Miracle Homme L'Aquatonic (2003)
by Lancôme

This starts out almost like a woman's perfume at first, but an immediate drydown I can smell a cream and the green fern and luckily this finally settles down to a very subtle and close scent that i don't mind wearing. But the initial spray will clear some sinuses - smells like an Avon or Estee Lauder perfume at first spray to me at first though sorta kills it for me.

However, fresh out of the shower, spray on, then dry off, relax, take your time THEN put on a t-shirt; this is perfect for warm, dry weather. Humidity will alter it's smell - at least on my skin - and will stay way too perfume-y.

Perhaps this is Lancome's finest modern men's scent. Don't be fooled by the Aqua title into thinking this is a marine/aquatic scent. It is not. It does smell like a fougere though it is not. More on that later. What it is an ode to green peppers, grass, refined wood and touch of spice. A ripe, freshly cut green pepper dominants the opening. Anybody who's sliced open a pepper will know the aroma. There's a touch of grass(vetiver) which combined with the green pepper produces a "fern" like smell to my nose. But this is no fougere. Perhaps the perfumers having a bit of fun with "fern" but wearing this does pep up one's spirits. The base comes fairly quickly which is dominated by gaiacwood & cedar. The gaiacwood here is rich yet never too strong. The woody notes blend wonderfully with the fresh green notes to make this close to a masterpiece. Perfect for summer/spring days in the sun. I tend to overspray on this one as it's a bit weak on my skin, but otherwise, I wholeheartedly recommend this scent to those who want a fresh, summery scent without the usual cliches and baggage of most men's fragrances.

Kinda foody, in a vegetable kinda way. Like after the auto misters at the supermarket had sprayed all the lettuce, turnips celery and various other things. Something with aqua in the name without the color blue being invoked. Color me surprised and a fan of this scent.

L'Aquatonic is aptly named, because after it opens up with a refreshing burst of a citric moss accord, which is by far its most dominating note, it definitely takes a watery turn. When these middle "water" notes take over and I smell nothing after a couple of hours. I do sense a slight vetiver note in the drydown but it is so feint, it could be leftover from my last cologne. Still that opening mossy note is perfect for a sunny summer morning and since it comes only in the 120mL bottle, you can afford to over- or re-apply at your leisure over the course of the day.

I really like this fragrance, and if it wasn't for its subpar longevity, I would wear it more often, especially now in the summer. I have made a conscious attempt to alternate its use with my other favorite fresh/summer fragrance Mugler Cologne, depending on whether I want to be synthetically fresh for a long time via Mugler, or a few hours of naturally fresh by means of Lancome.

I would rate it neutral overall, but a thumbs up as far as summer fragrances go.

Try it, you'll be freshly surprised.
Apply in the morning and your mood will lift immediately, a sense of natural emotion will stay with you for quite some time, an essential summer fragrance with good longevity and versatility.

This in essence beautiful fragrance works a bit strange on my skin.
Athough it is marketed as a fresh summer scent, at first it doesn't appear that way.
It isn't as light and fresh as say a Mugler's Cologne.
On mild spring days, without much sun and on colder days it wears pretty heavy and 'perfumy' on my skin, not exactly masculine.
Very sweet and thick smelling, as if I am wearing a green gourmand.

But when it's hot outside something strange happens, the sweat and warmth of my body seems to neutralize the sweetness and makes room for the vetiver and wood note.
The scent becomes much lighter and fresher instead of becoming thicker - what usually happens to overly sweet and heavy evening edts.

The juice is pretty concentrated, on my skin two spritzs are more than enough to last around 10 hours, I am not kidding.

I recommend this EDT, but I'd strongly advise you to not buy it blind, there's a reasonable chance you may find the scent to sweet and perfumy.
But do me a favour, IF you try this EDT, do it on a warm day, you'll be surprised how good it smells.