The Best Beachy Perfumes and Scents for Summer (2024)

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-mango-scented 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.

“I love that the evolution of beach scents has allowed these types of fragrances to be seasonless,” Epinette says. “While they may initially evoke or transport to the beach, the sophistication makes them wearable year-round.” Epinette chalks up this newfound elegance to modern gourmand ingredients and fresh uses of classic notes like white florals. Jo Malone Frangipani Flower utilizes the delicate floral, which boasts buttery qualities that complement fruity notes, to softly call upon tropical areas like the Caribbean or Bali. Tom Ford Oud Minérale combines marine notes and musk with fir balsam—an ingredient often used in winter scents—to give a warmth that grasps the moment when the sun meets the sea.

In D.S. & Durga’s Wipeout!, pine-forward amyris and sandalwood make up a “Bustin’ Surfboards” accord to mimic the scent inside a beachside surf shop. And Louis Vuitton On the Beach takes the fresh, citrus route with yuzu, neroli, and rosemary. For Bee Shapiro, founder of Ellis Brooklyn, using ingredients in novel ways was a focal point for the brand’s newest launch, Miami Nectar. “We used coconut water to make the scent light and multifaceted instead of hitting you over the head with coconut,” she explains. “There’s a joie de vivre, sexy ideal of Miami, but there’s also a growing sophistication within the city, and I wanted to capture how it’s changed in the last few years.”

The beaches in Miami have a different scent profile than the beaches in Saint-Tropez or off the coast of the Adriatic Sea, and an emerging category within fragrances aims to replicate hyperspecific sandy locales through scent. When formulating Dior’s Dioriviera scent, now available as both a body lotion and soap, perfumer Francis Kurkdjian created a fig-rose accord to recall the fragrant roses that bloom near the coastline of the South of France during May. A trifecta of coastal sage, salty white florals, and Italian lemon in Brown Girl Jane Lamu works together to transport you to the shores of Lamu Island in Kenya. Loewe Paula’s Ibiza Cosmic paints a trippy scene with juicy pear, mango, sandalwood, and sweet coconut cream.

Even the smell of sunscreen is getting an upgrade. Vacation, inspired by ’80s Club Med culture, was built on the idea that SPFs should have a layer of perfumery to them, says fragrance developer Carlos Huber, who has worked on several of the brand’s scented formulas. “We’re moving away from commercial, bland scents and have entered an era of highly sensory scents that have a little bit more mystery to them,” he says.

Huber and perfumer Rodrigo Flores-Roux developed unique and nostalgic notes for the brand. They used tarragon to mimic chlorinated pool water and plastic float toys in the brand’s Vacation eau de toilette, and they combined powdery florals and the scent of fresh-cut grass to create a baby-oil accord for the brand’s SPF 30–infused Baby Oil. The brand also recently revived the aforementioned Bain de Soleil Orange Gelée, keeping the beloved scent nearly the same but adding the skin-protecting benefits of SPF 30. “In the past, everyone ended up smelling the same in the summer because of the limited options,” Shapiro says. “The most exciting aspect of these new light, airy fragrances is the versatility and ability to play.”