Demeter Fragrance: Salt Air
The Best Summer Perfume for Nostalgic Beach Vibes
A busy boardwalk.
The clean minerality of salt water teetering on the edge of smelling like bubble-blowing solution.
The scent of sun lotion intermingled with tangy brine, carried on the breeze.
Salt Air by Demeter Fragrance Library stands out among an endless array of beach scents, by virtue of capturing those boardwalk smells perfectly. The first time I ever visited Coney Island, I was honestly stunned at the fact that notes from this perfume really were lingering in the air around me as I stood in line waiting to buy food.
Everyone has their own idea of what a suntan lotion scent is supposed to be—I guess it depends what brand you grew up with? I’d be lying if I said I know what brand formed my sense memory, but whatever it was, it did make up my mind about how summer and seaside vacations should smell.
Salt Air, with its easy sense of fun, not-so-coconutty sunblock scent and seawater tinge, will always be my quintessential beach fragrance.
During the autumn and winter seasons, when nothing sounds better than the sun’s warm rays on your back, a scent like this has the power to hijack your senses to make you feel like you’re somewhere else.
If it’s a hot day of casual, relaxed fun that you’re after, Demeter has you covered.
And it’s impossible not to feel more cheerful when the sky is this blue and every kind of person under the sun is here, carefree, unmoored and unanchored.
Music, dancers, couples, and lone wolves with their dog BFFs.
Seasides are judgement-free zones, where even if they sketch your flaws in giant caricature, it feels more like a lesson in playful satire and how not to take yourself too seriously.
Demeter prides itself on making scents that are exceptionally true to life, and their collection is somewhat of a huge reference library for learning how to identify basic perfume notes, if you’re new at all of this.
Because of that, some more experienced fragrance collectors will say that they prefer more complex compositions and left Demeter behind in the earlier years of their hobby.
However, it’s a huge mistake to dismiss many of their more iconic scents.
A lot of modern niche fragrances have been obviously influenced by them—which is fine, a lot of art really does begin with imitation.
