The Scent Of Freedom – Review: Lostmarc’h Aod

by Olfactoria Lostmarc’h Aod is the third perfume by Breton niche line Lostmarc’h that captures my heart. The gourmand Lann-Ael and the unique floral Ael-Mat got company by this quintessential beach fragrance. Aod features notes of grapefruit, gardenia, coconut and seashore accord. Starting with sparkling and fresh grapefruit, the gardenia (a light and summery, not very realistic, but lovely gardenia) comes through immediately, bolstered by a coconut that is non-sweet and fresh. The predominantly floral accord is surrounded by sea spray, by salt-water mist. Aod is not the classic tropical beach scent, not like Bobbi Brown Beach for instance, but rougher, the sea here is harsher, no sand but cliffs, not bright sunshine and cloudless skies, but a brisk wind that is blowing the clouds through the sky, tousles your hair and quickly dries your skin leaving the salty residue behind. Aod is meant to evoke beaches in the Bretagne, Lostmarc’h is named after just such a beach after all. And that is exactly what this perfume does. I vastly prefer such beaches to tropical ones. I prefer the harsh windblown Atlantic coast in the Northeast to Floridian mellow sands, I prefer the beaches in the Pacific Northwest to California’s surf paradise. And I prefer the beaches of England or France to those of Turkey or Greece. I prefer the cooler weather, the wind, the rough elements, the visible struggle of water versus land. An endless white sandy beach bores me to death (although I’d be perfectly willing to try one again anytime, for science’s sake!). I feel free when I stand on a rocky outcropping looking out over a lively sea, shivering slightly, my hair blowing every which way in the wind. Smelling the water and the colorful flowers that bloom despite the hardship. Therefore Aod is ideal for me. Aod is the olfactory equivalent of wind-beaten water, ragged cliffs and gnarly vegetation that is braving the elements. You want to close your eyes and inhale deeply. Can you feel the freedom? Image source: luckyscent.com, ruby beach via istock