Sex and the Sea

I have finally been able to try FRANCESCA BIANCHI'S SEX AND THE SEA. I was surprised, because it was unexpected. I was expecting to find myself before an animalic, sweaty and dirty-cheeked entity, and here I find myself with an Oriental Buttery of a lifetime, very easy to interpret, to perceive, to smell and to wear. Fragantica's fact sheet places it in the Floral Amber Olfactory Family. Amber, what is said amber, it carries; and of the sweet honeyed overwhelming variety. What are we going to fool ourselves. And flowers, what they call flowers, are also present; namely, rose, red jasmine of the non-animalic variety, ylang ylang, a touch of tuberose and a sparkle of gardenia. But all of this is perfectly blended and structured. So much so, that it almost doesn't seem floral, at least, what is meant by the typical feminine floral perfume. If anything characterizes this Oriental Powerhouse is its sweetness. A sweetness that borders on the sweetness of vanilla; coconut oil; exudative resins of sandalwood and amber; buttery red and thick, but not indolic, flowers. A sweetness that borders on gourmand, but without being cloying. And this is something very difficult to achieve. Coconut, one of the most commented notes by several reviews, does not appear in my nose until well into the development of the perfume. And SEX AND THE SEA is a rather monolithic perfume with little development. But it is an oriental coconut, not the coconut variety of sunscreen or youth perfumes, just as its vanilla is not the supermarket vanilla, stubborn and plasticky. In this fragrance, coconut and vanilla, almost do not seem so, since they are assembled in a kind of sweet ambery sandalwoody sandalwoody buttery butter, which makes them detectable but not protagonists in a prima donna way. Everything remains compact and homogeneous. The official data sheet on the author's homepage states that it contains civet. Well, by now everyone knows that it is synthetic civet, but it is true that occasionally there is a breeze of strong breath, not unpleasant, but as of a very well treated and medicated gingivitis, but still produces slightly serous reflux. In any case, nothing unpleasant. Quite the contrary. We have all experienced at one time or another that slight aroma of something fecal, urinary or sweaty, which does not repulse and is even attractive, But for that, the lightness, the bearable lightness of being perfumed, has to be very well balanced with the rest of the notes. Its wake and performance are undaunted and apocalyptic. Try it before you hit the finger spray like crazy, because it can give you a lysergic and hallucinogenic syncope. I would have called it THE CALL OF ISHTAR, much more in keeping with its ritualistic air of esoteric secrets, than with the name SEX AND THE SEA, more typical of a summer porn movie.

A brief scroll through the comments: How can people wear this in warm weather? Horrible smelling, connotations with urine, coconut, or sex. These are all superficial ideas that might go through your head. This is niche perfumery; this is art and emotion in a bottle. If you are searching for an instantly understandable and basic perfume, why are you sampling this? Are you even interested in developing your taste and nose? I think you are doing yourself a disservice by trying to pigeonhole this fragrance into labels like "beach scent" "suntan lotion" or other words to put down something you don't want to take the time or effort to understand. I bought this 30 ml bottle blind because I liked another fragrance of hers. I wore it the first "full wear" with almost 40 degrees Celsius. Went for a walk. I was amazed by the layers and the wild twists and turns this had. As the hot wind blew, it showed different textures than when I stood still in a cooler shaded area. As I smelled it up close i could feel how dense and yet playfull and easy-wearing it was radiating of my skin. I actually gifted my original bottle of this to a friend after I bought my 100 ml bottle. I thought he would like it because he was looking for something "niche" and something with pineapple. So I told him, just put this on, don't form any opinions, just wear it for a couple of times. If you really dislike it, I will take it back and maybe give you something else. When I asked him some weeks later what he thought of it. He just said it is like nothing he currently has and that he liked it but didn't really know how to explain it. I could understand his feeling, I still don't really understand this composition myself, but it is something special. Any time I think, Okay, now I know how to describe this scent. I discover something new. That's why this has excellent longevity. Say it with me: Scents that keep shifting keep your nose from going "nose blind". We all smell different things, so I don't usually like to focus too much on notes. Those that currently stand out for me are the sour aspects balanced against salty aspects. This creates this oily effect like a vinaigrette or warm skin that is just beginning to sweat. The immortelle and mimosa give this yellow sweetness that balances against the buttery Bianchi signature. This fragrance is a weird and unique blend. P.S... If you are sampling anything from this house, be aware that these extracts can sometimes oxidize and smell a bit off with the first sprays. After you clear the "tube" and atomizer is when you really get how the notes balance out with each other.

When Sex and the Sea first came out in 2017, I didn’t really get it. People I really respected as reviewers loved it but I just figured it was one of those perfumes that just wasn’t for me. It wasn’t my kind of notes and I rarely like any sort of beach type of fragrance. But since then, I developed a real love for Francesca Bianchi’s creations and after smelling Sex & the Sea Neroli and going crazy for it, I decided to revisit the original and see if I felt any differently. And it was like smelling an entirely different fragrance, not only did I like it, I think I like it even more than the Neroli one and it’s now possibly my favorite of all of her perfumes (and I love them ALL). It just took a while to get there. I think some perfumes just require more experience to appreciate them, along with a knowledge and understanding of the perfumer’s work for it all to fall into place. Sex and the Sea is not a typical “beachy” fragrance, it’s not fresh nor does it smell like anything you expect in a beach scent. It smells more like warmed skin in the sun, salty and sweaty, with the scents collected throughout the day, like spilled sweet pineapple cocktails, flowers blowing through the air, and the smell of a lover. It smells like bodies and skin and perfume left over from earlier in the day. It’s so hard to explain this perfume but it’s almost so personal feeling it makes me blush during some points but other times it feels almost old fashioned. It’s extremely complex yet comes across somewhat simple initially. You can toss the note list out the window because it does not smell the way you expect those notes to smell. This is NOT a classic beach type of fragrance no matter how it may sound. It’s much thicker and heavier than anything like that and way sexier than any of those ever are. And it’s not really about the beach as much as it’s about what happens between two people at the beach and how their combined scents might smell. It feels extremely personal. But there are also these beautiful floral facets to it that almost feels like a vintage scent at the same time. It’s impossible to describe exactly how it smells and it’s certainly not for everyone. I would call it challenging especially for those who may have more mainstream tastes. But at the same time, it’s a compliment monster on me, I guess it just works with my chemistry. I’ve had strangers ask me what the scent was and for some reason people tend to think it’s some sort of cream if that tells you anything about it. It doesn’t smell like “perfume” it just smells fascinating, like a story, and you want to know more.

My initial sprays from this gave me quite the overwhelming feeling - i was met with a pungent cloud of fermenting, rotting even pineapple and coconut with strong animalic undertones. Spraying a few more times and leaving the bottle to breathe for a few days while i was testing another fragrance, seems to have transformed the juice into more of a fresh Piña colada, with just a touch animalic and very notable musky young woman skin that have just emerged from taking a swim in the sea and is now drying under the sun, which is a clear sign of the quality of ambergris recreation in here (despite what is claimed, ambroxan smells nothing like real ambergris, while here the note is very realistic). The powdery florals, the resins and the labdanum/sandalwood combo are very much in the background during the opening, but in the drydown the combination blends into balsamic ambery sweetness, merging with the still very present pineapple juice, coconut cream, ambergris to create a wondrous sensation - imagine the above described sunbathing woman skin after she has spilled her freshly made pina colada over her chest, stomach and thighs, and instead of wiping it off she just left it to dry on her skin. Despite using a young woman in my example, i would stills ay this is pretty much a unisex scent - mostly because of how strong and bold a lot of its presentation is - something not typically found in female centered perfumery. Overall, i would say this is another masterclass in artistic perfumery by the house of Francesca Bianchi. Not for everyone - if you aren't a fan of coconut and pineapple notes, this will be very hard to stomach, as they can be quite pungent here, especially on initial few wearings, before your nose can adjust to them and start getting more of the other ingredients. This is what vastly inferior fragrances like Invictus Victory Elixir aspire to be, but are not even close to being on the same playing field. As a fragrance enthusiast - absolutely worth owning. Just careful with the sprays if you are going into crowded spaces, as you might send someone into a pina colada induced coma.

The first note that hit me was a little hard to place, but I searched and searched my mind until I finally concluded it smelled exactly like fresh dill. I was pleased that this somewhat grassy and sour note faded *very* quickly to reveal a masterpiece. The dry down blossoms into a sweet, warm, slightly powdery scent that is absolutely marvelous. The dill has transformed into tangy pineapple. The creamy coconut is not overwhelming or heavy as it is rounded out by 'fluffy' notes, namely the iris-benzoin-vanilla combination (which is delightful). The ambergris, my favorite note of all time, is like an orange velvet ribbon that ties the entire fragrance together. I cannot speak on projection or longevity yet as I've only a sample bottle that I've just applied, but as far as I can tell this is a scent meant especially for the wearer to enjoy, or to be enjoyed by others who are close to the wearer. It is intimate. It is soft. It is seductive. The name "Sex and the Sea" couldn't have been more perfect. As an avid lover and wearer of perfumes, I do not say this lightly: I may have finally found my signature scent. Blind buy safe? Based on other reviews, no. In my personal opinion? Get a sample like I did. I am so pleasantly surprised by this one. Love at first sniff- such a transformative scent- I almost cried. Can't wait to explore more by this perfumer and get my hands on a full bottle of this one. 1,000,000/10. Update: bought a full bottle hours after receiving and applying my sample. That's how beautiful this scent is. I can't stop smelling wear I applied it on my arm. I'm in love.