Danube

[mandragora]

Rhododendron and bellflower petals swirl through deep, cool, dark aquatic notes.

Smells "blue". Very aquatic with a hint of floral and fruity yumminess. This is like a more potent yet still refreshing version of Pele. Mind you they don't smell the same, they just evoke the same feeling on me. And Danube has lasting power too (unlike the Houdini act that Pele does when applied on my skin).

Lovely and a keeper. Maybe even a bottle in the future.

eta: Hubby just gave his stamp of approval on Danube. Definite bottle. Edited September 24, 2006 by Shollin

[sookster]

straight sniff from the imp is a delicate floral & grapefruit

upon application this amps up to a very powerful floral and fruity

perfume....i am loving this one a lot and it will be positively glorious

for hot, steamy summertime months....i will put this little imp away

for when it gets warmer and see how much more i will love it then.

[themerrybaker]

This one gives me a rush of daffodil pollen. Great for rainy spring days.

[slave1]

In Bottle: Sharp floral

 

On Skin: The Rhododendron is the key player here. I remember it strongly from planting it in our garden with my mom when I was younger. It’s very sharp and pungent. The aquatic notes are strong too. I get a strong spring feel from this… flowers, plants and crisp ozone. A very bright blue feel with a bit of bright white. I get something citrus, grapefruit I think? It’s sweet yet tart, beautiful. It also slightly reminds me of Pele, it wakes me right up. It is a pretty scent but florals and I aren’t the best of friends. I would love to use it as a linen or room spray in the spring.

[DEMONDAHLIA]

Like many BPALers this scent envokes childhood memories.. The swirling teal blue water of lake tahoe .. the melting of snow into lush green forest .. bright dampened greens and crisp cold water .. the combination of coolness and warmth all rolled into one .. I really didnt think Id enjoy this imp so much .. this may definatly call for a bigger bottle

[Eridan]

Whee, my first review!

 

This one was an odd one, for me. I don't generally like florals, i tend to stick to woods and spicier, herbal scents when I can. But, I'm making myself try the lovely florals, and being surprised time and again by how they end up smelling.

 

So this one, i put on and was very intrigued by the watery green notes from the first. And then on drydown... it shifted. No surprise, right? Except... when it shifted it smelled EXACTLY like Anaïs Anaïs. Hyacinth, honeysuckle, lily of the valley. It took me a couple hours of sniffing my wrist (getting odd looks, too) to figure out what it smelled like, but when I DID finally figure it out, I nearly fell out of my chair laughing.

 

See, Anaïs Anaïs is what my friend Kathi wears.

 

Kathi lives in Vienna, Austria.

 

Her apartment has a view of the Danube!

[gwyllgi]

This is one of the few scents that has reduced me to OMGLUV!!! I'm learning that I adore watery notes, and this is absolutely no exception.

 

One of the things that I love about BPAL is that the scents evoke such a powerful imagery that I fall in love as much with that as with the scent. Danube brings to mind Germany, my brief time in München, and the gorgeous day I visited Schloß Nymphenburg. The only downside is that it makes me want to go back!

 

Up to this point, I'd limited myself to 5ml bottles once I'd established that I wanted to graduate from an imp's ear. This may be the first to push me up to a 10ml, as I want to saturate my life with this.

 

It's such a lovely, soft, blue floral, not overwhelmingly aquatic, not overwhelmingly floral, but the clean scent of crushed petals on a tranquil pool. It's innocent but mature, and absolutely perfect as a spring and summer scent.

[Meg]

In the bottle: Ooh, pretty ozoney florals! I immediately get images of deep blue water!

 

Wet: For a moment it smells a bit like an ozony toilet deodoriser, very citrusy over florals.

 

Drydown: Oh yes, flowers, full woods of sweet-smelling flowers and the very green and undescribable scent of rhododendrons. It still veers into toilet deodoriser land every now and then, until the sharpest part of the ozone is gone. It's lovely and moist, too.

 

Overall: Absolutely beautiful! Blue, blue water and florals! It's really the deepest blue scent I've ever smelled, and a really beautiful one, fresh and sweet. I think that there's both ozone and sweet aquatics in here and it works, even on aquatic-allergic me! A perfect scent for a warm summer, for the atmosphere of a huge river going through flowering woods. Yum!

[ladymissspyder]

In imp: mock orange and something....else. I know mock orange isn't listed, but that's what I smell!

 

Wet: missed it.

 

Drydown: missed it.

 

Top notes: Something high and clean smelling. A soapy, fresh floral.

 

Middle notes: Ooh, wait. I actually smell something aquatic! Normally aquatics go all dryer sheet-y on me, but this one feinted towards dryer sheet, then bolted for aquatic. A nice fresh sea breeze of an aquatic, too.

 

Base notes: damn, it's fading, but it's going to more of a low tide aquatic scent. The good kind of low tide. Oh, and maybe someone put their laundry out to dry in the distance.

 

Throw: medium, then light.

 

Rating: 4.5 out of 5. Not my thing, but it does what it does very well.

[karengypsy]

In the vial: Flowers and aquatics

 

On me: Wow! This is a very blue and pink scent to me - it is everything that I think summer on the water should smell like. There is a distinct floral scent that is just heavenly, and the aquatic note is lovely.

 

Verdict: A new favorite! I want a bottle!

 

Rating: 5/5

[jakey]

Danube

 

This smells "blue" to me if that makes sense. I don't know if it's just psychological due to the name, or what. I think I get what people mean when they get "watermelon" from it. I can't put my finger on the floral, but it is definitely more sophisticated than a department store floral perfume.

 

It's a very nice cool, summer scent and I can't wait to make a spray out of it.

 

[edenssixthday]

Danube is highly aquatic and the florals in it are heavy and strong. It’s not what I’d call a “pretty” floral at all – the florals are bitter and heady. The scent has terrific throw initially, while the florals still dominate the scent, but the fragrance becomes fairly subtle after about an hour, when the florals move into the background and the aquatic notes begin to dominate. This scent is a bit too strong and bitter for my taste.

[Summerpixy]

I wish my garden smelled this good after a fresh rain. Strong florals made 'wet' with aquatic overtones. This scent is refreshing and clean without being soapy or overpowering. This was a frimp and I've swapped for a bottle for a friend, I'll be enjoying my imp though, you can be sure of that.

[Voleuse]

On first application, this is a cool aquatic floral, refreshing and sweet. Though I'm not familiar with the floral notes, it does evoke the exact image in the description--a flutter of petals, floating down the river in the evening light. It's a clean, very fresh blend. Definitely something to wear during the summer.

[thraxyl]

It's ridiculously hot here today so I grabbed Danube for a little cool-off.

 

I get this beautiful blue, watery feeling from this scent-deep, slow-moving, cool river pools. It starts as just a "water" smell-not like an aquatic note, but like the flowers have very strong watery tones of their own. A little way through I do pick up a new floral note-this seems a little to sweet and heady for this blend, and I don't really like it. As it sinks in a little more I seem to detect a slight herbal tinge underneath-does that smell like sage? Mind you, I'm terrible with notes and I have to practically cram my wrist into my nose to get that. Overall I love how evocative this is-the perfect picture of a slow, clear river.

[Miseraya]

In the imp: Hmm, that's odd. This smells very similar to Aizen-Myoo to my nose. It has that same grapefruity, watery citrus note. Interesting... Really not getting any florals from this, just watery citrusy goodness. So far I really like this, but I am a bit worried it is mislabeled!

 

On the wrist, wet: The same as in the imp, but...wait... I smell... is that gardenia? If it is it's the best smelling gardenia that has ever graced my wrist. It's definitely getting floral now, but not heavy, like most florals are on me. Very light and faint. Surprisingly, despite it's beginning to smell like gardenia which I loathe, I like this.

 

On the wrist, dry: This is a very delicate and clean scent. It's floral, but nicely so, none of the overwhelming choking sweetness that florals usually turn into on me.

 

Final Analysis: This is a great floral for people who like clean smells and usually can't pull floral off. Alas, I think I promised this one to Eoife in exchange for Aizen-Myoo or Neo-Tokyo and those two always win.

 

ETA: fixed a typo.

Edited August 3, 2006 by Miseraya

[neuilly]

Mmm, lovely! Aquatic and citrust with a touch of floral. Light, refreshing, but a bit like dryer sheets. I'm going to have to test the imp once more before I can decide to keep it or not.

[fiddledragon]

Grapefruuuuuuuit! Grapefruits before a storm with high but not unpleasant sharp florals. Normally aquatics do truly terrible things to me, but this is lovely. I don't know that I'll use more than an imp, as I'm still not much of a fresh-scent person even when they work on me, but it has definite potential.

[JeffBuckleyFan]

I don't have a very sophisticated nose since I'm new to fragrance, so I won't be able to give a very detailed description.

 

That being said, I love the idea of aquatic scents but this one smells like a pine tree. It didn't work on me at all and smelled a little like marijuana on my skin after it dried, and I have none of that stuff in my house.

 

Ah well, just another to cross off my list in my journey to find my holy grail scent.

[TrailerTrashPrincess]

impsniff: saltwater

 

skinsniff, wet: Rhododendron and sea salt

 

skinsniff, dry: rancid soap and white flowers

 

edit:

after having this scent suggested to me again and again, i thought i'd try it again. so i put it on my wishlist and a wonderful person (and great decant circle leader!) sent me a frimp of it.

 

it still smells pretty awful on me, but with a new twist: fraternity house laundry room -- the unwashed unknown-owner pile of stinky clothes. ewwww.

Edited December 25, 2007 by TrailerTrashPrincess

[dierne]

In the imp - Well rounded, wet florals.

 

Wet on skin - Mmmm ... cool and wet and a flowery river bank in the rain. )

 

Dry on skin - Getting more flowers but soft and wet and yummy I like this (please don't let it go soap!)

 

Later - Not soap Clear, cool water and some dew drenched sharp florals.

[fiddlehead]

Another one I get to try, thanks to the Labbies!

 

I wouldn't know the scent of rhododendrons nor bellflowers. What I recognize right off is grapefruit blended nicely with springtime flowers. Thankfully, I'm not getting the aquatic note of doom in this. And even though I *think* I smell Lily of the Valley, it's balanced nicely with the grapefruit so that I don't want to go wash this off

 

This is a very pretty blend!

[storme]

In the imp: sweet and crisp florals over fresh aquatics.

 

On me, wet: sweet crisp florals - and grapefruit? a lovely grapefruitey scent, sharp and light.

 

On me, dry: sharp grapefruit and florals over, alas, soapy aquatics. Grr! This is a lovely soap, but still, soap.

 

Verdict: Alas, no. Gorgeous in the imp and when wet, but my skin just isn't playing along.

[QueenFae]

This fragrance amazingly captures the scent of the Danube. It's a beautiful, lilac - like floral wafting over a breezy, outdoorsy fresh scent. I can definitely smell the florals above all, but the underlying aquatics are quite potent too. I normally am not into aquatics, but the ones in this blend are so clean and windy; they make me want to row down a stream on a spring day. A lovely blend!

[ariesathena]

Oooh I like this one. Really I don't know how better to describe it than just using the lab description. I used to visit this rhododendron park in my home town and this scent smells exactly like that park did after the rain. Mostly rhododendrons with a hint of the aquatic notes. I'm not a huge fan of the pure floral scents, but I can definitely see wearing this one when I'm in the mood for something floral. Not big bottle worthy, but I'm keeping the imp. 3.5/5