Aqua pour Homme Marine
Bulgari (2008)

The scent is a salty aquatic fragrance with hints of seaweed in the background. Although I enjoy the floral aspects, there is something slightly abrasive about the saltiness that does not sit well with me. In fact, this was the main reason why I decided to sell the fragrance.

Despite this, I still believe it's worth trying out, so don't skip this one. If you end up loving it, you can find it at discounted prices. However, if you don't like it, feel free to move on to the next Bvlgari fragrance. Personally, I feel that this scent is the designer version of Epice Marine, as it aims to recreate that salty seaweed smell but perhaps lacks some quality ingredients.

I bought some of this as many reviewers described it as smelling of seaweed and seashore, which I very much like and is for me something of a holy grail in a fragrance. Unfortunately all I perceive here is an amorphous, anonymous generic freshness which though thoroughly unobjectionable is also thoroughly unexciting. The presentation and packaging is elegant, I have to admit. But for a proper marine fragrance you have to go to something like Zoologist Squid.

If Aqva is a journey deep into the sea, Marine is the return, resting alongside the shore as the waves lap at your feet. This is very much a salt-water aquatic scent and smells like a fresh sea breeze while standing by the shore. Water and seaweed have a strong presence and are blended among more aromatic, floral notes like rosemary and Neroli. The presence of citrus, grapefruit, lemon, help maintain Marine's freshness. It's in a brighter, higher register than the original--more airy, more floral, more sun--but still remains very true to the aquatic theme. Marine is a clean, fresh scent but still packs plenty of seaweed in its punch. Sillage is very good and longevity is about average. While I wear Aqva all year around, I would reserve Marine mostly for the spring and summer. Different enough from Aqva to warrant owning both, while Marine doesn't knock the original off its pedestal as the most authentic/best designer aquatic, it certainly helps to further develop the line and offers a brighter, breezier option. Thumbs up, 7.5/10.

Gee Wilber, what should we do for our first Aqva Pour Homme (2005) flanker? Well I don't know Jeb, maybe stick close to the original and maybe mix up a few notes? People really seem to like aquatics an awful lot, even though it has been twenty years to the day since Davidoff Cool Water (1988) first showed up, so I guess we better not mess with a good thing, since it makes the bean counters happy! Well, I guess you're right Wilber, and we ought to bring back Jacques Cavallier too, since he'll know best how to pump out another shiny juice-filled glass pebble that'll monopolize everyone's dresser space so they pick our stuff over Brand X. If you've stayed tuned in to the "Bvlgari Comedy Hovr" thus far, you're probably realizing by now that Aqva Pour Homme Marine (2008) is yet another mass-market manufactured aquatic android from the "second generation" aquatics that snatched the spotlight away from gourmands and ozonics in the mid-2000's, not letting men go until the ambroxan craze hit us in 2010's thanks to Bleu de Chanel (2010). If the early 90's was a nadir of apologetic masculines, the late 2000's was certainly the same for aquatics, which in all their narrow field of creativity, had been beaten like a dead horse. The original Aqva Pour Homme was nothing really to write home about, and a sort of drier, less-personable take on the seaweed theme of Ralph Lauren Polo Sport (1992) from a decade before it. Aqva Pour Homme Marine in all of its redundant theming is as you might expect: a marine-tinged aquatic (no way)!! I'm not sure why this exists, and I'm not even sure if Bvlgari knows why this exists, but ever since falling off the tea-themed hobby horse that helped them make a name for themselves in the perfume world, it's been a truly ugly creative downward spiral for their masculine scents, but the bottom line guys in headquarters are happy, so who cares?

The opening of Aqva Pour Homme Marine is barely different from the original Aqva Pour Homme, with neroli and grapefruit switched out for the mandarin and petitgrain. I feel there is a bit of sharp aldehyde here too, and it pushes the usual sweetness of neroli away and focuses on the floral aspects of the orange blossom itself. The opening is nothing special, but at least it is thoughtfully balanced. Posidonia seaweed makes a return to the mix, because it was the star of the show in the original Bvlgari Aqva Pour Homme, but the santonlina lavender has been replaced with "sap", which to my nose is rosemary, but don't tell Bvlgari I debunked their fantasy notes. The base comes on fast like most aquatics, but you get to enjoy the seaweed longer and in a more-isolated format than in the original Aqva Pour Homme, meaning this version feels more focused and more like what the original scent should have been, but it still isn't enough to get an approval. Cedar, vetiver, and a much toned-down amber are present in thie base, which is drier and less-rounded than the original, likely again to let that seaweed note shine. There is some form of Iso E Super here, as this has that sort of radiant spitshine perfumes heavy on the chemical seem to have, and that about wraps it up for the experience. Medium sillage and medium longevity of about eight hours, best experienced in hot weather, but you already knew that I'm sure. I don't think anything called Aqva Pour Homme Marine has even a shred of implication that it can be used cold weather. This scent is also as casual as they come, perfect for an attendant at a McDonald's drive-thru window or cart pusher at Walmart. Guys who pick this up better be super fans of the original with a great nose for detail, because outside the drier finish and greater focus on the marine aspects, there is nothing here for the uninitiated to tell this apart from the original.

I don't hate this stuff and will never be offended by encountering it in the wild, but Aqva Pour Homme Marine is mediocre and average to the point of rendering its own existence questionable, as I've pointed out above, and feels like a cash-in of the nth degree. I know a lot of modern crowd-pleasers get accused of being shallow cash grabs, but at least there is a modicum of individuality in them which allows the house marketing each one a way to pitch their hot take as better than the next guy's, but in this instance, Aqva Pour Homme Marine feels like choice for the sake of it, with no added value to the line outside collectors of these shiny glass pebbles. I'd play skipping rocks with this before wearing it, and buying a bottle is the furthest thing from my interest, but if somebody really needs an aquatic that does a competent job of actually capturing an oceanic vibe without copious amounts of challenging sea salt, they can't really go wrong choosing Aqva Pour Homme Marine. Jacques Cavallier seems to have phoned this one in on a lunch break and if the pay was good, I don't blame him, but I'm not going any higher than a neutral here. Bvlgari would make the dreaded flanker-of-a-flanker with a "Toniq" version of both regular and marine-flavored Aqva Pour Homme pebbles, but as before all you get are some rearranged base notes and different top notes with the posidonia seaweed at the core, making them rather unessential as well outside neurotic collectors of the line. This house seems to really be into small variations on a major theme, which sort of reinforces their roots as a jewelry with uniformity of design, it just sadly translates into really boring fragrances for men, since they don't take as many risks in that segment. Nothing to really see here! Move along to the next!

Watery, salty sea air, freshness. Not sweet with an abundance of blue calone notes. More natural at the beginning and then becomes synthetic in the dry down.

Lasts about half the day and depending on the heat and how many sprays, can get cloying with the excellent projection.

This fragrance is really meant for Summer days! It reminds me of walking on beach, with the waves crashing, and the smell of seaweed in the air.

When I first sprayed this frag I was surprised how much it smells of seaweed. I was happy to find out that that initial blast subsides and you are left with a salty, seaweed smell. The overall frag is not that offensive. It really does smell like you have been walking on the beach for a few hours.

On my skin it lasts around 5-6 hours.

Recommended for casual, relaxing, summer days with friends.

Overall: 6/10
Longevity: 7/10
Sillage: 7/10