F5

[ginevra]

A refreshing scent! GET IT?! Aloe, white musk, lime peel, fresh mint, seaspray, verbena and green tea.

I love so many of the notes in this - green tea, mint, aloe - but I think the seaspray is making it go a bit household-cleaning-product on me. Yet I can't bring myself to part with this, I keep trying it, sniffing from the bottle, wearing it...I like the notes under the seaspray, but the salt is warping it on me somehow.

[smallvoice]

Like Ginevra, the seaspray notes just don't work for me. It is refreshing, but it simply isn't my type of scent... and that's sad. For me! But somebody else will love it, and the cycle of swapping will return something to me that I must love. Still, I was so prepared to be head over heels with this one that I'm a bit wistful.

 

And, seriously, how awesome is the label?

 

ETA: Proper spelling.

Edited October 30, 2006 by cordia

[Celenth]

In the imp: Hello, lime. There's green tea in there, too. Mmm. It's just tasty.

 

Wet: CITRUS!! This is lime, lime, and more lime -- hints of green tea and mint are definitely in the background, but it reminds me of those lime hard candies from when I was a kid. It's very refreshing and almost tasty. A very 'green' scent with a tiny aquatic note.

 

It's a pretty light scent, though, not the throw I was hoping -- but I do feel absolutely refreshed while wearing it.

 

Drydown: Still a very light throw. The tea and mint are becoming more prominent.

 

10 minutes later...: Aaaaaaand, out of nowhere, I suddenly smell exactly like a dryer sheet. Seriously. Identical. I pulled one out and checked it against my wrist. Damn. I like smelling clean, but not THAT clean.

 

Hopefully the dryer sheet effect is just a hormone thing, I'll give F5 another shot in a week. It's lovely, I'm not normally a citrus or lime kind of gal, but this is absolutely fabulous before it turns wonky.

[Ghost_Light]

The first time I tried this, it was late in the evening and I was on muscle relaxants. In other words, not quite myself and often my sniffer will reflect that.

 

My first (altered) perception of F5 was "Gah! Jasmine! And something under the jasmine!"

 

I tried it again.

 

In the imp - very bitter. citrus, minty bitterness.

 

Wet - Bitter and very, very citrus. Something under it that was.....how did my hubby put it..."cleanser-y."

 

Dry - The same. The harshness was, I think it was the verbena, which can get a little sharp, even in Shanghai. There seemed to be something in the floral spectrum trying to make an appearance as well, but it was so acrid I could not shake the impression of jasmine.

 

Keping the imp? I gave it to Geolinguist

 

Bottle? Only for Geolinguist.

Edited March 17, 2007 by Ghost Light

[Kitrona]

I got a decant of this and tried it. Wet, it was the grass after an early summer storm, with kids in galoshes splashing in puddles. When it dried, it was a later summer storm, at night, warm and mysterious and daring me to go out and play in the rain.

 

Additionally, I find it helps a bit with my depression. This is a must-have for me.

[Elrianra]

Green sweet cool fresh... all of these and more. On me, there's a sharp aloe and lime with verbena high note, based by seaspray which gives it a crisp high clear scent. As it dries, this one goes lime and mint green tea, which is lovely and so softly cooling. The aloe in this really stands out in a cooling effect on the back of the nose, keeping it all subtle and pleasant. Dry, the verbena and mint stand out and then suddenly pass for the musk to lift up, toned and evened by lime and aloe... This just keeps shifting and changing. Oh so lovely. A shame I only got the one bottle.

[biernaise]

Yummy green tea and mint! The lime is minimal on me and my skin eats this one up in about 15 minutes boooooo!

 

I love the green aquatic quality though and I will experiment with using a carrier oil on my skin just before application to hasten the drydown and subsequent spazz-out that occurs when I am unscented.

[gravedigger]

in the bottle: F5 smells almost like some perfume my mom wears - very mature (but not old-lady-ish) and pretty.

on my skin: this is a really light, citrusy, refreshing scent. It would be a good room scent.

overall: pretty, but not something I would ever wear.

[mtlaise]

All the notes in this sounded appealing, so I was curious to see how they would all work together. Wet, this was a very green smell for me. As it began the drydown, the aloe and mint were definitely at the top, followed by the aloe. I sniffed again after about 20 minutes, and it smelled very familiar, but I couldn't figure it out... something I remember from when I was a kid, not at all unpleasant, but not what I associate with perfume either - it's Zest! Wow, there must be something in here that my chemistry does funny things to, because I'm pretty sure it's not supposed to smell Zest-fully clean... Ah well... I loved the wet and early dry down stages, but don't really want to smell like soap all day.

[Electra]

God, this is SO GOOD.

 

If this is masculine, well, call me a dude . But then again, I do tend to do well with the scents that other reviewers call masculine!

 

I see the similarities to Shanghai, but I like this much better. Shanghai, to me, was a dead ringer for Elizabeth Arden Green Tea, which I used to wear when I was in late high school/early college. This scent I find much more interesting. I think it's the aloe and white musk that give it the slight edge that I really enjoy. At first it's citrusy, then it dries down into something intensely clean. Just delightful for hot weather.

 

 

I love clean scents. This is a great one.

[outofrhyme]

In the bottle:

Zesty. Mostly lime, mint, green tea and white musk.

 

Wet:

Aloe, white musk... verbana is definitely there but not lemon pledge... green tea note smells kinda funny. Getting a little bit of the lime and mint. It smells a lot like lotion.

 

Dry down:

Aloe and green tea. Somewhere between lotion and a light perfume.

 

Final thoughts:

It's okay... but it's too "lotion." Probably not something I'd really wear.

[ladytaga]

I smell the tea and lime..very cool and refreshing. I love it

It lasts for a really long time (the next day I can sometimes smell a hint of it) I sniff my wrist and my bf loves it too.

Perhaps I just like soap/dryer sheet scents I just like the clean smell.

[emzebel]

A fresh aquatic - I would love for more lime, tea and verbena, but alas, it is not to be on my skin. A nice inoffensive blend, but not one that really sparkles with my chemistry.

[crazyredhead17]

My skin goes all wacky during the winter, so I tend to space showers out more than I should, and then cover up with perfume. Whereas Dirty went all floral on me, F5 is a bright, happy, clean scent with no soapiness anywhere.

 

When I'm not stinky, I can pick out the tea and the lime and the mint. On me, it's a wonderful, perky, refreshing scent. This one is going into my summer perfume rotation for sure!

[ktesedale]

I like almost all the notes in this, but I didn't have very high hopes, unfortunately, as green tea tends to go very much like a sharp almost herbal lemon on my skin, and that's what I got from F5. Very, very citrusy, very lemony, very little anything else. It's nice enough, but it's nothing I would wear often.

 

Also, I had a hard time telling the difference between this scent and Embalming Fluid in either the bottle or on my skin, and they have a *lot* of notes in common. So fans of either should try the other one.

[hepkitten]

I'm so glad that a kind swapper traded me for this!

 

If Bulgari's Green Tea scent decided to hang out at a Bath and Body Works for a day, this would be the result. It has that lovely crispness and freshness of green tea, but there's a sweet, fruity note underneath.

 

In some ways, this is one of the more "commercial" blends from BPAL that I've tried, but in this case, that's not a bad thing.

[grifyn_whiffs]

In the bottle this smells very fresh... dewy, bright, clean and pale yellowy-green. To my nose, it smells very "expensive day spa" -- that sort of subtle, tasteful, grown-up quality. It is a pick-me-up sort of scent, the kind you might want for your soap during a morning shower or a linen spray.

 

Sadly, this doesn't stick around on my skin. The lime stayed in the back, and I LOVE lime. COME OUT, LIME! :throws rock at window:

 

While this one is good, my skin ate it pretty quickly as it does any "delicate" fragrance I've ever encountered.

 

I do love it, though...

[Shollin]

First sniff: Hee hee! F5 is indeed quite refreshing. It’s along the same lines as Shanghai or Embalming Fluid, that soft citrus-tea combination, with a little extra zing of mint.

 

Wearing: Limey minty tea-y goodness!

[bristlecone]

This didn't leave a huge impression on me when I first bought it, but today was a very warm day here (only supposed to hit 72 but I think it got much, much warmer) and I had a 2-hour class in a stuffy room. So F5 made the day a lot more comfortable for me.

 

Wet, it smells like a lime lollipop dipped in powdered laundry detergent. I know, that sounds gross. But it smells soooo good.

 

As it dries I get a bit of the mint, and a lot of the seaspray and green tea. I never really get much white musk.

 

This smells very unisex to me. I'm not sure why some people think it's so masculine, but to each their own. And it's not at all overpowering, which is key in hot weather.

[TheIceMaiden]

But somebody else will love it, and the cycle of swapping will return something to me that I must love. Still, I was so prepared to be head over heels with this one that I'm a bit wistful.

 

I have your bottle now (thank you!) and I am liking this!!

 

Its pretty warm today so its a good time to test out F5. Wet, its seaspray that *just* borders on smelling like drying sheets. Yikes! Thankfully, it fades out and I get green tea and aloe with a hint of lime. I'm going to be enjoying this scent during the upcoming summer. Its light and very refreshing indeed, not much throw, but it smells so pretty and clean.

[edenssixthday]

F5 – This smells like an iced tea I’d want to drink in the summer time. It’s mostly green tea on me with a splash of lemon and a zing of tart lime followed by the faintest hint of mint. It’s definitely a refreshing scent. When I first tried it last year, I didn’t find it appealing at all. However, as spring is in the air, and I’m in the mood for things that I are lighter and more sunny and refreshing, this scent is quite appealing, despite not being the type of blend I would typically enjoy. It’s very bright and fresh, and has better throw than I would have expected from something made up of so many notes that tend to be light on me. The wear length is poor, but this will be absolutely perfect in the months ahead.

[spring heel]

I love the blend, but it hates me. For the few minutes that I can smell it on my skin F5 amazing but it quickly fades next to nothing. No more than 15 minutes later I have to press my nose all the way against my skin and start huffing my wrists to catch a whiff. Not a very appealing look for me.

[hackess]

I'm not usually one for light fruity scents, but I LOVE F5!

 

It's an incredibly fresh scent. The lime is energizing, the green tea and aloe refreshing and calming. Dichotomous, no? Every single note in this blend works on me! I bought an entire bottle untested after reading reviews and I'm so glad I did.

[n1k1ta]

This is just like Embalming Fluid. I kid you not. The verbena is the only subtle, and I mean subtle, difference between F5 and Embalming Fluid. The life is just about the same too. The only difference I really see is the price.

[Carmencita]

In the Bottle: aloe, green tea, and lemon

 

On me: lemon and lime iced tea

 

Later: becomes oceany and masculine

 

Verdict: It's okay, but it reminds me too much of a lotion I used to have and didn't like.