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Nar-kotik – :
Used in hoodoo magic divination stuff for clearing out evil spirits. Classic old EDC smell like citrus and clove maybe some mint or rosemary
Nabagesia – :
Coca Gummy Candy. That’s what I get. That kind of fresh, not citrusy fresh.
optiodyexpods – :
Smells like babies. I’m only saying this because it’s used as a baby cologne in my family for a few generation (and we’re probably not the only one because you can find it besides other baby products in drugstores in my area). To me it’s a safe comforting scent that doesn’t last long, but for the price you can have the pleasure to reapply this as much as you want.
AnnaMarya01 – :
Bought the 16oz size to freshen up the house. Its longlasting as a house spray…and super cologne to wear for the hot days of summer. A classic cologne. Super value.
kibroma – :
If you’ve read Gone With the Wind or have seen the movie, you might remember this passage: “Candy and flowers, dear,’ Ellen had said time and again, “and perhaps a book of poetry or an album or a small bottle of Florida water are the only things a lady may accept from a gentleman.”
FLORIDA WATER is a refreshing, old-fashioned, citrus-spice cologne that’s great on a hot day. On me, the citrus (mostly lime) disappears quickly and what remains is the spice, which to me is predominantly allspice. Sillage is quite soft and longevity is just an hour or two, but that’s OK, because it’s there for awhile and then I can move on to something else. Also, FLORIDA WATER is really, really cheap. Amazingly, although it’s so cheap, the citrus note doesn’t have that “eau de cleaning product” vibe I sometimes pick up from a number of citrus fragrances regardless of price.
It wasn’t until I read some of the reviews here that I’d heard anything about FLORIDA WATER being currently used by followers of any particular religion or occult practice. Now that I know – so what? This fragrance has been around since 1808 and all kinds of people have had the opportunity to wear it. I also use candles and incense in my home and that doesn’t mean anything either.
zazzazik – :
Love this timeless simple refreshing beauty! Spicey delicately floral and smells completely natural. I use it as a cologne to freshen up or uplift my mood in the horrible heat. I also love knowing the history and its ritual use, wonderful! A must try and highly recommend to those who love cinnamon style spicy fragrances and a good alternative to 4711, for something different.
Baxamedia – :
This is okay, especially for the price. In my home it is more of a room spray than a body scent. I prefer 4711 or Hoyt’s Cologne for the body.
I place these three on a continuum of aromatic value (which happens to be reflected in a continuum of price, as it turns out): first 4711, then Hoyt’s Cologne, and then Florida Water. I perceive a bitterness or antiseptic scent in Florida Water that undercuts my desire to use it on my skin. But for a room spray — it is great stuff and very affordable.
santana2500 – :
Sweet, citrusy, refreshing, inoffensive, comforting, and relaxing. – Just smelling it lifts my mood and makes me feel better. Florida Water reminds me of several of the older-variety Penhaligon’s colognes that I like: without the whopping price tag. I love to add it to a hot bath or use it as an aftershave, and it’s soooo cheap. It makes my skin feel soft, and it has good sillage for something so cheap. Seriously, I’d like my whole house to smell like this stuff.
For all of you who are afraid of this scent, because of the occult associations…
It’s been around for 200 years. It’s popular, it’s cheap, and it’s been used by thousands and thousands of people (including Scarlett O’Hara and Rhett Butler) in Gone with the Wind
Witches and warlocks are people. They like cologne too.
rozicckavirt – :
LOVE florida water….the citrus and clove combo is energizing, refreshing and crisp.
Just the thing on hot summer days…pull it from the freezer and spray all over.
Inexpensive and only lasts about 1/2 hour at a time so have to reapply often but it’s a go-to cologne if you can’t afford Guerlain.
In response to aura, what the heck and so what? If you don’t use it for those purposes, why do you care? Sorry, dumbest thing I’ve ever heard…
Semafor_2011 – :
@ aura-therapy: I wouldn’t let that bother you too much… Cultures from all over the world use scent for rituals, generally to convey a notion of cleanliness and focus…
Christianity has used incense for these reasons at least as far back as the Byzantine era (circa 300 CE/AD), and there is little doubt that these practices were directly adopted from pagan practices in the Mediterranean and fertile crescent regions. likewise, the pyxides found in Persian paces often contained resinous perfume. Lemon and citrus notes, because of their acidity, have been associated with hygiene in the preparation of food and drink for centuries. Hoodoo ceremonies using Florida Water probably picked up the idea from Voudon (voodoo), which would have been just as likely to have adapted such practices from French Catholicism as from African Shamanism. I cannot imagine why, in any case, one would feel prejudicial against a scent just because a religious practice born out of the culture of those who survived slavery, but to each their own.
samson699 – :
I discovered this scent this past summer and I will continue to buy this for the summer months. I live in Georgia so the summers here are rough ya’ll! You need a 24 oz+ water bottle to stay hydrated and this is just to run errands. I love this! It’s so light and fresh. I definitely smell orange blossom and cinnamon in this. My only complaint is that it doesn’t last long at all. You have to keep reapplying it. All in all this scent is so wonderful. Amazon sells the soap as well so I think I’m going to try it.
omnibomber – :
In Texas, if you are out and running around in this heat, having something cool to spritz on your face and neck is essential for me. I’ve always used a Rosewater spray but I am bottling this up in a sprayer and throwing it in my bag too! It smells amazing and really it won’t interfere much with your existing perfume because the smell just doesn’t last..but that’s okay! It’s so refreshing..the whole family loves it!
peereorselp – :
Oh my god this is citrusy. I smell mostly citruses in the beginning, particularly bergamot, and I detect spices in the drydown, namely cinnamon. Completely dry, this is a mostly spicy fragrance with a tart touch. The smell is refreshing, although this is not usually one I would reach for. I like it, it was an interesting find for a small price.
boroda4 – :
Fragrance Review For Florida Water
Murray & Lanman
Notes (that I smell)
Neroli Citron Lemon Lime Bergamot Orange Citruses Orange Blossom Lavender Bay Leaves Rum Tobacco Spices Green Notes Floral Notes Cloves
Going To Florida! Going To Florida!
– Linda Belcher, Bob’s Burgers
In 1808, Robert Murray and David Lanman teamed up to formulate a cologne for both men and women in the United States to sell in drugstores in every populated town at the time. In the early 1800’s, most of civilization was found in the East Coast, for colonies had developed into towns and cities. Out West lay Indian lands and former French colonial territory after the 1803 Louisiana Purchase. With a smaller-scale America, the cologne was easier to manufacture and distribute and it didn’t take long before it became the most well-known and downright common household fragrance. A bottle of Florida Water as pictured in this page – looks like a bottle of rum alcohol – was found in most American middle-class and wealthy homes. Florida Water is briefly mentioned in Margaret Mitchell’s novel Gone With The Wind. Southern belle Scarlett O’Hara uses Florida Water to cover up the smell of alcohol on her breath. It’s also referenced in a letter from Scarlett’s mother Ellen to Scarlett telling her that there are specific gifts which she should and should not receive from gentleman callers and suitors. An expensive Parisian hat or jewelry from a man is inappropriate – the kind of gifts that Rhett Butler liked to give to Scarlett – but a book an a bottle of Florida Water was acceptable. Indeed one can imagine that men and women who drank at home used the cologne to mask the alcoholic smell of booze. They would also use it as a bath oil, a scent to splash into their bath while they refreshed themselves and cleaned themselves during their bath. In those days people did not take frequent baths and there were no showers! So they had to use fragrances such as this one to mask body odors as well. It’s a clean citrusy very unoriginal unisex cologne, a tonic, and it had been around for centuries. Florida Water derives from similar unisex citrus-florals like Hungary Water, Farina Eau de Cologne, Royall Lyme and Maurer & Wirtz 4711.
Starts off with an astringent citrus note (of course) a citron and lemon very similar to lemony aftershave. The splash at first is very strong but it softens and mellows into a soap scent. I detect plenty of orange blossom, neroli and lavender. These notes are commonly found in men’s fragrances which make Florida Water a unisex scent that men can pull off very easily. In fact this could be the very first unisex fragrance marketed to both sexes. The freshness and effervescence of citruses is similar to the fizz of coca cola or an orange soda, and later turns into a bay rum. The laurels and cloves provide it with green notes and spices give it a kick. It’s floral with lavender and orange blossom, earthy with cloves, and spiced up, boozed up. This is downright delicious. I wish I could drink this! But I’ll settle for scenting my bath water with it instead.
Sillage and staying power is not very good, unfortunately, but you get what you pay for. This is the cheapest drugstore fragrance and at the price you get a fine but short-lived body splash. This is on me for less than 2 hours which is really just good for when one wants to stay in the house and smell one self, nice and clean, after a shower or bath. Speaks of Sunday morning at home when one is not going anywhere, merely relaxing in the morning reading the paper, writing letters and so forth. This is a good old time classic citrus based fragrance with a big historic name. I love to wear it in the summer time when the cool fresh citrus is welcome in the over 80-90 degree weather. No wonder it’s called Florida Water. The humidity and heat in Florida in the summer and all year round make this cologne especially attractive. Easy to wear and loveable. This weekend I am going to Florida with my mother and we’re going to look for a home for her there as she readies for retirement. A new chapter in Florida awaits her and me too as I love to be near my mother the best role model of my life. I will send her Florida Water.
hez046bedyWelty – :
Just bought this for the first time in the autumn of 2016. Florida Water for me is an inexpensive cologne for everyday wear when you want something citrusy for freshness. To my nose the citrus note is definitely limes, rather than oranges, which is what I was expecting. There is also a dominant spicy note, namely cloves. It fades quickly so you have to refresh it often but I cannot complain for the price. And it’s been made in the US since the early 1800s so this is something uniquely American and that’s something to be proud of!
Zubok – :
Bittersweet citrus and soapy spice, with fresh, sweet neroli and orange blossom that reminds me a little of the neon fruitiness of “Trix” cereal floating in ginger ale.
The soapiness is subtle and old school, very ashy and castille soap-like but the sweet neroli balances it out so that “Florida Water” just feels like a refreshing waterfall of candied, clove pomander citrus rinds (particularly lime and orange) and white flower petals floating in sweet water. The overall impact is brisk, fresh and sweetly clean.
It’s probably the most affordable fragrance with a long, historical legacy on the market today. I get mine for under $4 each and while some feel this cologne lasts for a very, short time, I feel like the soft, castille soapy base lingers far longer than the rest of the notes, even after the sparkling citrus top fades within 3 hours. I’ll often wake up the next day after wearing this and still smell like I just took a shower with fine Italian soap.
I feel shower-clean all day while using this and I use it on everything, from body splash to hair, to room spray to laundry rinse. The overall feeling it imparts is a soft, sweet creamy soap scent (like old, French “L’Amande” laundry flakes) to my room and clothes. You can buy this by the pallet online, on the Murray-Lanman website and given how multi-use, pleasant and neutral it is, I believe it’s worth the relatively little cost.
azanas – :
I see a lot of folks comparing this to 4711. I disagree. This has an odd medicinal almost licorice note to it that spoils the whole thing for me. It’s hard to have serious complaint about something so cheap though.
SneykAce – :
Eternal Water…
I can understand the appeal of this one. Much like the famous 4711, this is a formula which has been around for centuries. It is an Eau de Cologne made in the U.S. since the early 19th Century.
With notes of citrus, lavender and spices (including clove and cinnamon – giving some people the Coca-Cola vibe) this is an interesting light and refreshing fragrance which is a household staple and a classic with many uses.
For me, it’s one that I like and would use in the place of 4711 or other light Eau de colognes. It’s very refreshing and easy to apply. Much like the Aqua Mirabilis by Farina, this has a similar connection to health, well being and vitality, as associated here with the fountain of youth believed to be in Florida. The water (along with Kananga Water – also by Murray & Lanman) are used in Caribbean spiritual practices.
This is one which, at the price, you cannot go wrong with. A light, refreshing eau de cologne with a rich past. I would recommend it.
Excalibur – :
Briefly: lovely, old-world, astringent, burning, sparkling, spiky, analgesic, bitter-bracing and subtly warming. It will always remind me of Hearst Castle in the summer fog. Layers nicely through the initial syrup of the oakmoss cushion concoction that is Pinaud Clubman (+ all that along the jaw along before a spray or three of Eau Sauvage…)
slepa – :
1970s/80s Sea Breeze facial astringent.
Sea Breeze copied this scent exactly. Very clean and dry in a slightly medicinal yet calming way. I use this on the absolute hottest days (100 degrees +) when any other scent would turn to pure dreck in the heat.
You can douse this one on continuously because the longevity is super short, only about 1.5 hours at the most. Sillage is an arms length.
During the summer, I like to keep an atomizer filled with it in the refrigerator. I just drop it in my tote with a small ice pack that I purchased for this purpose and voila! Instant refresher wherever I go. I spray it onto myself, my folding fan, into the air, and in the general direction of soap challenged individuals. Florida water makes the summer bearable.
Dimoha – :
This cologne reminds me of Santeria!
рамиля – :
A simple yet key part of my fragrance collection.
When I’m too lazy to take a shower or when its really hot and humid out, I simply shake a little of this beauty onto a wet washcloth and wipe off. Ta-Dah!! Instantly clean and fresh! Florida Water is the ultimate in refreshment and an instant pick-me-up. At 5 dollars a bottle, it’s a winner in every way.
eminem2 – :
FLORIDA WATER
MURRAY & LANMAN
GROUP: UNISEX CITRUS AROMATIC
NOTES: ORANGE LEMON NEROLI LAVENDER CLOVES
SILLAGE: MODERATE RADIATES AT ARM’S LENGTH
LONGEVITY: LONG LASTING 7 TO 12 HOURS
REMINDS ME OF: 4711 ORIGINAL EAU DE COLOGNE BY MAURER & WIRTZ
This is American history in a bottle. In the 19th century perfumery was still in it’s infancy and most people who wore fragrances were among the aristocracy. It was also regarded as being a European cultural thing to wear perfume. In the newly formed United States there were very few people who even wore perfume except the very rich and only when the occasion called for it. They wore soliflores and musk. The US was expanding into the West. Pioneers in covered wagons took their entire families and left behind the comforts of home in such states as Missouri and Mississippi, Virginia and Pennsylvania and headed to the wilder Western frontier countries that bordered Mexico namely Arizona and California, New Mexico and Texas. I would not be surprised if they brought along a bottle of fresh Florida Water. This was a refreshing “aquatic” citrus based cologne for both men and women to splash on themselves to diminish the smell of sweat and to cool off in the oppressive heat of the summer months. It was in 1808 that Robert I. Murray Murray teamed up with David Trumbull Lanman and became entrepreneurs selling the formula for this cologne. It was in a bottle that looked like a bottle of alcohol and as such was a domestic product. This was for splashing on during a bath. It smells of citrus, tons and tons of citrus. Neroli and oranges, like a grove of oranges and orange blossoms releasing an aroma that lasts forever. There is also additional notes of lavender and cloves which give it a spiciness. On me it lasted my entire work day. It’s not really a perfume but a skin freshner. Bring this baby with you on vacation somewhere very hot like the Caribbean. It’s a beach scent that keeps you cool in the sun. It’s everything that one likes in a citrus based fresh scent. The price is so cheap for a fragrance that has so much history and it really ought to be selling for bigger bucks. This should be on display at the Smithsonian.
roj427intitytek – :
Lucille Ball was a regular user of Florida water. I read that the last thing she said before she died was to ask for her Florida water.
cever – :
Uplifting, refreshing, fresh, and clean. Smells amazing, like aftershave used by an old era barbershop with a slightly antiseptic smell from the lavender. The thing I love most about Murray & Lanman Florida Water is how natural and fresh it smells. I swear, this stuff must be like catnip to men, because I bought a bunch of bottles up at bottom barrel prices on clearance a long time ago, and each one was systematically taken from me by each boyfriend that I’ve had. Even though I think it smells incredible, I do prefer the smell on men rather that myself despite its unisex status, so I never actually protested its appropriation. You can smell it from a couple feet away, but it’s not overpowering which makes it perfect for blistering summer heat where a lot of other fragrances could prove nauseating. I was a bit surprised at how few accolades this cologne got from Fragrantican reviewers since it’s been around for over 200 hundred years, but I suppose I’m just happy that Landman & Kemp are still manufacturing this gem after all this time. First and foremost this scent is composed of mouth wateringly zesty lemon, combined with the sweetness of orange, with a splash of lavender added which lightly grounds the citrus notes with a wonderful herbal/floral, vaguely powdery spice. Lastly a wisp of clove is added so sparingly that, unless you were looking for it specifically, you’d undoubtedly be oblivious to its presence, which modestly serves as another grounding aspect for the citrus, and dances together with the lavender accentuating its herbal jaggedness.
Denis1982 – :
I live in Florida and I read the Fragrantica article on this perfume and thought it would be something I would like. This is the oldest fragrance in my collection. This fragrance was released long before I was born or before anyone I know was born! 1808. So of course this was something different. It is not a spray. It’s not even a splash to put on your skin. This is a bath fragrance to scent your bath. It’s not a bad idea to put this on your skin on a really hot day or a beach trip but I found it just belongs at home behind a bathroom mirror and to put it into your bath water while you’re taking a bath. It’s a sweet refreshing citrus. This is mostly citrus: oranges and lemon. Sometimes it has a masculine scent similar to men’s aftershave. It’s also very soapy. I wish this could be released as an actual soap. It’s invigorating and fresh and makes you feel good. It’s not too far away from smelling like the more popular 4711 by Maurer & Wirtz who specialized in citrus based fragrances. I think it really does smell like Florida but like Florida from long long ago when it was mostly inhabited by Indians and a few European Spanish settlers. It smells like the fountain of Youth Ponce de Leon was trying to find, like a well guarded secret by Native Americans who did not want the white man to find this elixir. It has a golden aura as well almost like sparkling liquid gold. It’s unfair that this scent is so cheap when it does smell so good and when it has the American history attached to it. This is a great vintage. Another great “bath product” perfume is Rosewater by Evelyn & Crabtree. Thank you Fragrantica for filling my senses and life with perfume.
Kucherowatikhonina – :
Soapy, clean, refreshing. This is one of my favorites to splash on after a shower. I saw it in the store for next to nothing so I decided to give it a shot. It smells old-fashioned in the best way. It’s got that old world charm many of us may have thought died out long ago. To me it smells like bubblegum with a hint of clove. Its sweet, spicy, and as I mentioned, a little soapy. Its what I imagine any drugstore or barber shop would have smelled like at the turn of the century. The longevity on me is about 2 hours, maybe 3 on a cold day. It does not project much, it stays close to the skin, but I don’t mind, its really nice. It’s a special treat for those fortunate enough to get close and intimate with you, and let’s be honest, you know they want to because you’re pretty darn awesome yourself.
pon4i – :
Lavender, citrus, cloves, etc, etc…it’s kinda soapy, kinda spicy, and very clean. This scent reminds me of barbershops and botanicas. It’s perfect to use as a pick-me-up or a freshen-up. On me, it lasts surprisingly long and I get a lot of compliments when I wear it. This is an essential.
min2x – :
Do you love your 4711, but … wish it had a bit more zip sometimes? Look no further than this American beauty for a nice change of pace.
I perceive the Florida Water recipe as this: 4711 with the orange turned up two notches; the lemon turned down two notches; and vintage Old Spice added for a notch’s worth. Instantly familiar – yet not boring, nor linear. This water changes up on you sometimes in very subtle ways. Did I catch a whiff of black tea? Maybe. Mint? Maybe. Those little bonus flashes are securely nestled within the undercurrent of the main recipe described above.
You can find Florida Water dirt cheap almost anywhere (Walgreens, Amazon, etc.) and it is surely worth it. Longevity is short as you may expect, but it will stay with you longer than 4711.
Hopefully we’ll see this gem come up in a Bargain Fragrance review by the one and only Dr. Marlen, and other noses more seasoned than mine, to give their expert breakdowns. I am fairly smitten by this.
[And thank you Doc, for adding Florida Water to the database!]