Life’s A Beach, and So Am I: Best Beach-y Perfumes of Summer 2021
I’ve forever been obsessed with beach-y fragrances, similar to Kramer in Seinfeld when he attempted to invent the ultimate beach fragrance (and promptly lost its copyright to Calvin Klein). Being from Florida, I’ve been hooked on Coppertone for decades not only for its sun blocking properties, but I’ve always loved the scent. If you, too, love using Coppertone as a body lotion, and wish Banana Boat had that fragrance in a convenient purse spray, here are some perfumes that capture that essence in a bottle. Note: these products do not have SPF; please wear an SPF of 50 or higher at the beach, or by the swimming pool. Skin cancer is not fun!
The newly-released “Vacation” by Vacation® is touted as a limited release scent, but I hope the company, which is the home of “The World’s Best-Smelling Sunscreen Scent” (and soon will have a whole line of sun care products), makes this permanent. In a golden bottle that is classier than Calvin Klein’s Obsession, Revlon’s Ciara, and Yves Saint Laurent’s Paris all at the same time, “Vacation” truly succeeds as one of the best sunscreen scents of all time. A mix of banana (but not cloying, gourmand banana), summer fruits, pool water, and just a touch of plastic (from a pool toy, or Lycra swimsuit), it’s more than worth its relatively modest retail price. It starts off more plastic-y, but dries down into a fine scent that is reminiscent of Banana Boat — but a version of Banana Boat that you can wear to a summer cocktail party. It is also a unisex scent. It’s as if “Crockett’s Theme” by Jan Hammer was squeezed into an orange juicer, and synthesized into a perfume.
Vacation, Inc.’s website stated concerning the perfume’s heritage, “Developed by ARQUISTE Parfumeur Carlos Huber and Rodrigo Flores-Roux, ‘VACATION’ is designed to capture and bottle the complete sunscreen experience from coconut, to pool water, to swimsuit Lycra and everything in between. With ‘VACATION,’ you’ll not only smell like the world’s best-smelling sunscreen, but your best poolside memories too.” “Vacation” retails for $60 and can be ordered via their website, which boasts the latest and greatest in 1980s Macintosh-era graphics.
Demeter has been around since the early 2000s, and is famous for making one note, distinctive scents with names like Funeral Home, Fresh Brewed Coffee, and Tomato. The company’s Kitten Fur might be one of the best “snuggly,” warm fragrances of all time, one that has me reaching for it instead of Donna Karan’s Cashmere Mist. The olfactory geniuses there have also made several tropical-themed scents that are remarkably good for the price point. Here are two.
Suntan Lotion was reformulated a few years back, and is a perfect match for that Coppertone scent of your youth. It literally smells like Coppertone; if you, in fact, spray it over Coppertone sunblock, the scent sticks around longer — like many Demeter scents this one fades a little more quickly than I’d like, but thankfully it is available in travel sizes if you’d like to refresh throughout the day. Demeter describes this scent as “[a] deeply satisfying and compelling, neroli-style scent.”
Perhaps even better than Suntan Lotion, though, is Demeter’s Salt Air. It smells very much like the company’s Tiger Lily (note: I own like thirty Demeter scents), but with a dash of — you guessed it — salt air. It’s a wonderfully floral, yet beach-reminiscent scent, and also is a unisex one. Salt Air has garnered some of the highest reviews on Demeter’s website among its fans, and the company describes this scent in the following breathless text: “Imagine a perfect sea breeze on the perfect beach at your favorite tropical island. Now you have the perfect description of Demeter’s Salt Air. There’s just no denying it…Demeter’s Salt Air will have you thinking of that last vacation and much needed new one. Take off to the land of tranquility where the scent of the sea breeze wakes you up each day and sends you off to dreamland at night. But don’t forget to book your airfare early!” Both Suntan Lotion and Salt Air retail at $17.85 for a one ounce spray; please visit the Demeter website for more product options, sizes, and prices.
One indie contribution to the beach-y perfume canon is Sucreabeille’s Pacific Rose, which is also a floral heavily enmeshed in sea salt and oceanic vibes. Its product description reads, “The mixture of the roses and the salty ocean air is intoxicating, the perfect balance of salty, mossy, and floral.” Very reminiscent of Cocoa Beach getaways and kitschy beach side hotels, Pacific Rose is the perfect scent to wear watching a Cape Canaveral rocket launch through vintage binoculars and cat eye sunglasses. Pacific Rose retails at $45 per ounce; please visit the Sucreabeille website for more product options, sizes, and prices.
Two honorable mentions: Demeter’s (again, I know) Hawaiian Vanilla, and Sucreabeille’s Oddling, which is a blend of vanilla, coconut, and butter. These aren’t “beach scents” per se, but do smell awfully nice — and vanilla is always fun to blend with other perfumes.
Note: NONE OF THIS IS AN AD, I bought these with my own money. Enjoy shopping.
