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Stop. Close your eyes. Breathe and let your mind wander to the oceanside. Imagine the sounds of waves crashing and the subtle hint of salt in the air. Or let your mind wander to a running river. Imagine the sound of the stream and how the cool water smells as it hits the rocks. Or, another thought: Imagine yourself in a refreshing shower after a particularly extensive workout. Remember how the cold water clashes with your hot skin, the subtle scent of filtered water washing the sweat away.
For many of us, water is a source of tranquility. We associate it with calmness and freedom, renewal and groundedness, nature and clarity. And while being close to the water is the best way to reap those benefits, you can also spritz on a perfume that smells like it instead. Yes, just smelling water can make you feel calmer.
Of the five senses, smell is often overlooked but has overwhelming brain power. “[It’s] the only one with a direct line to three of the most important areas of the brain: the orbitofrontal cortex, which signifies awareness; the hippocampus, which is linked to memory; and the amygdala, which helps us sort smells and is directly associated with our emotions and mood,“ explains Jules Miller, founder of The Nue Co., a wellness brand whose fragrances are clinically tested to have real health benefits. (In a world where “functional fragrances“ have become a marketing strategy, this distinction is important to note.)
While her brand’s Water Therapy EDP ($130) smells like a cool plunge into the ocean—masterfully blended with notes of clary sage, marine salt, and vetiver—there are many options on the market. You can find perfumes with notes of rain, shower, ocean, river, and mountain water—the choice is yours.
Of course, not all fragrances are created equally. As such, the quality of the ingredients and how they’re layered matters. “Aquatic scents in perfumery often rely on synthetic materials to create fresh, water-like notes. Common ingredients include calone, ozonic compounds, and aquatic aldehydes like helional and aquamarine, which mimic the smell of sea breeze, water, or marine environments,“ Mindy Yang, a fragrance designer and founder of Perfumarie explains. “Creating aquatic scents is delicate and challenging because these molecules are highly volatile and can easily overpower or clash with other notes in a fragrance. They can sometimes smell ‘cheap‘ or artificial if not carefully balanced, as their synthetic nature lacks the complexity and depth of natural ingredients, requiring a skilled perfumer to craft a refined and harmonious scent.”
Thankfully, we did the homework for you, picking out the best water-inspired scents to help you feel more grounded. However, there are different things to consider:
Our favorite water-inspired fragrances:
Scents that transport you to a beachside are by far the most popular. While you could argue that the ocean may be the most therapeutic of the waters, it’s undeniably the most recognizable by scent alone. The crisp salt mixed with marine flora is unique, and the undeniable association has made aquatic perfumes such a hot commodity. Think about it: If you associate the beach with a lazy, leisurely day under the sun, wouldn’t you seek a way to transport yourself back to that place for even a few seconds?
Arquiste’s A Grove by the Sea drives you to the oceanside through a trail of olive trees by the Mediterranean coast. Cypress and Adriatic fig is the whiff of summer that balances out the salt and rosemary. As it develops on the skin, you’ll begin to smell like you emerged from a swim under the hot summer sun (even if you’re somewhere bundled up in layers). It’s an earthy aquatic that’ll transport you to an Italian getaway.
In a similar vein, House of BŌ’s El Sireno captures the tempting prowess of a siren’s song. It strikes a balance between seductive and calming, thanks to a masterful blend of kelp, ylang-ylang, and aquatic notes that smell like the feeling of being inexplicably and magnetically drawn to a new soul.
Abel’s Cyan Nori strikes a perfect balance of sweet and salty with white peach, nori, and plant-derived musk for a calmer yet equally alluring scent.
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To smell like the mighty crash of a wave, Henry Rose’s Menace is your pick. If it were a color, it’d be a rich navy blue. With crisp marine notes, invigorating lime, and sensual musk, you can consider your senses drenched.
Christopher Maute, a laboratory manager at the Monell Center of Taste & Smell and psychology lecturer at Rutgers University, explains that ocean-inspired scents may please you due to the memories you have associated with them. He explains that while there isn’t enough research to prove the benefits of isolated water scents, there is a ton of research that links wellness to being outside in nature. With that in mind, if being outdoors and by the ocean brings back pleasant memories, then similar smells will trigger those feel-happy signals in your brain.
Furthermore, Miller points to the benefits of the world’s blue spaces, popularized by marine biologist and author of ‘Blue Mind,‘ by Dr. Wallace J. Nichols. “The sight, sound, and feeling of water produce a flood of neurochemicals, stimulating ‘alpha’ brain waves and increasing blood flow to the brain and heart, bringing our bodies into a more relaxed, meditative state,“ she says.
The sounds and smells of rain are almost universally beloved. So, for those drawn to the smell of petrichor (the fragrance industry’s word to describe the scent of rain hitting the ground), you’re in luck. Commodity’s Rain olfactively mimics a walk in the rain with notes of water musk, white amber, and jasmine. It’s simple in the most elegant ways—a rain scent that smells like a fresh start.
Le Labo’s Baie 19 achieves the same elevated minimalism with a dash of radiance. It’s a watercolor of a scent, blending juniper and green leaves with ozonic notes and petrichor.
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Lastly, Elorea’s Hazy Blue begins with a crisp and cool ozone accord for freshness, balanced with white florals and amber to add a bit of warmth. “The [Korean] word ‘ēnae’ inspired this fragrance and refers to the hazy bluish energy that can be seen from a distance during sundown,” says its co-founder Su Min Park of the creative scent.
If a cool flowing stream of refreshing river water aligns more with your idea of peaceful water, Maison Francis Kurkdjian’s Aqua Media immediately gives off a clean, mouth-watering scent that makes you crave a glass of water upon first spritz. It was designed to evoke a feeling of both water and light, and with its delicate blend of hedione, sweet fennel, and bergamot, it achieves just that.
Final thoughts
Aquatic scents can deliver a sense of peace and the feeling of renewal, and Yang says they can be used year-round as their molecules are light and volatile, meaning that they can be layered nicely with other fragrances.
“Whether you need a quick escape from a dreary day or a moment of calm amid the chaos, [these] scents can adapt to your mood and setting effortlessly,“ she confirms. Maute reiterates that more research is needed to prove the aromatherapeutic benefits of waters, but agrees that these types of fragrances can induce positive emotions through memory association. However, he doesn’t discard the possibility of the science existing—he’s just waiting to see the proof.
Before creating Water Therapy, Miller conducted a five-year study with The University of Geneva’s Brain + Behavior Laboratory using MRI scans to analyze the parts of the brain that were stimulated by different emotions and then, which fragrance notes lit up those same areas. Her perfumes—which she calls fragrance supplements—use patented neuroscience technology to tap into different parts of the brain to deliver varying benefits. This is one step toward understanding how water scents affect our psyche, so even though there’s more to research, it’s a step in the right direction. “Water is the single most important resource to our global health on a physical, environmental, and increasingly on a mental level,“ Miller adds, saying that it’s very exciting to explore its olfactive power.
In the meantime, we’ll allow our memories to take the reins.
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