Costarela

Costarela opens with a deliciously fresh citrus zing (Italian bergamot), softened by some leathery, aromatic sweetness (saffron) and the distinctive salty, smooth, creamy note of Ambroxan. Unusual but enthralling is the combination of the bright bergamot and the sunny, warm saffron which almost feels like the sun sparkling on the sea. The Ambroxan though is not as penetrating as in some other creations where it overpowers all other notes right from the beginning. "Ambroxide, widely known by the brand name Ambroxan, is a naturally occurring terpenoid and one of the key constituents responsible for the odor of ambergris (natural grey amber). Ambroxide is synthesized from sclareol, a component of the essential oil of clary sage". (Wikipedia) Here it masterly supports the unique "hot sand" smell of this wonderful perfume which delivers a velvety-warm and sensual experience combined with mineral saltiness... it's especially lovely, if you spray it on, wait a while and then head to the beach (or just go outdoors). This adds an even more authentic note from sun-warmed skin with sea salt (provided, your skin gets to see some sun ;)). Sadly, all the other notes despite Ambroxan almost disappear on my skin after approximately 1-2 hours, so I started layering it with Creed's "Virgin Island Water" which is THE ultimate Masterpiece summer fragrance for me and which I completely adore due to its freshness, flanked by coconut, ylang-ylang and rum (and with enormous longevity). Layering those two adds a salty-hot-sand side note to the citrus-coconut-rum blend... and the dry-down of both together is ultimate perfection, if you prefer an outdoorsy-fresh-air-beach-wind-sun-touch to your overall impression/look, rather than being a walking bouquet of flowers (and I'm a white-flower-lover!), especially at work. Leave the "Virgin Island Water" out and use "just" Costarela and you get an even cleaner, very office-safe perfume which you can also use in autumn or spring or to add an interesting salty-mineral twist to other perfumes as it doesn't exactly smell like a perfume (a little similar to the Escentric Molecule perfumes...). It shows a perfect balance between salt, warmth and aquatic marine notes - while being more mineral and salty than the usual marine/aquatic theme and having no sticky suntan lotion touch at all. Overall longevity is also good (but projection very moderate) and you always smell as fresh as if coming from a walk at the seashore. It really evokes that unique feeling of freedom during summer holidays, where it’s only the sea, the sun and you which matters, while you are lying in the sand on the beach, dozing off, being lightly sunburned, carefree and tired from doing nothing, listening to the sound of the waves crashing on the shore. A dreamy scent of the sea. "When anxious, uneasy and bad thoughts come, I go to the sea, and the sea drowns them out with its great wide sounds, cleanses me with its noise, and imposes a rhythm upon everything in me that is bewildered and confused." (Rainer Maria Rilke)

As a lover of Tardes and El Born from the same house and quite different from Costarela, I had high hopes for the new Carner ! From my first little sample, yes I was slightly dissapointed. But it's only because it has a much lighter,, cologne like approuch. The smell is excellent and is beautifully wrapping your skin in its sheer softness. On me I get a lovely citrus start, musky and a tiny vibe of salt or "the beach vibe" but lacking the coconut or suntan oil feeling...wich I find great ! It is smooth, fresh , airy, breezy you name it. Very wearable but needs to be resprayed several times during the day, but really - its lovely, so I don't mind. From my point of view...CARNER Barcelona has done it again ! Congrats to another success to your perfume family !

Costarela is beach in a bottle! This one blown me away! As soon as I smelled the scent on my skin, I quickly imagined myself near to Marinha beach, located in Algarve, Portugal, where the Mediterranean Sea meets the Atlantic Ocean, the water is cristal clear, surrounded by this natural and beautiful rocks and caves. The scent is very well balanced, where you can smell the bergamot, the saltiness of the ambegris/ambroxan, sand accord and I detect some musk too. Because of that, the versatility on this one might be short. I just see myself wearing this fragrance in casual situations, at the beach, holidays, summer parties... well, Summer, in general. Still need to try it more to have a clear opinion about the performance, but, scent wise, 10/10.

Such a pleasent and calming vibe this gives off. Daytime, bright and sunny. While the notes aren't anything "different" or "new". Who said we can't enjoy "pleasent" every once in a while? Edit (4-21-24): man oh man letting this beauty Macerate for a bit will do this fragrance WONDERS, easily has slowly climbed itself up my unique freshie list, went from partially regretting a full bottle to wanting to get a backup. Even my significant other will wear it from time to time in terms of a unisex option. Also unique enough to know I know no one else will be wearing this when I'm choosing to and nice enough to garner loads of compliments, let alone pretty solid sillage and projection throughout the day. Underrated Gem right here.

I really like this offering from Carner which I'm becoming a huge fan of. In my perpetual search for a perfect fresh, salty, marine fragrance I acquired this one recently. This is not anything new in the category of summer scents but it's very good nonetheless. I can detect note of bergamot the most and then in the background I get a hints of sandy, salty notes. It gives of a feeling like if you were siting at some classy beach café, having a cold, refreshing lemunade and light breeze is carying around scent of sea mist and warm sand. Very lovely indeed.

This was my first expensive full bottle purchase as a 40-year-old fragrance newbie at a overpriced shop in Rosemary Beach, Florida. DAMN. If you want to OWN the beach, this is it. It starts with 100% sunbathing, ocean breeze, sunscreen, salt water and that smell of the beach that lingers on your skin long after you've come inside to cool off and take a nap. Then you get the woody dry down. The whole experience is lovely and perfect for me. I will cry when this bottle is empty.

Triple XXXtreme...ly pleasant, such a lovely, laid-back scent, wearing it now, on a fresh, sunny autumn day, taking advantage of the last vestiges of sunshine for all their worth. Sure, drydown errs on the side of ambroxan, but personally I can live with that quite happilly. Golden haze. My perfume is gently hugging me, and I don't feel the need to call a special victims unit of the local constabulary. This scent won't blow your mind, it will ease it.

After a couple of weeks with a sample, I purchased a full bottle, and I love it. Costarella develops into a fresh, airy, salty finish on my skin. Truly reminiscent of days spent at the beach. Not the touristy, crowded kind, but the beach just before summer -- when the sand is beginning to heat up, spring vegetation is blooming, and the winds start to shift.

Really nice salty briny scent that to me, is better than Sel Marin by Heeley. It has a sharpness from the Ambroxan that gives this scent great longevity. As far as Summer scents are concerned, this one is probably on my top 5 list. I highly recommend this to anyone and I also believe that it's "safe" enough to be a blind-buy. 9/10

This is extremely complex. It comes off very very pleasing with a nice citrus note. The Amber is not femme or powdery, it's a masculine scent. I think I'm going for a bottle, love it love love it. I have a feelin it will be the next big thing..

Amazing, everyday type of a scent with a twist, it is fresh, clean but with an ambery backbone, smells high quality and coimpletely unisex, thumbs up from me :)

This Is a lovely Mid spring & all of the summer scent. You will like this if you love; 1.Dior Homme Cologne 2013 By Christian Dior 2.Bergamot By Malin+Goetz 3.Night By Perry Ellis(Only in the opening) If you tried those two and like them, then you love this one. It sweet, aquatic, citrus with sea notes. Perfect for events on or around the; beach, parks, or just a hot summer day. Wearing this to the movies, or just hanging out with loved ones...wearing shorts & short sleeve tee shirt. Listening to Will Smith's SummerTime song, drinking some lemonade. Perfect all around. Now would I outright buy a bottle of this fragrance after saying, what I wrote above...HELL NO! Here's why: you can get this same scent profile with... Dior Homme Cologne 2013 By Christian Dior. The DHC 2013 last longer, projection & sillage is better as well, plus you can get a 200ML of DHC 2013 for $80 - $100. And Costarela Carner Barcelona cost $180 - $220 retail or $160 - $180 online for a 100ML. Nope, you lost me right there. Thankfully I tried this via Scentbird, when it comes to niche fragrance and their high prices. Get a decant from someone, get a sample free of it from a Carner Barcelona boutique(if you have one near you), Sephora(free) & I think Macy's(for free). Buy a sample from eBay. A decant from ScentBird, Scent Box or Luxury Box for $15. Please don't buy this outright. I hope I helped someone. I used six sprays...both wrist, back & front of my neck, chest, and front of my shirt. Will I buy this again?...NO! What's the strength of this? EDP. Can you use it as a unisex scent? Yes. Am I willing to trade this fragrance? Yes. Should You Skip It, Sample It First or Blind Buy It? 1.I say Sample it first if you still wanna try it for yourself(It's super pricey). 2.Skip it and get Dior Homme Cologne 2013 By Christian Dior(Much better, you'll thank me later). Is it the old, new formulation? New. What's its availability; in production, limited edition or discontinued? In production. SKU Number: 8437011481306 Batch Number: Unknown (Production Date: ?) Age: 25+ From: Scentbird Size: 8 ML Scent: 3.25/5 (Okay). Value: 5/5 ($12.00). Sillage: 2/5 (Two feet). Longevity: 1.5/5 (Three hours tops). Creativity: 5/5 (Citrusy, fresh & a walk on the beach). Projection: 1/5 (Less than an hour). Versatility: 5/5 (Spring and summertime only & anywhere). Compliments: 5/5 (Nice). Until next time, I'll catch you on the flipside.

Costarela is a reasonalbly pleasant citrus-marine scent, evocative of a sunny day at the beach. A coconut-led suntan lotion scent this is not; nor is it a straightforward citrus cologne or harsh, synthetic mineralic scent. Costarela is pleasant, aromatic and uplifting, with realistic, natural-smelling ingredients despite the ambroxan as fixative. However, it is let down by its uninspiring drydown and limited performance. Costarela opens with fresh, zingy bergamot alongside a sea salt note, as bracing and fresh as the sea breeze. A pinch of saffron adds spice, complementing the salty opening to perfection. A prominent cedar note follows, grounding the fresh opening nicely with soft woodiness. Ambroxan hovers, adding a clean, grey musky undertone. Here it works, enhancing the other notes somewhat. As it develops, it stays reasonably salty, with a slight mineralic quality emerging as it progresses. It becomes musky as it fades, with cedar and ambroxan the main components of the drydown. It is much less interesting here in contrast to its promising opening, and is pretty watery, but doesn't become harsh or unpleasant. Sillage is intimate and longevity is weak. Initially great, Costarela is a pleasant summertime scent that runs out of steam as it progresses, but may work well for people who prefer subtle, short-lived perfume in hot weather. Unisex and wearable, Costarela has its good points, but ultimately is overpriced considering its performance. 3/5.

First impression: This is a fantastic smelling fragrance. You have an exceptionally well balanced and composed citrus/blue/gold scent. When I bought Polo Blue Gold Blend, this is what I was hoping it would smell something like. Sadly, the Polo one let me down; however, Costarela delivers the scent. Unfortunately, it is a bit weak in terms of projection. I had to apply a lot of it, and I still wish I had just more of a scent (because it is that good). Not sure if this will be full bottle worthy, considering the projection and unknown longevity. Quick update: I saw a bottle for dirt cheap on a sale. So I ordered it. Sadly, the projection and longevity are not great on this, and it doesn't lean masculine enough for my taste. However, I discovered that this layers wonderfully with Bvlgari Man Wood Essence. This gives me the projection and the masculinity that I want. So, a worthy buy, since I like Bvlgari Man Wood Essence, but not as a standalone fragrance.

No one notices the mint? This is a mint bomb! In particular, in the UK they have mints called "Trebor - Extra Strong Mints". The opening of this, from afar, is those strong mints on blast. Then it fades to (or smell it closer to the skin) a smell similar to that harsh, pink, dental mouth wash they give you after a treatment. So minty and mouthwash profile this one... I'll update this review if my thoughts change, only testing it... * Really liking this in the dry down... it stays forever, applied to side of neck, every head move you catch a whiff... and it smells good. I'm thinking it's quite similar to Heeley's "Sel Marin" in that it's definitely that beach vibe, but it's different, more potent I'd say. I like how even outside in windy weather, it envelops you but not in a clingy way or cloying way, it just reminds you that it's there from time to time. I wonder if passers-by can smell it too? I would imagine so...

Well, it certainly smells like the notes listed. It instantly transports you to a warm sandy beach with the sun beating down on you. The fresh juicy bergamot is the first to make an impression. Then lots of salt, sand and ambroxan. The ambroxan swirls around you with it's usual big sillage. It adds a chemical aspect which is a shame. The afore mentioned notes settle and then you can pick out the saffron. Now the scent reveals the warm amber as the base. That is quite a leap from fresh juicy bergamot to warm salty amber. It's a very pleasant scent and would be nice to wear on warm days.

A very pleasant, citrus-marine scent with a huge dose of ambroxan and cedar. 100% unisex. 100% not salty (I almost haaate salt in fragrances, since it is usually too marine pungent into my nostrils). The salty Accord gives me some kind of vegetable vibe, not sellery, but something green, definitely very comforting during a hot season. If you don't like ambroxan, you will not like this one. This is the ONLY marine I left in my Collection of 199 scents (ok, technically Heeley Yuzu is a citrus marine). It says something.

First of all I'd like to say that I'm not a fan of the new trend of ambroxan but I do like this scent. Costarela has the smoothest ambroxan accord I've ever experienced in perfumery. Ambroxan creates a sparkling-uplifting and beach-bright effect to this scent. It doesn't hurt my nose so I suppose ambroxan has grades and quality. Dominant notes are bergamot, salty sea note, ambroxan, a beach vibe, wonderful scent for warm weather daytime. Performance is moderate overall.

I went to Letouile to find a clean fragrance and worker recommended me fresh Costarela. Year ago I smell citrus but now find a little grass and sea salt. I feel it on skin very long but first time didn’t feel at all, people told me “Then it’s your fragrance”. Then I got it lasting for a day, I don’t know about spillage because it’s tiny scent. Every fragrance i feel differently in different seasons. But I guess I should use perfumes only in winter...

This smells like the memory of a beautiful day at the beach, when you only remember the beautiful things. Salty citrusy, but synthetic enough not to be too bitter or stingy. Unfortunately even the opening is weak, so you'd have to soak yourself in this to make an impression. Otherwise it's very nice for aroma therapy during those dark winter days when you want your nose to travel to a beautiful sunny beach.