Last month I reviewed La Parfumerie Moderne's Années Folles, an evocation of hotel parties on the Riviera during the Roaring Twenties. This week, just as summer arrives in my part of the world, I backed up a few decades to the Belle Époque. Oriza L. Legrand's Villa Lympia is a new fragrance evoking "an air of summer over the Riviera for the first swims of the season," with "the freshness of a gentle breeze, with hints of sea foam and salt, wafting into the shelter of a beach cabin, mingling with scents of moistened wood and burning sand."
I'm a little late to the Oriza L. Legrand party, but I'm smitten with the brand's packaging and I like its concept of reviving fragrances from its archives. Oriza offers numerous nostalgic floral perfumes that I really need to try soon. However, Villa Lympia diverges from the brand's usual path. Unlike violet or leather or heliotrope, "marine" didn't exist as a concept in Belle Époque perfumery. Yet Villa Lympia's composition includes notes of mimosa, pine, sea spray, sea grass, sea salt, immortelle, linseed oil and algae, all brought together to suggest a day at the beach. My French is limited (and rusty), but it seems to be a contemporary composition rather than a recreation of an archival fragrance.
So, what do we smell on a visit to the fictional Villa Lympia (perhaps named after the port of Nice)? It opens with a creamy, slightly vanillic white floral note that suggests frangipani more than mimosa. Then there's plenty of nose-tickling salt air, and some sandy driftwood and dried-out seaweed. Once its introductory floral dissipates, Villa Lympia feels neither particularly feminine nor masculine. It doesn't feel particularly fin de siècle, either, but I suppose the smell of the seashore itself hasn't changed much over the past century or so. Villa Lympia leaves out some of the human-made smells that we've come to associate with the beach and its surrounding amusements — coconut-scented suntan lotion, caramel-coated popcorn, cotton candy, and so on. Instead, we're allowed to enjoy the crunch of sand under our feet and the wind on our faces without all those distractions. Maybe we're even wearing modest late-1800s "bathing costumes" for the occasion.
Villa Lympia's floral side reminds me a bit of Nuxe Huile Prodigieuse (but not its sickly-sweet perfume version!) and its aquatic character reminds me even more of Reminiscence's Rem. Its staying power and sillage are somewhat light for an Eau de Parfum. I don't think Villa Lympia will replace Guerlain Terracotta or CB I Hate Perfume At the Beach 1966 as my favorite "beachy" scents (dressy and casual, respectively), but I enjoyed my sample, even if it's not typical of the Oriza L. Legrand house style. Maybe the timing just happened to be right for me.
Do you have a favorite beachy scent for this summer? Feel free to share in the comments.
Oriza L. Legrand Villa Lympia is available in 100 ml Eau de Parfum ($165). For buying information, see Oriza L. Legrand under Perfume Houses.
Note: image 2 young women in bathing suits on the beach, circa 1902 via The Library of Congress at Pinterest.
I am intrigued by any sea, salt, and driftwood scent, so will have to try this, even though most of them don’t work out for me. Sel Marin remains my favorite of the straight up ocean air fragrances. It’s a little dark and stormy, which I love. For salty with some light flowers, Weekend in Normandy, which I have on right now, is great. I like, don’t love, Fleurs de Sel and Sage and Sea Salt. Best expensive expensive and delicious sunscreen: Le Labo’s Neroli and MiN Long Board. For some reason the CBIHP beach scents don’t work for me.
I do like JM Sage and Sea Salt! I keep almost-buying a small bottle. Le Labo’s Neroli is sooo fancy sunscreen, you’re right! Its name is misleading. I used to love Bond no. 9 Fire Island, and there’s a Santa Maria Novella scent that unexpectedly reminds me of sunscreen, too — Caprifoglio, maybe?
I love Sel Marin as well. My other beachy scents are Cocobello, Soleil Blanc, Falling Into the Sea and Aria Di Mare.
Oh I haven’t tried those last three. Taking notes.
Seconding Aria Di Mare. Bought a full bottle maybe 7 years ago? Just love that one as a perfume. Christopher Brosius’s Mr. Hulot’s Holiday is outrageously holographic. You can’t get closer to the beach than that one.
I remember liking Falling into the Sea when I tried it — last year? and now I’m also remembering Tirrenico from Profumi del Forte, which seems to fit this mini-category — salty sea air, cold stone.
I love that beach photo.
Me too! I can’t claim any credit, however — Robin found it!
That packaging is so lovely! And Villa Lympia sounds like a beach scent (generally not my favorite genre) I might actually enjoy. My husband and I were just watching Rick Steves’ episode on the French Riviera last night (because we’re total nerds). It sure does look beautiful – if not quite the most refined, classy place in France. He even goes to a perfume shop: Molinard, I think. I must give Villa Lympia a try.
Have you tried any of the others? I’m really “behind” on this line!
I have a few samples. Horizon is an amber-patchouli that I rather liked. Chypre Mousse is a beautiful hazelnuts-on-the-forest-floor perfume. Jardins d’Armide was just weird – powdery-synthetic with some carnation, maybe? Reve d’Ossian is incense, incense, and more incense. I very briefly tried Violettes du Czar – and all I remember is a huge cloud of violet pastilles. Chypre Mousse and Horizon are my favorites so far.
Thanks for the review and very timely as I just tested a few from this line at Twisted Lily-except for this one. So I guess I’ll just have to head back. I’m also taken by their aesthetic and have fallen for a a Chypre Mousse. But for beachy-which is not a favorite category, I like L’Ambre de Merveilles, L de Lolita, and Dune which is grey day, salt spray, with some flowers nearby and a favorite in general.
Also love Chypre Mousse by OlG. Not beachy, but fantastic. So far it’s the most expensive perfume I’ve purchased, and worth every dime. I waited years to find a perfume that “speaks in different voices” all day. That one does it.
Chypre Mousse seems to get some very positive feedback amongst the “fragonerds”! It doesn’t sound like something I’d wear, but I think I need to smell it and appreciate it. A few of the florals are really calling my name, and I love love love the packaging for Relique d’Amour.
I love “speaks in different voices”. It’s one of the most complex scents I’ve smelled in a while.
I’ve sworn off Orizas for good. Have only tested 8 of them, but only two got the “eh, this is okay, I guess,” verdict and the rest ranged from “not for me” to “OMG gedditoffmeNOW.”
Oh no! lol. Okay, this gives me even more desire to try them, to imagine what went wrong for you!
I’m always stumped when it comes to beach scents because between the waves and the wind, it doesn’t seem like a conducive environment for perfume. Definitely, Miller Harris Fleurs de Sel brings to mind coastal salt marshes, and I love it, but it’s not what I think of as the beach scene.
Here’s an idea from Scents of Self (Ari), which I happen to be reading at the same time:
“4160 Tuesdays What I Did On My Holiday. Coppertone accord paired with a smooth, polished sweetness. This is the first 4160 Tuesdays fragrance I’ve ever had the chance to try, and I’m really impressed! Very skillful indie work.”
I need to try that!
I ordered some samples a couple of weeks ago and they very generously put in a huge sample of VL. Unfortunately its not good on my skin. It does smell of hot sand but in a very sickly plastic-y sort of way but there is a hint of white florals and “marine” It doesn’t last terribly well and the drydown is pretty linear with not a lot going on. Oriza L Legrand do wonderful perfumes and for me the best are Chypre Mousse of which a lot of people have written about, Relique d’amour which is a really unusual lilly – fabulous and Reve d’Ossian a dry incense floral beautiful. Inly Chypre Mousse has any good lasting power and is stunning – a “savoury” chypre with not an ounce of sickly sweetness. As for Villa Lympia – not for me.
Marine accords (the saltiness) have a tendency to turn my stomach- weird, isn’t it? I do like Guerlain Terracotta, there’s no saltiness there, but because I have a bottle of the lovely Songes I feel like that covers my needs. And then there’s always Fils de Dieu for coconut, although it’s not a particularly beach one. Will be reading people’s comments for non-salty recommendations!
I am not familiar with this line, but love the packaging. I would love to sample this fragrance. I love love love the beach picture. I like Bronze Goddess and Soleil Blanc , these are the only beachy fragrances I have.
I used to wear Dune, went through at least 3 bottles, which is a lot for me. I never really thought of it as a beach scent, wore it year round, it was a signature for awhile.
Although it may not be a “beachy” fragrance in the strictest sense of the word, I’ve come to love Dior’s Granville, which is meant to evoke the coast of Normandy. It’s brisk and aromatic, not sweet in the least, but I’ve come to love it.
Also come to love Fleurs de Sel and am eager to try more from the non-Coppertone end of the genre. Odd, because I really don’t care for the beach in real life….
I’m not fond of suntan lotion smell or monoi oil. …so for me my beach scent is Creed Virgin Island water.