN007 – 2022-06-07:

4 out of 5

I admit, I’ve been a perfume snob and Avon was always avoided and snubbed. I got a vintage 1970s perfume mini and am astonished at the quality. And reading the ingredients list, well, who knew? It’s not cheap and it stands the test of time for Big Girl Perfumes. No fruit or candy, just big, rich, real perfume smell. Old Black and White movie kind of glamour. Fits right in an old fashioned bar with cigarettes and bourbon. I think a man can wear it also.It smells 1940s to me. In a good way. Would be good in the winter.

sslera – 2022-06-07:

3 out of 5

Sleeping Beauty of a scent,! I love oakmoss ,civet, castoreum ;any of these big NO NO notes not particularly favored in todays’ mainstream perfumery. So I had high hopes for this fragrance and was not disappointed. It starts off typically what you would expect from bygone era ‘vintage’ perfumes a little harsh slightly bitter, powdery; then right away my nose picks out the civet and oakmoss. It’s so deceiving in that you think it’s tame but latter as it warms on the skin like an animal it starts to purr. Then it it’s full glory growls at you. Succintly you have unleashed a giant of unbridled sensuality in a daring pose.
Edit: Sensational! Give me more! Goes straight to my top 5 favorite fragrances.

Alex_KEY – 2022-06-07:

3 out of 5

I loathe chypres but this is a chypre haters chypre. On me, it goes on tobacco. I just get huge tobacco and some musky animal then it fades very fast. Then, it rises from the dead and goes on and on. Ohhhh. I get civet and musk on this dry down similar to but not quite as complex as Habanita or Enslaved. This is lovely.

nastrodams – 2022-06-07:

3 out of 5

You certainly do not see a set of notes like this in modern perfumes. This is a potent mixture, it speaks to the subconscious of wild animal sexuality, while outwardly appearing to be for respectable ladies and humble housewives. This is an undercover dirty, musky, raunchy sex bomb of a fragrance. This is the polar opposite of popular current scents like Lovely by Sarah Jessica Parker.

dionis33380 – 2022-06-07:

3 out of 5

Occur! is one of the most popular vintage Avon scents. Check out the excellent reviews by Sumo Tiger Cat, Kmarich, Gypsyperfumista below. Vintage Occur! fully lives up to its original black bottle and unusual, slightly forbidding name and punctuation mark (!). The varying opinions of Occur! probably reflect differences among formulations, dates of bottles sampled, and their states of preservation. In my view, vintage Occur! is a beautiful and warmly animalic chypre, reminiscent of vintage Miss Dior, without some of the complexity and the galbanum top. It is not at all aldehydic or leathery to my nose.
Occur! is so worth having, and there are so many vintage bottles around, that if you are interested in it, it’s best to shop around to get a really good example. Vintage Avon colognes are quite potent, but you can also find Occur! in a vintage parfum concentration in pretty one dram bottles. Occur was reissued by Avon in the 1980’s in various retro bottles, and the scent in these appears to be different, so look for the true vintage bottles from the 60’s or 70’s, A half full poodle decanter that has been steaming on a bathroom shelf for decades will not give a fair representation of this vintage perfume. Bottles of Occur! that Meemaw, perhaps scandalized by its seductive fumes, put away in the closet still in the box, never to be worn, are a much better bet.

ppf564speagoessenda – 2022-06-07:

4 out of 5

Let Your Fragrance Occur!
Avon’s Occur was created when perfume was REAL. I remember smelling this on one of my mother’s girl friends who was a cleaning lady and who later became an Avon sales woman. Occur was my “I hate that smell because I don’t like the woman who wears it” kind of a fragrance. But that’s because I adored my mother and even her girl friends were weird to me. But now I have come across this fragrance through ebay and I am loving it. No soft baby powder or body mist. This is not the synthetic fruity floral mess that the newer Avons turned into. This wears like one of the classic unisex masterpieces: Opium by Yves Saint Laurent, Magie Noire by Lancome, Teatro Alla Scala by Krizia, Charlie by Revlon, Passion by Elizabeth Taylor and to a degree even resembles Chanel’s Coco Eau de Parfum vintage original and Dior’s Poison. I would say that this fragrance and Avon’s Odyssey as well as Timeless are in the same family and their Avon’s version of an ORIENTAL The composition is magnificent. A lot of notes and richly layered with: gardenia, cardamom, coriander, bergamot, aldehydes, vetyver, carnation, jasmine, patchouli, styrax, myrhh, rose and lily-of-the-valley; musk, oakmoss, amber, vanille, castoreum, civet, coconut, leather and honey. To my nose the opening notes are big with aldehydes as with most clsssic Avons. Then it settles into patchouli. This is a big patchouli frag like the patchouli in Opium. I can smell some incense but it’s not very strong as it’s just fragrant myrhh. There are very few flowers whose scent waft up briefly: rose and jasmine. You also get plenty of coconut and some vanilla which make it very sweet and a gourmand type of scent but it’s not too heavy and it’s balanced with the aimalic accords. You won’t find that type of perfect balance in today’s fragrances which are pure gourmands. What you get in the end towards the dry down is the reality that this is a CHYPRE and it’s very woodsy. The oak moss and amber support the fragrance. And over that, crushing the flowers are the animals: the civet and castoreum notes. It’s like you were in a forest walking around thinking wow what beautiful flowers and plants. But then out come the animals the civet and the beaver, in herds and family units, in a stampede and their smell overpowers even the smell of the flowers. It’s got a real sting to it. But it’s incredible, dynamic, like something is actually OCCURING on your skin, like a furry little creature has made his home inside your skin. I find it interesting that the aldehyde-animalic combination can even be compared to Chanel No. 5 Eau de Cologne. It can also resemble the old vintage formula of Jean Desprez Bal A Versailles and that would make sense since this fragrance came out around the same time as Bal. This has a classic formula that belongs to the Golden Age of Perfume. It’s a dark, mysterious evening fragrance which becomes musky and leathery and elegant, and has to be worn by evening wear like evening gowns, coats, hats, gloves, and boots. It wears more like a winter fashion fragrance. It’s warmed up by honey. I love this kind of perfume to mix things up as a change from softer florals. If you like animalic musky fragrances this is totally for you. If you are exploring unisex fragrances, this is for you. And it’s a classic from Avon from the 60’s which today is not bein worn by the majority so you’ll definitely stand out and get noticed. I would not wear this as a signature scent every day. This is a special occasion perfume, a celebration dinner, a romantic night out, or even Halloween costume party. It’s not for everyone but it definitely has it’s allure and it’s power.

Alexmr2 – 2022-06-07:

4 out of 5

Testing this evening, a lay down vintage (1970´s), 1 Dram of perfume. I am very surprized by this. Testing a few vintage Avon perfumes now and I am pretty impressed. Occur is dry. It has a Chanel No 5 type of powder quality but softer. There are some floral notes, but nothing sweet, benzoin and a little pathchouli also. I really really like this. I am now on the look out for the lay down bottles of Avon vintage.

mav.240981 – 2022-06-07:

5 out of 5

One generous tester spritz from vintage bottle and I was transported to 1964 when leaving my teens and making my way into adulthood. I didn’t know anything about perfume notes in those days, just that I loved “those” certain perfumes with “those” certain notes, years later identified on Frangrantica as moss and civet. I still love moss and civet, leather,spices, and resins (myrrh). But I leave the, IMO, erotic (see SISSI’s review), sexy civet scents for the young to wear openly. I prefer to wear vintage civet in private.

vitaliyxe – 2022-06-07:

3 out of 5

Vintage 70’s from a rep sampler.
This went from “Oh dear god in heaven!” to “Oh my god this is heaven!” in 3 minutes flat! The aldahydes were so sharp that they nearly cut my nose clean off. I was thinking dang and it smelled so nice in the bottle! I was just about to go screaming in to the night when it quite suddenly morphed into the strong animolic chypre I’ve been trying to find for a long time! You know without going that expensive niche route! Yay!
Oh that castoreum is so strong at first it even puts the civet on the back shelf for a while but not forever! 😉 However one can not live off of stank alone and all the spices, resins and creamy white notes give this a certain oriental feel to me. Yes, no? The leather comes later to the party unlike… Shalimar but again this is so not Shalimar! Shalimar is a high class all put together trist with an older man and Occur! is an orgy! Avon should have called this Happening! or Love-In! Speaking of love I love this! So this is comming straght out of the bin and in to my favs!
Update:
I tried a bottle from the 80’s and the animolics are gone! That was REAL castoreum in the 60’s and 70’s! I should know I have a wonderful tincture of castoreum complements of a friend.
Update again:
I’ve obtained another vintage bottle of Occur! from the early 70’s and it’s shaped like a Butter Churn. Weird! This one is apparently the freshest (vintage) bottle I’ve found yet. The aldehydes are way gentler and the animolics are still huge but better balanced. Everything else is the same. Occur! is still one of my new (old) favorites! However it would seem Occur! has a hard time aging but I don’t care! I love it!

йцувыф – 2022-06-07:

4 out of 5

This admitted vintage/niche lover can hardly believe that she’s placed Avon Occur! on her “favorites” shelf here on Fragrantica. I mean, seriously…. an old Avon? Yep.
Muscs Kublai Khan,Bal a Versailles, and Shocking have nothing on Avon Occur! MKK is prettier, softer, more floral. BaV is more powdery, sweeter, more opulent. Shocking is way more honey. They all share that certain deep growling voice, impossible to resist.
Occur! has beautiful Myrrh in it. I do believe the old versions have real civet and castoreum. All the notes here are splendid, not a whiff of anything synthetic around. To my mind, this is Avon’s pinnacle of success. The Oakmoss and Patchouli are not very prominent in my bottle. That is o.k. they need not be. I do get some underlying creamy Gardenia and Coconut. Everything here plays together nicely.
If you love niche animalics, do your wallet a big favor and find yourself a nice old bottle of Occur! You can thank me later. 😉

dsasha11 – 2022-06-07:

5 out of 5

This review is of a bottle that dates back to the late 1960s or early 1970s.
OCCUR! opens with loud, soapy aldehydes and a deep feral growl. After the initial aldehyde burst, a lovely white floral mix comes into play. The contrast between the clean and soapy florals with aldehydes and the dirty oakmoss, castoreum with musk is riveting. There is also a completely beautiful spice waiting just under the surface. The spice mix is comprised of Coriander, peppery carnation and cardamom.
When the heart really opens up, a whole new dimension is presented. There is smoky Myrrh and a rich, dark, honey. There is nothing sticky sweet about this honey. It’s decadent and very complex. The Myrrh and honey pair wonderfully with a newly emerged bright floral zing comprised of rose and gardenia. There is also a dry (not sweet), fleshy, and freshly cracked coconut. This coconut adds a certain something that takes this composition from beautiful to amazing. All the incense, florals, and coconut blend perfectly and harmoniously with the castoreum and oakmoss. I want to breath it all in deeply and fully.
The dry down is animalistic and heavy with musk and castoreum. There is still that floral zing sitting on top of the feral elements as well. It’s very beautiful and difficult to describe. This classic “cologne spray” lasts about five hours before it becomes a skin scent and it clings magically to the skin until about nine hours. There is such classic beauty here that it is impossible to deny the mastery of art that went into making this composition. It’s constructed very well and wears beautifully. It’s on my short list of vintage greats.

Ksunya – 2022-06-07:

4 out of 5

back in England in the 60’s my darling Mother loved this! me too!

vitandr – 2022-06-07:

5 out of 5

To my great surprise, Occur does remind me of Shocking Schiaparelli. Wow! I bought a small bottle on Ebay just to try and compare, and, yes, I see the similarity between this Avon fragrance and Shocking. The old formula Shocking, that is, not the reformulation that came out in the 90s (which, by the way, I also love. It has the best honey note in the universe).
Sometimes two fragrances have very similar notes, and yet they don’t smell the same. Not in this case…the civet, the aldehydes, the honey, etc. I wonder if the Avon people just said: “Let’s try to copy this classic”. If so, they did a pretty good job. I mean, the original Shocking is still superior, but Occur comes pretty close for a fraction of the price.
EDIT. So I wore Occur today. Lots of it. Nose to wrist sillage. Longevity, on my skin: 2 hours or so. Vintage Shocking has huge sillage and lasts hours and hours. But I still enjoy Occur, and, for that price, I might get some more to alternate with Shocking. I’m glad I did the comparison.

tvister – 2022-06-07:

3 out of 5

Sadly, my little 15ml vintage bottle of Occur! has lost its top notes with no aldehydes to speak of. But, what is left smells divine and enough like what I remember my mom wearing in the 1970s to do the trick.

zsl539InsuffBooni – 2022-06-07:

5 out of 5

Much tamer than I expected. It’s like Bandit with honey. I personally don’t find it all that animalic. I was hoping for a lot of castoreum, but I’m not really picking it up. Mostly moss, tarry leather, honey, carnation. As it dries down I smell the gardenia and coconut, though faintly. I think they more chill the whole thing out rather than adding a major fragrance presence.
Very much a chypre, but toward the warmer and softer side. Kind of a soft, suede-like drydown. Not so green, not so much bite.
I don’t know how old my bottle is, but it’s shaped like a poodle and the box design makes me think late 60’s/early 70’s.

sansanыч – 2022-06-07:

5 out of 5

This was my signature for a while when I was selling Avon back in the early 1990’s – wow how time flies when you are having fun. This was a great scent for a night out on the town, wonderful parties and good times. It brings back pleasant memories. I have not worn it for ages, but it remains one of my favorites.

vipbomberoo7 – 2022-06-07:

4 out of 5

wow – i’m really impressed by this VERY affordable vintage frag – it puts many, many vintage and modern releases to shame in terms of harmony, quality, longevity, sillage and stability (over long storage periods).
wonderfully animalic and with enough florals, resins and rich base notes – including coconut – which, like jovan’s mink and pearls, gives the whole composition a deeper, richer effect that completely underscores the rich castoreum accord and musk. gives it a warm solidity sorely missing from today’s compositions.
the version i’m using is a very old small 1/4 oz. pure parfum – and i’m now certainly going to check out the other concentrations to see how they perform.
this is such an inexpensive scent, i urge you all (who are interested in civet and musks) to seek out this fragrance – so easy to find and quite a small investment to experience such a dynamic and rich perfume. will be reporting more after i’ve lived with this for a few days 🙂

beliy-2007 – 2022-06-07:

5 out of 5

If I had to venture a guess as to how many bottles of “Occur!” I have gone through in my lifetime it would probably be at least a dozen—seriously! At least a dozen! This one was my long-time chypre olfactory love affair’s favorite from Avon. In looking back on it now that I am much older & reflect on my fragrance preferences throughout my life, this “on the cheap” Avon creation probably spawned my preference for the chypre group over any other.
The Avon campaign marketed Occur! as a very modern fragrance for the very modern woman. But in my estimation, it is probably Avon’s best homage to the early days of the chypre genre & so eloquently done by the French. May I venture to dare say it is Avon’s version of a fine French perfume for a pittance? For that is what it is in reality. And it brings to mind now a segment of classic film footage recently by the great Dame Maggie Smith playing her role of the Dowager Countess Grantham with her granddaughter, Edith, character of “Downton Abbey”. They had previously negotiated Edith was to pick up a bottle of civet for her grandmother & upon presenting it to “Granny” in all her splendor, when Edith reports what the bottle cost the Granny exclaims incredulously, “What?! For a bottle of