Agua Lavanda (1940)
by Antonio Puig

Pleasant thin after shave, dirt cheap (in large bottle) splash. I get a nice smooth lavender from this and very little else. If you splash this on liberally it will project and hold up for at least an hour and then fade off into a nice simple skin and clothing scent. So cheap that its useful for many other general scenting purposes too. Recommended to try if this sort of product work for you.

I own Agua Lavanda in the fluted columnar bottle with a green cap and sprayer. It is essentially an EDT concentration, so I have none of the longevity woes some lament. This is one of my go-to scents in spring and summer. A near soliflore, it's probably my favorite straight-up lavender.

Agua Lavanda Puig seems -- not surprisingly -- almost entirely lavender, with an slight undertone of spice, likely to be the sage and cedarwood. The scent is elegant and simple, understated when compared to more modern compositions, The bite of spice keeps it, IMHO, from seeming too barber-shop-like or grandfatherly. I located a 2010 posting on SinatraFamily.Com by Frank Sinatra's daughter Nancy confirming that Agua Lavanda Puig was indeed Ol' Blue Eyes' go-to fragrance for many years.

Many other posters stated that the glass green bottle is more intense than the tall plastic bottle of shower gel. Accordingly I purchased the 100 EdC in the classic green glass bottle (from La Tienda, a purveyor of all-things Spanish) for about $20. JFYI, the glass bottle does not have an atomizer/sprayer. Rather it has an open neck, as more common with bottles of splash. So I've purchased one of those small plastic travel bottle sprayers to use to spritz on the product.

While I find this a wonderful scent, I am sorry to report it has zero sillage, instead clinging very close to the body. Further it is very weak in terms of endurance … after an hour, it's gone. That's in keeping with EdC being just one step above splash in concentration, and below EdT.

If this fragrance was available in EdT or stronger … and if it had more endurance … it would easily become my daily go-to frag. Even with its shortcomings, just the scent of it -- and the endorsement of it by The Chairman of the Board -- means you ought have a bottle in your inventory.

Agua Lavanda Puig is without a doubt the very best of the various lavender waters and colognes that remain in production. I ordered my first bottle of this after being disappointed with the current formulation of Yardley's English Lavender cologne (though I still enjoy the UK version of their bar soap). Agua Lavanda Puig has an uncomplicated soapy lavender fragrance that I find reminiscent of what a stylish man would wear in the 1940's, 1950's and 1960's. Still, it is not outdated and it is in no way an old man's scent, but rather a simple, clean and elegant lavender water that everyone should maintain in their collection. I recommend purchasing the Agua Lavanda Puig that comes in the green glass splash bottle for I have never tried the plastic version. From what I have read, this is definitely the best alternative to the Yardley English Lavender from the 1940's and 1950's.

This review is for the larger bottle of less concentrated splash fragrance.

(Possibly the version in the smaller dark green bottle is more masculine, I have never tried it).

This is a perfectly unisex fragrance, in my opinion. Lavender, in a fresh and green accord. Herby and delightfully fresh. Male and female family members also believe this is unisex. Here in southern Europe, lavender scents were very traditional for everyone and in my childhood we used to wear a lavender splash fragrance (not this one, a more floral one which has been discontinued).

Also delightful to spray your bed with.

The bath gel and the soap smell lovely as well.

Does not last very long, maybe 1-2h.