Have you ever had the perfect day at the beach? Eighty degrees, mostly sunny, a slight breeze. You got there early enough to claim the ideal spot. The air is salty, and the shore is dotted with coastal flowers in bloom. Everything smells good. It’s the kind of moment you wish you could liquefy and bottle up to spritz yourself with later.
It’s now the tail end of summer, and I’ve sprayed myself with dozens of fragrances to try and find something that even comes close. I’m here to report that the answer is SALT by Ellis Brooklyn, the perfume version of an endless summer vacation.
SALT is a seasonal fever dream. The scent has notes like ylang-ylang, violet leaves, tiaré, white florals, musk, ambergris, and sandalwood. It’s exactly the kind of fragrance formula that I often reach for—a combination of florals, amber, and woods—but something about it makes it special. Maybe it’s the overall creaminess, like fluffy foam on top of an al fresco drink. Perhaps it’s the slightly sticky quality of the florals, which takes on a heaviness like fruit left out for a couple of hours in the sun. Or it could be the hint of salt in the background, like skin in the sand.
A spritz of SALT transports me to a blanket on the shore at sunset, bringing a glass of Chablis to my lips on a temperate Friday afternoon, or stepping off a plane in a tropical place and feeling humidity and heat hit me like a wall when I walk out of the airport. It’s the kind of fragrance that makes people ask you what you’re wearing, because they can almost place it as a memory.
As the days get shorter and the air starts to have a bite to it, I will spray SALT all over to try and slow time. And for a bit of a cozier vibe, Ellis Brooklyn is releasing VANILLA SALT this week, which has the same breezy and oceanic qualities that I love about the original, but with a splash of vanilla. The overall effect is like licking an ice cream cone on the boardwalk. Delicious.
