There’s a good chance that some of your first memories of perfume were of Avon. Maybe it was the fragrances themselves: Cotillion, Sweet Honesty, Timeless, or Bird of Paradise were a few. Or, more likely, it was the bottles shaped like everything from pianos to Model T cars to colonial dames. If you haven’t looked at an Avon catalog lately, you’re in for a surprise. First, no more kitschy bottles. Your chance to own Timeless bottled in a giant penny is gone. Next, although Sweet Honesty survived, most of the old perfumes have been replaced with newer, sexier products, like Imari, Christian Lacroix Rouge, and, yes, Bond Girl 007.

Avon began its life in 1886 in upstate New York as The California Perfume Company. David McConnell, who started the company, stumbled on the idea of selling perfume when he found that the free rose oil samples he handed out so that ladies would listen to his pitch to buy books were more popular than the books themselves. With the help of a local pharmacist he created the company’s first collection of fragrances, called Little Dot Perfumes. In 1939, The California Perfume Company changed its name to Avon. Avon still sells its products door-to-door, but now you can also buy them online or at special boutiques in malls.

Avon launched Bond Girl 007 in fall 2008 to coincide with the release of the new Bond film, Quantum of Solace…

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And if you've seen the new Bond movie, Quantum of Solace, please comment!

I am not generally a huge fan of action movies, but I've always loved James Bond. Today's challenge: name your favorite James Bond actor (the choices, for anyone who can't remember the entire line-up: Sean Connery, George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig) and what fragrance you think their version of Bond would wear.

My Bond of choice is Roger Moore. I know you're supposed to prefer Sean Connery, but as I've said before, Moore is the Bond I “grew up with”. Daniel Craig, however, might be giving Moore a run for his money. I'm really looking forward to Quantum of Solace…

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Next up from Avon: Bond Girl 007, a fragrance produced in “collaboration with the James Bond entertainment franchise”. The scent will debut this fall in conjunction with the upcoming Bond movie Quantum of Solace, and will be fronted by actress Gemma Arterton (who plays Agent Fields in the movie). An Avon spokesperson noted that “the iconic Bond girls are one of the most widely known aspects of the films — they're empowered, feminine and glamorous, so we're extremely pleased to capture that essence in our newest fragrance”…

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