The Story
Why it exists.
The beginning
Always arrived in 2005 as the third chapter of Avon's Today, Tomorrow, Always trilogy. Olivier Cresp created the fragrance, bringing a trained sensibility to its construction. The composition opens with bright, tart fruit notes that feel immediately inviting. There's a dewy green quality underneath that keeps the sweetness grounded rather than synthetic. The florals arrive with restraint, settling into a clean, intimate drydown that becomes part of the skin rather than floating above it. The name says it all.
What makes Always interesting is the kiwi and starfruit combination. These fruits bring a tart, almost dewy green quality that keeps the sweetness from tipping into candy. The jasmine tea is the pivot point: aromatic rather than indolic, it gives the top notes something to rest against before the florals take over. In the base, bamboo reads clean and green in a way that sandalwood or cedar never quite manage, and paired with the cottony white musk, it creates an intimate drydown that doesn't disappear, it just becomes part of you.
The evolution
The opening hits bright and tart. Kiwi leads, starfruit follows with its strange star-shaped sweetness, and jasmine tea sits underneath, aromatic, almost medicinal in the best way. For the first thirty minutes, this is maximally fruity. Then the florals arrive. Lily takes over the heart with a dewy, almost green quality that smooths everything out. Immortelle adds a honey warmth that's easy to miss unless you know to look for it. Red poppy provides the softest flicker of spice. By hour three, the bamboo emerges. That's the tell. It stays green and clean through the rest of the wear, carrying the drydown until what remains is white musk and the ghost of something tropical. On fabric, this fragrance goes the distance, lingering close to the skin rather than announcing itself across the room.
Cultural impact
Always won the 2005 FiFi Award for Fragrance of the Year in the Women's Private Label category. The tropical-fruity-green character was different from other mass-market options, yet approachable enough for daily wear.
