Windward Passage

[milo]

Breezes blowing off of the waters of the Caribbean: marine accord, seaweed, and bladderwrack.

I think this would smell great on a guy, an outdoorsy type. For me, it is a fresh, clean soapy scent. I have a non-scented cleaner I use and added my spare imp to it, I think it would also make a good room scenter for the "spring cleaning" feel. A little to ozoney and masculine for me to wear, a little goes a long way!

[sirsaber]

This is a pleasant scent of salty breezes and kinda reminds me of clothes drying on the clothesline outside. There is a definite soap scent to it but its pleasant. Its like...living in a house on a cliff overlooking the sea and drying your clothes outside after a nice wash.

 

Its pleasant.

[kamikat]

This is the only BPAL scent I've tried that I have hated. In the bottle and on me, it smells like cheap hand soap. I immediately gave it to a friend who liked it. I couldn't wait to get rid of this.

[innocent]

I cannot pull off Windward passage. The initial salty tang in interesting, though not something I'd wear, but the drydown is a very potent soap. Aquatics and I do not get along very well, and this is no exception.

[Seismogenic]

The last frimp from my recent order! This is one that I'd been kind of curious about while skimming the Wanderlust page, but not enough relative to others for me to actually put it on my wishlist. But now it has made its way here anyway!

 

In the imp: Salty seawater. Smells pretty much exactly like the beach!

 

Wet on skin: Salt water and something greenly salty, which I assume is the seaweed. Again, exactly like the beach.

 

Drydown: Freshly dry is pretty much the same: salty seaweedy beachy water. At one hour in, it still hasn't morphed scentwise at all, though it is less strong.

 

Five hours later: There's something very faintly salty left, but I have to press my nose onto my wrist to get it.

 

End of the day: Completely gone.

 

Overall: This smells exactly as I expected based on the description, and is incredibly evocative of the beach (though as others in this thread have said, this is one unusually clean beach). Staying power is not its strong suit, though. While I do like this, I still think I prefer Lightning in terms of aquatics, which adds electricity to the mix and which lasts a lot longer on me.

[isisonearth]

Imp: Salty, salty sea. Reminds me a bit of Selkie but less complex.

 

Wet: Very bright and sunny on the Windward Passage. Mellow marine scent that is nice and salty with a touch of green.

 

Dry: Tends a bit more towards the manly side as it dries down for me. I'm losing the saltiness and gaining cologne. As much as I loved the wet phase the drydown isn't for me.

[obsidienne]

This reminds me of your average marine-themed bath products -- all green-blue seaweeds & a hint of ocean salt. It's not my kind of perfume, but I can see myself putting a bit of it in the bathtub (or an oil burner while in the tub).

[tajana]

This is actually the first aquatic scent I've tried because they've never interested me. In the imp and fresh on the skin, it does indeed smell like ocean water! Aquatic and a bit salty. The seaweed note comes out as this is drying down. But it doesn't take long before I stop thinking "ocean" and start thinking of something between light masculine cologne and liquid hand soap. There is nothing sweet or frilly about this and I'm thinking that this might smell better on a man. It's just not my thing.

[catatonic1242]

In the imp: Saltwater with an almost floral perfume note underneath.

 

On, wet: Exactly like it smells in the imp. Cool and blue.

 

On, dry: Way more floral than I'd expected, although not altogether bad. It is a little soapy, though.

[catattack]

Imp: ozone-y men's cologne

Wet: Reminiscent of a clean-scented soap

Drydown: Someone had previously said that it's like marine-scented bath products. I have to agree. This scent is blue-green. Initially, I didn't smell the salty kelp. After about an hour, the ozone-y note goes away and is replaced by a sea water scent. Very interesting.

Overall: This would be great as a bath or room scent like others have said. But I don't see myself wearing this. It has really strong throw. I think I'll put some in my oil warmer and scent the house with it this summer.

[ImperatrixMundi]

Ultra clean clean clean, sharp aquatic/ozone. Whoa. Would make a good bathroom spray but cant do it as perfume.

[TheOneTheyCallLuna]

Ugh, the seaweed in this blend is so lovely and unique that I really want to love it, but the strong "fresh" aquatics are pushing this blend into men's sports deodorant territory for me, unfortunately.

[bubblefish]

Oh my, this is pure salty tang! It's like being at the beach on a sunny day, though the wind is gusting somewhat and carrying a salty smell over the hot sands. It's a little like the opposite of The Deep Ones. However, in the background there is a hint of soapiness, so I'm not entirely sure I like this scent.

[rayvn1]

Starts off as a joyous bellowing billow of sea air. Then it turns ever so surely into dryer sheets. Sad I'll stick with Captain Jack and The Phoenix.

[comearoundruby]

i wanted salt, seaweed, ocean breezes....i've got soap. a very nice soap, but soap.

 

in the bottle: wet soap.

wet on skin: freshly washed hands

dry some time later: post-bathtime

 

all and all though, i think i might like it. i mean, it isn't as if i don't like the smell of soap. because i do. but not for wearing everyday.

[Aldercy]

I would actually quite like soap scented like Windward Passage, but as a perfume it's just, well... soap. A very soft, fluffed up ozone. Like a bank of clouds rolling in off the ocean. Think Bath & Body Works Sea Island Cotton. If you like extremely pure scents like that, this is a good one, but I personally find it a little too generic.

[ellebelle]

This smells like dial soap. I mean, just like dial soap on my skin. My boyfriend uses dial and I did a side by side sniff test with him and he couldn't tell the difference either. Definitely not what I would want to wear for perfume.

[revinn]

Strong, acrid aquatic. NEXT.

 

Out of 10: 1.

[Caerphilly]

In the Imp: Smells a bit like Irish Spring. Citrus, water, refreshing clean and green.

 

Wet: Astringent. Still refreshing but a bit strong.

 

Dry: Very faint, but still clean and refreshing. The astringent smell fades, and it's a light salty and citrus aquatic.

 

Overall: Love how refreshing and clean this smells. Doesn't last long at all, though, and it's a bit too masculine for me. Will give the imp to my boyfriend and see if he'll wear this!

[Lupin1]

To me this starts out smelling exactly like Chance by Chanel-- my signature scent from high school, so I absolutely love it. It's clean and sharp and watery and just beautiful. If only it would stay like that on me. It very quickly turns into pure dove soap on me.

[donnatron]

Imp: I sniff this and I'm like "WTF? Why did I want to smell like this?" Then I remember that I have this weird thing about wanting to try all the Wanderlust scents. It smells like low tide.

 

Wet: Soap and low tide and a little bit of that knock off Cool Water Woman scent you'd find at liquidation stores in the late 90s.

 

Dry: Okay, dry this is actually a bit nice. Still strong and slightly soapy but definitely aquatic. It smells like the ocean. It conjures up memories of digging for sand dollars in Tofino. So it's pretty and evocative but I can't shake that feeling of low tide from it. A borderline lovely/borderline gross scent. Definitely getting the seaweed. I'm torn on the whole scent. On the one hand I know that I will most likely never crack this imp again but I also know that it's not the imp's fault. It falls just short of working on my skin chemistry and even if it worked fabulously I've never liked aquatics and as such would never reach for it. It's not you, Windward Passage, it's me.

 

Throw: Pretty strong.

 

Overall: Yeah. It's not you, it's me. This is a great scent for those who want to smell like the ocean. I am the landlocked sort and it's just not my style. An interesting and spot on aquatic.

[Tanya]

This is really not bad.....

In vial: Very clean, ocean.

Wet and morphing: Laundry with, OMG- yech, ammonia tossed in for extra cleaning power.

Dry: Yay! Ammonia gone. This smells like what I was hoping Sea of Glass would be before it turned to cheap bargain bin candle on me.

I got this as an imp, gratis from the lab. They sure know how to rope a girl in.....

 

Later: Thiis simply wonderful. I have gone back to this several times. It's just great for times when I need to clear my head. It's reviving AND smells good.

Edited February 13, 2010 by Tanya

[yellowbread]

This smells the same in the imp as it does on my skin. It doesn't smell soapy to me, but it does smell exactly like my bathroom does after I've cleaned it- fresh, aquatic and slightly harsh on my nose. To be honest, I actually really like cleaning my bathroom, so this scent is really nice to me, but not something I'd wear.

[moon_lemming]

Lemon! And something that smells kind of like BPAL's interpretation of "stone." As it dries, Windward Passage becomes more aquatic (which means SOAPY on my skin) and sharp. Once it's been sitting for a while, though, the soap quiets down and it settles into a salty aquatic that is actually pretty, even with my anti-aquatic chemistry.

 

It is very beachy, and it's nice but not really something I'd wear except for twice a year.

[sunlitgarden]

Windward Passage

 

This is the second marine aquatic I've tried (after Sea Foams Blood). I sniffed this in the bottle at Sakuracon and thought it smelled really good, very true to the name -- like being on a ship with breezes and crashing waves. I ordered an imp, but unfortunately was somewhat disappointed compared to that first sniff. (I think my nose was overwhelmed!)

 

Wet: Light citrus, with bits of what seem like unidentified florals. My SO thought it smelled like dryer sheets. It's salty, but lighter than The Sea Foams Blood which was very salt-heavy on me.

 

Dry: Strong lemony-citrus... and there's a very slight undertone of a weird musty smell (ozone maybe?) Unfortunately, the whole cleaner/dryer sheets/laundry soap vibe is still there. It's really too bad that such smells have been so heavily utilized by the cleaning products industry that that's the association I have, since it could be very pleasant.

 

Off to swaps...

Edited June 4, 2010 by sunlitgarden