A brief cultural history of Florida Water
Not even in that Florida Water
It was while listening to the song “Almeda” by Solange Knowles that I first came across it a couple of years ago. In the chopped and screwed song, she sings that “Black faith still can't be washed away, not even in that Florida Water.” Something about the way it was sung repeatedly piqued my curiosity — what did it actually mean?
As I typed “Florida Water” into the search bar, photos of perfume bottles sprang up on my screen, advertising “packs of 6” on various webshops, with reviews like “absolutely recommended to cleanse your aura and work on your energy vibe”. I almost bought a bottle that day. But time went by, and Florida Water faded into the backdrop of my brain.
This summer, during one of the many heatwaves in suburban Paris, I dropped into a small grocery store to buy an ice-cold soda. I looked around the store as I always do, searching for crisps I haven’t tried yet or admiring the candy aisle. My eyes quickly scanned the beauty section featuring shampoos, conditioners, and soap bars.
And there it was, in the midst of it all — a perfect line of Florida Water bottles. I took one, realized that what was probably once in glass is now made of plastic, and asked for the price. That’s how I finally got my hands on 221 ml of the precious liquid for the very reasonable price of €4.80. I was quite ecstatic that day — and very curious about the link between Solange and a corner shop in Ivry-sur-Seine.
Cooling, Cleansing, Calming for the Body, Mind and Soul
Although now in plastic, the castor oil-style bottle is still decorated with French-British illustrator George du Maurier’s 1855 artwork, inspired by the myth of the Fountain of Youth. When Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León arrived in Florida in 1513, it was supposedly in search of this mythical fountain. Apparently, he was desperately looking for a cure for his sexual impotence.
Florida Water is a unisex eau de cologne that was commercialized in the United States at the beginning of the 19th century. It started out as a generic drugstore product. North American druggists would produce their own Florida Waters, but it just so happened that Murray & Lanman (now known as Lanman & Kemp) created the bottle and label that would become world-famous. Robert Murray was the nose behind the fragrant recipe. Lanman & Kemp still produce Florida Water, as well as several related products such as soap and room freshener.
In an advertisement by Murray & Lanman from the 1860s, the origins of Florida Water were attributed to Spanish-speaking colonies — the West Indies, Cuba, and South America. It’s also been described as an American take on the French eau de cologne. I don’t have many sources on the history of Florida Water besides the brand’s website, so the story of its South American or Caribbean origins still seems to be under-researched.
During the Victorian era, when strong smells were frowned upon in upper-class American society, Florida Water became the perfume that everyone liked — both men and women. In the 1936 novel Gone with the Wind, Florida Water is mentioned as one of the things that “a lady may accept from a gentleman.” In a chapter about perfumes from The Woman’s Book (1894), it dictates that should a woman “desire to add Florida Water or Farina cologne to her bath, the perfume it leaves about her person will not be sufficiently powerful to cause discomfort to anyone.”
A pleasant summer splash, cheap as dirt
So how does it actually smell? It has a refreshing, mouthwash-kind of smell. A typical cologne with citrus notes, but sweeter than usual due to the emphasis on sweet orange rather than lemon or bergamot. The mouthwash association might come from the presence of peppermint. And then there’s the lavender and clove notes, giving it a comforting and rather vintage kind of feel. Even smelling it for the first time, it already feels familiar.
It kind of gives a Coca-Cola vibe. Once you get the Coke reference, it becomes an obsession — a sticky, sweet, and fresh smell. Coca-Cola, another liquid that also started out as a drugstore product, arrived on the market later in the 19th century. Apparently, a year before Coca-Cola was born, a Spanish drink called "Kola Coca" was presented at a contest in Philadelphia. Coca-Cola bought the rights to the drink a century later. Since the recipe for Coke is only known by a few employees, I can’t say anything for sure about the similarity between the two products, but according to this found recipe, they seem to have quite a few notes in common: orange, lemon, neroli, and cinnamon.
I quite like this Florida Water review on the fragrance website Basenote by user Cevenol:
“A pleasant summer splash, cheap as dirt, I pour it into a rag and degrime at the end of the work day (construction). Cologne fresh with a spice cola kick and has the added benefit of keeping bad spirits away.”
Do nothing without intention
Since its appearance at the beginning of the 19th century, people of different countries, religions, and cultures have found endless ways to use the cologne water. You’ll find a long list of online videos guiding you on how to use the liquid for spiritual purposes: to find the love of your life, to remove bad vibrations, to attract good health and fortune. The use of Florida Water can be found in spiritual cultures such as Voodoo, Hoodoo, and Santería, among others.
In the interlude preceding the aforementioned song “Almeda,” Solange samples a snippet from a video by YouTube spiritualist Goddess Lula Belle, in which she explains the spiritual power of Florida Water:
“Do nothing without intention”. And Lula Belle goes on saying: “Because without intention, then it’s just plain old cologne, okay?”.
Fabrice Dangany, also known as Maître P, shares his tips on using Florida Water in a YouTube video called “POUVOIR DU FLORIDA WATER (IL OUVRE LES VOIX ET PORTES DE LA CHANCE, RÉUSSITE, BONHEUR)”. He suggests leaving an unopened bottle outside your house on a Wednesday evening during a rising moon. The following day — before talking to anyone — you open the bottle and spritz it onto yourself, throughout your home, on the walls, the floor, even on your children and spouse. He shares a sentence that you’re to say aloud to evoke the spirits and erase all impurities and bad vibrations from your house.
Florida Water can be added to your mop water, used to clean your walls, tables, and chairs, and even incorporated into your laundry. The floor wash is a practice used since the advent of Florida Water, where enslaved African-Americans would use it to scent bed linens and wash the floor. When the freedom to practice your spirituality is taken away, you have to be inventive and discreet. Florida Water became an important tool in maintaining magical practices.
In another YouTube video, American influencer Anaya Ivy shares her ways of using Florida Water, comparing it to other spiritual classics:
“Now, the best way I would describe Florida Water as liquid sage, or, san, what is it, palo santos? Think of it as a liquid form!”.
She says she always carries a little spray bottle of Florida Water in her handbag, which reminds me of Solange Knowles’ 2018 Met Gala appearance, where she carried a bottle of Florida Water in a see-through handbag. In an interview with Dazed, Solange says:
“if I could burn my sage, and wash my hands with Florida Water right there on the porch until I feel renewed”.
Like a sort of olfactive talisman, the smell of Florida Water seems to procure an immediate sense of well-being.
A user who calls himself AdiosChicago comments on Anaya Ivy’s video with a testimony of his Cuban heritage and its use of Florida Water. Cuba was the country where Lanman & Kemp opened their first foreign factory in 1862:
“I use it in my floor mopping water. There is a tradition us Cuban heritage peeps do [...] On the last day of the year we clean our home top to bottom but from the front of the house to the back [...] You save the dirty water and at the strike of midnight you throw the dirty water out of your back door as far as possible from the house. You do this while praying to God with all your heart and good intentions for the new year.”.
Protection in a bottle
Two centuries after its commercial appearance, Florida Water and its comforting smell still protect, purify, and cleanse across the globe. Much like sage and palo santo, Florida Water has become a spiritual and sensorial product also used by people who aren’t necessarily part of any particular religion. I’ve used up half the bottle I bought this summer, spraying it all over my apartment — not as part of any ritual, but more as a way of refreshing the thick summer air. The idea of having a little spray bottle in my bag seems alluring (and apparently Florida Water also functions as an insect repellent, which can come in handy too!).
Florida Water has also become a statement. Solange bringing Florida Water to a Catholic-themed party (the theme of the 2018 Met Gala was “Heavenly Bodies: Fashion & Catholic Imagination”) was a way of expanding the theme and representing spiritual, nature-based cultures with which she feels more connected.
The persistent popularity of Florida Water says something about how we continue to associate pleasant smells with purification and cleansing. Good smells bring along good vibrations. Florida Water has definitely hit the sweet spot in creating a scent that has crossed borders and been adopted by many different cultures.
I still have quite a few questions about the origins of Florida Water — especially its South American roots. There’s another product called Agua de Kananga, which seems to be the sister of Florida Water but with ylang-ylang notes, as well as a Peruvian version — Agua de Florida — which is yellow and has a slightly different fragrance. This will, in other words, not be the last article I write on this topic. Please stay tuned for more fragrant stories by joining my newsletter at the bottom of the page.
If you’re curious about smelling the real deal, I suggest you look for it in your local spiritual store — or else, you can follow Mama Eve’s Florida Water recipe: