F5

[mermaiden]

A refreshing scent! GET IT?! Aloe, white musk, lime peel, fresh mint, seaspray, verbena and green tea.

This scent smells almost exactly like Stila's "Jade Bouquet" on me. Jade Bouquet is green tea, cucumber, and verbena.

On drydown, F5 smells very minty and perhaps a bit boozey - I do get the mojito comparisons when its still wet on my skin.

Slowly the green tea begins to emerge, and by the end of the day the green tea is dancing with my senses. My only issue with F5 is that the green tea could be a bit more herbaly - for some reason it amps up very sweet on me. It could also be that this is was upon first wear. .I get nothing but fresh and green from this scent - it's a wonderful daytime fragrance.

I quite adore this scent and wish I had purchased 2 bottles instead of 1.

[SmileCat]

A very pale blue-green. In the bottle I get sea spray and verbena where I was hoping for mint and tea. Wet and the first hour or two there's something in it that makes me feel like I'm on the verge of a sneeze. Then the tea starts to peek out a bit, it mellows down, and the aloe makes its debut. F5 is nice, very refreshing but not me. It's almost too gender-neutral. It's not that I dislike it, I just can't see myself wearing it much.

[Little Bird]

In the bottle, F5 reminds me of a more watery version of Embalming Fluid. Makes sense... they both have notes of green tea, white musk, and aloe.

 

On me... green tea with a salty aquatic and a squeeze of lime. It's zesty and sharper than Embalming Fluid's smooth blend.

 

After 15 minutes or so... this is mostly clean white musk and aquatic, with hints of fruity lime. It's kinda boring to me. It smells like the sporty colognes that teenage boys were favoring back in highschool.

 

F5 fades pretty quickly too. It only lasted about an hour on my skin.

[filigree_shadow]

I've had this bottle for nearly a month, and I've just now gotten around to trying it. I almost didn't get a bottle because I was afraid it would smell like Embalming Fluid, and that wasn't one of my favorites.

 

I'm pleasantly surprised. The only part of this that reminds me of Embalming Fluid is the crispness. It smells mostly like limes at first, but then it drifts into aloe and tea, with a little bit of musk underneath. It smells clean and soft, but not like dryer sheets. I bet it would be awesome to make some bath products out of this, or a linen spray. If only I could figure out how to do those things.

 

The next time I see my youngest sister I'll see what she thinks of this. She told me that the only perfume she's interested in is something that smells clean and fresh, but not like flowers. I was going to bring her Dirty and Lightning, and I think I'll bring this one too. I bet she'd like this.

 

When my husband sniffed it, he said, "Mmm. I like it. It reminds me a little bit of R'Lyeh." YAY for hubbies who can identify BPAL oils by name AND scent!!!

[indicolite]

Very delightfully fresh. Something like Sea of Glass or Shattered - but more fun.

 

I love this one!

[grrrlennyl]

at first: lots of aloe and green tea.

on: the mint and lime are coming forward, but there's still a lovely base of aloe.

4 hours later: the faintest hint of a slightly minty tea.

overall: this, not surprisingly, faded really fast on me. i think i wanted something brighter and mintier.

[porcelain72]

In the bottle: my ex-husband used to use a shower gel that smelled similar to this, either from the Body Shop or Bath & Body Works. It's got that masculine but not overpoweringly GUY scent to it.

 

Initial application: the lime is coming out. It's nice and clean smelling, but still a bit manly.

 

Drydown: okay, it's smelling less manly and more like Shanghai now, with the green tea taking over the lime. A pleasant, very unisex scent, not spectacular but pretty nice.

 

Smiley rating:

[jesvet]

This is a great daytime scent, crisp and sweet.

 

In the imp, and wet: limeade. Yum. Tangy and sweet sugar coated citrus.

 

As it dried, it mellowed out and the aloe and mint came forward. When dry, the musk became apparent and it was just really pretty. Didn't last long- a couple hours at most- but perfect for those warm days. I don't normally care for citrus-y scents but this one was nicely balanced.

[Shannihilation]

In the bottle I get cool lime with the tea as an undertone. It's yummy!!

 

On my skin the tea really comes to the front. I was hoping for this. The Lab's tea always does such nice things on me. I really can't smell the mint at all. It's all aloe, lime, and tea on me. The tea and the aloe are the more dominant notes with the lime and verbena adding just a bit of an edge and "coolness" to it. This is amazing. I'm so glad that I got two bottles. I was sure I'd love it as soon as I saw the notes. It's like Beth made this just for me!! *grins* This is sweet, yummy goodness. And it really is a "refreshing scent"!!

[azhure]

In the bottle: It's a very green scent to me - I get the aloe the most, and then the mint.

 

Wet: My skin amps up the aloe to the exclusion of everything else. I get worried.

 

Drydown: The other notes come into play, but only to a point - the white musk comes out and soften the aloe.

 

Verdict: A lovely summery scent. Looking forward to wearing it over the coming warm months.

[Phaedra]

Wet this is powdery and sharp green tea mixed with citrus. When first on this is minty mixed with the green tea and lime. After a couple of minutes the sharpness and bite of the green tea mellows and now I think the aloe is developing. This doesn't really change much on me. This is a very light, clean, green and "refreshing" (ha ha ha) scent but it also confirms that green tea just doesn't work on me. Too bad.

[Loligo]

On me, this starts out smelling like that instant powder mix for lemon iced tea. Then the tea note warms up a bit, as tea does on me, and I can start to pick out the other individual notes. It smells pretty much as described, but it just sits on my skin, it doesn't really blend with me.

 

I tried it on my husband, and on him it smelled like iced tea and bug repellant. I wish I knew which note turned to Deep Woods Off! on him; I'd make sure to avoid it in any scents that I plan to give to him as back-up. (They're all for me , but sometimes I'll take a chance on something that might be iffy on me if I think it might work on him, too.)

[dawndie]

In bottle: fruit and nothing else. I like fruity scents well enough, but I don't want to smell like a giant melon or something

 

On skin: lots of green juicy fruit. No nuances for me, but it hasn't gone too soapy or cologney so I'm happy.

 

Half-hour later: it was driving me crazy with what this reminded me of; finally after rereading the description I realized: it's like one of my all-time favorite old skool shower gels from Bath & Body Works, Seaspray! I haven't smelled that in forever and this was a welcome surprise.

 

In conclusion: this isn't the bottle I'm grabbing when I'm in a dark brooding mood, but I like it!

[perclexed]

Ugh. So not for me. Very strong, very overwhelming. Reminds me of the guy I had a crush on in college - he was from the MidEast and he and his friends favored a cologne that smelled almost exactly like this. I used a very tiny drop, and the throw is about to knock me off my feet. May keep an imp for posterity, but will likely trade this away.

[Emma2403]

In the bottle

Very fresh indeed. I smell citrus, mostly lime.

 

On my skin

A little more perfumey, but quite masculine at the same time. Musk is showing up too.

 

After a couple of hours

Only the musk really stays on. Well, no, I can smell some alcohol too, although I couldn't really say what exactly.

 

Verdict

I had high expectations about this one after I've read the notes. I wouldn't say I'm disappointed, it's a nice fresh scent, but only average, nothing outstanding.

[oedipa]

Wet on skin: Ugh, what? This is *sniffs* weird. I have no idea what I'm smelling - so I go and look at the ingredients list. Hmm, I think it's the seaspray. Actually, yeah. It smells a lot like some sort of cheap bodywash. Blech.

 

5 minutes: If I sniff really close to my wrist I get a hint of lime? mint? but the seaspray note is REALLY strong and it's making me a little nauseous. I back off.

 

10 minutes: Gods, this seaspray smell is incredibly strong. Like really, really, "in-yo-face-and-dissin'-yo-momma" strong. I am more than a little overwhelmed.

 

Ok, I admit it - I'm a shameless p***y and I went and took this stuff off before the half hour mark. Damn it's strong, and not in a good way. Swap, methinks.

[Briar]

I adore this scent! I call it my "sexy laundry" scent. Something in the series of notes and my skin chemistry turns this into a cotton blossoms and detergent (in a good way!) sort of thing. It's like folding three loads of big fluffy towels in black stockings and garters. It's got a heck of a throw on me, though - fills my car when I dab my wrist half an hour before getting in the vehicle...

 

I'm only sad that I just bought one bottle!

[supremegoddessofall]

Citrus, but not orange. A smidge of aloe, a smidge of musk. Definitely has an aquatic feel to it. It's not something I would have expected to like, given the citrus qualities, but it's okay.

[Medici]

F5, the sonofagun, is predominently green tea and aloe on me. I had a room scent that smelled like this once, a long time ago, and I remember I used it a lot to clear my head when studying.

 

There's a little bit of that citrusy lemon verbena crispness that comes out during drydown, but for the most part, it stays green tea and watery aloe. Slightly aquatic (really just a little) and very fresh.

 

It's going to be a great one to have on hand on those muggy summer days when all you want is a nice glass of something cold and something not too cloying to sniff at.

[Tess]

Mmm, lime and musk. I wonder how this'll compare to Embalming Fluid...?

 

In the vial - Whoo boy, this is refreshing. Green tea and lime in here is strooooooong.

 

Wet - Almost all green tea on me, oddly. And it's my least favorite note.

 

Drying - Oooo, the lime! The tea is backing off and the musk and aloe are coming out. And the lime! Lime! Yum!

 

...the drydown bit will have to wait, as I'm off to work, but so far this is REALLY simular to EF, only with some mint tossed in.

 

Edit:

Dry (45 minutes) - I didn't have time to even ARRIVE at work when the complete lack of smell occured. This soaked into my skin fast and just disappeared completely. I couldn't smell anything at all of it after about 30 minutes.

 

Overall - It's so nice, but it's just gone. Why do the nice citrus ones do that to me?

Edited October 14, 2006 by Tess

[PilotKitten]

Refreshing indeedy! This is a bright cheery summer blend just perfect for a warm summer's day lounging out in the yard with a good book. Mostly aloe and green tea on me with just a faint hint of a salty seaspray.

[gaai]

Hey! I hadn't even reviewed this one yet?! Weird.....

 

So I get the lime and the musk the most with the tea and aloë backing it up....don't really get the mint for more than a second though.....which is a shame, because I like mint....

It's a refreshing scent alright! And powerful! It has a *lot* of throw and wearlength on me.......a little too much for my liking. I like my perfumes to behave a little more subtle......

So what I did....I made the husband a EDT spray, since it's kind of a masculine blend as well and he's in love with it now! It smells really good on him too and it's powerful enough to last through his work out....

I've found him another bottle already, so he doesn't have to go without for some time to come.

[theling]

Rating: 9.5/10

 

In the bottle:

A clean fresh scent - somewhat masculine.

 

Initial Scent (on skin):

I love the way this smells!! I think it must be the aloe and white musk notes, but it seems very similar to the Maelstrom's Bernice which I adore. This one is slightly more "refreshing" with the mint, sea and tea notes.

 

Staying Power:

This scent has great staying power. It usually lasts me one application thoughout the whole day!

[sophia_helix]

Clean and fresh isn't usually my type of scent, but I knew it would suit my husband, so I just tried this one on him right away. It's definitely very fresh, and it has a lovely, sharp citrus topnote that just smells great on him.

 

Thank you, Beth, for providing an alternative to all those gross drugstore colognes guys seem to inevitably collect -- he told me yesterday he's going to throw away all of the ones he's got (except the Gillette one I like) because he has so many great BPAL scents to wear instead!

[marzstar]

didn't get at first then after reviews i was bummed i didn't get any so i swapped for it

 

tried a few times on body and in candle and don't like it

reminds me of the generic dawn dishwashing soap my mom always got when i was a kid

and i always hated that crap

 

this will get swapped/sold for sure.

 

like the concept, but can't win 'em all