Water of Notre Dame

[tragedy]

Brings peace to the spirit, a sense of calm and fulfillment, and attracts the aid of beneficial spirits.

oh oh oh... this is so nice!
I had a horrid night last night and my impulse in the morning is to usually try an imp from random in my "havent tried" pile, but I grabbed for WoND instead because of the calm-inducing reviews.
I must say it is indeed, very calming.
I do smell rose water, I always associate this with my grandmothers bathroom since she used rose water, but this has even more grandma associations for me...
When I was young, we were poor, and my grandmother was "comfortable" I always thought she was rich because she had HBO and a pool, now I know she really wasn't. The best parts of my childhood were spent in her big lush tree covered back yard and in her pool..
Rose water, aquatics of the smooth kind and greenery.
This is my childhood in an imp and whats more calming than that??

[pseedie]

Water of Notre Dame

 

In the Imp: a lovely aquatic floral with a bit of "something" swirling underneath...

 

Wet: sweet and aqua-ish....but there's that lurking thing....

 

Dry: Rose...and plastic toy. Damn. I'd heard about others having aquatic scents turn "plastic" smelling on them, and was hoping I wasn't one of them.....i is.

 

Time Lapse 1 hour: Plastic rose. It ain't changin.

 

Time Lapse 2 hour: smaller plastic rose. (I'm finding i have trouble holding on to bpal fragrances...they fade too quickly)

 

Verdict: If i ever need to attract a plastic salesman, I'll wear this....but I doubt that'll happen, so into the swap pile it goes....dang shame too. It was lovely in the imp.

 

 

 

 

 

[Evengloam]

Bottle: Green aquatic. Very fresh. I'm also getting something zesty, like fresh lemon zest or orange zest.

 

Wet: Getting more of the citrus zest. So very clean. Makes me think of a crisp, cool pond with water lilies. Very positively charged.

 

Dry: Much of the same.

 

1 hour in: Much softer. Less of a biting/crisp clean than the prior stages. Hard for me to smell, though.

 

Unfortunately, this is a little too clean/soapy for me to purchase a bottle of, but I think I will keep my imp for days when I need some positivity.

[anna1850]

Pleasant and manages to be aquaticy without turning into that dryer sheet smell that a lot of them do.

 

2.5/5 It's fine and nice and fresh but not very powerful and not really what I'm looking for.

[sarajane]

Woah. Dryer sheet rose. Sad, because this is gorgeous watery floral before it touches my blasted skin.

[donnatron]

Imp: Soft, cool, slightly citrus. Hint of aquatic and floral.

 

Wet: On my skin this goes a little salty. Still pretty, just a hint of seasalt and tang.

 

Dry: THAT'S WHAT IT IS! I've had this on for about half an hour and it's been driving me nuts trying to figure out what the floral note is--I think it's lily! I get a really soft, warm lily with some aquatic coolness in the background. This is very calming. I am test driving it with a few other scents so I'm probably not getting the full effect but I definitely can see this having a good calming and collecting sense to it.

 

Throw: Pretty strong, actually.

 

Overall: I like it. Probably will use it more for intent than for perfume but who among us couldn't do with smelling good and being calm?

[rayvn1]

Light green aqautic, soothing and clear scent. Just what I was hoping for

[moon_lemming]

Water of Notre Dame is an aquatic floral, both in the imp and fresh on my skin. It DOES smell like water in a weird way, it's not the normal BPAL "aquatic" that turns straight to Irish Spring on my skin.

 

Dry, it's an aquatic baby powder. That sounds gross, but it's not bad at all. I would have to wear it longer to test its mojo, but I think the fact that it's an aquatic that I don't need to run to wash off is a point in its favor already.

[angelicruin]

Inside the imp, sharp citrus.

 

Wet on the skin, starts out with that sharp citrus scent I caught in the imp. Goes aquatic citrus within seconds of application. Still quite sharp to my nose.

 

I think it's the citrus feel of the perfume that makes me associate this as a fresh clean scent. It reminds me of a really nice laundry detergent, but not really anything I want to wear as perfume.

[HKB]

At first I love this. It's green and white, smells like spring. I get images of a beautiful stream. It's definitely calming and beautiful. A little generic, but in a good way, an every day scent. After only about 15 minutes it smells like laundry detergent. Very sad. I'm going to try this in a scent locket because I really loved it before my skin messed it up.

Edit: tried this on a piece of cotton and it was sweeter and even more like laundry detergent. Argh.

Edited August 11, 2009 by HKB

[biocarolyn]

This one was really nice. I have been having the insane work month from hell, and some peace and calmness were much needed.

 

In the imp, I get a lot of citrus, along with cool aquatic and some floral underneath. On my skin, I get a BUNCH of violet- it smells like those violet hard candies my grandmother used to have. I wish the citrus stayed around a bit, although the violet isn't unpleasant and doesn't send me running away screaming like most florals.

 

I like it. It does seem to have a calming effect, and it is a nice, soft scent.

[topazphoenix]

This is citrus and then rosewater, pretty but generic..and on the drydown there's something distinctly metallic. Darn, I thought I would like this one.

Edited August 14, 2009 by AmandaKay

[loubric]

My skin is not a fan of floral much to my disgust but for some reason this scent works.

On opening it’s a very sweet, watery rose smell, very strong.

 

I dabbed some behind my ears and on my wrists and I smell so pretty. I was worried that it would be too old lady on me (hence why I can’t do florals) but luckily it’s not. I get hints of incense/musk but so subtle that the sweet rose is still the main attraction!

 

I feel like a fairy. Lovely!!

 

 

03/03/10 Tryin this again for it's healing qualities...

Edited March 3, 2010 by Lilly

[hlinspjalda]

In the vial: Watery bluish smelling floral, with a touch of something invigorating.

 

Wet: Aquatic floral with something that smells like vanilla?

 

Half an hour: Creamy hand-milled French lavender soap. Very elegant.

 

One hour: Still good quality lavender soap. There is something slightly unusual about it, though, an almost citrusy note, not lemon or orange but somehow partaking of citrus.

 

Three hours: Long since gone. It was a beautiful, light, pale pastel blue-violet color on me, but it didn't last at all.

 

[Venneh]

In the frimp, this smells like... I don't really know, there's this tang, with a watery floral. On my skin, there's aquatic floral and what I think might be citrus? It fades away to a really faint watery floral, nothing too remarkable. As for the affects... well, jury's out on that one, but I am feeling a bit more relaxed than normal for a Monday morning, and some pretty good stuff's happened this morning. I'll keep the frimp, but I won't be needing a bottle, I think.

Edited October 12, 2009 by Venneh

[arsenicsauce]

Wet: Lovely and aquatic without being soapy, slightly sweet in a way I can't identify- this is very light and cheerful.

 

Dry: Oh no, is that rose? It's some kind of soap floral and it completely dominates after about half an hour. Bummer.

[luzblah]

My first review...

 

In the bottle: Sweet Aquatic floral with a hint of zest and green bits. Smells good. One sniff made my body just go "ahh and relax"

 

Wet on:I get lots of rose, the aquatic is still there but the green and zest is no where on me.

 

Drydown: Smells a bit like nappy sacks for a while

 

2 or so hours later: it smells delicate and nice.

 

Will be keeping the 5ml i got to sniff off ebay. I kinda knew i'd like it.

[Amoraexcena]

Imp: bubbling spring water, delicate rose and lavender water (one more flower scent in there I can't pick out- lily or maybe cherry blossom?), fresh-squeezed splash of lemon, a squirt of lime.

Wet on Skin: the citrus amps a little, as well as something slightly spicey- maybe the floral I couldn't feel out was carnation? but still predominantly watery and definitely relaxing (even though I'm always stressed trying to pick out notes!). It's strangely energizing too though. Like a draught of cool water when you're parched.

Drydown: this is absorbed into my skin SO fast. Good throw. Definitely keeping the imp, though something is curdling it a bit into soap- it's probably lily of the valley.

[Phades]

This is one of the first imps whose bottle-smell isn't objectionable to me. In the imp it smells wet, clean, natural, a bit watery.

 

On the skin - I definitely agree with the greenness other reviews have mentioned. An aquatic green, definitely, rather than a foresty leafy green or a grassy field green. Water that is still, but clean, comes to mind - bordered with cattails and floating with lilypads, but not stagnant at all.

 

Is it my imagination, or is there an element of tea to it? There're floral elements (I gather that's the violet?) but they're not overly strong; they fit well.

 

I agree the scent is pretty strong - I think I may dilute it when using it in the future. Not sure I'll get more than my current imp, but I'll definitely be keeping the imp at least.

[fairestrocza]

In the Imp: a sweet floral, and something is saying 'Purple' to me; a bit of light citrus the second time around

 

Wet on Skin: This reminds me of a box of soaps (4? 5? different kinds) I got at the perfumary in Grasse, France… soaps that smelled impressively like fresh flowers, not soapy… so, soap in a *good* way, as far as soap goes (What was in that box? Lavender, rose for sure, and ahh yes, violet - that must be my Purple. There was also a pale yellow wrapper - can't remember what that one was).

 

While Drying: rose for sure, and something citrusy (I get that sometimes from rose), over the smell of hot laundry (slightly superheated clean button-down mens shirts)

 

After a Little While: the laundry is cooling off now, but I can still smell the violet perfumed hand soap

 

Later: This is such a nostalgic, homey smell for me. I'll have to try this again and see if I always get that scent-memory from it. (my second skin test did pretty much the same thing, with one addition - a weird, but brief, musky sharpness pushed its way in at one point). Hmm, this seems to soak into any fabric it touches, much more than other scents, and my sleeves are retaining just the soapy violets smell.

 

Final Thoughts: For me, this is a very homey/comfort scent. This did not feel aquatic, and is unlike the other 'clean' blends I've tried (I often get single-note-Irish-Spring, or dryer-sheet with 'clean' scents, but not here). I love the blends that hit my scent-memory triggers. Throw is decent, but still fairly delicate (on second thought, it does have its in-your-face moments, but overall feel is still delicate). On me, this one lasts quite a while, though the intensity decreases significantly. I can still smell a tame violet scent on my wrists 12 hours later.

This is not typical of the types of blends I gravitate toward, but the scent memory triggers appeal to me.

Water of Notre Dame earns a 3.5/5 for scent, 4/5 for memory triggers, on my skin.

[Vega]

My first review, of the second BPAL scent I ever tried!

Disclaimer: my nose is relatively untrained so my notes may not be terribly accurate. I try to wear a scent several times before making a review.

 

In imp: watery, tangy and slightly sweet/floral.

 

On skin: very green and watery, tangy, faint flowers. Gently bright/luminous/dreamy. Soft yet heady. Becomes more gentle over time, dries into soft flowers and loses that green/aquatic tang. Borders on being soapy and/or perfumy, but not always. Colour impression is a pale green-yellow; puts me in mind of lilies and other aquatic plants floating on a serene pool.

 

Verdict: I find it very pleasant and relaxing, will definitely keep and use up my imp. Possible future bottle.

 

Thanks to Emera for gifting me with an imp and enabling me onto BPAL!

 

[voorishsign]

I always have a hard time finding inner calm and peace of mind, and since the Conjure Bag has not failed me yet, I thought I'd try this and see if it helps

 

In the imp - sweet, floral, clear and light.

 

On wet - Floral and aquatic, but the scent is not overwhelming but rather calm and soothing. Beautiful!

 

Drydown - blessedly serene and calm. Watery without being department store aquatic, floral without being cloying. Pure tranquility. I will reach for this the next time I'm having half a heart attack over something or the other and I'm sure this will do its job

[NicoleJoy]

This scent is beautiful on me, but I get a very different impression than it seems is typical according to the reviews. On me, Water of Notre Dame is very soft, disappearing 90% after 2 hours. The faintest touch is with me 6 hours later, but the strength is gone. It isn't until I lean in to sniff my wrists that I catch much of anything.

 

The scent is aquatic and floral - a beautiful combination. It is soft and peaceful, and I imagine it'd be a perfect scent of a day at a spa or lying in bed reading books. Despite being a "soft" scent, it is not even remotely powder. It's more of a fresh scent that lightly radiates.

 

I do enjoy this scent, but I likely wouldn't purchase it because it fades more quickly than most. If I came across a bottle at a really good price, though, I'd likely contemplate it!

[meredevachon]

*sigh* I think I should just give up on anything from the Conjure Bag; I've yet to find one I wasn't allergic to.

 

Both in the imp and wet I smelled limes. Or maybe lime blossoms. But within a couple of minutes, there was the scratch in the back of my throat, the watery eyes, and the sneezing. Had to go straight to washing it off.

[Edeniade]

This is the very first "watery" BPAL scent I've tried. I don't normally search them out as I'm not a huge fan, but this was a frimp so I figured it was worth a shot.

 

In the bottle: Smells watery all right! This is my first water scent but I get a pang of ozone too? Unlike most others here, I got a definite vision of blue and not green; a deep, clear pond with flowers. I smell flowers, cursed cursed flowers! ROSES! It smells like rose water and something else...LILIES. Uh oh, roses and I are not friends.

 

First swipe: Definitely all flowers, no more water. Unless you count rose water. This is a really strong oil, holy crap.

 

Drydown: Powdery rose and lily, it's so strong I'm getting headaches. I need to wash this off, too much floral on my arm! x_x