I meet a lot of people that were young adults in the 1980’s that absolutely can not stand huge 80’s perfumes like Dior Poison or Giorgio Beverly Hills. I totally understand. They spent a decade+ gagging on syrupy plums and powdery tuberoses. Those huge fragrances were in every office, school, bus stop, restaurant, etc. Their reaction to these are like my reaction to many aquatic florals. For years, I could not stand aquatics like Calvin Klein Escape or Issey Miyake L’Eau D’Issey or a fruity floral like Tommy Hilfiger Tommy Girl. These were the perfumes that I gagged on. Teenagers basically bathed in them. You couldn’t go to a mall or a restaurant without gagging on some aggressively clean watermelon juice. It took me decades to recover from my 90’s aquatic floral trauma. These days, I actually love a lot of the Nouveau-Aquatics and clean, green florals. I truly believe that absence really does make the heart grow fonder.
Eau de Source is an aquatic floral. It opens with a sharp green mint and cold geranium leaf. Both are very garden-like. It’s a wave of freshness that by the time it hits the shore,it is a huge lily-of-the-valley. It’s like a heady, green jasmine with waterlilies. There’s an aquatic accord that is almost like fresh watermelon. As it dries down, it’s a white musk and chlorine pool. The heady, aquatic florals are always present.
When I talk about Eau de Source, I know it sounds like something like L’Eau D’Issey. And it absolutely is. It’s a cool aquatic floral with a lot of clean musk. It’s one of those “flowers meets water” fragrances. The biggest difference to me is that this one smells like an “upgrade”. It’s more restrained and doesn’t give me a headache like L’Eau D’Issey always did. When the weather gets hot and humid, I like something that smells clean and soapy. It’s taken me decades to “get” the appeal, but now I do.¹
Notes listed include mint, grapefruit, geranium, cyclamen, rose, lily-of-the-valley, jasmine, cedar and white musk. Launched in 2015. PERFUMER – Sophie Chabaud
Give Eau de Source a try if you like cool florals. Or perfumes like Issey Miyake L’eau d’Issey, Calvin Klein Escape, Yves Rocher Ming Shu, Elizabeth Arden Sunflowers, Yardley Lily of the Valley, Raw Spirit Mystic Pearl and/or Penhaligon’s Lily of the Valley. I know I’ve compared it to some designer stuff, but it’s more like “an upgrade” from those.
This is an EDT and wears like one. Projection and longevity are below average in comparison to an EDP.
The 3.4 oz retails for $105 at Osswald. This niche perfume is actually cheaper than the designer Issey Miyake.
Victoria’s Final EauPINION – Minty, soapy aquatic floral. Is it ground-breaking? No. But, I think it smells good and is a nice clean/fresh perfume for warm weather.
¹This may also have to do with yesterday was a warmer day and if you ride mass transit or walk around the city, omg, so much B.O. I don’t know if it was time or living in the city that made me like squeaky clean fragrances.
Want more reviews? Try…
Fragrantica – Serguey’s review
*Sample obtained by me. Product pic from Fragrantica. Marguerite Chapman pic from fanpix.net.
Yessss. I did go through a brief period where I liked CK Escape, Davidoff Cool Water, and L’eau par Kenzo, but I wasn’t “into” perfume at the time, so it was more of a go-along-with-the-crowd mentality or a “this is new! and doesn’t smell like Poison!” period. And yes, I wore the Kenzo when I lived in Houston, specifically after cool showers to wash off the long day after trekking home through the horrible humid summers. I totally agree that I can now appreciate these types of frangrances more, even if I don’t wear them so often.
Lol, I have a friend that gave me his half-used “vintage” L’eau par Kenzo because I was going through this stage of revisiting. It’s not too bad! Very good for when you want to smell like soap and also feel like you trekked through a swamp. I wouldn’t have appreciated it in the 90’s but I like it now.