Insensé & Insensé Ultramarine by Givenchy - anyone try these?

[Featherweight]

They get good press on the internet, although Ultramarine not so much. I'm intrigued by both, but especially Ultramarine because it seems to fit into an underrepresented category in my collection - the floral aquatic.

Any opinions won't influence whether or not I buy either (or both) of these, but I'm really curious as to what people's perception of these Givenchy releases are.



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[jakespoppy]

I'm also curious about the Insense, which I've not sampled. I have sniffed an open bottle of the Insense Ultramarine, and though it wasn't a good test, it was enough to recognize the salty acqua opening, which I wasn't looking for at the time.

 

[Featherweight]

yeah I grabbed a bottle of Ultramarine today at Marshalls. For half price I figured what the heck. It marks the first aquatic in my tidy little collection. Blind buy, but I live dangerously. Having tested it, it reminds me of why I don't generally get excited about aquatics, but definitely wears a lot better than Unbound for Men did (which I wore earlier this year) - a higher quality scent by Givenchy. Two things I find amusing - the fragrance is thick with fruit and flowers, all laced together by this very noticeable salty marine accord, and all of it smells very feminine. Also - this is for summer? It would work well enough, especially at the beach, but is dense enough to be manageable in winter, too. It might even be preferable in cooler temps. What a weird genre.



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[Silk]

The wife dragged me into a department store today, so I headed over to the fragrance counter with this thread in the back of my mind. I normally avoid aquatics like the plague, and I didn't burn the specific name "Givenchy Ultramarine" into my brain, so - with a pioneering spirit and a desire to take one for the team - I sprayed on some Bvlgari Aquamarine by mistake. Big mistake. It starts out with the cliché aquatic cucumber smell, and later dies down to something utterly nauseating - this stuff smells bitter and artificial, poisonous even. Fortunately I have Aramis Havana on the other arm to take my mind off the Bvlgari. I also gave Aramis Impeccable a sniff (which was released shortly after Penhaligon's Sartorial, by sheer coincidence *cough*cough*). Blech. More samey, predictable, aquatic bilge.

 

[jakespoppy]

Hmmmm, definitely an example of YMMV. I haven't considered the aqua scents to be particularly polarizing like some of the more unusual scents, like Knize Ten for example which some love and some hate. I would think aqua scents are generally either enjoyed or shied away from because of their widespread use, with most of us here wanting to "stand out from the crowd" a bit more with our fragrance selections. But as I've said before, for every cologne made, there will be some who like it, and some who can't stand it.

 

[Featherweight]

The wife dragged me into a department store today, so I headed over to the fragrance counter with this thread in the back of my mind. I normally avoid aquatics like the plague, and I didn't burn the specific name "Givenchy Ultramarine" into my brain, so - with a pioneering spirit and a desire to take one for the team - I sprayed on some Bvlgari Aquamarine by mistake. Big mistake. It starts out with the cliché aquatic cucumber smell, and later dies down to something utterly nauseating - this stuff smells bitter and artificial, poisonous even. Fortunately I have Aramis Havana on the other arm to take my mind off the Bvlgari. I also gave Aramis Impeccable a sniff (which was released shortly after Penhaligon's Sartorial, by sheer coincidence *cough*cough*). Blech. More samey, predictable, aquatic bilge.

Next time try Insensé Ultramarine instead.

Expectations are the issue with aquatics it seems. From what I'm reading on basenotes, people are expecting some kind of standard-issue calone/ozone/"blue" concoction that smells like nothing more than amplified soap. It shocks them when they get something like Bulgari BLV (not Aquamarine) or Insensé Ultramarine, and the familiar fruity top fades into something sweetly floral. If it's done poorly, it's just a nauseating sweet blah that has very little complexity or character. If done well, there are discernible flowers, arranged on a green level that exists at tension with what is at least a competently salty, ambergris-influenced marine foundation (calone may or may not play a starring role). The Aquatic Floral. The only aquatic subgenre worth exploring in my opinion, mainly because it acts on the same push/pull principle that classic fougères like Kouros employ - that interesting symbiotic relationship between clean and dirty. Oddly enough, the most popular aquatics, Cool Water and Acqua di Gio, don't really employ floral notes in their one-tiered structures. There are floral elements, but preened out of being truly green and naturally sweet-smelling, at least to my nose.



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