Inis the Energy of the Sea

“If you like sand dunes and salty air.....” so the song goes and if you do like those things, then I think you will love Inis. The marketing tagline references “the energy of the sea” and they couldn’t really have put it better. It is very sea-sidey, aquatic, ozonic, salty, refreshing. Like a bracing sea breeze on a stroll on an Irish beach. This scent captures very accurately the sense of an Irish summer that is spent in breezy sea-side walks with rough gravelly sand underfoot and seagulls wheeling and calling in the air overhead followed by hot, salty chips eaten from a paper bag. This scent is not just for summer though, its clean freshness makes it relevant all year round but I must say it is the main player in my summer scent rotation year after year. There is a wide and generous range of flanker products including a scented candle, shower gel, soaps and hand and body cream of a luscious, thick and nourishing quality rarely seen even in major brands. This year, to my great delight, a linen spray has been introduced and I like to use a light spritz of this on blouses and linen when I iron them or for an evening bath-time treat, a spritz on the bedlinen after an Inis scented bath, and the scented candle glowing. I think It would be so nice if you had summer house guests to spray the linens and towels with this and put the candle and hand cream beside their bed. This is definitely a unisex fragrance, suitable for people of all genders who just want to smell deliciously fresh. The cologne comes in many sizes of bottle from as small as 8ml up to 100ml and several choices in between. The bottles are frosted glass which comes over as a nod to sea glass and the larger bottles have lids that look like sea glass pebbles. The word Inis which means Island in Irish is done in a sort of naïve scratchy font like when kids write their name in the sand with a stick. This timeless, ageless, elegant fragrance punches way above its weight on price so I exhort anyone who might be Inis-curious to pick up one of the many items from the range and give it a go, you might just find a new fresh favourite.

Ahhh! You know how a fragrance can just transport you back to a certain period in your life? this one is one of 3 that transports me back to when I lived in Scotland, and I reach for it quite a lot when I have bouts of homesickness for there. I discovered it in a boutique type store in a small town, it was a scalding hot day, everyone was roasting in the heat, there was also a mild breeze which carried the smell of the flowers in a nearby park as well, I saw the tester and something just drew me to it, I had a spritz, and it was an instant love! Inis opens with a cooling burst of sea water and lemon, as it dries down, nutmeg, bergamot and lily-of-the-valley make an appearance, I don't really pick up on any of the other spices listed on my skin, the overall effect is a very refreshing pick-me-up that is very very natural smelling, and does indeed smell like sea air. I see that others have said that to them Inis smells like L'eau D'issey and L'eau D'issey pour homme, I can see where they are coming from, as they are in a similar vein, but even if you own L'eau D'issey, this is still worth owning as it does have its differences as well as similarities. To me, this is my spiritual home in a bottle, I will be purchasing a full bottle soon <3

I think most fragance afficianados are familiar with the way the fragrance industry works; a company issues a document called a "brief" describing what they want a particular fragrance to be, and different perfumers and perfume houses send samples of what they think fit's that brief to in order to bid on the contract to make that fragrance. To me, Inis "Energy of the Sea" smells like it could (keyword, I know the fragrance I'm about to mention is much older by a few decades) have been a brief created to scent Irish Spring soap, but with a different execution or interpretation, perhaps that of someone who actually lived in Ireland. If you think I'm off base with that description, consider how an Irish person would create a scent that matches the overall description of Irish Spring soap used in their advertising; fresh waters, rolling green fields with flowers, fresh all while remaining soapy and clean. That's pretty much this fragrance, but made much nicer. My only complaint would be the opening; I love the way it grabs you and goes "WE'RE NEXT TO SEA, PAL!!!" I just hate that it doesn't last long or carry over into the rest of the fragrance.

I just got this fragrance in yesterday after wanting it for some time... for some damn reason I had convinced myself I was part Irish even though I knew damn well I was Scottish *smacks head* and I thought it would be cool to own a nice fragrance from my ancestors home country!! It does seem that sometimes stupid people get very lucky as it is in my case. I am soo glad I forgot my bloodline because I may have never picked up this wonderful fragrance. I am really enjoying it!!. For me it has a wonderful citrus, ocean, airy vibe to it. When wearing it I imagine someone planted a grove of lemon trees along the Irish shoreline and I am just laying up on the grassy hill enjoying the wonderful cool ocean breeze blowing through those lemon trees. I have only worn it one night and I can still smell it almost 10 hours later. I guess the sillage is good to because tonight one of my coworkers looked at me and said "Damn you smell good Blue" and he was standing about 4 feet from me.

Inis may be my perfect sea breeze fragrance. No hints of coconut suntan lotion or beverages bedecked with umbrellas that are present in so many beach-themed scents. Along the same lines, I've tried Heeley's Sel de Marin and Profvmvm Roma's Acqua di Sale and while I like them, they tend to turn a bit seaweed-y on my skin. A bit too photorealistic for my taste and that price point. Inis has the same marine saltiness but the citrus, florals, and oakmoss keep it from turning full fish market on me. It's a saltier version of L'eau d'Issey, which I loved back in the day. Also smells much like Pre de Provence's Sea Salt soap, which I use daily at least half the year. Longevity and sillage are nothing special, maybe a bit better than average. The good thing is that Inis is reasonably priced, so reapplication won't hurt too much. Better yet, proceeds from purchases are donated to the Irish Whale and Dolphin group for marine wildlife conservation. It smells good and does good!