Vitamin Sea – fragrances for wishing you were still there…

Recently, the tide has turned for salty, marine-themed scents (and PS: they’re not just for summer anymore – evoking glacial lakes and Nordic fjords as well as sun-kissed beaches). But why now this sudden swell of sea-inspired fragrances, you may wonder?

There’s something about the emotional pull of the sea that is eternal. For centuries, it has led philosophers, artists and scientists to pontificate as to exactly why we’re so drawn to the ocean. The Persian mystic Rumi, ruminating on the subject in the 1200s, declared: ‘You are not a drop in the ocean. You are the entire ocean, in a drop.’ He wasn’t far off, actually.

Modern science has identified that the discovering the human brain is 80% water. More than 70% of the world’s surface is covered by it (over 95% of that yet to be explored). Indeed, it’s hard to disagree with author Arthur C. Clarke, who once astutely remarked: ‘How inappropriate to call this planet Earth when it is quite clearly Ocean.’

So it’s perhaps unsurprising that water exerts such a tidal pull, in our lives. And that as we seek to calm ourselves and reconnect with the elements via our senses, water-inspired scents have been one of the biggest scent trends we’ve seen these last couple of years. These new water-inspired creations don’t simply seek to evoke the ocean, but rivers, waterfalls and deep, coolly inviting lakes. It isn’t only memories of holidays they evoke, either – as lovely as that undoubtedly is during these colder, greyer months; instead, it’s about harnessing the all-year-’round mood-boosting qualities of seascape scents, which we encourage you to paddle and then plunge into, here…

 

 

 

BDK Sel d’Argent
The salty kiss of warm skin, sheer orange blossom shot through with the sparkle of grapefruit and crunchy green galbanum. Think sunlight dancing on waves, somewhere fabulously expensive.
£155 for 100ml eau de parfum harrods.com

 

 

 

 

Thomas Clipper Atlantic
A spirited journey across the sea, with crisp citrus melting to a fuzzy, honeyed blossom; the deeper base of spice-flecked wood and musk a wonderfully evocative nod to adventure.
£99 for 50ml Cologne thomasclipper.com

 

 

 

Montblanc Explorer Ultra Blue
Luminous bergamot shivers to an icy plunge of alpine freshness. The exclusive, silvered patchouli is the scent of wet stones; ambergris, dawn’s mist still clinging.
From £35 for 30ml eau de parfum theperfumeshop.com

 

 

 

Dolce & Gabbana Light Blue Forever Pour Homme
Intensely juicy grapefruit fizzes to a cool, shady breeze of violet leaf and Javan vetiver oil across eerily still water; the base a soft white swathe of musk and patchouli.
£55 for 50ml eau de parfum boots.com

 

 

Jean Paul Gaultier Le Male on Board
Oh Captain, my Captain! Salt-licked skin tastes of sun-lotion and geranium leaves, a faintly boozy rum-like amber swirled with tonka bean. All aboard!
£72 for 125ml eau de toilette lookfantastic.com

Kenzo L’Eau Kenzo Pour Homme Hyper Wave
Inspired by Japanese art’s iconic ‘Hokusai wave’, zesty mandarin invites spontaneity, soaring to the crest before resting on a bed of moss.
£46 for 50ml eau de toilette boots.com

 

 

 

Cartier Rivières de Cartier Luxuriance
‘Life is often said to flow like a river,’ reflects Mathilde Laurent, wild botanicals rippled through rosemary, mastic, oak and geranium; a cold knife nestled on a riverbed.
£104 for 100ml eau de parfum johnlewis.com

 

 

Nishane EGE / ΑΙΓΑΙΟ
A tribute to the Aegean Sea carrying common bonds between Turkish and Greek culture; yuzu zings through violet leaves, basil and mint to the deliciously sticky olibanum and liquorice base.
£275 for 100ml extrait de parfum ab-presents.co.uk

 

 

 

Skandinavisk Kapitel 4
The herbaceous green embrace of crab-apple entwined dog rose evokes Scandinavian waterways, damp moss, rock pools and the freedom of ‘navigating with no fixed destination’.
£45 for 30ml eau de toilette skandinavisk.com

 

 

 

Laboratorio Olfattivo Salina
A literal evocation of the sea in all its salty glory, one imagines a message in a bottle tossed on roiling waves, a poem of pine trees and sunlight lustily sung on barnacle-bottomed boats.
£90 for 100ml eau de parfum flannels.com

 

Written by Suzy Nightingale

 

Scents of the sea – bring on the summer sunshine vibes

What does the phrase ‘scents of the sea’ immediately bring to mind, for you?

Forget those somewhat generic 90s beachy scents, pack your bucket and spade and get ready for a whole new generation of oceanic wonders…

Seaside and summer go together like sand in your sandwiches and an inevitable downpour (if you’re in the UK, anyway); which leads to sitting in a car, windows steaming as tempers rise, eating somewhat flaccid chips while staring gloomily out to sea. In our heads, the image is somewhat different – crystal clear water, sunlight sparkling on white crested waves, fresh salty breezes whipping our hair into a perfect beachy bohemian vibe.

Don’t leave these happy-making images in your dreams – spritz them in to reality by wearing any one of this new generation of ‘by the seaside’ scents. We’ve chosen seven holidays in fragrant bottled form, to be uplifting, awakening and definitely more reliable than our weather…

 

Magamare is an ozonic scent that takes its inspiration directly from the oceans, containing ambergris, seaweed and sea cucumber. Let Megamare wash over you this Summer – and we’re not talking puddles or gentle lapping, here: it’s a veritable leviathan of a fragrance with incredible lasting-power, and one for those who want their scent to take them on a seashore journey the whole day (and night) through.

Orto Parisi Megamare £138 for 50ml eau de parfum
libertylondon.com

If your seaside jaunts run to the racier resorts, you’d do well to re-disover the delights of this modern classic. Said to have been developed to the brief of licking salt off a man’s hot skin as he emerges from the sea (steady on), Francis Kurkdjian’s masterpiece of mint, cumin (for a slight sweatiness) and cardamom atop orange blossom and a smooth vanilla dry down is hard to beat.
Jean Paul Gaultier Le Male £38.50 for 40ml

theperfumeshop.com

 

Feel n’ Chill wraps you in a blanket of fluffiness – soft musk shushing the freshness of lazy waves, lush coconut water and juicy watermelon adding a slight booziness to the dry down. Lay back and drink of England as you watch azure seas roll ever onward, your blood pressure dropping deliciously with every aromatic breeze.

JUSBOX Feel ‘n’ Chill £140 for 78ml eau de parfum
Exclusively at selfridges.com

A proper English seaside holiday, with all the sticky-fingered memories of candyfloss smiles, sudden downpours with the hope of ‘it’s meant to be brightening up, later!’ Exploring mossy rock pools while smeared in suntan lotion, burning your thighs on pleather seats, minty sticks of rock that last forever and salty, kiss-me-quick selfies. Sheer joy, bottled, in other words.

4160 Tuesdays What I Did on My Holidays £40 for 30ml eau de parfum
4160tuesdays.com

Apsu’s bright blend of verdant green notes drifts to a haziness of freshness, happily lapping into cool, clear water. Crunchy, almost celery-like  mixed with sunny bergamot to capture the lush vibrant spirit of nature and water in warm climates. APSU redefines freshness.

Ulrich Lang Apsu £89 for 100ml eau de toilette
libertylondon.com

 

For the chic-est holiday-in-a-bottle you must spray this seaside-y breeze of a scent. Shimmering notes of lemon, grapefruit and mandarin are touched by a soft, salt-tinged wind, while crystalline waters of a lagoon glisten below trees of ripening passion fruits. Ylang ylang gives a rich exoticism to the composition, ensuring this is a Guerlain vacation you’ll never want to forget.

Guerlain Aqua Allegoria Passiflora £52 for 75ml eau de toilette
harrods.com

 

The tang of lemon made even more mouth-watering with sprinkles of salt on cool, aquatic notes, a bracing slap of birch leaf and Spanish cypress oil to revive the most flagging of spirits. Intriguing accords of seaweed swathe a delicacy of green herbaceousness than lingers for hours.

Mare Pacifico By Linari £145 for 100ml eau de parfum
roullierwhite.com

by Suzy Nightingale