Lavender Water by Geo F Trumper, 1898

This is lavender with a minty refreshing accord which can come across as a bit harsh in the opening but settles down. You could imagine this been what they used in Victorian times as a skin scent. A good pick me up for the morning when you just want to start the day with extra zest. Refreshing.

I'm not usually a lavender fan, but this stuff isn't bad. It starts out with the usual sharp, bracing, metallic lavender topnotes, which then go through a typically acrid phase. (I know a lot of people find the topnotes of lavender to be relaxing, but to me they're kind of disconcerting!) Eventually, though, this turns into a more subdued grassy herbal scent, the type that I always like when I come across it...somewhat like spearmint, the type of mint that I tolerate best. I suspect that my lavender problems are exacerbated when I spray or dab on cloth rather than skin. The first time I tried this stuff was on skin and hair, and it was a little smoother. Now, on cloth, it's not that much better than any other lavenders until some time has passed, because it's slower to evolve past the top notes on cloth. The one lavender scent that I now want to revisit is Oxford and Cambridge, which isn't quite the same story because has a number of other herbs mixed in. I might give it a thumbs up if it weren't so weak.

Another of Trumpers true to the name. Opens with a blast of lavender, though still very light and nothing like Oxford & Cambridge. The Lavender lingers for a bit and is replaced by a slight oakmoss accord. Again, true to Trumpers formula. I find this one ok though nothing great compared to a number of other lavender waters out there.

Like a refreshing spring breeze as everything comes back to life after winter. I used to think this the finest lavender water available but it is now reformulated for the worse and has acquired a slightly harsh and synthetic aspect. Still good, it smells significantly masculine, light, airy, wholesome, medicinal.

Along with the true and present lavender which dominates, there is a wonderful lift of mint and just a little grounding patchouli and a base of warm oakmoss. It leaves me feeling relaxed and refined, and will work for me as a light casual or an easy formal, or splashed in the bath.

It is easy to overlook due to its nature but I strongly advise paying this some attention.

Original review 19 April 2008, edited 19/06/09

True to its name which is always a plus in my book. Beautiful yet light herbal (the "harsh" kind) lavender. Minty in the middle and just fades away. Great for a gentleman in the office cologne.

A bracing blast of lavender and mint! I find this to be very good lavender: dry and aromatic. The scent develops well into a nice sandalwood, light patchouli and mossy base. This has the trademark Geo. F. style. It is quietly bold and assertive; masculine, aromatic and quite enjoyable.

Although this fragrance claims to have lavender, patchouli, clary sage, sandalwood, oak moss and peppermint, I find that either I cannot detect it all or they are overborn by the lavender followed by the peppermint. I think it smells remarkably similar to LV Inglese, which, after all, is a return on Villoresis part, to the days of the classic English Cologne. I would imagine that Trumpers Lavender would drydown beautifully, but right out of the bottle it can appear a bit stringent.