Salina

Since beginning in 2010 with four fragrances, Italian perfume house Laboratorio Olfattivo has grown into an impressive niche line that now numbers twelve eaux de parfum with the release of Patchouliful in 2014. Far from marketing executives and focus groups, this company is dedicated to allowing artistic perfumers free reign when it comes to pursuing their inspirations and fulfilling fragrant dreams. In this exclusive laboratory, perfumers work in an idyllic environment that nurtures both the art and creativity while releasing modern scents that bring classic perfume structure into the 21st century. The elegant fluids in these flaçons belie the plain and simple packaging, yet all of them reflect the modern streamlined luxury of their containers. Inspired by what many call the "Pearl of the Mediterranean", Salina is an olfactory remembrance of a small island located in the Aeolian archipelago, north of Sicily. The invigorating temperate marine climate of its namesake isle is captured by a smooth and heavily salted citrus opening, tinged with the scent of lofty pines blown from the hills above by briny breezes. The most intriguing quality of Salina is the way in which perfumer David Mauritte captures the beauty of both the island and the sea, without any watery fruity notes, ultimately achieving the same clarity and aqueous aura with marine materials. Unfurling like a perfumed poem, this scent tells a salty tale of bitter herbs and hearty blooms dotting the coastline. Present also, underlying the entire perfume, are wafts of beach containing the gentle (yet undeniably odd) desiccated aroma of petrified starfish and brittle sea urchins, deposited by lapping waves of frothy lavender. The sunbaked sand mixed with saline spray is soon washed away by an incoming tide of translucent musk. Sun faded cedarwood drifts and dries, bobbing on the sea's surface, while bathed in glowing vanilla shimmers. The 15% concentration of this perfume projects just enough, lasting longer than almost any in the aromatic aquatic genre. Neither pretentious nor ubiquitous, Salina resonates a nautical elegance with an emphasis on both hesperidic and true oceanic accords. The delightful addition of myrtle flower and absinthe (wormwood) fuse everything into a sturdy and head-and-shoulders above "the rest" of the endless ocean of woody maritime fragrances out there. Sillage: average to good Longevity: above average Overall: 4.5/5 The truth be told? I'm an aquatics addict, in recovery currently. I used to love and douse myself with large doses of "calone colognes". The more the better!! (Sick...I know) After a decade of sniffing around my tastes are now more eclectic (nay, eccentric!) and well-rounded; yet this fragrance had me ready to "relapse" and take the plunge with pleasure... I've been there, sniffed that and lost the proverbial t-shirt; so to speak, never once thinking that I would find such a truly aromatic and rather unique aquatic in such a plain flaçon with such a simple name. Salina not only lasted how I expect a perfume at its pricepoint should (hour after delightful hour), it didn't smell the least bit trite and could feasibly cross the ever looming and somewhat pesky seasonal line in the sand and compliment the crisper sunny days of autumn as well as days spent basking at the shore. Notes: Lemon peel, sea salt, pine needles, wormwood, hot sand accord, myrtle, marine spurts, lavender, vanilla, white musk & cedar wood

I think it is the younger brother of Armani Prive Bleu Turquoise. You know, that brother who wants to prove he is worthy of respect and joins the army, while the older Bleu Turquoise builds a respectable image in politics. While Salina minces the dirt of no man's land (and Byredo's Rose is waiting to rescue him in case of God-knows-what) and throws grenades from the trenches, Bleu Turquoise decides on a tie knot for another soiree. Imagine them both meeting at a sea shore one day. The pampered Bleu Turquoise would look for a maintained beach - the one with a shower, sunbeds, umbrellas and at least two bars. He would put on sunscreen and barely step into the water not to affect his soft skin. It is not bad, we all can be moody sometimes. Salina would dive into the sea straight from the cliff. Even if there is no cliff around, he will find one. He does not care if the water is too salty or too cold. In fact, Salina is rinsing his nose with this water. Good for health, they say. He still is the brother of Bleu Turquoise, you can't ignore the genes. He can stand up for himself, but somewhere deep in his heart Salina is a sissy. A confusing but intriguing mixture.

A very alluring salty, freshie fragrance that is also comforting. Lavender and vanilla mix so well in the blend. It is in the same time salty and marine, but also woody and herbal. It is an airy, radiant, fresh and aromatic with a base of vanilla and cedar. One of the fragrances that smells like you would expect when reading the notes in my opinion. Very beautiful done and super underrated. Salina smells like you're sitting on a rocky peninsula in the Mediterranean, sunbathing, surrounded by sea breeze and pine needles smell everywhere and stagnant rock-pools baking in the afternoon sun. There's some myrtle trees behind you, perhaps some pine trees or some eucalyptus. It's just incredible and I love it. I can see this becoming one of my all-time favourites for sunny days or for rainy ones, when I need something to lift my mood. Longevity and projection is great and on clothes lasts until next wash. The packaging is really nice and sturdy, but the bottle is fairly simple and plain. For the price sold, the quality of the juice is truly outstanding!

This one is very unique and stands out of the crowd. I like it more then it's either sunny and hot or rainy, because it is provides very naturalistic stormy sea aroma, which either goes on contrast with hot weather or emphasize the melancholic wetness of surroundings when it's rainy. On those two occasions the perfume has the deepest undertones and it reminds me of wild rocky beach with a lot of seaweed which stucked to rockes. It doesn't actually reminds me of Mediterranean island, but rather of Baltic Sea shores. On other occasions, for example, when it's around 20 degrees warm and cloudy, but no rain, it smells as an average (though, again, very realistic and straightforward) salty sea and might resemble Mediterranean. I mostly bought it for hot/rainy weather occasions, because I really enjoyed this somewhat depressive but powerful lonely stormy sea aroma.

Heard about this fragrance in one negative review with Megamare by Orto Parisi. As Megamare does not scent for me with anything unpleasant I was really curious to try this one. I am not a big fan of aquatic fragrances and Megamare is too aquatic for me in a very traditional way. But Salina feels very different. I smell those aquatic notes but they are less intense than it’s SALINITY. From all the tastes are prefer salty. So this fragrance goes beyond smell for me. It really triggers my taste receptors and I start remembering all salty dishes that I love — pickles, oysters, caviar, tuna tartar...But it does not smell like any food. I prefer to wear in hot weather as I get more of these salty, woody and herbal notes.