I usually prefer to wear “simple” and light fragrances in warm weather; I don’t want lots of notes percolating on my skin and inside my nostrils on a hot day — that’s annoying. I visited Los Angeles in February when the weather there was glorious: sunny, 78 degree days, cool evenings, and skies so clear you could see stars (the celestial type) at night. I packed several new fragrances for the trip, and it was fun to fast-forward to ‘summer’ for a week (it was still 25 degrees at home in Seattle with at least another month of awful weather to come). Two of the new “summery” perfumes I tested in L.A. stood out: Pacifica Indian Coconut Nectar and Six Scents Series Three Beau Bow.
Indian Coconut Nectar smells almost exactly how Pinkberry (another “hit” from my L.A. trip) coconut frozen yoghurt tastes, with flavors/scents of cool, yet musky, coconut (slightly “green” and tart-unripe ), combined with creamy vanilla and perhaps a squirt of lime juice. Indian Coconut Nectar perfume is simple, but it smells delicious. I can’t resist the scent of coconut during summer but if you dislike coconut, you’ll hate Indian Coconut Nectar — it’s all about the coconut.
Pacifica Indian Coconut Nectar has good lasting power (if you aren’t stingy when applying) and decent sillage; the fragrance is available in a 29 ml spray perfume, $22 (due to popularity, it’s currently “sold out” on the Pacifica website); solid perfume, $9; perfume roll-on, $12; body wash, $18; and body butter, $18.
Six Scents Fragrance Initiative Series Three Beau Bow, a collaboration between designer Alexis Mabille and perfumer Rodrigo Flores-Roux, smells like a souped-up Eau de Cologne; it includes notes of cedrat, mandarin, bigarade orange, bergamot, lavender, basil, mint, violet leaf, galbanum, lentisque, jasmine, rose, magnolia, cyclamen, white honeysuckle, vetiver, moss, iris, and Kephalis.
Beau Bow begins with intense citrus aromas that smell like tangerine peel. As the scent starts to dry down, I get whiffs of basil and mint (“peppery” and reminding me of the scent of fresh tomato leaf) and sheer florals (the honeysuckle is dominant). Beau Bow’s base smells of iris and Kephalis. Beau Bow is a zingy, “fresh” and clean fragrance in all its stages of development; it’s perfect for warm weather and casual wear. Beau Bow has good sillage and lasting power, and like Indian Coconut Nectar, it’s unisex. Unlike Indian Coconut Nectar, Beau Bow is definitely NOT a cheap thrill: 50 ml Eau de Toilette, $149.
Six Scents Series Three Beau Bow is a limited edition fragrance and a portion of the sale price will be donated to War Child International.
Now, back to dreaming of summer (or another quick trip to Southern California).
Note: top left coconut image [altered] and top right mandarin image via Wikimedia Commons.
It’s supposed to snow this weekend here in Chicago. Heavy sigh. Ah well, it’s fun to at least read of something summer-appropriate. Sounds like the Pacifica could be a great cheap summer thrill for me, just as their Tibetan Mountain Temple is my cheap go-to autumn/winter thrill.
TMT is my go-to scent on lazy days. It always smells effortlessly good on me, doesn’t punch people in the face with sillage, and fades gracefully. It was my first real perfume : )
Jirish: 60 degrees and SUNNY today in Seattle…things are looking up.
I’m in Southern California, and believe me you aren’t missing anything! It should be cold and rainy for the rest of the week.
Do you think the Indian Coconut Nectar would be good for layering? It sounds so fun!
Thalia…it might be good layered with a lime or nutmeg scent…something woody?
I have a little solid of this, Kevin. Would be good for the beach, or to create a beachy feeling! I also enjoy Malibu Lemon Blossom for the same purpose.
Haunani: I love the Malibu Lemon Blossom too…never have tried the Tuscan Blood Orange which sounds appealing….
Yeah! I have been looking for a good cheap Coconut scent for a few months.
Oddly it is really hard to find coconut without the pineapple- my summer skin turns pineapple into something best undescribed.
Anyway I want to ingest my pina colada, not wear it – so thanks for the timely review!
Ruth: you’re welcome.
It’s about 80 here today in the Houston metro area, so I don’t even think of high 70’s as “summer” weather. That’s just a mild, balmy spring day for us. For me coconut is one of those things I like in small, short doses. It’s nice for 5 minutes, but gets tiresome if it goes on and on. I need to sample the Pacifica line, though. It gets quite a bit of love and the prices are great.
50 Roses: ay…even 80 degrees is springlike in Tejas! HA! Isn’t the average temp from May till Oct. something like 95?
Pretty much. In some parts of the state it’s even worse. I went to Baylor, and Waco summers were unbelievable. I think one year they said we had 100 days that the temperature reached or exceeded 100 degrees.
You know, I haven’t actually found a Pacifica I’ve loved yet but this sounds delicious and perfect for summer. I love coconut froyo.
Ok, actually I knew I had to respond simply to say that I LOVE your little comment picture. BUT, I actually completely agree with your post as well. I just can’t find a Pacifica scent to love, despite what a great cheap thrill it would be if I could, and I’m also quite partial to coconut.
BelleTrist: maybe this will be the first Pacifica you like…I like their body washes too.
Both of these sound great for summer, especially Three Beau Bow. Of course – the expensive one! Thanks for the reviews, Kevin.
Rappleyea: the Beau Bow is so sprightly and polished and gets me in a good mood.
I really disliked the Pacifica, which bodes well for you.
The other sounds wonderful to me, though. (And ditto: figures!)
Yeah, I think I like those foody types better than you do (except, of course, SDV).
Oh, K, the Pacifica was an EPIC FAIL on me. I actually like coconut in some contexts, but I absolutely hated that one. I can’t think of the last on I disliked so much… which is odd, because I normally think Pacificas are quite nice, and especially for the price. Like you, I particularly like the Malibu Lemon Blosson.
Glad you got to SoCal. It’s actually blizzarding here in Toronto right now, so L.A. sounds like heaven.
Ack, apologies for all the typos. The snow is freezing my brain.
Erin:…and perhaps your poor fingers!
As is so often the case… I agree with you. Didn’t like this one at all, though I thought I would love it.
I hope they get it back in stock soon.
Carlos: they’re probably scurrying to get it back….
You could check Sephora… that’s where I first saw it.
If you can’t find it online, Whole Foods seems to carry Pacifica in every one of their stores from what I’ve seen. Sometimes they don’t have all the scents, but they do often have the frag, roll-on, and solid in the ones that they do. And plenty of testers.
I’m a coconut…. nut. So I’m definitely going to seek this one out
Jeremy: this one didn’t make it to my Whole Foods OR Sephora yet…maybe they “underproduced” this to start? Who knows….
Thanks for the review of Beau Bow, Kevin. I was curious about it but think I could probably find something similar for less of a dent in the wallet though the blend of citrus and tomato leaves is enticing. I added a solid of Pacifica Indian Coconut Nectar from Sephora to my cart as an impulse item when shopping for a gift back in January and found it to be a nice enough rendition of coconut but not as complex as I’d hoped. My expectations were geared more toward an Azuree Soleil sort of coconut due to Pacifica’s notes, so the search for more complex coconut scents goes on. But if you love creamy coconut, it does a pretty nice job.
AbScent: yes, it’s pretty simple…but I lose interest in scents that subdue coconut TOO much…
(Gasp! What subdues coconut??)
Kidding. At least a little… I like coconut, but I never seem to want *more* of it in any fragrance. Ones I like a lot: PdN Juste un Reve and, you probably knew this was coming, Vamp a NY.
I will definitely try the Pacifica – I’d also love to find an interesting coconut scent. Last fall I sniffed the Osmotheque recreation of 1920s Parfums de Rosine Fruit Defendu which was an amazingly modern dry, light sophisticated coconut-like scent (actually lactones, I guess). I was hoping HdP Love Coco would be similar. It isn’t, although it is interesting – I’m looking forward to testing it further this summer.
Oddly, I’m sampling Xerjoff Irisss this evening, and it’s reminding me of coconut! I wonder if anyone else has gotten that – it could be I’m just in a highly suggestible state of mind after getting caught in chilly evening rain and then warming up your review of summer perfumes (and that cheery photo!).
Noz: hmmmm…just put on some Irisss and I guess you could convince me there’s a hint of coconut-like aroma in there! HA!
This so cool….I just ordered some of that tasty tasty coconut and now you are reviewing! Come on shipping ! momma needs some coconut!
D: hope it pleases you!
Momma’s friends need some coconut too! It sounds good to me… however, I think I’ll skip the pricey Six Scents.
If it’s okay to share a promo code:
FREEROLL25
Should get you a free roll-on with a purchase of $25 or more at Pacifica’s website.
LucyB has a nice Tiare Coconut that I like. Not a complicated fragrance, nice to remind you of a Hawaiian vacation.
Just tried some of this over at Sephora – I want to buy it for the packaging alone! They were also out of the sprays, but I was quite tempted to buy a little set of body wash, lotion and rollerball for $18. Maybe next time!