Profondeur

Image:
A dark oceanic depth where faint shapes of seaweeds and distant whales shimmer in the gloom.

Description of notes:
If you’ve ever walked along an ocean shore littered with seaweed and fragments of old, water-worn wood on a crisp autumn day, you’ll recognize this fragrance. It opens with fresh, ozonic marine notes accented by a fleeting seaweed aroma. After a few minutes, the seaweed recedes into the background, revealing a warm woody cloud infused with the comforting depth of oak moss, smooth santal, and amber. This warmth clings closely to the skin throughout the day, enriched by the soft, subtle sweetness of ambergris and a gentle animalic whisper from musk and costus.

History of Creation:
I had never been to the ocean shore before, and I didn’t want to spoil that pure, almost childlike wonder by stepping onto beaches crowded with people. I needed to travel as far as the day would allow—far from the city bustle, road noise, and jam-packed streets. Farther and farther from Porto, where vast, wild sandy beaches covered with hundreds of birds stretch from the cliffs nearly to the horizon, crisscrossed by rocky outcrops breaking through the sand and dotted with mussels.

Finding myself in this quiet idyll on a foggy day, which obscures even the endless boundaries of the ocean, I ran along the shoreline, sending flocks of birds into flight. They arced widely over the immense sky above the water and then took refuge among the rocks. Apparently, there had been a recent storm that cast ashore old, rotting branches, shellfish, and seaweed. From time to time, the odor of decaying marine life pierced through the oceanic, ozonic freshness.

Wide ocean waves, strewn with bits of seaweed, rolled onto the shore and then retreated many meters, leaving behind fresh scraps of leaves and the briny scent of sea salt.