Aquaflore (1996)
by Carolina Herrera

Although I usually wrote about fragrances I tested recently and currently in the market, surfing in Internet I found this discontinued fragrance I smelled several years ago and still remembered, as it was one of the first fragrances I almost bought to my wife.

About 10 years ago it was my wife's first birthday together, then she was only my girlfriend, and I wanted to buy her a fragrance. I learned in the process how to select a fragrance for one or someone in a fragrance store at Viña del Mar (by the way, I was stuck with the same Azzaro for men my dad gave me at birthdays and Christmas), and everyday we tested just 3 or 4 very different fragrances on paper and came back the next day to test another group and to find what kind of fragrance my wife liked. We selected two finalist: the Elizabeth Arden's 5th Avenue and this Carolina Herrera's Aquaflore. She tested both of them on skin and smelled them the rest of the day.

Both of them were very similar, sharing fruity top note of mandarin and peach, middle notes of jasmine, lily of the valley and roses, and base notes of sandalwood and musk, but Aquaflore added a watery factor with notes of violet and melon. Also, the lasting power was a bit shorter compared with 5th Avenue.

At last, my wife stayed with Elizabeth Arden 5th Avenue, as it was more suitable for all seasons. Aquaflore was lighter, and more like a summer fragrance. Both of them are oriented for the same range of age, for women over 20 years old, office use and daytime, but Aquaflore is better aimed for daytime and summer times.

Aquaflore starts out with an off-note but very quickly straightens out to a clean, aquatic / fruity / floral. It’s really hard to classify this opening because it represents all three of those categories so very well. Most notable in the opening is a violet / peach accord slightly dominated by the violet—the notes are quite light and subtle. The subtlety is continued in the heart notes with a composite floral accord—I can’t separate out the individual flowers from the mixture, but I’ll take casterpollux’s word for it that the lily of the valley dominates. The dry down is both ambery and powdery to me; it certainly doesn’t project much or last long—it disappears all too suddenly. There is an aquatic ambiance about Aquaflore that predominates in the opening and continues to soften as the fragrance moves on. The fragrance is delightfully feminine. It suffers from lack of longevity. I have great respect for Carolina Herrera’s fragrances, and this is another beautiful one from her.

When Flore was too much, this was heaven. Bad thing was, it was very light and both the longevity and sillage were minimal. But i liked it so much that it didn't really matter. It had a fresh, fruity top with some violets and a middle that had mostly lily of the valley and the faintest, lightest amount of jasmin and rose with an ambery drydown that was very simple. It felt watery as well wich was spot-on with the name. Why was it discontinued? I guess it was just too light and fans of both Flore and Carolina herrera for women were put off by this. It remided me (and smelled like)something Nina Ricci might have done.