BEAUTY

THE BEACH, BOTTLED

The history of beach fragrances is short and, quite literally, sweet. It used to be that only a select number of fragrance notes conjured the feeling of your toes in the sand; think coconut daiquiris, juicy fruits, Coppertone sunscreen. Perfumers now have adopted a more sophisticated approach to capturing the essence of the beach. "Newer beach-inspired fragrances are not an overdose of tropical notes," says Robertet perfumer Jérôme Epinette. "They focus on pairing these lush scents with unique and elevated notes that bring complexity and dimension."

Early iterations erred on the side of tropical and mostly came in the form of sunbathing products, including the passion-fruit-and-mangoscented Hawaiian Tropic sunscreen and the fruity, floral Bain de Soleil Orange Gelée, which reigned in '80s and '90s French beach culture. It wasn't until Bobbi Brown in 2002 launched an eau de parfum called Beach-which combines sea-spray and sand-jasmine notes with fresh mandarin-that beachy fragrances became an everyday staple.