Take Me to The Beach: Two of My favorite “Beachy” Scents
I was utterly smitten with Tom Ford Soleil Blanc the first time I smelled it. Similarly, the first time I smelled Bobbi Brown Beach’ I looked at my sister and said “This smells like the sunscreen we used growing up!” I could hardly contain my excitement that someone created a fragrance that actually smelled like a beach vacation, but a grown up beach vacation. There’s no synthetic coconut here, just warm sun, sand and drinks with limes. (I don’t do drinks with umbrellas!)
After a brief break involving morning sickness with my son, I was reunited with Soleil Blanc this Spring. My love for this has only grown, and I have noticed some new notes in it that I hadn’t before. The pistachio and palm in Soleil Blanc really stands out to me now, adding some creamy sweetness. The amber is quite lovely also, adding warmth and grounding the scent a bit. Soleil Blanc is the Summer equivalent of wrapping yourself up in a blanket in the Winter. I love how cozy this feels when I am wearing it and how it lingers all day. I like to spray fragrance in my hair when I wear it; this started when I had my daughter and I didn’t want to spray perfume on my chest any more. I didn’t want her to get the scent on her soft baby skin. Soleil Blanc lasts so long that I can still smell in my hair hours later, the gift that keeps on giving!
Bobbi Brown Beach is definitely more “sunscreen-y” than Soleil Blanc, but no less great. My sister kindly gifted this to me as a birthday present after I declared my love for it. I get much more aquatic, salty beach air in the Bobbi Brown and it feels crisper to wear. The use of mandarin in Beach is what lifts this for me and makes it feel light hearted and cheerful to wear. As I mentioned earlier, Beach is somewhat nostalgic for me to wear as it smells like the sunscreen we used as kids. I’m fairly certain we used the Coppertone sunscreen in a pink bottle- I may need to pick up a bottle of that to see if the scent is the same!
Beach and Soleil Blanc are different enough to warrant owning both in my perfume collection. Beach is what I wear during the day. It’s unobtrusive and fresh enough to wear to the actual beach, without announcing to everyone on their beach towels that you’ve arrived. Beach is an excellent pick-me-up scent! I find myself reaching for Soleil Blanc at the end of the day, when I’m ready to relax; the softness of it helps me wind down at the end of the day. I definitely don’t subscribe to “evening” and “day” scents, or even “seasonal” scents- wear what you want, when you want! I have and do wear Soleil Blanc during the day, these are just general observations I’ve had about these fragrances and when I choose to wear them.
I hope this gave you some insight on the two beachy fragrances I have in my collection and that you consider investing in one of these! Tom Ford has come out with a travel size Soleil Blanc in the last year, making it more accessible with different price points. Bobbi Brown is significantly less expensive; I can’t seem to find the roller ball any where now though. Both of them feel like vacation in a bottle, even if you’re just sitting in your backyard like I am, watching the chickadees in the trees and thinking about how the lawn needs to be mowed.
