Not to get too Game of Thrones about it, but “Summer is coming”.
In Italy, summer is definitely already here with scorching temperatures making venturing outside from mid-morning to late afternoon quite a sweaty affair.
But summer also has its upside and for me, one of the best things that come with mad heat is most certainly the promise of a cooling splash in the sea. After a hot and sweaty day, plugging in clear, cool water is heaven. We each have our own stored memories of summer holidays spent by the sea and so, for a lot people, the scent of sand, sea, sun screen and seaweeds is intrinsically linked to experiences centred around relaxation, playfulness and joy.
No wonder perfumers have tried to capture that moment in scent since the discovery of synthetic molecules such as: Calone (created in 1966 and reminiscent of marine air with aniseed as well as watermelon undertones), Helional, another more toned-down marine synthetic molecule or Melonal (another synthetic molecule that can also be isolated from natural raw materials such as Litsea Cubeba and used, among other things, in the reproduction fruits such melon and watermelon), etc.
Many factors need to coincide to create the “smell and feel” of a decade and they are hard to predict in advance. Of course, the obvious one is chemistry and the discovery of new molecules that enable perfumers to recreate smells that were previously impossible to translate in olfactive form. But that is only one of the many reasons why a decade ends up smelling the way it does. For marine and ozonic scents, I think one decade is particularly representative: the 1990s.
Cool Water (Davidoff created by Pierre Bourdon) and Aqua di Gio (Armani, created by Alberto Morillas) are the first masterpieces in that category that come to mind and although over 30 years old, they are still scents that are sold and relevant today. Not to mention L’Eau d’Issey, (Issey Miyake, created by Jacques Cavallier) with its oblong frosted bottle and futuristic design that exemplified this androgynous pure, “clean”, 90s trend.
I always find it interesting to think of where the world was at then, or at least the Western world (I am conscious of our bias to think of our immediate reality as universal, which, often, it is not). We were in the aftermath of the AIDS epidemic. The Berlin Wall had fallen and Fukuyama wrote its famous, now famously ill-judged book, “the end of history”. Models were super skinny and Kate Moss ruled the catwalks and advertising campaigns with her boyish figure. Make-up was minimal, hair straight and simple. Perfumes were, for the first time, actively marketed as unisex. In a way, it was the “anti-sex decade”.
It was, knowingly or not, the answer to the excesses of the 1980s, with its strong neon colours, permed hair, materialism, rock music and heavy and heady perfumes such as Opium by YSL, Poison by Dior or Giorgio Beverly Hills. Subtle was not the operative word and if the 8os needed a soundtrack, it would have been Madonna’s Material Girl. Of course all this excess led the pendulum to swing the opposite direction and minimal fabrics, looks and colours were the flavour “du jour” in the 90s. Even lipstick was brown then. Not nude, brown!
So perfume, as always, reflected this shift in atmosphere. Clean, transparent and non-obtrusive perfumes were what people were looking for. So no heady perfumes, no scent to seduce and inebriate the senses. Still, clean and minimal could have, and did, go in different directions. The scent of water was certainly one of the driving creative inspirations for perfumers, because what more elusive aim than to create the smell of nothing, the smell of a sensation most of all?
First of all, what defines marine and ozonic scents? If you think of natural raw materials, apart from seaweed extract that frankly smells like rotting pond water, not much is available. Recent progress in extraction methods open the possibility for an increased use of naturals to recreate marine scents but, so far, they have mainly been composed with synthetic molecules. Having said that, the sea isn’t the only organic element on the beach, as rocks, mosses and the small molluscs that grow on them as they are battered by the waves, are all equally important facets of the ozonic vibe.. how to translate this in scent?
The mineral aspect of rocks could maybe be reproduced with some dry woody materials, as well as the synthetic derivatives of ambergris such as Ambroxan. The lichen and mosses could be recreated with a mix of mosses (tree moss, oak moss or more probably synthetic molecules like Evernyl/Veramoss) and seaweed extract, although personally, I have not managed to tame this last material and find it near unusable. And then, there are the growing number of natural isolates (such as Melonal) that are used for the reproduction of high water-content fruits such as melon and watermelon that are also present by association with ozonic notes.
If we delve a little deeper into marine fragrances, apart from the scent of salt water (so basically salt, which is more related to taste than smell, and seaweed), what we associate with “beach scents”is very much linked to he flora and fauna that surrounds the sea in question. Being by the sea in Portofino, Italy or Cefalonia, Greece is not the same as being on a beach on the Andaman Islands in India or the Maldives. The climate, what people eat, the products they use as sunscreen, the trees or flowers surrounding the beach will all contribute to create a specific scent cocktail.
Which is why we suggest breaking down the smell of the sea in two geographic locations, Mediterranean and Tropical (which is insufficient I know, but I didn’t want this article to turn into a university thesis on the sea) and in two of the main elements that are intrinsic to marine smells: sand and sunscreen.
For this edition of summer splash, I propose to focus on Mediterranean beach scents and keep the Tropical scents for a future edition of beach-theme perfumes.
MEDITERRENEAN BEACH
Well, living in Southern Europe, the most familiar smells to me are: pine trees, “Macchia Mediterranea” (Mediterranean vegetation or “Maquis” as the French call it), citrus trees, fig trees, wild caper plants, etc… Bitter drinks such as Campari or Quinotto are also part of the Summer experience, as are granitas (citrus, coffee or almond flavoured crushed iced). And who can forget ouzo or pastis with its cooling anisic notes.
Sunscreens are also fundamental part of the beach experience, but as mentioned, they demand a special write-up as they have become a popular sub-genre…
In any case, there is an endless list of perfumes that try to taken you on a Mediterranean get-away beach, I will highlight a few.
–Acqua di Scandola (Parfum Empire)
An original re-imagining of the marine scent. Based on the beautiful island of Scandola in Corsica, the perfumer Marc-Antoine Corticchiato tried to reclaim the seaweed extract by having the extract re-worked to exclude some of the more problematic aspects of the material. I find it’s a modern interpretation of something like Cool Water. More naturalistic but maybe a little less impactful.On the whole, a pleasant ozonic smell, a bit masculine leaning. Not one of my favourite from the brand but well done none-the-less.
The one for those wanting to try what a “cleaned up” seaweed extract can create.
–Aqua di Sale (Perfumum Roma). Has many fans and goes into the dry woody and salty aspect of a Mediterranean beach. It list notes of cedar wood, myrtle, and seaweed. I would say this is a relatively easy reach and completely unisex.
The one for those wanting their “salty beach air” kick without much else to distract you.
–Un Jardin en Mediterranée (Hermes)
A Jean-Claude Ellena composition. Not strictly a marine scent but I think it captures beautifully all that is happening around the beach: citruses, the green lentiscus, fresh spices, dry woods and figs. A classic and masterful perfume.
The one for those wanting more the “Mediterranean experience” scent than a straight-up beach.
-Eden Roc (Dior)
I believe this is the last scent created by Francois Demachy at Dior. A chic rendition of a mineral ambergris-type fragrance placed in a middle of an orange tree garden. A modern marine interpretation of a chic cologne. Meant as an ode to one of the most exclusive hotels on the French Riviera, I would not pay the retail price they ask for this, but to each their own.
The one for those wanting to smell marine but at the same time exude an aura of expensive sophistication.
–Watermelon (Shay and Blu): not strictly speaking a beach scent but one by association: watermelon is linked to marine smells as mentioned previously and is exactly what one longs to eat on the beach. So this is a really uncomplicated (slightly unsophisticated maybe and possibly for a younger crowd) guilty pleasure. Top tip, if put in the fridge before spraying, it is even nicer..
The one for those wanting a playful take on ozonic scents, definitely fruity but with enough “water” to quench your thirst on the beach.
–White Whale (Masque Milano)
So not a Mediterranean marine scent as such but I had to include this dark horse in this selection. A Christian Alori composition, winner of the 2023 Aromata Prize for perfumes that translate literary works into scent, this is the creative olfactive proposal of Herman Melville masterpiece, Moby Dick. (For more info, see my recent article on this new competition: https://www.pixidisperfumes.com/aromata-where-literature-and-perfume-meet or the Aromata/LiberoStyle website: https://liberostile.org/en/aromata/). Claiming to contain real ambergris, it is not what you would expect. No seaweed in sight, but a rather surprising fruity laconic peach undertone to this marine scent. The animalic kinkiness of ambergris is there (that’s the whale), the fruitiness is unexpected. So Mitsouko meets Capitan Ahab. Why not.
The one for those who avoid obvious choices and want a bit more backstory to their marine scent.
Now that we have covered Mediterranean-focused scents and let’s be honest, I could have mentioned another 80 scents and still not have a comprehensive list, but as their say in French: “le mieux est l’ennemi du bien”, let’s move on to perfumes that focus on recreating the smell of sand and sunscreen..
SCORCHING SAND
Sand per see doesn’t mell like much, so we are really trying to translate a sensation rather than a smell. I wanted to highlight two perfumes that have focused on such a challenge: Sables by Annick Goutal and L’Eau des Immortels by Voyages Imaginaires. Both created by Isabelle Doyen.
-Sables (Anick Goutal) focuses on the immortelle flower or helichrysum italicum (the everlasting flower that grows in southern France and Corsica). Created in 1980s, it gives an impressionistic feeling of sun-bathing on a hot sandy beach with whiffs of the surrounding dry Mediterranean vegetation tickling your nostrils while you sleep. It is sweet, salty and aromatic all at once and has this incredible ability to translate heat into scent.
-L’eau des Immortels (Voyages Imaginaires) is the natural perfume equivalent of Sables. Created 40 years after Sables by the same perfumer, Isabel Doyen, the concept is similar. An ambery/woody scent also focused on immortelle, it is possibly not the easiest perfume to pull off when the weather is too hot. There is a definite boozy quality to the perfume, as a well as leathery and honey undertones. Make sure you love it before you commit and spray this, as it lasts forever even though it is a natural scent. Also shout out the Voyages Immaginaires’ brand presentation. The box with a beautiful drawing, the bottle, the brass metal cap, it’s all incredibly beautiful.
This is the scent of a very refined aesthete sipping cognac after dinner when everyone else is drinking beer.
Now moving on to the most light-hearted category: sunscreen scents!
SUNSCREEN IN A BOTTLE
What is more quintessentially linked to the beach than sunscreen?
As with all cheaper beauty and household goods, the smells of these products are very much dependant on geographical location, as a sunscreen used in South America will not necessarily smells like the ones used in Asia or Europe. Nez Magazine made an interesting point about this, which I confess as a European I had overlooked. I will quote an article on sunscreen published by Nez in 2022 about these distinctions: https://mag.bynez.com/en/olfactory-culture/smells-of-the-beach/)
In Europe at least, I associate sunscreen with benzyl salicylate, which makes sense as it is also an UV protector filter in addition to being a component of tropical flowers such ylang, so it is automatically used in most sunscreens. It has a very distinctive solar spicy flower vibe and one that is intrinsically linked to sunscreen in most people’s subconscious. Ambre Solaire, Nivea Cream, Avène, etc. all have different nuances, but benzyl salicylate runs through all of them. As a rule of thumb, more upmarket pharmacy brand, like Vichy, Rilastil and La Roche Posay are more delicately and discreetly fragranced, their consistency is also generally less goopy and thick. Drugstore brands such as Nivea and Ambre Solaire are strongly scented are have generally an oily tropical flower, nearly coconut, undertone.
Then there are the Hawaiian Tropic oils and lotions, a US brand that was present in Italy when I was a child and whose more popular products barely featured any sun protection! My mother would never allow us to use these as their low sun protection (4, 8, 15 at the time) made them unsuitable for kids (or anyone really) but I remember that I found their strong coconut scent irresistible. My skin is grateful but it’s funny to how that scent still carries the allure of something forbidden to me.
Of course, brands jumped on the band wagon on this one, so this is just a small selection of what exists. I would say, as a small side note, that this is one category of perfumes where you really don’t need to spend a fortune…
–Le Prodigeux Parfum (Nuxe): The famous body oil sold in pharmacies in France and through-out Europe now, the perfume is subtle and easy to wear, and somewhat more refreshing than the other suntan lotion scents and features orange flower, almond trees and coconut.
–Terracotta (Guerlain): A Thierry Wasseur creation, a sunny fragrance that is inspired by the famous terracotta powder and focuses on solar flowers (ylang) and vanilla. Comforting and discreet.
–Nivea Sun (Nivea): A cheapy, inspired by the suncream, this could be everyone’s childhood memory of being lathered in sunscreen by your parents..
-Sun (Jill Sander): Created by none less than Pierre Bourdon, it’s again a spicy, tropical flower, ambery perfume that perfectly mimics the suntan lotion feel. For those who can’ get enough of 8 hours on the beach. Another for the price conscious among us.
So beach, sand and sunscreen, we’ve covered it all.
Now all that is left to say, is to wish you a happy and perfumed summer holidays by the sea!
Enjoy!