Agua Lavanda Puig 1940

So gorgeous, clean, cooling, & calming! In summer, I sometimes just pour it on myself & splash it on my sheets. I've seen bottled waters that were more expensive than this! (On US eBay, it's usually around $11, shipping included, for the jumbo 10 ounce plastic bottle.) I hope that Puig never reformulates this - it's 75 years old but better at what it does than some colognes created this year. Bravo, Puig!

The lavender here is not artificial: it is natural and beautifully crafted. I spend several minutes sniffing the spray bottle.

This is a basically monothematic fragrance: lavender is almost everything here, but a light background of geranium and wood is also noticeable.

Here the lavender is imposing, deep and aromatic. It is quite different from French lavender which is more floral, feminine, expensive and refined. It is also very different from Portuguese lavender which is camphorated, soft and often used in cheaper fragrances such as the popular lavender saps.

It's a great option for Spring/Summer, but I use it more at night and when I'm at home, because the feeling of relaxation is endless. A marvel over 80 years old that I'm glad to have in my collection.

I use at least a bottle of this per month - It's very versatile, I use it for after bath splash, linen spray, room spray. I decant some into a small spray bottle for my bag. It beats any eau de cologne I've ever tried for freshness by far. The lavender is very prominent, but blends very well with the other notes and it has good longevity for this type of cologne. Sillage is average.

Agua Lavanda opens with a huge, natural-smelling lavender and little bit of bergamot and dries down very soapy. It's a basic lavender soap bomb with that fresh-out-of-the-shower smell. It's relaxing, makes for a very good bedtime scent. While undoubtedly old school, the lack of powderiness steers it away from an excessive gentlemanly vibe.

There is no mention of concentration on the box of this late 70s/early 80s glass bottle. It doesn't project well. Lasts less than 4 hours, and this is the version *with* oakmoss.

Masculinity Level: This was Frank Sinatra's signature scent throughout the 1940s and 1950s, but to me he's too butch for this. Instead I'll go with Walter White, inoffensive chemistry teacher.

Just as it's supposed to be, I bought Agua Lavanda at its place of origin: beautiful Spain. Three years ago we encountered in a small supermercado in Port de Sóller on the island of Mallorca, when I was on holiday with my brother for a week. It sat on the shelf next to another Mediterranean treasure, the Massimo Dutti EdT from the 80s. Why aren't there great fragrances like that in our supermarkets? Both didn't cost the world, so they went straight into my bagaje.
In the long run Massimo became too spicy for my taste, so only the Puig is left by now - thanks to Carles Puigdemont appearing in the news regularly I finally know how to pronounce it too.

Agua Lavanda is a classic lavender scent and belongs to the fougère family. It opens quite smoky, which reveals its enormous age. The smoky impression could come from lavender itself, but I suspect aldehydes behind it. Comment of my neighbor in the lecture today: "There's a strange smell of incense sticks in the air, is that you?"
The aldehydes and lavender remain together on stage for a long time, until the smoky chemicals slowly disappear and the pure lavanda gets all the attention.
It is a very natural lavender, green, a little tart and incredibly pleasant. It also smells very high-quality, in comparison e.g. to Hypnôse Homme by Lancôme, where a cheap musk spoils the whole impression.
Gradually the lavender becomes weaker, but it does not disappear. Finally it connects with the woody base, which is speckled with a few spots of oakmoss. In this stage memories of Colonia by Acqua di Parma come to mind, whose basic structure smells very similar, but without the lavender.

Agua Lavanda is a very pleasant classic that gives everyone a certain Mediterranean elegance. Unlike Jicky or Pour un homme de Caron it is very airy and can easily be worn at work, especially in the Spanish temperatures we had this summer.