Video ReviewsAdd
It seems all fruity and tropical, and then I start getting wafts of. - I'll just say - male genitalia and/or crotchy ball-sweaty jockstrap. I appreciate the thought and complexity gone into this but it's a hell to the NO for me.
This is the problem when you get to know perfumers (in an internet/social media sense) that it becomes increasingly hard to punch their 'baby' square in the face! In fact, forget punching try taking a flying run up an drop kicking their baby square in the thorax! Sex and the sea is HORRENDOUS. (So sorry Francesca I love you xxxx) But truth be told this is a nightmare of a perfume and I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say technically (if you respect my opinion in that regard?) and taste wise this makes me say... why??? Why on earth would this get past the stringent checks and workings a perfumer does when creating a formula? The opening is just crazy in it's sweetness, like I felt my teeth getting cavities but I persevere because all Bianchi's have this concentrated opening, only to blossom into beauties...not this time. That sweet phase lasts for a minute or so then you're hit with a milky, murky, fatty, lactonic, fruity/coconut which believe it or not I actually don't mind as a note in many perfumes but here it's portrayed with a certain wickedness...and not wickedness in a good way! Perhaps it's the context but I smell a heavy and crude dose of civet replacer which coupled with the general vibes in sex and the sea, smells pissy and dirty and not in a thoughtful, indolic way or a sweet animal furry way. It's somewhat salty and ambergris is undoubtedly here perhaps giving that impression and contributing to the problematic animal tones? There's a sweetness of vanilla to it at the same time and through some perverse interest, I'm struggling to find positives in S&tS. It has the texture of some tepid medicine administered as a child... just odd. This is a real stinker and true to form it's monstrous in performance. I hated it. Can Sex & the sea Neroli be good? I'm apprehensive to find out.
Sex and the Sea epitomises exactly what it describes; it aims to implant in your mind the idea of not only the soft, salty warmth of your skin after a dip in the sea, but the sweaty, sticky nature of a sexual encounter on the beach. It’s absolutely stunning, and brings this idea to life perfectly. Most prominent to my nose, is a cocktail of various tropical fruits giving the scent an almost gourmand quality - pineapple and coconut combine with gentle florals of mimosa and Imortelle here. Obviously, there is a hefty dose of ambergris which provides that intensely salty facet, amplified by a whisper of filth from civet. All of this rests on a soft, sweet skin-like feel which can only be resonating from a subtle sandalwood and Amber accord. It’s absolutely brilliant. I couldn’t think of a better name to encapsulate a scent which smells like a hot sweaty sexual adventure by the sea - the salty spray of the water combined with the filth of our primal desires is daring, but ensnaring. I love it.