Mariel

Ah Mariel. This reminds me of my sweet sixteen. Skating in a frosty pond with friends in the winter. Of life before adulthood and things got complex. Mariel is a queen bathed in pixie dust . She is not pretentious, not declarative. Doesn’t create assumptions about the wearer, doesn’t boast arrogance. Doesn’t beg sexuality or steamy encounters. Isn’t overdone, ostentatious or provocative. Isn’t meant to be the sort of perfume that is the final flourish of the overly polished. Isn’t meant to be gently dabbed behind clean, recently scrubbed ears. Nope, one should spray Mariel and imagine a walk through the gentle mist of a waterfall on a perfect day. She isn’t a beast who will suddenly rear her ugly head midday offending all manner of unwitting passers by. Note: she will also never scream money, power or class and that’s more than okay. She is quite the docile lamb, whom, without trying, overshadows the highfalutin wolves of the world that is perfumery. While this perfume isn’t meant to project any of the images that are far too often associated with today’s perfumes, it maintains its own image in that it radiates a peace and happiness that is seldom found in today’s world. This perfume just feels like ever good intentions. Like true love. If a perfume was meditative, this would be it. It is actually capable of transporting you to another world. It orchestrates intense sensory pleasure. And simply compels adoration from all who have the chance to experience it. Truthfully, I’ve never met someone who didn’t absolutely adore this perfume. In fact, once upon a time when it was okay to approach friends and hug them without first asking. . .people would flock to me and just bury their face on my shoulder to inhale my scent. They’d hold on for far too long and when they finally removed themselves would all have this dopey, glossy eyed look and huge smiles plastered across their faces. It was scent candy. You’d have thought that these people were inhaling drugs or their lover’s pheromones from the punch drunk looks on their faces. It was seriously amusing to me that I could cause such an effect! Truly, this is the stuff that good dreams are made of. It comforts with the radiance of a gentle sun casting warm sparkling rays. You cannot be angry or upset when under its influence. It rapidly transports you to a private place where you can hide away from all the ugly parts of the world and just have a little vacation. Think sea spray, fluffy clouds, a turquoise ocean, the smell of the inside of a Mandarin peel when the fruit is stripped. The feeling of warm sand beneath toes. It is the song of a beautiful rose garden filled with satiated petals, glistening resplendently, giggling, lush on the rain. Sadly she is gone forever. With the closing of H2O plus, this perfume is no more. I dearly hold onto the last ounce of succulent juice I have. Keep it hidden in a box in a dark, cool place. It may literally be the last ounce in the world. There is literally a cult following for this perfume as another poster has mentioned. Can’t for the life of me understand why Fragrantica has only included it in their scent library now, but am so glad. Facebook has a fan page..if you love and miss Mariel, lend your voice to the appeal for a remake. Note, there is a company that is claiming to produce this and it can be purchased online. This crapulous attempt at a remake does injustice to the original nectar. This was not created in 2012, it was created in the 90’s. She was the piece de resistance of H20. Interestingly, the company had an issue sourcing one of the ingredients prior to their closure. My mind has somehow always thought that the secret ingredient was somehow extract of coral as there was a note that smelt of dried coral. A perfect fruity floral aquatic. I have read that Carolina Herrera was the designer of this perfume, I can’t confirm, but if so, would love for her to acquire the rights to reproduce it. Thank you for reading this heavy tome... dedicated to my favourite scent of all time, Mariel. The end.

In response to lauermar01/14/24 14:06 At the recommendation of another reviewer, I tried Ralph by Ralph Lauren (blue bottle), and it was pretty similar to Mariel. I wonder if anyone remembers the early 2000s H2O perfume "Fluid"? It was the most amazing fragrance I had ever smelled. I bought it several times before it was discontinued. It was the most exhilarating, bright, vibrant, sunny scent. I have spent years searching for anything similar, to no avail. I suspect Carolina Herrera's 212 H2O may be similar, but I have not been able to find a sample to compare.

Mariel was not launched in 2012 it was launched in the 90’s and had a HUGE cult following Truly signature scent perfume Impossible to describe if you haven’t experienced it. This is an otherworldly scent . I guess it’s fresh fruity oceanic floral . It’s all of that but so much more . Add some magic fairy dust. Even being fresh it would project incredibly and last all day. So calming and spa like ... so zen and airy . MAGICAL This is the kind of perfume that brought people to their knees Once you smelled it you would not be able to let it go

One of my favorite scents of all time. I bought this on one of my day trips to the ultra chic King of Prussia mall in the late 90’s. There was an H2O+ store there and that’s where I fell in love with Mariel. It’s everything I love about perfume: clean, floral, aquatic and just really comfortable to wear. It’s rare to find a scent that just always feels right at any time in any occasion, but this is it. If a dupe ever comes around or anyone find an oil or something, please let me know!

This was not launched in 2012. This was launched in around 1996. It was a beautiful scent created by Mariel Hemmingway. I wish it would come back!

I loved Mariel in the 90s. It was light and fresh and had both fruity and fresh elements. I swear I thought I caught a hint of apple and marine notes. Usually, synthetic marine and fresh notes irritate my senses, but Mariel didn't. The fragrance came out at least two decades before the 2012 date noted in the header. I know my last bottle turned after the fragrance was discontinued, so I wouldn't feel comfortable recommending that Fragrantica-istas go after "vintage" bottles online.

No, this is not coming back. I wish H2O Plus had sold the rights to produce the fragrance to a scent company like Elizabeth Arden, before they went out of business. Wings is not made by Giorgio Beverly Hills anymore, but the company that bought it is doing a good job with it. I took the advice of another reviewerto skip the replica fragrance and focus on another fragrance from the same time period with a similar structure: Calyx. I picked up the modern Clinique version today and I love it. It has enough notes in common with the Prescriptives version, albeit without the opening punch. If anyone can recommend more aquatics I might like, please suggest them. If anyone knows of anything that reminds them of Mariel, please let me know.

There was talk of H2O Plus bringing this fragrance back in spring of '22. Then in December of '22 the company decided to discontinue the product line altogether. Many have said Calyx (original formula) is identical but considering I was in my early 20 when both were first released and owned several bottles of both, I can say with 100% certainty, that they are not even remotely similar aside from both being unique and now...long lost treasures.

For me is other undervalued icon. Tonic, dynamic, full of live... in a waterly way. Great fragance!

I LOVED this fragrance in the 90s. Never got to own it, unfortunately. I hope it's back.