Virgin Island Water has always been one of the very few fragrances from this house that I've always wanted to try. The notes and the composition of VIW has always intrigued me ... I finally got to test it.. The weather here is damp and rainy so it's probably not the ideal setting to try a frag like VIW, but I tried it anyway. Here are my first impressions on this frag.
Immediately upon spraying on skin the "Pina Colada" references make sense.. it does smell like an exotic summer/beach cocktail. What I noticed was that It was almost instantly absorbed on my skin when I sprayed it.. leaving NO oily or sticky residue on my skin where it was sprayed. Within seconds a mildly sweet but noticably sour and "tangy" aroma enveloped me.. it smelled great, it wasn't too sour or overbearing but it was just about the right amount.
It continued to smell like an exotic cocktail drink until the mid notes where I could detect a soft coconut pulp aroma gently wrapped around ginger and rum, on instances I was able to detect these as individual notes but for the most part it smelled like a fine blend of these ingredients. The coconut note in it recalled to mind Hamptons by Bond No. 9... this note in VIW isn't as pronounced as it is in Hamptons and I like Hamptons more than VIW anyway.
The base smelled pretty flat to my nose, as flat as the floor of the house blown away in a hurricane. The "tanginess" of the lime was still present all way into the drydown and I could smell MORE of the lime against a sweetness of the sugarcane when I pressed my nose to my wrist.
So to conclude :
Do I like it : Yes
Will I buy it : No
Why won't I buy it : I'd rather continue with Hamptons, it smells better than VIW.. although I understand that Hamptons and VIW *might* not fall in the same category but the differences between these two are not enough to warrant a seperate purchase of VIW.
My rating : 2 out of 5 stars (based on a total of 3 spritzes, tested over a period of 2 days approximately)
Edit : Just wanted to add that this is NOT a full blown review, but rather a "first impression" like I said in the title of the thread.
Immediately upon spraying on skin the "Pina Colada" references make sense.. it does smell like an exotic summer/beach cocktail. What I noticed was that It was almost instantly absorbed on my skin when I sprayed it.. leaving NO oily or sticky residue on my skin where it was sprayed. Within seconds a mildly sweet but noticably sour and "tangy" aroma enveloped me.. it smelled great, it wasn't too sour or overbearing but it was just about the right amount.
It continued to smell like an exotic cocktail drink until the mid notes where I could detect a soft coconut pulp aroma gently wrapped around ginger and rum, on instances I was able to detect these as individual notes but for the most part it smelled like a fine blend of these ingredients. The coconut note in it recalled to mind Hamptons by Bond No. 9... this note in VIW isn't as pronounced as it is in Hamptons and I like Hamptons more than VIW anyway.
The base smelled pretty flat to my nose, as flat as the floor of the house blown away in a hurricane. The "tanginess" of the lime was still present all way into the drydown and I could smell MORE of the lime against a sweetness of the sugarcane when I pressed my nose to my wrist.
So to conclude :
Do I like it : Yes
Will I buy it : No
Why won't I buy it : I'd rather continue with Hamptons, it smells better than VIW.. although I understand that Hamptons and VIW *might* not fall in the same category but the differences between these two are not enough to warrant a seperate purchase of VIW.
My rating : 2 out of 5 stars (based on a total of 3 spritzes, tested over a period of 2 days approximately)
Edit : Just wanted to add that this is NOT a full blown review, but rather a "first impression" like I said in the title of the thread.
