My family had a weekend place right at the southern end of Key Largo. On our way down, we would pass these roadside signs all in a row exhorting us to stop at “Theatre of the Sea”. A kind of busman’s Sea World we could see many of the attractions from the road as we drove past. It was cheesy, goofy fun which always seemed to have many cars in the parking lot. It existed for as long as I lived in S. Florida until it probably just faded away from lack of interest. Florida excelled in this kind of straightforward corny roadside attractions. When I was in the mood for them a trip through the Monkey Jungle or Gatorland held tacky pleasures all on their own. Even perfume can hold goofy pleasures which Escada Sorbetto Rosso does.
If you’re going to go for the fragrance equivalent of those roadside attractions then all attempts at subtlety needs to be thrown out the window. Perfumer Richard Herpin was seemingly given that leeway and he gleefully forms a wacky fruity aquatic gourmand. I giggled at the press copy which babbles on about the Amalfi Coast and capturing La Dolce Vita. There seems to be too much sophistication there for a perfume which might be eating Eye-Talian food in It-ly.
Richard Herpin
M. Herpin takes Calone as his aquatic ingredient. Most perfumers look for ways to ameliorate the melon nature which many find lowbrow. M. Herpin goes the other way as he adds in a huge amount of watermelon. So much that the Calone does more to contribute to the sea spray than it usually does because the melon is busy getting jiggy with the watermelon. It comes off like a watermelon was found floating in the ocean. If this ended here it would be fine and it does linger like this for hours but late on you will notice a sneaky last bit of fun as a praline accord slips inside the melon giving a gourmand vibe to the very end of Sorbetto Rosso.
Sorbetto Rosso has 24-hour longevity and above average sillage.
Sorbetto Rosso is an extremely guilty pleasure but ever since I received my sample I’ve enjoyed it more than I should. So, while it isn’t a classy designer perfume it is the roadside attraction version; I’ll call it Melon of the Sea. Pull into the parking lot if you’re in the mood for some fragrant fun.
Disclosure: This review is based on a sample I received from ULTA.
–Mark Behnke
