Every Woman Is A Queen

Bvlgari Aqva Pour Homme (2005)

“My inspiration for Aqva Pour Homme came from deep water,” said Cavallier. To evoke the smell of the deep sea, he used notes of mandarin, petitgrain, santolina, posidonia, mineral amber and clary sage. I have a friend who loves all ozonic, marine, and ‘fresh’ scents, so last summer when I was given two large sample vials of Bvlgari Aqva Pour Homme, I gave him one of the samples and asked him to let me know what he thought of the fragrance. “It smells nasty,” he said. I made a note to try Aqva Pour Homme immediately; at least I knew it was not your run-of-the-mill ozonic/marine/fresh cologne (sorry, Friend, but we have talked of your perfume tastes face to face).

Aqva Pour Homme begins with strong mandarin and petitgrain aromas — a welcome change from the usual bergamot opening one gets in many mainstream men’s fragrances. Within minutes, the citrus notes fade away and an herbal aroma comes to the fore. Posidonia, an aquatic plant that grows profusely in Mediterranean and Australian waters, is a fragrance note in both Bvlgari Aqva perfumes. I’ve never smelled this fragrance note in isolation but I believe it accounts for a light, clean, slightly salty and “reedy” aroma in both Aqva scents. But posidonia cannot compete with Aqva Pour Homme’s pungent santolina note. To me, santolina leaves smell of petroleum; I always imagine a murky, dark green, molasses-like substance when I get a whiff of strong santolina, and I like the scent.

Aqva Pour Homme has an aquatic character, but it does not smell like ocean water. When I wear this fragrance, my imagination, once again, takes over and I’m at the shore where one smells damp, barnacled pilings and moorings; tarred wharves; seaweed; and warm oceanic breezes that are scented with the aromas of hot boat engines and their sweet-smelling exhaust fumes. In fact, the scent of Aqva Pour Homme reminds me of the Seattle Ferry Terminal! If you dislike the “gasoline,” or “dried tar” fragrance note in Christian Dior Fahrenheit, I wager you will NOT like Aqva Pour Homme. The santolina/posidonia accord starts off rather smoothly but quickly intensifies. At the very end of Aqva Pour Homme’s development I smell faint, dry/chalky amber. Aqva Pour Homme is a rather stark fragrance and it lasts on my skin for three hours or so (which is a good thing; I like the santolina/fuel oil note but don’t think I would want to smell it for much longer than three hours).