Watery &/or Aquatic Florals

[Beatrice33]

Hi Lovely BPALers,

 

I have been sticking lately to vanillas, ambers, and spicy scents, but suddenly I'm craving something lighter, more sparkling. A friend of mine this weekend had on a scent that I fell in love with--Hermes Jardin Sur le Nil. Very sparkling, and described as a watery floral with a little bright fruit. It makes me want to try to find a sparkling, watery floral from BPAL.

 

I haven't ventured into aquatics too much at BPAL (or elsewhere) because the often turn to dryer sheet on me. I don't like anything too "clean", sharp, or venturing into "cologne" territory. But if there is a bit of floral or citrus added, I think certain acquatics might work, especially if there was light amber or vanilla or something in the background to warm it up just a bit.

 

My thoughts for imps so far are:

Amsterdam

Lady of Shalott

Black Pearl

 

A few in the salon that caught my eye are:

Sunrise with Sea Monsters

Itasô Kansei Nenkan Jorô No Fûzoku

The Lantern Ghost of Oiwa

Kiyohime Changes From a Serpent

 

I've almost really liked a few of the Asian inspired scents, for example Earth Rat and Hungry Ghost Moon, but those two became too fruity/sweet on me. I love Xiutecuhtli, which is to me a scent of greenery with a warmth in the background from the amber.

 

Any thoughts or recommendations for me? Am I on the right track with some of my ideas? Can you help me decide which of those 4 salons to try first?

 

Thank you so much in advance!!

 

~Bea

Edited February 28, 2010 by Beatrice33

[Lorelai1945]

Definitely try Lyonesse- it's slightly aquatic, but warmed as you mentioned- can't remember if it's vanilla or amber, but with one of the two.

 

Lady of Shalott is nice, but it's not bright or warm- it dries down to a very melancholy, slightly watery floral. It's almost...bitter once it dries. (Which matches the poem nicely.)

[autumnal]

Hi Beatrice33! Even as a confirmed floral avoider, I make an exception for Amsterdam. Think you are on the right track there. Light and easy to take --very spring-y-- watery is a good word, yet I don't think of it as aquatic at all (yeah, that doesn't *really* make sense...). Guess that is to say that it's not cologney at all. It's a good one to try. (Not really "sparkling", but others may have some layering ideas for that aspect. Something with a champagne note maybe???)

[Beatrice33]

Thank you so much for your responses, triptychenchanted and VioletFemme! Unfortunately Lyonesse went to complete baby powder on me for some reason, which was very sad because it smelled sooooo good up until that point. Good point about Lady of Shalott. It may not be what I'm looking for now that I think about it. I'm glad I may be on the right track with Amsterdam!

[sqwook]

Mag Mell has a wonderful brightness to it. I love it for its lightly sweet zing!

[Beatrice33]

Ooh, thank you, Sqwook! Writing Mag Mell on my list....

[saralaughs]

Mag Mell is a definite must try, especially if you are looking for citrus to be your "sparkling" aspect. It's still very warm and a bit floral as well. I dunno though. If amber is what made Lyonesse go to powder on you, you might not have any luck with Mag either. I dunno your skin chemistry though, so I would take a chance.

 

I'll second the Amsterdam rec as well. You are totally on the right track with that. It's a lovely, light floral with some sweet green mixed in with this cool spring water scent. I love it and own a 5ml myself.

[schackjj]

Has Neptune been mentioned? That's an aquatic floral.

[Beatrice33]

Thank you Schackjj and saralaughs! Writing Neptune on my list and double starring Mag Mell.

[sionnac]

The Host of the Air (2009) is like wet flowers, or cut flowers in the greenhouse, as someone described it in the thread linked here. I get lilies and other sweet strong white flowers from this.

[Beatrice33]

The Host of the Air (2009) is like wet flowers, or cut flowers in the greenhouse, as someone described it in the thread linked here. I get lilies and other sweet strong white flowers from this.

 

Rats! I hate to crave limited edition scents, but I have seen this one mentioned enough times that I might have to!

[hellomoonglow]

I don't know how "aquatic" it is, but Embalming Fluid is a watery, spring-type scent to me. Lyonesse is lovely, btw. I have a bottle of it and I love it.

[Beatrice33]

Hellomoonglow, I love the kitty on your avatar!

 

Unfortunatly Embalming Fluid and Lyonesse are both in the category of scents that should have worked and that I had oh-so-much hope for but crashed and burned on my skin. Very sad! Perhaps I should revisit them now and then to be absolutely sure, though....

[girasol]

Shattered A scent as sharp as glass shards, and as brittle as a broken heart. The formula came to me — quite literally — in a dream, and is named after, and created in memory of, the last poem that I ever wrote? almost ten years ago to the day. A blend of white champagne notes, grapefruit, lotus, slivered mint and crystalline aquatic blooms.

 

I just got an imp of it, it fits the description of watery floral well and it's really pretty. It has a bit of a minty kick though, so steer clear of it if you don't like mint.

[Beatrice33]

Thank you, Girasol, I'm adding Shattered to my list!

[willowtreeling]

I think you should try Lady of Shalott...

[Yoginispirit]

I second shattered. It was the *perfect* minty, fresh, zingy grapefruit but sadly it does not sit well on my picky skin so I just keep it and huff it in the imp .

 

Lantern Ghost is gorgeous but over time the sake and teak come out to make it a little bitter as it ages (IMO) but that may be because I didn't mix the bottle properly when I used the first half of it so be sure you roll it! The cherry blossom and mint are so fresh and wonderful!

 

Shanghai is another great one. It is sweet, lemony tea and white musk. The flowers (honeysuckle if I'm not mistaken..) came out the most on me. Its very nice for the spring and summer. It's very similar to Embalming Fluid except that EF has no flowers so its less sweet and the throw is a lot stronger.

 

 

Edited to add:

Blood Countess! I know it sounds dark and scary but on many people this smells quite floral and fruity with a bit of warmth.

Edited March 3, 2010 by Yoginispirit

[Amoraexcena]

I found the Water of Notre Dame to be very "sparkling," if you can pull off lily of the valley without it curdling into soap like my own skin! my review:

Water of Notre Dame:

Imp: bubbling spring water, delicate rose and lavender water (one more flower scent in there I can't pick out- lily or maybe cherry blossom?), fresh-squeezed splash of lemon, a squirt of lime.

Wet on Skin: the citrus amps a little, as well as something slightly spicey- maybe the floral I couldn't feel out was carnation? but still predominantly watery and definitely relaxing (even though I'm always stressed trying to pick out notes!). It's strangely energizing too though. Like a draught of cool water when you're parched.

Drydown: this is absorbed into my skin SO fast. Good throw. Definitely keeping the imp, though something is curdling it a bit into soap- lily of the valley, you again!.

 

The Lotus Tree doesn't get enough love imo, a fun, sparkling gourmand floral juice:

Imp: vaguely sweet, vaguely floral, vaguely fruity

Wet on Skin: suddenly, HONEY! But a very wearable honey, and honey notes don’t always work on me- maybe a white honey. It’s the nice nectar-sweetness, not the concentrated bee-honey sweetness.

Drydown: back to being vaguely sweet, a really nice gourmand skin scent. Not much throw but I bet this would be great to sleep with. A very wearable, non-powdery, non-soapy floral with an O-like drydown!

 

Other ones that deserve testing: Danube (though again, lily turned this into soap on my skin, but it's a lovely aquatic floral in the imp), Cheshire Cat (lavender didn't agree with me here, but again blame my skin) and Caliban (a nice gender-neutral aquatic).

[Beatrice33]

Ooh, thank you, thank you, thank you everyone for your suggestions!

 

Amoraexcena, both Water of Notre Dame and The Lotus Tree sound like they might be right up my alley. Somehow I don't remember even knowing about The Lotus Tree, and I'm always on the lookout for another "skin scent."

 

Yoginispirit, I'm adding another star by Shattered! I appreciate your thoughts on Ghost Lantern. I'm having so much trouble deciding which Salon to buy unsniffed--too expensive to do lightly! Shanghai's green tea note unfortunately does something strange on me, which saddens me greatly because it should be a perfect scent for me. I'll check out Blood Countess, too!

 

Willowtreeling, I think (hope) Lady of Shalott is in my last imp order. Now I'm forgetting what I ended up deciding, but I'm crossing my fingers!

[reina]

Danube is a nice option to try, although I found it a bit heavy on some kind of citrus note which turned a little bitter on my skin. kinda like grapefruit.

 

I would definitely recommend trying Szepasszony and 51. Szepa is like a lighter version of Danube, and 51 definitely bears some kind of resemblance to commercial scents such as Clinique's "Happy", and Davidoff's "Cool Water" (for women).

[jizatt]

Amsterdam. On my wrist now, very pretty watery and bright floral.

[Beatrice33]

Ooh, yay, now I'm even more excited to receive my Amsterdam imp. Thank you, CaudaPavonis.

 

Reina, another star for Danube, and adding Szepasszony and 51--thank you!

[melrose]

I very recently discovered Sea of Glass. On me, it's lily of the valley, and a clean spring or lake. It's one of the very few aquatics I can wear without becoming queasy.

[Beatrice33]

I very recently discovered Sea of Glass. On me, it's lily of the valley, and a clean spring or lake. It's one of the very few aquatics I can wear without becoming queasy.

 

Thanks for the rec! I hadn't considered this one yet.

[superpopkid]

Maybe Prague? I think of it as sheer rather than sparkling, but it's a really lovely, light floral.