Do you ever wish you could go back in time just to go and buy all the discontinued stuff you can’t get anymore? If I could, I would buy ten gallons of Boots Sea Kelp shampoo. I was addicted to the smell and loved the fragrance it gave my hair. I think I last found some around twenty five years ago but I’ve never forgotten how beautiful the scent of it was.
Fast forward to 2021. Picture the scene: it’s semi post lockdown at the John Lewis Molton Brown counter and I’m frustrated at trying to smell things with a mask on. Luckily, the amazing sales assistant offered me a sample of Molton Brown Coastal Cypress and Sea Fennel. You know what’s coming next, don’t you? I have found a perfume that smells like Boots Sea Kelp shampoo. Call off the search.
The name suits this eau de toilette perfectly. It keeps its promises and smells exactly as you’d imagine Coastal Cypress and Sea Fennel to smell. Cardamom and fig leaf give that herby, spicy aromatic feel while sea notes do the job of sea notes. There’s a clean marine accord in here, with just a tang of salt and scrubland. Cypress and cedar add bracing, breezy woods, with the aromatic sharpness of freshly shaved timber combined with the not-quite-minty cypress. (If you ever ever rubbed conifer leaves between your fingers, you’ll recognise cypress). When this is all put together you get an invigorating coastal stroll with pleasant salty breezes and a background of abundant greenery. I declare it perfect. If only they could do a matching shampoo… Oh look! They DO NOW!
Be warned, this is a compliment catcher and when the weather is hot and sultry, you will smell as if you have showered under a bucolic waterfall like a water nymph. Can you tell I’m a fan yet?
Where to buy it
You can buy Molton Brown Coastal Cypress and Sea Fennel EDT for £76 for 100ml at Fenwick. The eau de parfum is available from John Lewis and Molton Brown.
Disclosure
I was given my sample by a lovely sales person at the Molton Brown concession in John Lewis, Cribbs Causeway. I then snagged a full bottle in a perfume swap with a perfume chum. Opinions are my own. An earlier version of this article appeared on v.0.1 of my blog and the Coastal Cypress and Sea Fennel shampoo has been created since then. Hooray!
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