Florida Water is a lovely cologne that was first developed in the early 1800's and supposedly named for the fabled Fountain of Youth in Florida. It is an American version of the French Eau de Cologne, and it became a Southern favorite. There are a number of recipes for Florida Water, all of them are citrus base with flowery notes. Lanman and Kemp is the standard trademark brand, which I use and love. It does contain a synthetic ingredient, so the Natural Magick Shop version is distinctive in that my formula is 100% natural, true essential oils and plant extracts. The standard Lanman and Kemp label and packaging is very lovely, but I have favored a user-friendly spray bottle.

Florida Water has plenty of nonmagickal uses, as a perfume for both men and women, and as a cooling refresher. It is a short-lived fragrance, but I use it especially if I have been working up a sweat and want to "freshen up." Florida Water seems to resolve body odors but is not an imposing scent that lasts all day. It does its job then goes away.

Magickally, Florida Water is used for all sorts of operations of cleansing, blessing, healing, and to break streaks of bad luck. I have heard that baseball teams, especially those in the Southern U.S. use it to change their luck (as well as cool off!). Gamblers also use it on their hands if Fortuna has been unkind to them. The freshness of Florida Water's fragrance seems indicated any time some sort of negative energy has stuck on you from a bad situation, negative people, or even your own bad attitude!

Florida Water is also used for spiritual cleansing, especially for the presence of malevolent presences, as well as being a devotional offering to friendly spirits, Guardian Angels and spirits of the Beloved Dead.

Okay I cant stand it. I have to tell you what the Natural Magick secret ingredient is. The standard trademark formula uses (my best educated guess) a synthetic Frangipani fragrance to stabilize the very evanescent flower ingredients. So you use Florida Water, and after all the short-lived fragrances burn off, you smell like Frangipani. I love the 70's Frangipani synthetic! So for my fixative using natural products, I chose to make my own Orris root tincture. Hey, it is a flower in the spirit of the Florida Water, and it is an excellent fixative for flighty flower essential oil!

I hope you enjoy!

For more Voudou and Hoodoo magick potions, read our blog article.

For other potions for cleansing and purification, see this blog article.