Opens with a big splash of blood orange juice that softens down to ginger-ale zing, then settles to soft wet musk on the skin for a few hours.
There’s a slight note of feet on the bottom that wants to be warm woods, but doesn’t have the right balance.
This one teeters between nice and meh for me–a sportsball guy could pull this off better than I could.
You can’t beat the original, but this cover of Sade’s Paradise roughs it up on the edges in a good way.
Blue roses are a botanical impossibility, but if they did exist, they’d smell like this.
Nest’s Wisteria Blue opens with pretty wisteria in the rain, then big magical roses in full fantasy bloom–and stays there, just inside personal space, for hours.
A nice wet weather floral–brilliant for moody teens.
I love this gloomy day remake.
Herbal Essence shampoo and towels.
A splash of citrus, some lemony herbs and a bit of sterile musk. Mild projection, mild longevity.
It’s marketed as feminine, but would make a good first scent for any pre-teen.
Here’s a nice clean kid-friendly song, also from 2007.
Opens with bergamot then rolls around on forest floor with violet leaf and lily-of-the-valley for a few hours.
Finishes with musky rose and wet ambergris on the skin.
Very brooding male pixie.
I love it.
(I may have posed in a compromising photo with a certain lawn ornament, many many years ago…)
This duo from Cleveland is doing fun things with music and video.
This smells like the hand sanitizer in an outdoor wedding port-a-potty. It’s been monogrammed with the bride and groom’s initials and sports a real rosebud with a ribbon bow–but still leaves one desperate to wash the hands properly.
Pink florals on top, white musk and miniature bubble wands on the bottom.
A song with some carats.
Lots of wet citrus in the beginning, loud and bright and cheerful.
Orange–the fresh first pull of peel–slowly settles down to bergamot tea, poured over ice.
An hour later there’s some woods with a hit of salt, like driftwood in the sun. Patchouli comes in at the bottom, a bit of smoke over water on the skin, and lingers for the afternoon.
This one is young at heart, but she’s got grace.
Hermès used a snippet of this audio art in the ad–but the whole thing deserves a listen.
Neroli, waves and sunshine.
I spent a few summers on Fire Island when I was little, the volleyball net at the Pines marking the nude beach–suits vs. skins games all day except high tide–and I’d come home with a pail full of seashells, a permanent sunburn and sand everywhere.
This scent has that freedom, wind and ocean spray and surf and naked skin, with a lovely base of top shelf zinc tanning lotion.
Projects two beach blankets over, and lasts til the sun goes down and the disco starts.
“Somewhere there is a gay man with a magic lamp and two wishes left.” -Jerrod C.
Crisp watermelon on top and even more delicious in the middle–buttery sweet soft floral–but on me, this quickly fades down to a muted version of Light Blue.
Nice, but needs more of the frangipani.
(Bit of trivia: The almond custard “frangipane” was named for the Marquis de Frangipani, whose family line went back to Roman times.)
And I just discovered that Halsey’s real name is Ashley Frangipane, which made me laugh.
Rather nice.
Wet cantaloupe, with a spritz of lemon and a dash of salt to cut the sweetness.
This guy has Soundgarden on most of his playlists, drinks good tequila and likes standup comedy. He’s fun to hang around with.
This song is not aquatic at all, but is my favorite off of Down on the Upside, which also came out in 1996.
It’s blue! And weird and wet and marvelous.
Marine water and smoke out of the vial that darkens down to black fountain pen ink, dirtying up sea foam.
Algae blooms, delicate green, strangely organic and chemical at the same time, with big juicy sillage.
The ambergris rises to the surface an hour later, making it even wetter with ocean spray; benzoin sweetens it, turning it fresh again.
Six hours later and it’s still there, chaotic, never seeming to settle down to one depth; yet it’s oddly comforting and beautiful.
Gov’t Mule does a terrific jam cover of Jimi Hendrix’s 1983 (A Merman I Shall Be)–from Electric Ladyland–that goes deep under water around the 4:15 mark.
kira a. gold 