Danube

[rien]

Rhododendron and bellflower petals swirl through deep, cool, dark aquatic notes.

In imp: smells like a Christmas tree. By a river. Huh.

Wet, on skin: I can't shake the Christmas tree thing! Not a cheap car air freshener, but like stepping onto a tree lot.

Drydown: it rained on the tree. lol This all sounds unpleasant, but it's oddly appealing. Would be great fun to wear at Christmastime, but don't know if I could pull it off any other time of year without feeling out of season.

Dry: okay, the tree has finally backed off and it's turning rather aquatic. Still not quite sure if I would wear it often, but I do foresee myself coming back to it again and again to try!



(ETA BPAL description) Edited June 26, 2008 by Shollin
fixed BPAL tags

[theseagrows]

this is a light aquatic in the same vein of the lady of shallot but less floral. i am getting light aquatics, cucumber, soft grasses, and some florals i can't really identify. very cooling for summer, but not sure if this is something i would wear much.

[KassiK]

Wow, I'm totally impressed with this scent. Looks like I made a great choice when requesting an imp of it from the salon.

 

In the bottle: I actually got a pretty swampy aquatic with a bite that I couldn't identify, but assumed was something citrusy or piney.

 

Wet on skin: wow, it's only swampy in the background. It's such a well-blended scent that it smells like it's actually moving. It provokes imagery of teal-blue water and it's just divine. The bite could still be something citrusy, but all the aquatics have come out and it has more of a higher-note over all smell to it rather than low and swampy, like Bayou for example.

 

drydown: Still very impressed. Retains everything it did while wet though now I'm convinced the bite that I was smelling is a floral. Whatever it is, I don't care - I LOVE this scent.

 

Other thoughts: This is a very marketable scent, makes me think of something Armani or CK might put out, without the alcohol that perfumes/colognes have. This, for me, is a happier Bayou. Bayou puts me in a pensive thoughtful almost brooding mood while this puts me in a thoughtful happy and upbeat mood.

 

Totally on the big bottle list. Amazing.

[kwsix]

In the imp: Indistinct floral, soft and pretty

 

Wet on my skin: Waxy florals, green grass, and maybe a little citrus

 

Drydown: Same as above, plus aquatic notes

 

Overall this is a nice floral-based blend, but nothing about it stands out to me. It smells clean and a little soapy, and could be to my nose a detergent, air freshener, or deodorant fragrance. To me, Danube is pretty but not exceptional.

[zankoku_zen]

In the imp: Aquatic floral

 

On Skin: Rhododendron explosion! It's pretty fragrant and with the cool aquatic notes.

 

Drydown: Again, blooming rhododendrons by the river.

 

Verdict: At least, I think what I'm smelling is the rhododendron note. Thats the impression I get when I smell it and it's what popped into my head, as opposed to saying, bellflowers. In any case, it's a blooming floral on a soft aquatic bed. Very pretty.

[Jia_Mekare]

Another frimp from the lab!

 

In the imp: Ooh! It smells just like christmas trees! *Goes to check bpal description* Wait, what do you mean there's no pine in this?

 

On my skin: It smells just like my juniper body spray from Bath and Body works...none of the florals ever show up on my skin.

 

Its nice, but I already have a body spray just like this for when i want to smell like juniper.

[harmonyfb]

This is heavily aquatic, with the florals subsumed beneath deep watery notes. Very unusual - I think with the right skin chemistry, this could be amazing. On me, it's rapidly heading for 'dryer sheets'. As with many of BPAL's aquatics, it's also giving me a headache.

[CrazyPretzel]

Ahhhhh. Chilled-out, really *juicy* aquatic. I can detect a slight powder note to this, but my boyfriend doesn't It's soft and silky and I like it a lot -- I'm not generally a fan of aquatics either (Amsterdam is the only other one I've liked so far!) so that's saying something.

[maribouquet]

imp: fresh, citrusy aquatic

wet: a citrus-like plant note dominates

dry: love the airiness of this, but the citrus rind scent isn't working for me

 

the rind smell fades after about 20 min, leaving a nice aquatic scent that is very similar to Amsterdam on me.

[DifferentDances]

Wet: Strong floral with just a slight edge of water.

Drydown: Soap with a playful edge.

Dry: Bar soap, a solid, wet, somewhat melting at the bottom bar of soap.

 

My rating: 3/5. I can see where this might be a lovely scent, but it's just not for me. Alas.

[Ravenclaw79]

Imp: Green and almost lemony

 

Wet: Wet plants -- very green, very wet, with a hint of citrus. I'm marveling at how well this one captured water -- it's just very, very wet-smelling, plants drenched with rain.

 

Drying: Fading, and making my nose tingle in an odd way. Still very fresh and pleasant, but subdued. It's a nice mix of water and greenery, like grass next to a stream on a sunny day.

[neddykapoozle]

i was the most excited for Danube out of the pack of samples i just got, and practically shredded the package to get to it

in the imp: whoa, getting a little bit of that artificial air freshener, but its very fresh, watery, kind of sharpish, but on the border of air freshener

 

wet on skin: oooooooo this is pretty........ it perfectly captures water. deep, cool, dark water that maybe has a large and flowering rhodedendron (spelling?) bush that has a big hanging flower, and you're on the bank and you are trailing your hand through the water and twirl a large blossom around with your finger and it is just cool and lovely and perfect. it's almost scary how well this captures water. not salty or sharp, just, water. i really like this, and it has calmed me down after an absolutely horrid day.

 

dry on skin: MMMMM lovely and lovelyer and....... wait? where'd you go? danube is just a bare hint of what i put on, and i was pretty liberal with my application. it is beautiful while it lasted, and i may have to get a big bottle just to dab on continually during those hot summer days. the initial stage is SO worth it.

just get an imp. it is the ultimate calm down scent for those who think they can't do florals.

love it

[dluszcz]

First of all, what are rhododendrons supposed to smell like? I grew up with a yard full of them in all sorts of colors, and they never smelled like anything!

 

That said, in the imp, Danube was all hyacinth. Purple, white, Easter hyacinth. It stayed that way, on my skin, for hours, before softening and sweetening a bit, to something a bit more muted, maybe more generically white spring floral. This wasn't very complex or interesting to me. If you would have told me it was a single note, I would have believed you.

 

Hyacinths smell very very pretty, but as much as I aesthetically like them, the scent will always remind me of funeral parlors. Especially funeral parlors on Easter Sunday. Wish I could wear this without such melancholy...

Edited December 21, 2007 by kittysdesire

[girlygirl]

In the imp: floral and aquatic. Very pretty

Wet: very floral, very perfumey

Dry: the aquatic comes out and floral fades.

 

Extreme dry down: nearly disappears, but leaves clean scent behind. This may be a scent locket only blend, but it captures springtime in the NW perfectly!

[VioletChaos]

boy, do i dislike this one

 

in the bottle: like hair conditioner. the kind my older sister would've been into in the '70's that came in a big green bottle.

 

wet on skin: it gets worse. strong and floral, not unlike air freshener.

 

dry on skin: it's tenacious, aquatic in a cloying way, with a freesia that's too-sweet flowery and burns my throat.

 

 

meh.

[Honeygirl]

Bottle: Rainwater

 

Wet: Rainwater next to a garden. It's a scent that makes me think of the color blue. I see raindrops frozen on a flower.

 

Drydown: Very aquatic, I think I like it, though florals aren't usually my thing!

3.5 outta 5

[gchris]

In Vial: Smells like tropical florals and something not sweet in the background. Almost like it doesn't belong.

 

Wet: Same wonderful floral smell. The something that 'isn't sweet' smells like green bananas before they are ripe.

 

Drydown: As this dries, it very much morphs into the 'blue' scent that another reviewer spoke of. It smells like a swimming pool, clear and blue, with flowers strewn everywhere. It is a floral watery scent that is not so sweet that it gives me a headache. Very feminine.

 

After trying several aquatic scents that are similiar (Lightning, Danube and Tempest). Danube is more of a 'green' water scent. [/

Edited February 19, 2008 by gchris

[mhickle]

In the imp, this is very floral, but I can't really place what kind of flowers. When I put it on, it definitely takes on that "watery" scent, and I rather like it. As it dries down, the weirdest thing happens, though. It kind of smells like...spit. Clean spit, not gross, and I'm not really sure how to describe it, but it smells like I just licked my arm..It's not a bad smell, but to me it is very distinct. Once it's dry, it's all flowers, kind of green and grassy, with the water. Not really my cup of tea, but pretty all the same.

[laforetnoire]

This scent seams so watery to me, I think I am about to drown! This scent makes me think of a seaweed bubble bath I used to have, and because of this, smelling my wrist makes me so relaxed!

 

Verdict: blue floral bubble bath. I love it!

Edited February 27, 2008 by laforetnoire

[bryghtrose]

I'm not a fan of rhododendrons. Thankfully it smells like watered down citrus, which isn't a great scent for me, but it's not bad, really. And it doesn't smell of rhododendron.

[bibzerneth]

Danube smells just like Bayou, but with a slightly bitter edge. Its a very nice STRONG aquatic scent with good lasting power, the florals are very pretty too, but I keep getting whiffs of that biting note and I want to sneeze.

I will probably finish the imp, but not order more.

[Bagfish]

Aquatic floral with a slight ozone tinge. I can smell deep, dark greenery and a blue European sky. However, I just cannot get along with aquatics so although this is a very apt scent description of a wide river travelling through a forest, I cannot wear it due to the intense headaches it triggers

[Argentwolf]

In the imp: Sweet florals with a teensy bit of an edge to it.

 

Wet: When freshly applied, there is a bit of a sharp note to it, more like citrus than pine to my nose. There is a moist aura around it all, as if you're standing near a river and smelling the scent of big bushes laden with flowers nearby.

 

Dry: The sharp note goes away after a while, as does the aquatic undertone, leaving faint traces of flowers. Very pretty.

 

It's not as juicy as Amsterdam, though the floral note, once applied, is similiar...it's sweet, but also grounded, and very fresh and clean-smelling.

[AEris]

This scent smells like powdery wildflowers, and since I'm not exactly a gardener, I'm saying that it smells like a cross between lilac and lily of the valley.

 

However, overall it smells like laundry detergent on me. There's something about it that's almost pretty, but... dryer sheets at the same time.

 

Just not me, I guess.

 

2.3 out of 5

[donnatron]

Imp: Fresh and cool and slightly floral.

 

Wet: Hello water! This immediately turns into what I think of as a generic "aquatic" scent. It's not unpleasant; it's a very familiar scent. It's something that I have smelled in many perfumes over the years.

 

Dry: It winds up smelling like a Ralph Lauren perfume that I used to wear during high school. I like it, but I'm not wowed. It smells very much like an approximation of water rather than a true watery scent or scent evocation. It's very clean and fresh--the aquatic version of Dirty.

 

Throw: Amazingly ample for an aquatic.

 

Overall: An interesting scent and definitely true to the inspiration. I think that if your tastes lean towards fresh, clean scents, you will love it. It seems to be pretty chemistry-friendly, so it's more a matter of taste than a matter of winning the skin chemistry lottery. Definitely recommended if you want a long-lasting, fairly strong aquatic scent.