Golden Wave

[Gin]

Tangerine, gin, passion fruit, guava, and tonic.

I wanted a tangerine and gin explosion, but I got a surprisingly tame fizzy, fruity cocktail. I think it's a cute, light oil, but I can't help but be a little disappointed that Golden Wave isn't a tangerine version of Velvet Pink Kitty or Blue Fire. Instead, it's closer to Polynesian Pop.

[Slackerdemonchild]

I stay away...far, far, far away from 'island scents'. But this one was very classy, and fun. Whoo! Dodged a bullet there with the fruityness, it is not overwhelming. A very interesting scent of papaya and tangerine. It's a fun and classy island scent!!!

[invisible iris]

This was a frimp from the generous Lab. (I was glad for the chance to try an Atomic Luau Lounge blend!)

 

In the imp, it was fruity tropical fruit fruit! Freshly applied, I got fizzy mandarine, and, oh no... As it dries, all I smell is Orange Clean. All the way through to the end. If I concentrate on it, I can pick out passion fruit and/or guava adding a pink kick from the corner. But unfortunately, the more the gin and tonic notes come out, which I think should add herbal complexity to this fruit-dominated blend, the more my nose reads it as cleaner. To its credit, Orance Clean uses real orange peels or whatever, so it’s not an artificial or unpleasant scent. It's just one I associate with a cleaning spray.

 

Verdict: I, too, keep my distance from "Island Scents". And I'll also be staying away from Golden Wave.

[OctoberGwen]

BPAL keeps breaking my personal 'scent rules', and I am so glad!

 

I got Golden Wave as a frimp from the Lab, and I'm thrilled. I love it. Light, bright without being sharp, fruity without being...too fruity, it's a very happy and delicious summer scent. Just what I needed today.

 

For those who (like me) do not usually go for fruity scents, I'd recommend trying this one out.

[Honey]

It's finally summer in Germany, so this scent is more than fitting!

 

 

Imp: Wow! Boozy, fizzy tangerine and.. ginger? No.. must be the fruity/spicy appeal of this scent. Very exotic!

 

Wet: Tangerine, guava, passion fruit.. all there! Not too sweet, not soapy.. just.. fizzy and boozy and tiki!

 

Dry: Passion fruit and guava are the strongest notes to me when dry. Not too boozy for my taste and has a decent throw. Hmm.. will wear this when it's hot outside (because I wish I had a tiki bar)!

 

 

2021 update:

 

This is a different imp I am testing than 10 years ago.

It smells like fruity toilet cleaner to me, I'm sorry!

It's very alcoholic, fresh, fruity and fizzy. Very heavy on the fizzy tangerine.

It smells very orange, cannot make out any individual fruit notes.

It's a bit flat by itself, but it could still be nice as a fun layering note with some light musks, ambers and/or strong vanillas.

Edited April 15, 2021 by Honey

[biocarolyn]

This is gorgeous on me- Tangerine and guava and passionfruit, very little alcohol scent on my. I think I can smell the tonic giving it a little bite underneath- it doesn't have that juniper-y smell that gin usually does, and no alcohol. Bright, cheery, summery and fruity I like it- although I am easily pleased with tangerine

[WidgetAlley]

Frimped to me by a lovely swapper!

 

Imp: Yuuuummmy! Bright super-realistic tangerine, fizzy lovely juniper, guava and a lot of fuzzy fruit that must be passionfruit. And a bit of bitterness from the tonic. I wish I had a tall glass of whatever the drink equivalent of this would be in front of me.

 

Wet: Bright mouth-watering fruit and the awesome carbonated bitterness of juniper and tonic. Just lovely! Not overly sweet, which is a problem I encounter with a lot of blends, and not "flat" like many booze notes are on my skin. The throw is all sweet-and-bitter fruits and tonic with just a hint of herbally green. Man, I did NOT expect to like this so much!

 

Dry: This one hangs around a surprisingly long while for something with so few bottom notes! Mostly what I get at the end of the drydown is a tonic water/juniper scent lightly laced with delicious fruit-- guava and tangerine in particular. I didn't expect to like this but I really do! I'm not in a fruity mood enough to justify a bottle, but I'll hang on to the imp.

[calivianya]

I received this as a frimp from the Lab. Golden Wave is bright and citrusy - so of course it makes me think of cleaning fluid. It doesn't smell bad or sharp, it's just... citrusy. I'm not a huge citrus fan.

[bpalscentsual]

Mm, this one started out SO GOOD. It smelled exactly like a gin and tonic with pieces of mango and pineapple floating around in it. Alas, I think my skin chemistry is doing something stupid this week, because it went straight to plastic on my skin after an hour. Woe! I'll be testing this again to make sure that it's just my skin, because when it's good, it's very, very good.

[84trillion]

Much like Red Tide, this is very heavy on the boozy gin note. Not really a wearable scent for me.

[brilliantcat]

I can definitely smell the tonic note in the imp, it has that fizzy quality that I tend to battle where the fizz usually wins and just ends up smelling... not right. I'm willing to give it a chance based on my love of the Luau scents and the other notes though. First impression wet is definitely gin. Juniper berry party! The fizz is there doing its funky thing but it's not overpowering. Perhaps as it dries and warms it will settle down. No such luck though. All I get is juniper berries and fizz with the slightest hint of sour fruit. I think I'll just stay away from effervescent blends from now on

 

ETA: I was going through my box o'smellies and decided to retest some of my bottles to determine if I should keep or sell/swap. Upon retrying Golden Wave, it's aged quite nicely! I still get a lot of gin but the funky "effervescent" note I got has calmed. I also get some hints of tangerine. I really like it this go-around!

Edited September 12, 2013 by brilliantcat

[Alaeidrel]

The gin is the first thing that hits me here. In the bottle and wet the only thing I smell is spicy, boozy juniper berries, which is absolutely fantastic. It takes a lot of drydown for me to start picking up the fruit notes, and I'm still getting mostly tangerines.

 

This is classy and subtle and absolutely delicious - far better than I expected.

[JazzieCazzie]

Gifted with this in a purchase by a lovely forumite. I was so pleased to get it but felt pretty confident that it would eventually be regifted to another lucky forumite down the road and I was right.

 

The notes, one by one, have some potential and are also fraught with issues. I LOVE LOVE LOVE passionfruit and guava. To eat and drink. I love gin and tonic. To drink. I love tangerines. To eat.

 

My biggest dealbreaker notes are: fruity fruit fruit, booze and aquatics.

 

But I forged on for science.

 

IN THE IMP: Smells like I'd love to pour this in a nice glass at a tiki bar, stick a few cubes of ice in it and down this baby.

 

DABBED ON WRIST

 

WET: Oy, Orangey orangey orange orange orange. My problem with fruit is that it goes SOOOOOOOOOOO syrupy sweet medicinal I feel like my mom has come back to life and is chasing me around the house with a bottle of Triaminic cough syrup to make me take it. Not one of my favorite childhood memories, shall we say?

 

SO, sadly, we never got dry down. We got wash off. sooooooooooooooory.

 

Scale of 1-5: 1. But I bet it would have tasted good.

[vthesiren]

First impression: Wooo-wee, that's gin all right! The citrus is very faint.

 

Wet on skin: Immediately upon hitting the skin, the tangerine comes out. It's then beaten back into submission by the gin. Throw is minimal, I have to sniff very close to my wrist to smell it.

 

Dry: There was a moment of lovely fruitiness, but now it's mostly gin again. Still very faint - my skin is threatening to eat it at any time.

 

This was a half-bottle purchase from a forumite, and I'll hang onto this for more testing - it's still great for summer.

[LexieBlom]

Golden Wave imp

 

Wet/Bottle - Orange scented shampoo.

 

Wet/Skin (5 minutes) - Orange scented shampoo.

 

Dry/Skin (30 minutes) - Orange scented shampoo.

 

Orange scented shampoo. Very sharp, pungent and fruity; essentially everything I hate in a blend.

[Cali]

Oh wow. Another great exotic, warm, evocative blend in the awesome luau lounge. It's like a sunset. So boozy!!

...Holding on to this decant for a little while; have to convince myself to either get a bottle, or let it go, I'm not entirely sure what my brain thinks of this.

 

EDIT: Damn. After a good hour with this on it goes nasty plastic on me. Seriously so peeved about it. Why skin, why!!!! D:

Edited September 7, 2016 by Cali

[highpriestess]

Oh initially I love this one! I wasn't expecting to like the island scents but this one hits me out of the bottle with a sharp note of tangerine and an underlying sweetness of guava. I don't smell the booze just yet.

On my skin it goes very summery and light. The tangerine is mellowed and I'm getting a more mango scent. Very soft, I suspect it will fade quickly, but I like it.

[Aveya]

Mostly tonic.

 

Gin isn't giving it that BURST of pop I've seen with other gin scents. it's a sort of flat drink. It's mellow-fruity ; nothing standing out too much. nothing crazy juicy poppy fruity like I always hope for. That said, this feels well balanced. It's a wearable gentle fruity, and doesn't smell like you're wearing booze. It's light and gentle, and tropical for sure.

 

Swapper for me personally - but the scent is nice.

Edited April 22, 2018 by Aveya

[Soupy Twist]

A sweet, vaguely fruity gin. I would totally drink this at a night party on the beach in July. Not something I need to smell like.

[doomsday_disco]

In the decant: The tonic note kind of smells off. It smells like a somewhat fruity chapstick in the decant.

On me: Tangerine backed by some fizzy tonic. I get some of the passionfruit and guava, but the tangerine is the strongest of the fruits on me. The tonic ends up gaining strength with wear.

 

Verdict: I was hoping to get more guava from this, but it was mostly tangerine and tonic on me. It was nice to be able to try it, though!