My Favorite Things: Coconut

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Having grown up in South Florida there were many summer afternoons when my snack was opening one of the coconuts which had fallen from one of the palms in our front yard. If I needed more coconut it was the smell of every suntan lotion people wore. Coconut has found its way into fragrances inspired by the sun tanning products and the fruit itself. It always seems particularly appropriate for the summer months. Here are five of my favorite coconut perfumes.

The best fragrance inspired by coconut suntan lotion is Estee Lauder Bronze Goddess. Bronze Goddess began its life in 2007 with the name Azuree Soleil before changing the name a year later. Perfumer Alberto Morillas has made a combination of sun, flowers, and coconut that is arranged on its own metaphorical beach towel. Citrus on top moves to a heart of jasmine and magnolia. The coconut here is fantastic because M. Morillas embeds it in myrrh and amber. It provides warmth like shimmering sun-warmed oiled skin. This is one of M. Morillas’ best perfumes. Every summer when I wear it I am reminded of that.

The perfume which reminds me most of the process of getting through the husk to the core nut at the heart is Comptoir Sud Pacifique Coco Extreme. Perfumers Claude Broggi and Jacques Lions use almond to represent the woody nut, coconut and vanilla to evoke the sweet meat inside. Whenever I wear this I am a child sitting with my back against our palm tree chewing on the coconut I just opened.

Perfumer Olivia Giacobetti created an abstract version of coconut in Honore des Pres We Love New York: Love Coconut. Mme Giacobetti wanted to have her perfumes for Honore des Pres be all-natural. She also wanted to keep her indelible transparent style. Coriander and tonka provide the outside while coconut milk and cedar provide the rest of the picture. This is a coconut cirrus cloud which works best when the temperature is at its hottest.

I’ve also eaten my share of coconut while on the beach. For that experience Heeley Cocobello captures all of that. Perfumer James Heeley’s opening of green gardenia over palm fronds is perfect. The sweet coconut is sprayed with briny mist before settling on a vanilla laden base.

My final choice is a way I learned to eat coconut while traveling through the islands. Once you crack it open you squeeze some honeycomb over the coconut. Perfumer Margot Elena must have also had this experience because she made her version as a fragrance in Love & Toast Honey Coconut. It is, as advertised, as she combines honey and a coconut accord in a simple linear construct. It is a lovely trifle ideal for a day at the beach.

If you want a little coconut in your summer fragrance choices give any of these five a try.

Disclosure: This review is based on bottles I purchased.

–Mark Behnke

My Favorite Things-Wear Sunscreen

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There are many things that are not perfume which smell great to me. One of those things is sunbaked skin coated in suntan lotion. The Coppertone my mother slathered on me before allowing me to make sandcastles. The Bain de Soleil the European women wore poolside at the Fontainebleau Hotel on South Beach. As much as the salt and the sand it is the smell of the tanning products that evoke the beach. The five fragrances listed below all remind me of lotion coated tan skin glinting in the sunlight.

jean-patou-cosmetics-1930-huile-de-chaldee

Jean Patou Chaldee began its first incarnation as Huile de Chaldee an actual sun tanning product which was mostly castor oil which Patou perfumer Henri Almeras added orange blossom, narcissus, and vanilla to make it smell better. They knew they had a hit when they found women wearing it at night as a fragrance. Perfumer Thomas Fontaine has re-formulated Chaldee and in that reworking has hewed closer to its suntan lotion beginnings, which I really like.

coppertone

CB I Hate Perfume At The Beach 1966 is constructed around a central “Coppertone” accord. Coppertone was the suntan lotion of my youth exactly in 1966. The suntan lotion used an overdose of coconut to attempt to disguise the medicinal sunblocking agent. It turned into a pleasant smelling tropical laboratory accord. Christopher Brosius gets this picture perfect and he places it in a beach milieu full of drift wood, crashing surf, and sand. It is a time machine in a bottle for me.

bain de soleil2

If I wasn’t on the beach I was spending time by the humongous pool at the Fontainebleau Hotel on Miami Beach. This was where I came into contact with Europeans using this tube of orange gel called Bain de Soleil as their lotion. In Bond No. 9 Fire Island perfumer Michel Almairac captures that odor plus the sun warmed skin underneath. I can almost see the row of chaises and smell the breeze blowing this to my nose. It is another perfect rendition of a scent memory for me.

Bikini in action

The more modern takes on the smell of less scented sun products come from two of the great fragrance producers. Estee Lauder Bronze Goddess is a very close wearing fragrance which takes the warm skin accord in the base and over the top of it adds magnolia and tiare. Perfumer Alberto Morillas turns out a summer perfume which is all about living in the sun.  

The final suggestion is the new Guerlain Terracotta Le Parfum 2014. Guerlain in-house perfumer Thierry Wasser takes the same sparkling tiare flower and sandwiches it with coconut milk and bergamot on top and the signature Guerlinade of vanilla on the bottom. This is a limited edition only available for 2014 and it is as good a mass release as Guerlain has done in years. It is perfect for the summer.

I am not recommending wearing perfume instead of sunscreen as you head out this summer. If you want to carry the day into the night any of these five will keep the summer vibe going into the wee hours.

Disclosure: I purchased botlles of all the perfumes mentioned.

–Mark Behnke