South Bay

Lovely fragrance. A grapefruit like no other. Usually grapefruit tend to be too synthetic, harsh and in some cases it can borderline body odor. But somehow The Different Company achieved the impossible, to tame grapefruit and transform it into a vessel that carries the other notes on a wonderful journey. magnificent.

Very bright, fresh and beautiful. Better in warm weather. I wore it at 0 degrees of Celsius, it was beautiful too. Unfortunately without sillage and projection. On my skin only about 1-2 hours.

I like this, but I wanted to love it. Citrus fragrances are some of my favorites and this one is undeniably lovely. It's got that effervescent pop upon first spray, and I think the tamarind lends it an even more punchy, tart quality along with a little touch of sweetness that photorealistic grapefruit is typically missing. It's nice and green and fresh and zingy. I really liked smelling the spray head and cap; that's where I could smell the fragrance the best and where I could appreciate the creamier, outdoorsy heart of the sandalwood and what I think is the rose hip. Like freshly shorn branches of a twiggy bush. It's very nicely constructed, and if I could smell it on me at all I think I would love it. That being said, South Bay suffers from the failing that virtually all citrus scents do, namely poor longevity. I sprayed this on in the morning as I was getting ready and it was gone within 30 minutes. I couldn't even smell it on my wrists. I think there was a touch of the woody suede base after the citrus dissipates, but I honestly could be imagining it. I'm missing all that beautiful structure on my skin, and it's just a blink-and-you-miss-it citrus. It's worse than most on this count, unfortunately. It's a 6.5/10 for me, purely because of the longevity. If it was a better performer, I would give it an 8/10.

It is a refreshing summer fragrance. The name is well chosen it's like a refreshing breeze in the South Bay somewhere on Caribbean islands with the hot weather all year long. In the beginning it's a strong scent tending to the masculine side with the burst of grapefruit and strong spices but in several minutes it calms down. Then it remains still grapefruit fragrance with 2 other well recognisable notes: liquorice and rose hip. The sweetness of liquorice is subtle enough comparing to other fragrancies. I do not like liquorice as it tends to over-helm me with it's woody sweetness. For example Lolita Lempicka fragrancies just turn my stomach with it's liquorice. But in South Bay liquorice is not so extremely sweet and just gives enough sweetness to this fragrance making it unisex and not just masculine. Rose hip is beautiful. It lasts all duration and mixes with woods in the dry down. I do not detect the leather and barely notice freesia (I have other freesia fragrancies like forever and ever Dior for ex). The flowery note here is rose hip. The longevity is decent enough with 8h on fabrics with a moderate trail. I like a lot this natural perfume and it's very aromatic. I bought 90 ml at a good discount price and enjoy wearing it.

I see people below treat South Bay like a rather tame and usual grapefruit fragrance, I disagree, I find it surprisingly unique and experimental. So yes, a good amount of grapefruit in the top, but aside from the usual tart zestiness there is also a certain savory aspect to it. Stellar fragrances like Heeley Note de Yuzu have already proved that a bit of salt makes citrus really pop a feel 3d, and it sure does here, but it also pushes the citrus towards the sweet savory contrast of tamarind. It may be me reading too much into the note pyramid, but even when I sampled it blind I remember thinking the top felt tart, but fruity and slightly savory. As it enters the dry down I get a clear herbal slightly bitter element to it, the rose hip presumably (i've never sampled the raw material so far), but it is completed by floral elements that lead to a subtle woodiness in the base. Overall it is very interesting, fresh and zingy, floral and woody, but also with a unique herbal twist. If you find the usual grapefruit with floral combo (Pamplelune, Pomelo Paradis, Hermes Pampelmouse) too feminine leaning, the woody grapefruit variation (Vetyverio, TdH) too repetitive then this may be a good place to look for a different take.