perfume

Nowadays, when you hear “Ungaro” you think of the dismally received fashion show fronted by “artistic designer”, Lindsay Lohan. Thankfully, it has not always been that way.

Emanual Ungaro, born in 1933, took to sewing, as his father had done. So much that by the time he was 22 he moved to Paris, & 3 years later he was designing for the House of Cristobal Balenciaga. He stayed there for 3 years before moving on to design for André Courrèges. Only 4 years later, in 1965, he opened his own fashion house – having his first Prêt-à-Porter collection and opening his first stores in 1968.

For the next 30 years, he expanded stores and licensing agreements. Along the way, he created perfumes – Diva (1983), Senso (1987), Ungaro (1991) and Emanuel Ungaro For Men (1991). In 1997, Emanuel Ungaro partnered with Salvatore Ferragamo and Bulgari to create a new company: Emanuel Ungaro Parfums. This company produced the fragrances Fleur de Diva (1997), Desnuda (2001) and Apparition (2004).

Keeping with the history of creating scents, in 2008, Ungaro teamed with Avon to create two new frangrances: Avon U by Ungaro for Her and Avon U by Ungaro for Him. The sucess of these fragrances led Avon and Ungaro to collaborate again – this time with color cosmetics – “U by Ungaro Color Collection”.

This Limited Edition collection contains 8 pieces, ranging from $10 to $20. It includes 3 lipsticks (*including one in the iconic Fuscia color “Ungaro Pink”), 3 eyeshadows and 2 face shimmer powders.

I’ve had a chance to try some of these, and I gotta say that I like the pink packaging – looks very luxe. The only thing I didn’t care for, was the lipstick case. It looks nice and sleek, but the top to pull out the lipstick is small and the tube itself is slick, making it difficult to open. It has a sheer ribbon on top, and while it may just be there for decoration, it became my go to way to open it. But, once it was open, I liked the texture.

So, when I tell you this is Limited Edition, I mean it – it’s only going to be around until December 31st. Then *poof*, it’s gone. So, hit up Avon.com or your local Avon representative and take a look at this collection with a pedigree for yourself.