Mediterranean Retreat
Based on your responses to our LavenderandSpice.com Quiz, you are most likely to find a fragrance that matches your personality and desires from the scent of the ocean, the citrus groves, flower gardens, and dry coastal environment of the Mediterranean coast.
What Is Mediterranean Retreat?
With the release of “Chypre,” in 1917, Francois Coty created a genre that reached the peak of its global popularity in the 1970’s and continues to influence modern perfumery.
Chypre, meant to evoke being on the island of Cyprus, shares many attributes with the fougères of the late 19th century that make up the heart of our “Dark Forest” category. Both Coty’s Chypre and the classic fougères had a strong oakmoss note in the base and other earthy materials such as patchouli, and the vetiver note added in Chypre.
They both have a bright citrus opening, and in modern iterations, chypre perfumes share the aromatic opening as well. The heart notes are both floral, but quite distinct. Chypre, marketed to women, adds jasmine, lilac, and orris, and takes away the geranium. This makes a much heavier, white floral heart. The powder from the orris combined with the vanilla and labdanum in the base along with the coumarin, creates a lighter, sweeter powder note than the coumarin in the fougères. The civet and other musk notes in the original add an animalic note that is present in the forest scents, but does not stand out as much against the darker background of heavy moss and soil. All of this was done with a light enough hand that the end result was an intimate and reserved sensual skin scent during a long drydown.
As the chypre category evolved and restrictions on oakmoss emerged, perfumers began to leave the formula behind as they focused on the scents of a place and the emotion of being in the Mediterranean. The shift from Sisley Eau de Campagne (1974) to Un Jardin en Méditerranée (2013) may seem radical, particularly coming from the same perfumer, but there are clear through-lines with the citrus, green, white floral elements that resonate from Morocco to Greece.
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Why Mediterranean Retreat Is the Right Scent for You
Individuals born under the Aquarius and Libra signs are well supported by the environment of the Mediterranean. Aquarius, an air sign, is a mid-winter sign that Astrology.com states benefits from rosemary and other aromatics, “Rosemary brings heat and warmth to the head, and its stimulating herbal fragrance helps to improve mental clarity and memory retention for intellectually active Aquarians…. Its relaxing solar warmth is very soothing to tight, tired Aquarian calves and shins.” Libra’s are also born under and air sign and share the Sanguine constitution with Aquarius. They have a strong aesthetic sentiment that will be well suited by the balanced composition of chypres and other Mediterranean scents.
Those who find an intimate and relaxed dating experience to be ideal will relish in the soft transition from citrus to floral to a sweet, resinous, slightly mossy base of this perfume category. This is light and beauty, but sophisticated, like a finely crafted sorbet with the depth of fruit, but skipping the cloying notes of ice cream.
These scents are the fresh air family retreat combined with the charm and sophistication of the best southern Europe has to offer. The refinement, mirth, and determination of the notorious RBG as portrayed by Felicity Jones would be well suited by a modern aromatic chypre. If you think lavender smells sexy and you have a hankering for some sparkling water, this is the category for you.
We selected the Top 10 Mediterranean Retreat scents to help get you on your way to trying on something from this comfortably sublime category.
Top 10 Mediterranean Retreat Perfumes
1) Sisley Eau de Campagne
A period-defining chypre for Jean-Claude Ellena’s debut perfume in 1974. This is a classic that anyone interested in fresh green perfumes should try. It is not the modern, transparent style that Ellena developed later in work with Hermes. It did, however, depart from the sharper green galbanum and bergamot “mean green” 1970’s chypre style. Eau de Campagne softened this approach with basil, wild herbs, tomato leaf, and plums and a delicate white floral. The combination of basil with the galbanum and tomato leaf leaves the individual notes distinct, but more creates a fresh walk through a sunny garden. This is a classic that remains very much in the moment.
Top Notes: Bergamot, Lemon, Basil, Galbanum, Wild herbs
Middle Notes: Tomato leaves, Jasmine, Geranium, Lily of the Valley, Plum
Base Notes: Oak moss accord, Patchouli, Vetiver, Musk
This award-wining 1978 from Aramis by perfumer Bernard Chant is an excellent example of a green herbal chypre with spice to keep it interesting. Galbanum drives the opening supported by citrus. The floral heart is restrained, softening the terpenic pine and thyme as they merge with the galbanum. The cinnamon shows up early and continues into a subdued, sweet but complex amber and moss base. This is an incredibly affordable perfume for its performance.
Top Notes: Bergamot, Galbanum, Artemisia, Lemon
Heart Notes: Jasmin, Carnation, Pine, Thyme, Cinnamon
Base Notes: Leather, Olibanum, Cedarwood, Amber, Musk, Moss, Patchouli, Labdanum
Released in 1971 only three years after the Clinique brand launched, Aromatics Elixir was a generation-defining, accessible scent for women moving away from the heavy, spiced perfumes of the 1960’s. This was a sharp, medicinally bitter green powder that came out the same year as Chanel No. 19’s galbanum driven green monster. Chamomile shines by blending well with the green notes, but softly bringing in the fruitiness of rose before ending with a well-blended white floral and inoffensive amber musk finish. The chamomile keeps the floral and the white musk soapiness from becoming cloying.
Top Notes: Bergamot, Galbanum, Rose, Chamomile, Coriander, Rosewood
Heart Notes: Jasmine, Lily of the valley, Ylang ylang, Carnation, Tuberose, Orris
Base Notes: Patchouli, Musk, Amber, Sandalwood, Vetiver, Civet, Oakmoss, Cistus
This is the gentleman strolling on a Saturday afternoon with a carnation in his lapel. Born in Nice in 1905 and trained in Grasse, perfumer Edmond Roudnitska already had a number of major successes when his Eau Sauvage was released by Dior in 1966. There are few scents that approach the influence and appreciation that Eau Sauvage has sustained over its more than 50 years on the market. The scent is remarkable for its incorporation of hedione into the floral jasmine, carnation and orris heart notes made green with basil and petitgrain and intriguing with patchouli and coriander. Hedione does not just space out and add volume without muddiness to the floral heart, but lifts the citrus opening so that this is achieves a sparkling citrus, green, and floral harmony. Hedione, which was synthesized in 1962 and occurs naturally in jasmine and tea, is now used at very high percentages (up to 30% of the concentrate) in most mass market perfumes. Eau Sauvage has a much lower dose (~0.5%) of hedione, but used it to great effect. The green basil note blends beautifully with the vetiver in the base, made more substantial by the oakmoss.
Top Notes: Lemon, Bergamot, Cumin, Rosemary
Heart Notes: Petitgrain, Jasmine, Patchouli, Carnation, Basil, Coriander, Orris
Base Notes: Vetiver, Sandalwood, Oakmoss, Amber, Musk
This 1965 release from the old school French perfume house smells like it came from the late 19th century, a perfectly blended citrus, herbal, floral, wood, spice, incense, moss, animalic scent that smells almost like none of these things. It is a slightly musky, pillowy-soft, powder bomb. This is classic more than it is chypre. In that sense, it fits to goal of this list to meet a place and a feeling more than a strict style. There are others, but this deserves sampling at least so that you have a reference.
Top Notes: Bergamot, Lemon, Rosewood, Basil, Pimento
Heart Notes: Sandal, Carnation, Patchouli, Cedar, Rose, Cinnamon
Base Notes: Vanilla, Amber, Moss, Leather, Benzoin, Labdanum, Olibanum
This 1995 release stands on its own, but makes more sense as an important entry in modern chypre scents when set against the fresh/ozone mess of perfume in the 1990’s. In contrast to the paired down pallette of contemporary L'Eau de L'Artisan, Eau de Sud maintains the complexity of Eau Savauge, but moves away from the jasmine floral hedioneheart to focus on a drier woodier profile.
Top Notes: Bergamot, Persian lime, Grapefruit, Mandarin, Verbena, Peppermint, Basil,
Heart Notes: Jasmine
Base Notes: Vetiver, Patchouli, Oakmoss
Thirty years after his breakout success with Eau de Campagne, Jean-Claude Ellena demonstrates the spare composition that has become his modern signature. Gone is the earthy patchouli and deep moss note, but much of the sense of place remains. This is a soft, resinous green and natural cedar with a delicate white floral and relatively bold fruit note, all spaced out with a generous hedione. Reviewers are generally positive, with some complaints about longevity. It is hard to sustain these notes forever without going on too strong at the outset, which was not the intention.
Notes: Fig wood, Fig leaf, Orange blossom, Bergamot, White oleander
8) Chanel Paris-Riviera
This 2019 release by head perfumer Olivier Polge. Likely, no one will remember this scent. It comes after Polge’s first few high-pressure scents once he had taken over the helm from his father Jacques Polge and mentor Christopher Sheldrake in 2015. A summer on the Riviera may not be meant to be remembered as much as experienced. This is juicy orange balanced with a sharp petitgrain falling into a classic white floral heart, still green from the neroli, but narcotic with orange blossom and jasmine. The base is creamy sandalwood and a powdery, sweet, slightly medicinal benzoin. This is not the brooding oakmoss chypre, but a simple, well-constructed citrus floral perfume.
Top Notes: Sicilian orange, Petitgrain
Heart Notes: Neroli, Orange blossom, Jasmine
Base Notes: Benzoin, Sandalwood
This 2009 release by perfumer Marie Duchêne is a forerunner of the cleaned up, sophisticated modern patchouli style we see in Patchouli Impérial (2011) and Javanese Patchouli (2012). This version retains a rough and dirty earthiness while reigning things in with the dry cedar and frankincense. This is a well-rounded perfume with many facets, but also clearly a patchouli vehicle.
Top Notes: Citrus, White pepper
Heart Notes: Frankincense, Patchouli, Gaiac wood, Cistus, Jasmine
Base Notes: Cedarwood, Amber, Oakmoss, Sandalwood, Tonka
10) Lanvin L'Homme Sport
The bottle is the color of International Klein Blue, the color of the soul of the Mediterranean and a creation of an artist, Yves Klein, who would have been very skilled at fragrance marketing. Much more affordable than the clothing from the house, this is a solid citrus lavender with a relatively restrained earthy, mossy musk dry down. The lemon scent is photorealistic, with a good lavender and the rest forgettable.
Top Notes: Lemon, Bergamot, Pepper, Petitgrain
Heart Notes: Lavender, Sage
Base Notes: Patchouli, Moss, Musk