A few years ago, I reviewed a little bottle of perfume oil called Scarlett Letter that I’d bought at Aroma Sanctum in Salem, Massachusetts. I recently ordered more of this fragrance, since I still love it and it brings back happy memories. While I was at it, I also purchased sample vials of some other “House Blends,” including two beachy scents called Mermaid and Beachscape that sounded perfect for summer.
Mermaid is described as a “lively and fascinating ocean scent” with notes of tangerine, grapefruit, grass, hyacinth, tuberose, oakmoss, benzoin, patchouli and ambergris. It starts with a citrus accord that reminds me more of bergamot than tangerine or grapefruit, and there’s a soft, buttery tuberose note buried in its heart, but most of Mermaid is an airy-woody fragrance with a dry, breezy feeling…