Flor de Maga

[puck_nc]

The national flower of Puerto Rico. The proceeds of this scent support the Hispanic Federations Hurricane Maria relief fund. They have a stellar four-star rating on Charity Navigator, and one-hundred percent of the money that they receive go towards relief and recovery for people imperiled by Hurricane Maria.

Origin: Straight from the Lab

Initial Thoughts: It's floral, it's for a good cause, I'm gonna investigate. And my investigation found it is related to hibiscus, a flower I love and don't see enough of in perfumes.

In the Bottle: A full blast of hibiscus! A bit of white floral to it, a bit of greenness, but lovely tropical hibiscus.

Wet: A bit more green-y at first, with some generic flower-shop overload thrown in.

Drydown: Excellent. Both the green and the flower-shop back off and leave a rich, tropical hibiscus in their wake.

Verdict: I love it. If you love hibiscus or tropical florals, you should try it.

[Scylla]

Origin: Straight from the Lab

Initial Thoughts: I had no idea what this was going to smell like and straight up florals usually aren't my thing, but I wanted to donate to the relief effort so I thought I'd give it a try.

In the Bottle: STRONG, in your face tropical floral. I'm a little worried! There is definitely some white floral to it, a bit of greenery, but mostly a lush tropical hibiscus.

Wet: Still a bit strong and tropical, but rather than a bright red hibiscus it smells more like a white floral to me. I also smell some tropical greenery. It kind of reminds me of The Hanging Gardens crossed with Tiki Queen (but it has been a while since I smelled the discontinued Hanging Gardens). I'm liking it!

Drydown: Definitely worth the wait --it's a lovely, not at all overpowering tropical floral. I'm wearing it at work today, and it is very pleasant and totally appropriate for the office.

Verdict: I like it quite a bit, and that is saying something since I am not usually a big fan of straight up florals! If you love florals (and especially tropical florals), I'd definitely recommend it.

[Casablanca]

This smells so pretty in the bottle. It smells to me there like an aquatic tulip sort of Luper, with a light edge of hibiscus.

My first impression from the bottle was "aquatic honeysuckle," but I don't get the same depth. It reminds me more of Qui Aime Bien Châtie Bien (daffodil petals and lavender tulips, blonde woods, freesia, and a touch of pale honey) from last spring. There's just a little honey to it, and it's very spring flowers. Also a bit like Amsterdam.

On my skin, it begins the same, but the aquatic tone and tulip thing soon fade. It becomes more its own flower: soft and golden-coral, somewhere between tulip, honeysuckle, and hibiscus, not quite like any of them.

It's very soft once dried, a skin scent. I'm suckered.

[zankoku_zen]

This reminds me to a cross between honeysuckle and jasmine, with a bit of tropical aquaticness thrown in. It mainly codes as a type of jasmine flower to me, but as it dries down, I get more of the honeysuckle-like component and a bit more of the watery-ness comes out. Maybe hibiscus? If you're into either honeysuckle or jasmine, give this a whirl. Great throw and wear length.

[LizziesLuck]

I remember Googling what this floral ought to smell like when I first ordered it, but now I can't for the life of me remember what I figured it would be like. Too lazy to look again, so going in blind!

 

Wet: Oh dear lord, why??? Ugh, that's so bad. Heady jasmine soap. That's what it smells like so far on me. Ugh, man I did a bad Google. ICK.

 

 

Dry: I keep thinking "OMG what stinks?" and then realizing it's me. It doesn't smell exactly like jasmine, because there is no cat pee or feces happening here. But it's got that overly sweet, heady, sensual but also barfy thing happening. And it also smells like soap. Sexy barfy soap. It's like my brain is confused about how it feel about this. I think I don't want to wear confusing perfume, lol. It's a pass, for me. If you like jasmine though, this stuff is likely like crack.

[Carolan Ivey]

On first sniff, this made me smile. The first word that sprang to mind was "beach!" A little ocean, a lot of sunny tropical floral, a touch of suntan oil. After a while it dries to a jasmine/hibiscus white floral with an aquatic touch. I like it a lot.

[torikitty]

I think jasmine/hibiscus white floral is a good description. It goes on light and powdery, but my chemistry really brings out the floral notes, and makes it not enjoyable for me. This is a bit of a beachy vibe, I can see this smelling amazing on the right person.

[monocainsheresy]

Instantly conjures the image of a big, lush, thick-petaled, luxurious hibiscus. I didn't know what flor de maga was when I ordered this and upon first sniff I though lavender + magnolia. Has the same heady, round throw as jasmine, but the scent itself is definitely much more tactile and tropical than jasmine, with a more robust grace. A big flower with a big personality.

Not something I'll reach for often but this could very easily become a comfort scent for me.

[Ghost of a Rose]

Decant from a lovely forumite!

 

In the imp:. Oil is very clear and practically colorless, just the palest of yellow tints.  It smells floral, but like a flower I've never smelled before.  I've had plenty of experience with hibiscus, worn them as leis and have even grown them myself, but never noticed any scent from them. It doesn't have the fruity smell of hibiscus tea, either.  Flor de Maga must be an unusual one.  It's very intriguiging and beautiful.  A little soapy, but too unusual for that to matter. 

 

On me, wet: On my skin, it smells much more familiar.  Either jasmine or ylang-ylang, perhaps both.  But there's still an undertone of something different.

 

At 5 minutes: It has developed an aquatic note, but without the men's-cologne vibe that such scents usually have. This is too floral for that. The jasmine has already calmed down noticeably, as has the ylang-ylang or whatever that is, allowing the mystery flower (which I assume is Flor de Maga or Flor de Maga accord) more leeway. 

 

At 10 minutes: The same.  The aquatic note gives it a sharp, bright edge.

 

i looked up the flower on the Internet.  No wonder it smells different than a hibiscus.  Although the flower looks exactly like an oversize hibiscus flower, and is related to that, Flor de Maga is actually more closely related to cotton than to true hibiscus.

 

At 20 minutes:  Much like before, but it has warmed up a little and the jasmine has continued to fade. It's even lovelier than before.  Gentler, less assertive, without the strong jasmine. And with the retreat of the jasmine, the soapiness has gone too.

 

At 30 minutes: Ooh, more gorgeous than ever.  All mystery flower and aquatic.  I'm going to need a bottle of this.

 

At 45 minutes: The aquatic note is trying to muscle out the floral. 😥  And the whole thing suddenly went much lighter.  The flower is still hanging on, though, and I'm still loving it.

 

 At 1 hour:  Pretty much the same.  Fortunately the aquatic is starting to lighten up too, before it managed to edge out the floral completely.  The aquatic is very dominant in the throw.

 

At 2 hours: Much weaker now.  Mostly the aquatic, but there's still a trace of the flower.

 

At 3 hours:. All aquatic.  Which makes it cologne-like, but it isn't aftershave-ish.  And it's very light.

 

At 4 hours:. Virtually gone.  Although, the fading of the aquatic note lets a hint of the floral through again.  This is more short-lived than many BPAL's.  But some notes are just like that, and when you are trying to create a single-note accord, you can't add base notes to make it last longer.  (I wonder if the aquatic note wasn't included for that reason - to stretch out the life of the fragrance without changing its character too much.) Plus which, it does last as long as most traditional alcohol-based perfumes.  So I'm okay with that.

 

At 5 hours:  I am surprised to find that a little scent still lingers.  Not only that, but it has returned to the more floral-dominant gorgeous fragrance that it had earlier.

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Predominant Notes: Flor de Maga (accord?), Aquatic, Jasmine

 

Character: Unusual floral, aquatic, feminine

 

6 out of 6 stars.  The late drydown is more cologne-y than I would prefer, but I love the "mystery flower"/Flor de Maga note so much that it deserves 6 stars anyway. (And it does return to the floral in the final drydown.)

Edited January 8, 2019 by Ghost of a Rose

[Velvet Lilly]

In the bottle: it's a serious sucker punch to the face of sharp blousy, white florals like honeysuckle/jasmine/gardenia.

Wet: Still strong! Yet, It's a nicer play date....that starts to mellow as it dries.

A little goes a Long way. I bought it for the charity it supports, and figured I'd use it to toughen up the super candy scents like Poppa Monster, or liven up juicy scents like Midwinter's Eve.

The dry down and the way it lingers gets lovelier...,much like gardenia on me... I like it a lot when it's going away and melds more into my skin. 

This flower's got Guns! And pecs... and a six pack..and an attitude.

I think on cold days this would be too straight forward and overpowering for me, but on really hot sweaty days, I think it'll break down on my skin faster and give a tropical air to anything i mixed it with.

[RoseThornAndOak]

I like this! Thanks for helping with the hurricane relief, happy to help. FdM is a perfect Spring tropical floral, but rare and unique. It is green for sure, the stemmy and planty bits being the dominant part of the composition, so if you're not into big, loud florals you might dig this. Flor is like if honeysuckle was tropical and less powdery. It is actually very similar to Solanine The Flower Girl, also received in this order, but more subdued. Low throw and sillage, very much a skin scent. I'll have to try it on my inner elbow as Bluebonnet lasted at least 24 hours there.

 

This would layer well with earthy or coconut blends. It's not my favorite green floral, but I like it enough to keep and play with this Spring and Summer.

 

For fans of Solanine The Flower Girl, The Perfumed Garden, maybe some Rappacinni's Garden blends, Alkemia's Green Carnation. 

Edited February 2, 2021 by RoseThornAndOak