Eighty percent of the time, you can find me slogging through perma-grey London in head-to-toe athleisure and smelling of wet cocker spaniel. But in that magnificent other 20 percent, when the sun is shining and I’m on a beach, I become unrecognizable, dressing and smelling like a bowl of fruit. The bottles I’m popping never see the light of day back home, but on vacation, all my little friends come out to play.
Chanel’s Paris-Deauville, with a Franco-Italian blend of basil and Sicilian orange, gets the most action. I spritz it on in the morning with breakfast and continue all day, along with a fresh layer of Supergoop. If either wears off, I just don’t feel dressed, you know?
Lately, I’ve added Kurky to my repertoire. The new release from Maison Francis Kurkdijian is an homage to the perfumer’s childhood, and smells sweetly of strawberry candy and vanilla musk. It goes perfectly with a raspberry maillot and gold wedges.
I am not alone in my belief that paradise should be scented. The aromas of classic sunscreens from the 80s like Bain de Soleil and Banana Boat inspired the brand Vacation, which prides itself on making “the world’s best-smelling sunscreen,” declares Shannon Comstock, its SVP of marketing.
Vacation perfumed its first SPF with the tropical trinity of coconut, bergamot, and banana. To promote it, they created a limited-edition eau de toilette, which immediately sold out and became a permanent fixture in the line. “With every spritz, even in the middle of the winter, you’re transporting yourself into that vacation mindset,” says Comstock. Exactly.
Vacation added two more fragrances to the mix—After Sun, with whiffs of green tea, aloe vera, and gin, and Grand Cuvée, like a chilled glass of Chardonnay with a hint of sun-washed sails. (No idea how the nose nailed that one.) Anyone who wiled away summers on Nantucket while their parents drank too much will recognize it.
No one has made the sweet scent of the beach babe quite as irresistible as Sol de Janeiro. One bottle of its $25 mists—there are 12 varieties, all inspired by the girl from Ipanema—sells every second, probably because the TikTokers also douse their hair, clothes, car interiors, whatever. If you’re not draining one bottle of Cheirosa 87 per vacation day, are you really even living?
European beaches tend to animate more sophisticated blends. Celine’s new Un Été Français scent combines bergamot, vanilla, neroli, and petitgrain (from the leaves and twigs of the bitter orange tree) to transport us to a late afternoon by the beach in St. Tropez. Tom Ford’s Neroli Portofino is perfume’s answer to a stay at Belmond’s Splendido Mare. Dolce & Gabbana’s Light Blue, a fresh, citrusy mix of lemon, rosemary, and patchouli, conjures up Capri and its baseball-sized lemons. The ad campaign, filmed around Faraglioni, the rock formation off its coast, captures the air at La Fontelina or a suite at Hotel La Palma. The blend was recently intensified, much like the rate of a room in high summer.
Perhaps I should consider spritzing them on during the dreariest days in London, if only to test their transporting power—or at the very least, counteract the eau de spaniel.
Ashley Baker is the Executive Editor at Air Mail Look
