Thalassa, the Galapagos Mermaid

[fairnymph]

Seaweed, kelp, salty ocean spray, bitter almond, night-blooming jasmine, frankincense, and benzoin.

In the bottle: Light, sunshine coloured oil. Sweet and salty. Ocean, seaweed, incense, resins, and rich florals.

Wet: Deliciously salty aquatic, with strong honeyed benzoin. The bitter almond is a lovely deep note. Light frankincense and soapy jasmine.

Dry: The almond has come out a bit more, but it's not nutty or benzaldehydey - it's more sophisticated, almost floral, and feels luxurious. Still very salty and the benzoin has amped.

Later: It's a bit cologney, floral in a traditional perfumey way - but that works here, adding to the elegance without being too overwhelming. Unisex to feminine.

Summary: A gorgeous, grown-up aquatic. It's one of the saltiest oceanic scents I've smelled, but there's a hint of cologne, some rich jasmine and creamy almond, sweetened by the resiny benzoin and frankincense. Great throw & lasting power. Edited February 21, 2009 by Shollin
fixed BPAL tags --Shollin

[AmandaArcana]

First, I gotta say that most florals go really nasty on me, like cheap soap being crammed up your nose nasty. This one however worked for me. It's very fresh and summery, I get the sea spray, no trace of the almond though, and just a tiny hint of the jasmine. After it settles it smells like a realy nice men's cologne.

[Tess]

If I were to design a scent that is all wrong for me, this would be it. So many notes that are bad for me...

 

In the bottle - Okay, I must say, I love benzoin. But other than that, the florals are strong and salty. So much floral.

 

Wet - Seaweed and salt and just a little bit of the florals.

 

Drying - Oh gods, here comes the jasmine. It's not overpowering yet, thanks to the MASSIVE amount of salt going on here. As time is going on, the frankincense and benzoin are coming out. Which I like. This is... actually kinda a nice one on me. I don't know even what to say to that.

 

Dry (1 hour) - Every 10 minutes or so, the jasmine comes out like CRAZY, but then fades back again. When the jasmine isn't beating me up, it's quite nice!

 

Overall - This isn't gonna work for me, but it does inspire me to find more benzoin scents.

[Andrea912]

I don't know if its my olfactory senses or my skin chemistry, but I have yet to find an aquatic that works on me.

 

I truly wanted this to be the anomaly; I wanted to experience the mermaid euphoria...

 

Alas, all I got was soapy man cologne.

[odalisque]

OK. I was really terrified of Thalassa's aquatic notes, because aquatics are Le Note Du Fail on me and always, but always, turn into Axe-esque men's cologne. Nevertheless, I read enough ravings about her that I gave her a try.

 

In the imp, I smell a salty, sea-like scent, with benzoin, which is an odd combination but surprisingly pleasant and raises my hopes. On skin, and I'm simultaneously sniffing and holding my breathe with the suspense ... and Thalassa is not men's cologne!

 

She is, instead, the prettiest "sea breeze" Glade air freshener ever.

 

This is definitely the most feminine aquatic I've ever tried, but it's still an aquatic. The Glade air freshener notes do mellow as time goes by, and jasmine takes the center stage, and it's actually kind of nice, except that it's very much a perfumy-jasmine scent and I don't do perfumy-jasmine.

 

So, yeah. Although Thalassa wasn't the miracle I was hoping for, speaking as someone who is mortal enemies with aquatics, she is different from most of them. If you like jasmine, she might be worth a try, even if watery and sea notes make you a bit nervous.

Edited June 13, 2009 by odalisque

[Eucatastrophe]

I am having a bad run with the CDs all of a sudden.

 

I normally don't have issues with aquatics, but for some reason this immediately turns into a strong men's cologne. It's a nice men's cologne, but not for me.

[ouch!]

Oh my...an aquatic that I'm totally getting! The only other one has been Selkie, and I think the Benzion is what's making me like this.

 

Yes it's an aquatic but it's not sharp...it's not like air freshener, it's almost got a golden element to my nose, kind of like..gosh..I don't konw it's really hard to describe. It's a soft aquatic. It's yummy. Still not up there with Selkie but it's a winner for the aquatics.

 

!!!!

 

[angelicruin]

Inside the imp, this really smells like the ocean. Very aquatic and salty.

 

On my skin, aquatic jasmine. Not a good combination of notes for my skin. I get a little frankincense as it begins to dry, but the jasmine and ocean spray overpower everything else.

 

[CynicalPink]

Imp: Jasmine and aquatic-ness. So far not too manly

 

Wet: Well jasmine backed down pretty quick. Now it's a nice, rather sweet aquatic. Again, big fan of not smelling like a dude. Also I benzoin

 

Drydown: Doh! This had a really good thing going for it in the early stages. I could actually smell something plant-y which I'm guessing was the kelp...now it's just gone to jasmine dryer sheets

[raisin]

Whoever said this blend was the feminine Jolly Roger, that's dead on for me. I'm pretty much only getting the salty ocean spray, but there's just a hint of the floral that's keeping this decidedly feminine. (Probably the jasmine... I'm usually a little iffy on florals, but jasmine and I get along okay.) This will probably keep me from getting that bottle of Jolly Roger I was considering.

 

ETA: And the next time I wore it, it soured on me. I'm not sure if it was the salt or if it might be an appearance by the fabled Vile Jasmine That Hates Everyone (I'm more used to Lush jasmine, which I love), but it was very acidic unless I looked for the ocean spray. That seemed to mellow out a bit the longer I wore it, but I was really self conscious getting there.

 

ETA2: I'll give it this: it's not boring. I like this better if I haven't smelled any other perfumes all day. It's still a bit sour and sharp, but that kind of works for the inspiration. I like that it's definitely not going "perfume" on me, and it's the perfect scent for a day when you think you might end up a little sweaty. It's fresh, but it's going more "Sober Irritable Female Pirate" than "Mermaid" to me.

Edited May 11, 2010 by raisin

[milica]

Although Thalassa wasn't the miracle I was hoping for, speaking as someone who is mortal enemies with aquatics, she is different from most of them.

 

I completely agree with this! Me and aquatics are enemies for life, they are eather too salty or somehow too sweet and grassy.

 

Thalassa is different, for the first time I can smell the sea breeze on my skin. But, after an hour, something floral and sweet popped out, not so much that I would be nauseated (it happens to me with lots of aquatics), but still ruins it for me a bit. Regardless, everyone who is affraid of aquatics as I am should try this.

[donnatron]

Bottle: Salty aquatic with a bit of sweet. I perk up. Is this... is it similar to my holy grail, Dream of the Fisherman's Wife?

 

Wet: Aquatics are typically loud and aquatic on my skin for a while after application. It's a drydown sort of scent but the drydown is not unpleasant. It's very clean and sweet and I get a bit of almond and jasmine buried under the seaweed/salt air smell.

 

Dry: Is it a perfect match for Dream of the Fisherman's Wife? No. Is it mind-bendingly dirty? Hells to the yes. Jasmine has a really beautiful skin close quality on my skin and the almond is similar to the almond in Uruk. In fact, this is a strange mate of Uruk (like the underwater journey of Gilgamesh before the snake stole the fruit from him?). It's really quite lovely and one of the nicer aquatics I've tried (I love them. They are mercurial in their feelings towards me). It's sexy, in a strange floral/salty way that makes it really inappropriate in a way that no one can quite articulate.

 

Throw: Moderate.

 

Overall: I like being inappropriate. Especially in ways that are difficult to articulate.

[milo]

Fresh salty sea spray and a fresh green-ness wet. As it dries, it is still a salty aquatic, but with the jasmine. This really doesn't smell very pleasant on me, a aquatic musky screaming floral. Bleh.

[Cali]

2016 version.
Oh my god this is so good. A lovely aquatic with plenty of salty air and fantastic florals. I don't smell the almond in this, which is good because that's usually a death note for me. It's strong with a good throw. I can imagine an underwater cave pocket, the underwater entrance filled with colourful types of coral and seaweed, and the pocket, a tiny beach on itself with warm soft sand, decorated with the most lovely pearls and shells a mermaid could possibly find. Dried flowers hang from the rugged top of the cave and there's a spiky throne constructed out of huge cones and conches.

A feminine or floral pirate if I may add. Per-fect. So curious to see how this ages.

Edited May 6, 2016 by Cali

[b00cat]

2016 version.

I'm waffling over this one. I don't normally go for aquatics, but I wanted to smell like a mermaid heh. They always seem to go in the direction of men's cologne or they're too sharp and burn the back of my throat. This is truly an exception! It's nice! I already got a few compliments at work on how nice I smell.

 

I'm getting mostly kelp and sea spray, but I can't smell the almond or frankincense. The jasmine is barely underneath giving it body. The throw is pretty exceptional. I made the mistake of trying it on my hair AND on my arm at the same time and had to drive back to work with the windows down

I don't know if I see myself buying a bottle, since I'm more of a patchouli/resins/ musk girl but I will certainly enjoy the decant. I would definitely recommend this as an aquatic for people who don't like aquatics. I think if there was a little coconut in the mix as well I would lean more towards a bottle buy.

[roseus]

Started off a little too salty, but dry is beautiful. I get some resin-y sweetness at the heart with salty ocean air over the top. I also smell the jasmine, which really rounds out this scent, making it a sort of sexy mermaid. Aquatics are normally too cold for me, but this is sort of warm in a way!

[torikitty]

This ended up going a bit fizzy, and smelled faintly of industrial bathroom cleaning products that were used 2 hours ago. Ever so slightly water, clean, vaguely floral.

[Moranna_Morgaine]

I loved this, it reminded me of an ocean breeze after dry down and tropical ocean on application. I often struggle with ocean scents being super synthetic and this triggers my asthma but Thalassa was perfect.

[DigitalCoyote]

Wet: Kelp and salty sea! Childhood trips to Monterey right here.  I hope it lasts.

 

Dry: I think the frankincense is coming out.  Still primarily aquatic on both wrists.  The florals are trying to sneak out after but not so much that I can pick them out.

 

Thalassa is definitely a Northern California/West Coast mermaid on my skin.  She is not the death mermaid of Neptunite Phoenix.

[Miyabi]

So I love aquatics (Sea of Glass is one of my BPAL favorites), but I gotta agree with the folks who say they're getting men's cologne from Thalassa. It has been Benzoin City ever since I put her on and I'm getting Dangerous, Suave, and Charming Pirate Captain instead of Dangerous and Beautiful Mermaid.

 

Benzoin is lovely, but this was ultimately not what I was looking for. 

Edited September 30, 2021 by Miyabi

[RoseThornAndOak]

Original bottle, aged since approx 2007-08.

 

Wow I never reviewed?? Wore today to compare to Girl at The Beach and Bluebeard's Wife. Thalassa has been one of my all time favorites from the Lab. It is almost, almost just another aquatic frag in a sea of thousands, but the florals and resins soften and anchor it just enough to provide depth without being too incensey or overtly floral. I'm surprised almond is a note. I mean, maybe there's a dash of Doc Bronners almond in her hair somewhere? I don't really get that note much, if at all.

 

I will have to pull my newer version from the backup tin to compare at some point, but I do remember being somewhat partial to the original. Just seemed stronger with more depth.

 

Anyway, it's lovely and I love it on a soul level still! 

 

A note though: do try her more than once, and be sure to shake the bottle as mine tends to visibly separate more than most BPALs. I almost wrote her off at one point, eep. 🧜🏼‍♀️ This experience with Thalassa saved Girl at The Beach for me.

Edited November 24, 2022 by RoseThornAndOak