Beach fragrances

Do you live for the sun and the sand? Spritz on one of these beach fragrances and you’ll always be one step away from the surf, no matter the season.

There are few more soul-satisfying ways to spend a day than at the beach. The turquoise sky, summer-warmed waters, the warm breeze on suntan-lotioned skin, even the dry, warm smell of a paperback’s pages, faintly toasted by the sun’s rays. Heaven.

A crop of just-released scents channels that laissez-faire moment, leaving us daydreaming at our desks and in our idling-in-traffic cars. We are inspired by their salty, sunny and musky notes, which leave us hoping that summer will never end.

This way to the beach with Bobbi Brown

Bobbi Brown Beach expertly bottles the scent of the shoreline: jasmine, sea spray and mandarin. It’s glorious in an understated and sexy, unisex kind of way. We can’t help imagining that it will become part of our survive-the-winter toolkit come the dark days of February. EDP, $55 (50 ml), (shown below), www.bobbibrown.com, www.murale.ca

A fragrances as fresh as the surf from Biotherm

Biotherm Eau Ocean captures the lighthearted playfulness of a day at the beach. A splash of bergamot, citrus and water-based fruit notes combine with a new aquatic-fresh molecule, transluzone. At the heart of Ocean is jasmine sambac and Cascalone, a new derivative of the marine molecule Calone—that revolutionary molecule that birthed what we now regard as the family of aquatic fragrances. Then there’s musk, moss, cedarwood and dune flower notes that give this Biotherm spritz an earthy, day-at-the-beach warmth. EDT $54 (100 ml), (shown below), www.biotherm.ca

Channeling the crystal clear blue of the Mediterranean at Acqua di Parma

Acqua di Parma’s newly launched Blu Mediterraneo Collection takes the beach as its raison d’etre. And that beach would be the sublime coastline of the Mediterranean. You really can’t go wrong with any of the quintet of spritzes; each combines citrus notes with aromatics and a variety of warm, essence-of-skin musks and resins. Our faves from the group: Arancia di Capri (shown below) and Fico di Amalfi. $98 (75 ml), www.acquadiparma.com, www.holtrenfrew.com, www.neimanmarcus.com and other fine specialty stores.