Danube

[Silvertree]

Rhododendron and bellflower petals swirl through deep, cool, dark aquatic notes.

I first smelled this at the home of my friend (and BPAL enabler) linaerys. It was gorgeous in the bottle, so I'm hoping that it will like me back....

In the vial, Danube is cool and refreshing, with little tiny blossoms just barely peeking out. As many have noted before, it's the perfect scent for a muggy summer day.

After applying the oil to my skin, the most incredible things start to happen. My headache slowly melts away, I feel calm, cool, and collected, and even relaxed enough to put my head down on my desk and take a nap. I would love to put this on before going to bed, as I haven't felt this at peace in quite some time.

Regarding the fragrance: I couldn't be happier. I see that many people were assaulted by the evil grapefruit of R'lyeh travelling through the waterways to wreak havoc upon the unwary; my Danube experience remains unsullied by The Great Old Citrus. Not that I don't love grapefruit, for I do enjoy it, but there is simply no citrus to be found in this river today.

What I do smell is lovely, sweet, fresh water. If you've ever read C.S. Lewis's Voyage of the Dawn Treader, perhaps you'll recall Reepicheep's quest to find the Utter East- a place in his world where the sea is sweet.

Danube is that place. It is cool, refreshing, and sweet enough to be delightful without turning thick or cloying. The florals are light and breezy- not perfumey or heady, just barely scenting the air with their nectar.

It puts me in mind of slowly gliding down a gentle, lazy river- your craft hugs the banks in order to stay out of the sun, and you find yourself being lulled to sleep in the cool shade. For something so light and pleasant it seems to be clinging to my skin remarkably well- I've even washed my hands several times today without dislodging the scent.

It's utterly, amazingly gorgeous. I'm going to wear it all summer, and even on cold, crisp winter days! Even my hands and wrists are noticeably cooler than the spots that are Danube-less, and I'm going to enjoy staying cool and smelling great for many weeks to come.

[oakmoss]

I keep trying the aquatics in the hope that ONE of them will work on me, but alas, I have to add Danube to the pile of failures. In the imp and on application, strong grapefruit, and it was delightful to observe the stages of drydown morphing through that intense citrus sharpness into the pleasant sweet florals. But I don't get anything that feels watery to me, none of the cool blue goodness that others are writing of. I'll keep searching......

[OriginalWacky]

Bottle (Imp): Flowers.

 

Just On: Very flowery.

 

An hour or two later: Hmmm, aquatic, floral, and some soap.

 

Around 6 hours: Soapy aquatic flowers.

 

12 hours: Soap.

 

Overall: Yes, another scent my skin can turn into something generic and flowery. Blah.

 

After reading other reviews: I really liked the scent, but my skin ruined it.

[joseybird]

Sooooooooooo pretty!

 

Definately aquatic "bulby" florals, and very reminiscent of Amsterdam A beautiful spring and summer scent--light, airy, and soft

[Lori]

Sniffing the imp: A very sharp, tart grapefruit!

 

Wet on wrist: Grapefruit, again, but with a hint of floral. This is quite nice, actually!

 

Drier: Ok, the aquatic is really coming through, now and is invoking a cold and rainy night. As soon as the aquatics start coming out in a scent, it doesn’t seem to agree with me. Which is strange, as I love the rain, the smell of rain, the ocean, etc. But aquatics always smell like some sort of household cleaner, to me. So does ozone.

 

Dry: A definite watery floral, with a hint of grapefruit in the background. I loved the beginning of this…the grapefruit and the flowers. It is just the watery notes that I don’t like, but what can you expect from an oil named after a river? It is very pretty, but it is giving me a headache, so off to swaps it goes.

[carolinachiquita]

This was a frimp from the loverly Galen I was really excited about trying it as its one of the old style imps !!

 

I'm not a big aquatic person really (I suppose I should be really as I am a pisces but the aquatics just don't do much for me!) so I didn't have high hopes for this one. It was too aquatic when I first applied it but it levelled out to a nice fresh flowery smell that was quite nice! I still don't think its a "me" oil but its making me think about trying some of the other aquatic scents now!!

[sophia_helix]

I've tried so many aquatics now that they're all starting to run together in my mind a little, but this is a really nice balance between citrus, a hint of floral, and a genuine freshwater smell that I really loved, even if it faded away after a while.

 

It stayed more watery than most, didn't get hijacked by the florals, and didn't go to lemontown on me -- I think we have a winner. Add to that the fact that the staying power must be great, given that it was the first aquatic I could still smell the next morning. Yay!

[karikazo]

A nice light, delicate floral with the aquatic note, which smells like a sort of distant grapefruit on me. It's a very pretty scent, though not for me--I really don't like the aqua-grapefruit fragrance. But this would be great for someone who does like it who wants a light, gentle floral.

[urraca]

This starts out so beautifully. It is a lovely, sour, juicy, watery pineappley scent on me. But after a couple of hours it turns into my nemisis --- plastic doll. Ugh. Desdemona did kind of the same thing so they must share some note. So sad.

[Cesare]

Imp & Wet: Light and flowery. Kind of generically 'perfumey'. Hmm.

 

Drydown: Light, cool and floral. Not too sweet. But still with that 'perfume' smell: that typical chemical undertone of normal perfumes that's just so boring and blah. I know, I know, they're perfume oils, some of them are going to smell like perfume. But that's not a scent I'm into-- that's why I don't buy regular perfumes. I hope the 'perfume' smell goes away.

 

Dry: Mmm. Thank goodness, the typically 'perfume' smell faded away completely. Now Danube is lushly floral, definitely in full bloom, almost too sweet but not quite, thanks to a kind of tempering background watery aroma that fills the nose and balances with the sweetness. This also has a tiny hint of the cool note that I lovelovelove in Nocturne.

 

Very pleasant blend... calming and soothing.

[quimerula]

.Wet it's a very aquatic scent (as it should be because of its name, LOL!). It reminds me of Ophelia but it's stronger and not as sweet floral.

I imagine it green and blue with a sweet touch, but this one it's not a light aquatic scent, on my skin it's quite intense (even dried down) and it has an obscure edge.

[Brienze]

Wet, this smelled of rhododendron and something watery.

 

On, the something watery is stronger, almost brackish except not, because it isn't a salt smell... it is sharp though. There's a hint of some other floral in the background, which my uneducated nose guessed as buttercup, but is probably the bellflower. I also guessed "lilac", not because it smells anything like lilac, but because it's a very "blue" scent (and I've only one other time ever gotten a color from a smell). Blue Danube, indeed!

 

After an hour the sharp note calmed down and the rhododendron and other notes played nicely together. Lots of waft but not overpowering.

 

This is very long lasting on me! At about 9 hrs I washed my wrists before bedtime because I sleep with my hands near my face, and I was getting tired of smelling like SN Rhododendron by then. A day, a shower, and testing Jack on my arms later, and I can still smell a bit of Danube on my wrists.

 

I like this scent, but I get tired of it before it goes away. For once I wish for something to be not so long lasting!

 

My childhood home had rhododendrons lining the walk to a huge tree (cedar, maybe... something coniferous with peeling bark) that I used to play under all the time. I may keep this imp until Yew-Trees arrives... if they layer well, this would be the scent of my childhood playtime.

 

ETA: My first lab order got here the same day I posted this, and Danube was the frimp. Now I have a pristine one to swap, and one to save for Yew-Trees experimenting.

Edited October 20, 2005 by Brienze

[erikasilverstein]

Danube is a very pale scent, and fades fast on my skin.

Light, watery florals, and something juicy (honeydew melon?) wafting to the forefront.

 

Reminds me a bit of Rosalind (also aquatic florals, and also faded very fast).

 

Really nice, actually, but too light to wear.

[monozuki]

I can't say I actually know what rhododendron smells like or that I get any citrus in this. But! This is the first BPAL scent I've tried that has evoked so strongly for me exactly what the description has led me to believe. I've had it on for 30 minutes now and it hasn't changed except for possibly becoming a little softer -- for me, Danube is thick plants heavy with pollen bending over slow-moving water. Not entirely sure it is something I will want to wear often, but I'm fascinated by it, regardless.

[notagoth]

ooooh.

 

watermelon and grapefruit is what i'm getting, god help me. but it is lovely...making me thirsty....my mouth is watering. i'm not a huge fan of "cool" scents but this so far is at the top of my list of them.

[Katinka]

My first exposure to BPAL was with a crisp floral (Amsterdam), so I thought I'd give the seemingly similar Danube a whirl...

 

I was crossing my fingers for a grapefruit note from this, but alas -- pure flowers. Fresh-cut stems, to be sure, but not much complexity. It's a pretty and pleasant enough scent, though, and I'll enjoy the imp.

 

ETA: Seven hours later, Danube has softened up a bit and is growing on me. I wish Amsterdam had this staying power!

Edited December 10, 2005 by Katinka

[Celogrl]

Thisstuffisgorgeous! It's a lovely cool, clean, watery fragrance with some punch. It's not so clean it's insipid- it has a mysterious note to it. It's fresh but complex. It's clean water with a lot of spookiness to it. Like a deep lake with hidden mysteries under the surface. I can see me wearing it a lot.

[Polly]

I got this as a frimp from the generous Lab.

 

In the vial: Watery. Floral.

 

On wet: Oh how pretty!!! I love aquatics and think I've found the perfect one for me in Danube. It's light and cool. I don't get too much citrus. On me, it's just a beautifully delicate watery floral.

 

On drydown: It's very much a scent I could wear for everyday. Light, cool, and didn't change all that much. Lasted awhile on me, too.

 

I am absolutely loving this, and it's on my "must order a 10ml!" list for sure.

Edited January 3, 2006 by Polly

[feline.by.design]

This morning I was looking for something light, but not incredibly floral. Danube fit quite perfectly for my mood today; it was light, and a little sweet, but more of a citrus-sweet. The florals made me think of grapefruit as well. Rhododendron and bellflower aren't common notes in the BPAL fragrances I've tried, but if Danube is to be a representative of them, I would be willing to take chances on these scents more often.

 

This is a lovely clean, aquatic scent, but it's aquatic in it being "watery" as opposed to "ocean-like" or "salty." I had previously feared aquatics, but more and more scents are becoming enjoyable. This would be a fantastic fragrance for spring and summer. I'm hoping to acquire a bottle once the warmer seasons come.

 

-doreen

[Miss Lynx]

I tried this at the same time as Amsterdam, because they both seemed like watery florals that might be dreadful on me, but which I wanted to at least try before consigning them to the swaps (got them as frimps from the Lab).

 

Neither were really as strongly floral as I expected, not even on my floral-amping skin. And of the two, Danube is definitely the stronger and more distinctive. It does come across as slightly floral, but there's also a strong fruity element, and a definite aquatic feel. It's very much a watery, cool-smelling scent.

 

A lot of people have mentioned grapefruit -- I don't get that so much, but there's definitely something fruity here, and I could see it being citrus of some sort. But it doesn't really seem to have the bitterness of grapefruit.

 

My strongest impression of it, though, is that it's very Body Shop-ish -- more than anything I've encountered, it smells like the overall ambient scent of that store. This is what I would come home smelling like when I used to work there, many years ago -- a sort of mixed fruity-floral-herbal generic quasi-natural perfuminess (quasi-natural in that it's the sort of thing synthetic perfumers come up with when they want something to smell "natural").

 

Definitely brings back a few memories, but I'm not sure it's something I need to smell like again.

 

Grade: C+

[Thaleia]

The Lab was kind enough to send me an imp of this with one of my many 'last orders'.

 

Rhododendron and bellflower? That's new and interesting, especially for BPAL blends. I'm not sure what bellflowers are supposed to smell like, but we had a huge rhododendron bush outside the house I grew up in, so I'm kind of excited to see what Beth's done with it. I'm also a fan of aquatic notes.

 

Oooh. That's kind of neat, what it smells like in the bottle. That's the rhododendron bush next to my living room window, alright. It's a sharp floral, made sharper with the aquatics. It's a really fresh, clean scent - not soapy clean, but Germany-in-springtime clean. I've never actually been cruising down the Danube River, but I'd imagine that this is what it'd smell like at the height of spring. I'm imagining standing on the bow of a ship on a sunny day, watching the green fields dotted with purple flowers pass by on either side of me. The drydown makes the floral come out a bit more and makes the aquatics recede. Ah, very European. Dry it's a very clean spring-fresh floral, like freshly laundered clothing on a clothesline hanging outside by a garden.

 

I don't know that I'd wear Danube very often, as often as my other favourites, but it's well worth keeping the imp and I may very well get a bottle eventually (if I don't receive another imp in the mail!).

[yeahbutnobut]

Danube

 

In the imp: grapefruit?!?! Yup, that's what I get here…grapefruit! Not something I'd associate with the Danube, but still, it's grapefruit. (and thankfully other reviews mention grapefruit, so yay, my nose isn't crazy!)

Wet on skin: now a gentle watery floral creeps out of the 'grapefruit' scent.

Dry on skin: I like this. I still get hints of grapefruit, but the scent is more complex, interesting and truer to the description. I'm not familiar with the scent of rhododendron and bellflower, but I get a soft floral scent now, with a slightly tart (thanks to the hint of grapefruit) but fresh and pleasant aquatic note. It's almost ozone but not salty-it's a freshwater scent, but it is a bit citrus-peel like, a very moist, crisp and clean note, and it's not soapy.

After a while: eventually the 'grapefruit' fades leaving behind a lighter aquatic note. It now smells clean, fresh and cool, very watery, and with a little bit of floral-like petals floating on water. After a few hours, it is still that same cool aquatic, only paler (like a white floral note is in here as well), and fainter.

Verdict: the most surprising thing about this scent was the fact that, to me, it smelt like grapefruit! However, on the skin, the floral and aquatic notes come out more and the scent becomes truer to the description. It's a lovely scent too-a fresh, calm aquatic note-crisp, moist and clean, almost like ozone but not salty or oceanic at all (this is a river after all) which grows stronger until the odd 'grapefruit' note disappears altogether. The drydown of the scent is a gentle cool aquatic scent with a hint of white floral. A very pleasant, laid back watery scent, evocative of petals floating on a stream, this isn't one I need a bottle of, but I think it will be lovely for spring.

[Babylon]

Grapefruit for me too, for a little bit! This is something that R'yleh never did smell like to me at all.

 

Wet: A grapefruit body wash, that clean zesty citrus smell, but not soapy.

 

Dry: No more grapefruit, that only lasted a few minutes. Now it's SWEET flower petals floating on water. Very clean, fresh, and bright.

 

An hour later, it's still almost overwhelmingly sweet flowers. This is a little too clean and sweet for me, though I do like it. I think I'm going to try layering it with something else in the future, to tone it down a bit.

 

Wanted to add that after two or three hours, it... well... kinda smells like overly floral scented soap in someone's bathroom. I'm still going to give it another try, and see if it's different a second time around.

Edited February 3, 2006 by Babylon

[bellis]

Hee! This smells like a Monet looks!

 

Very aquatic, with soft refreshing florals. It really does smell like a clear river with some waterlillies floating on it. I like it, but it doesn't take the place of Amsterdam for me.

[AlaskaSnows]

A little water, a little flower, and a watermelon, complete with green rind. Fun, not too sweet, and I love it.