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Browsing by tag: aquatic

Bvlgari Aqva Pour Homme & Aqva Pour Homme Marine ~ fragrance reviews

Posted by Kevin on 6 March 2008 33 Comments

Bvlgari Aqva Pour Homme fragrance ad

Bvlgari Aqva Pour Homme and Aqva Pour Homme Marine, both created by perfumer Jacques Cavallier, are classified as aromatic aquatic fragrances, “designed to evoke the natural freshness and vitality of the ocean.” We’ve all encountered fragrances or perfume notes that claim to capture the scents of clouds, sun, snow, mountain air, deserts, or beaches. I admit to being susceptible to such perfumes because my imagination can ‘fill in the blanks.’ If a perfumer presents me with “Snow” (or more likely, La Neige) — she can bottle some pine needle and cedar wood oils, incense/smoke notes, and a “cold, damp mineral” accord and I will create a snow scene in my mind (a snug cabin, or chalet, located in wintry mountains, its lopsided chimney releasing swirls of sweet wood smoke that creates a lavender-colored haze around snow-capped evergreen trees and boulders) that can accommodate her perfume idea. But that scene doesn’t really smell of actual snow (ice crystals) does it?

Imagine the perfume possibilities when trying to re-create the smell of water…

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Michael Kors Island & Island Capri ~ perfume review

Posted by Robin on 10 January 2008 46 Comments

Michael Kors Island fragrance

Michael Kors, who is reportedly “island-obsessed” (he grew up on Long Island and seems to be constantly jetting off to one or another island paradise), launched Island, his third fragrance for women, in 2005. He noted at the time that…

The first fragrance [that would be Michael] was all about intense indulgence. This one's all about casual living — you can wear it to the gym, or you can wear it to a black-tie event”. (via Women's Wear Daily, 12/3/2004)

Island was developed by perfumers Christophe Laudamiel and Loc Dong, and the notes are a good indicator of what is to come (and they aren't always): Kauai waterfalls, oxygenated water, Chinese kiwi, hydroponic honeysuckle, parrot tulip, champaca flowers, ginger lily, shimmering Bulgarian rose, stephanotis, white bark accord, Galapagos driftwood and rice fields. It sounds like a fresh ozonic-aquatic scent, and it is…

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Old Spice & OS Signature ~ fragrance reviews

Posted by Kevin on 14 November 2007 61 Comments

Old Spice logo

I’m a lucky person; I live with a man (“B”) who cannot be intimidated and who is hard to embarrass. I hope everyone reading this post has such a person in their lives — they come in handy! If I were living alone and developed a case of, say, jock itch (sorry if anyone finds this offensive but I need to make a strong point here), I would never in a million years go to the drugstore, even disguised in a wig, hat, faux moustache, scarf and sunglasses, and buy a remedy; I would order a treatment online and suffer till it arrived in the mail. Thankfully, if I ever do develop such a nasty malady, I have B and I’d say to him: “Would you mind buying me a box of Gobi Desert Jock Itch Powder?” B would go to the drugstore immediately. If he walked into that drugstore and saw that the only employee was an 18-year-old Adonis dressed in Prada from head to foot, B would smile and say to him: “Hi, where can I find the Gobi Desert Jock Itch Powder?”

Robin here at Now Smell This has been asking me to review Old Spice for over a year, and I’ve procrastinated because I was too embarrassed to buy a bottle of Old Spice; sad, but true…

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Antonia’s Flowers Sogni del Mare ~ fragrance review

Posted by Robin on 26 July 2007 8 Comments

Antonia's Flowers Sogni del Mare

I am packing for the beach and so thought it would be appropriate to consider something aquatic today. Sogni del Mare is the latest release from Antonia’s Flowers, and was reportedly inspired by owner Antonia Bellanca’s home on Cape Cod. The fragrance description did not sound particularly appealing to me (a “watery, fruity, floral with notes of Italian bergamot, cassis buds, wild rhubarb, orange and lotus”), but I had high hopes for it anyway because I so entirely adore their Tiempe Passate…

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Creative Universe Mare fragrance review

Posted by Marlen on 26 July 2006 2 Comments

It’s amazing that something so simple as sea salt, avocado, and ginger lily should smell so…light and fresh, but this deceptively simple brew works for all the right reasons and stands as a major accomplishment in marine-inspired aromas. Mare, Beth Terry’s 2nd fragrance for her Creative Universe label, is an intoxicating scent of the sea, and one of my newest summer staples.

Having been called everything from “soapy” to “masculine”, with comparisons to Issey Miyake L’Eau d’Issey and Calvin Klein Escape, it seems that Mare has a different effect on everyone who tries it…

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