Florida Water

In the bottle I get - lemon lime soda, lavender, lemon-heads candy, medicinally herbal, basil On my skin - 10 seconds in - Still getting the lemon heads and medicinal/herbal, basil. Very slight hint of lavender. 30 seconds - brown sugar and clove becomes apparent on top of the before-mentioned (likely where some get the "cola" scent, but it's not very cola to me) 3 minutes - Mandarin orange, honey, and the basil is getting stronger. 5 minutes - Nutmeg, cardamom, medicinal/herbal stronger now - Sillage is at an arms length (co-worker tested lol) Ok, skipping ahead now - 20 minutes - I'm still smelling everything surprisingly, very linear, all together now. What does stand out is the lemon/lime/orange/medicinal/herbal with a hint of clove and seems to be the most prominent during the entire experience. I would definitely classify this as a bright citrus spice with medicinal herbal notes. I am very surprised that the sillage is still at an arms length at this point. I expected it to be mostly gone by now and be a very close-to-skin scent. 45 minutes - OMG it's still here. I'm in love. I keep smelling my hands. 1 hour - Bergamot, clove, and basil. Divine af. Skipping ahead - I can't believe this, but that one splash on hands, wrists, around my neck and the excess in my hair lasted for 3 hours before reapplication. When I stepped outside I had an aura of berg/clove/basil still though light. Sillage now is much lighter but still very apparent when I go outside or walk by the ac or fan. My co-worker just ordered a bottle after being a spectator of all of this and smelling it through the office wherever I walked. Sillage - 7/10 Longevity (for an EDC splash) - 8/10 Totally unisex. Sexy, fresh, clean, uplifting, bright, happy. Can definitely see why this is used spiritually so often for cleansing. I love it and this is my personal Summer favorite. It's not the strongest or the longest lasting, but is very charming for that and at this value, reapply all day without the 10 spritz-guilt.

Uplifting, refreshing, fresh, and clean. Smells amazing, like aftershave used by an old era barbershop with a slightly antiseptic smell from the lavender. The thing I love most about Murray & Lanman Florida Water is how natural and fresh it smells. I swear, this stuff must be like catnip to men, because I bought a bunch of bottles up at bottom barrel prices on clearance a long time ago, and each one was systematically taken from me by each boyfriend that I’ve had. Even though I think it smells incredible, I do prefer the smell on men rather that myself despite its unisex status, so I never actually protested its appropriation. You can smell it from a couple feet away, but it’s not overpowering which makes it perfect for blistering summer heat where a lot of other fragrances could prove nauseating. I was a bit surprised at how few accolades this cologne got from Fragrantican reviewers since it’s been around for over 200 hundred years, but I suppose I’m just happy that Landman & Kemp are still manufacturing this gem after all this time. First and foremost this scent is composed of mouth wateringly zesty lemon, combined with the sweetness of orange, with a splash of lavender added which lightly grounds the citrus notes with a wonderful herbal/floral, vaguely powdery spice. Lastly a wisp of clove is added so sparingly that, unless you were looking for it specifically, you’d undoubtedly be oblivious to its presence, which modestly serves as another grounding aspect for the citrus, and dances together with the lavender accentuating its herbal jaggedness.

I purchased this when I forgot to pack a fragrance or 2 for a family beach vacation in the southeastern US. Rather than buy a bottle of Stetson or Eternity from the drugstore that I’d pay $15 for and never wear again, I decided to give this a try. Paid $4 for 7oz. Opens with sweet lemon candy and bergamot notes, along with mint, to my nose. I understand why some people get cleaning solution vibes, but for me it’s not overwhelming. As it dries down I get a lot of clove and cinnamon with the citrus fading into the background. The floral notes start to come through after about 10-15 minutes, but not so much that feels ultra feminine by any means. Cinnamon and clove hang on throughout. It’s a skin scent after about an hour, and that’s after being applied very liberally — to me, that’s what you want out of a hot weather fragrance. This is certainly unisex, maybe even more masculine to my nose. This cologne is a part of fragrance history and I’m really glad I tried it out. It’s not something I’d reach for regularly, but it’s also more functional than most modern fragrances. It is extremely light on the skin, and definitely produces a cooling effect when splashed on the neck and wrists on a hot day - and that’s how you want to apply it. Splash it on like your dad’s aftershave. For $4 this is a no brainer.

While staying overnight at my grandmother's house as children, we slept and played in the Blue Room. Much like the rest of the house, the Blue Room was filled with trinkets and baubles of a past that seemed quite distant to my young eyes. There were heavy blue brocade curtains we eventually used to make Halloween costumes. Against the wall stood, a dusty armoire filled with frilly nightgowns and old prom dresses for all of our princess dress-up needs. My cousins and I spent many nights in the creaky brass bed, giggling & whispering ghost stories until granny came upstairs to shush us. Of all the memories in that room, the most important to this review is an old shelf that hung on the wall above the bed. It was filled with the most beautiful bottles of forgotten perfume and cologne. Half full and sticky with perfume oils, the blended scent from those bottles is stamped into my mind. Florida Water reminds me of that shelf in the best possible way. I adore this scent and only wish that it lasted longer. Somebody should work on that for me. :D

I use this all the time in my spiritual practice to cleanse a space and reset the energy. I have a scent association with this now: I use it to take back my brain from anxiety and protect from negativity. To me it's a gorgeous aromatic citrus fragrance that is super high in alcohol. I have used it before as the base for other fragrant oils, and I include a few drops in my essential oil diffuser from time to time. I've also used it as an accelerant when lighting spiritual fires. On a non-spiritual note: I particularly enjoy the soap, and it's the only thing that cleans my makeup brushes adequately! I used to think this had no sillage or longevity, until I wore it out once, and a woman two seats over from me at a concert complemented my perfume, and asked what it was. Living in the SOUTH, I wasn't about to be fully honest with a stranger about my spiritual practice...so I just said, "Oh it's something I whipped up in the kitchen with some essential oils..." She was very disappointed I couldn't direct her where to buy it. LOL