Water of Notre Dame

[Soupy Twist]

Brings peace to the spirit, a sense of calm and fulfillment, and attracts the aid of beneficial spirits.

 

Our Lady needs to calm down. Starts as a watery green, which is nice, but it quickly becomes too sweet, and then too green. It's like I'm drowning in cucumber juice.

[LizziesLuck]

Wet: A blast of very realistic lime. Tart! Some herbal greenness as well. Not getting the aquatic I was expecting.

 

 

Dry: Green and herbal. A little sour, but not in an unpleasant way. Not really my type of thing, but glad to have gotten to try it.

[freyasfae]

I have seen several reviews mentioning not liking the watery note, and I wondered why, but I get it now. Now, I don't hate this by any means, in fact, I have rarely found a BPAL scent I hate, this is very pretty, but it's not me - and doesn't really induce calm and fulfillment in me. It's just a watery, floral, very pretty, but that's about where it ends for me.

[BeyondBad1313]

Very aquatic and calming. This scent is soft enough to not kill my nose, but loud enough to be smelled from a distance. I have no way to describe this one other than fresh water. It is a bit similar to vial of holy water, but I have to say I like that one much more.

[Casablanca]

Bottle: Clean, watery, green-tinged floral. Water lilies and lime?

Wet: Aquatic lime. It reminds me of a gin and tonic. It seems I need to visit Notre Dame.

Dry: As this dries, something really unpleasant comes out on my skin. It's like sour brown lime meets dirty sock. That was a change...

Not my cup of water.

[Convallaria]

I somehow managed to miss the reviews mentioning melon! Thankfully, it's not too sweet or potent, and herbal elements temper it even further. So even if you, like me, aren't a fan of melon, it might be worth a try. Sadly this is one of BPAL oils my skin soaks up pretty fast, with barely-there throw and low wear length.

[PeculiarHeroine]

This is a green scent, and quite strong, but theres an herbal spiciness to it, that keeps it from getting too "fresh," is you get my meaning.

I'm always a little iffy on green perfumes, but this one didnt make me feel like I was wearing cabbage or watercress, so thats a win in my book.

[gloame]

I think I've tried Water of Notre Dame 12 times by now. The name really calls to me and I desperately want to love it, but... it just doesn't work on my skin. In my original assessment in my scents spreadsheet, I called this "spiritual lilies". I think it's pretty much the same to me now. It's fresh floral, not aquatic, and definitely peaceful. The scent that could bring you closer to a higher power... but probably better left to diffusing during yoga session than my skin. You know... I think I AM going to try diffusing it during yoga. I bet it would really help my flow.

 

ETA 7/15/17: Still don't like it.

 

Where I'd wear it: Amsterdam yoga with a super spiritual yogini

Edited July 16, 2017 by gloame

[Mermaid-on-Land]

Very light, watery herbal notes. I can barely smell it with my nose pressed to my wrist. When I do smell it I get an almost lettucey note. Meh. Light scents aren't my thing. My chemistry does nothing for them and they don't grab my attention at all. There's something powdery and perhaps a bit soapy on me, it unfortunately reminds me of an old deodorant I used to hate. Hmm. This might not work so great on me. It's got a hint of mintiness too. Later on the lettuce/vegetal note fades and it's a teensy bit more floral but not sweet. Springy. Calm. Like slight ripples on a pond surrounded by greenery on a warm day in May. Or looking at a Monet painting. Yeah that's it. It's oddly impressionist. I do feel pretty chill and calm but I'm not sure if that's placebo effect haha. I'm quite susceptible to being influenced by the descriptions of these scents so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Eventually this develops (and then completely changes to) the same odd stale note that happened with Prague. Some light floral apparently does not like me.

Edited January 20, 2017 by Mermaid-on-Land

[Lucchesa]

Funny how Mermaid-on-Land found this too faint for her. I had the opposite reaction. I liked the lovely floral tones in the imp so I dabbed some on my wrists before walking to a nearby cafe to meet a new client. Most BPAL oils are pretty private on my skin, and I thought it would be a nice confidence booster. Ironically, this was a lecture I would be giving at a local Catholic Church. And I quickly found out Water of Notre Dame is STRONG on me. I kept thinking this guy was going to think I was some kind of fallen woman, wearing too much perfume.

 

For me the dominant note seemed to be lilies. I like Gloame's description: "spiritual lilies.". I have had this experience with one other oil I've tried recently: Imperious Tiger Lily. So it seems that my skin amps lilies. Hurray - I seem to damp down most everything else. Anyway, I often find real lilies cloying, but Beth works her magic with both these blends, and they are gorgeous. I just need to apply sparingly. Not sure about the calming effect -- I need to try again in a less nerve-wracking situation.

[Spaztic]

Watery floral and slightly herbal

This is the kind of thing that my skin chemistry destroys, the nice aquatic and herbal will be completely downed out

I'm getting more dusty floral now

not really my thing

[mishi-bear]

Water of Notre Dame is definitely an aquatic scent. There's something green and herbal to it, and some florals that I think are white. It also smells to me almost like there's some citrus hiding in this somewhere. It could be lime like people are suggesting.

 

Overall, it's pleasant. It definitely smells clean and nice.

[achildoftime]

This is a quiet scent on me. It's very close to the skin. There's a slight floral quality to it, maybe water lilies, but it's mostly an aquatic scent. There might be a bit of white musk in here, too. I don't have any qualms with it in principle, but I think it's a little simple even if the scent itself isn't bad.

[dementia_divine]

In the imp: Aquatic lime. It reminds me of those lime Freeze Pops.

 

Wet: It’s lime Freeze Pop on me at first, but then it becomes more aquatic and floral as it sits on my skin.

 

Dry: This is still very green, but it’s more of a fresh green now. It has a dewy quality to it as well. Like a dewy, pink rose with the stem and leaves still attached.

 

This ends up getting sweeter on my skin, and violet is the culprit. It ends up being aquatic violet on me either accompanied by a citrus-y floral like peony or with something adding that clean, aquatic vibe in the background with a tinge of citrus.

 

Verdict: Water of Notre Dame is not something I would reach for again, but it was nice to be able to try it.

[Ghost of a Rose]

Lab Frimp 2018

 

Sniffing the vial, I get an immediate reaction: I KNOW this smell. Really, really, really know it. Something I've smelled 10,000 times. But I'm racking my brain and can't come up with a name.

 

I gave up thinking logically and just let my mind wander while sniffing. It only took a moment for a picture to appear in my mind. Very detailed and vivid, and, yes, it is a scene I've seen a thousand times. My Mom's white ceramic Christmas bowl, painted with red and green designs around the rim with a Christmas tree in the center. And in the bowl lies a half-peeled tangerine, with some stem and leaves still attached. A couple of peelings lay upside down beside it, but all the fruit segments are still intact. I can see the rough, wrinkled skin of the peel that's still on the fruit, and the gap between the peel and the pulp (the reason why tangerines are so easy to peel.)

 

Yep, that's it. Tangerine. And only tangerine. The scent in this oil is every bit as real and vivid as the image in my mind.

 

I lived in the Phoenix area until I was 56. Every house I lived in had lots of citrus trees, including tangerines, oranges, and grapefruit. The house I grew up in had 3 different varieties of tangerines, among other citrus trees. And all winter long, while they were in season, that bowl sat on either our dining or coffee table, filled with tangerines. Apparently that was the designated tangerine bowl. I don't remember oranges or grapefruit ever being in it. Those were always in a huge brown Melmac bowl.

 

So yeah, I know the scent of tangerine.

 

Once applied to my wrist, the tangerine note diasappears quickly. Just as well. I don't want to go around smelling like something to eat, so I wouldn't like this blend if the tangerine stuck around. But it was fun since it lasted for such a short time.

 

From then on, it's a mild violet. There seems to be something else there too, especially as time goes on, but it's too faint to identify. Maybe a soft musk or amber?

 

Personally, I don't get any watery note at any time. Maybe a bit of green with the tangerine in the beginning. That would be the tangerine stem and leaves.

 

I have no idea what tangerines, or any of the other notes I perceived, have to do with water, or Our Lady, or her famous cathedral. I've been there, and didn't smell any of those things! But never mind, it's a nice scent, and I do love the name.

 

Pleasant and discreet, a perfect everyday perfume.

 

My rating: 4 out of 5 stars

 

P.S. My parents still own that house (although it is now rented out because they need 24/7 care) and the citrus trees are still there.

Edited August 10, 2018 by Ghost of a Rose