Image-Wikimedia Commons-Palm trees tropical beach-Jon Sullivan, 2013
He was standing behind me, pulling his fingers through my hair. “So, what are we doing today?” he said.
Our eyes met in the mirror in front of me. “Shave it all off!” I said. “It’s too hot and humid for this much hair”.
“Ok, then,” he said, in a tone reserved for toddlers and feral animals. “Highlights and a short cut. Something for summer” and then he went off to mix some colour.
“I wish I was watching Game of Thrones right now” I said under my breath.
Soon, he was standing behind me, brushing colour onto clumps of my hair and wrapping them in strips of aluminum foil.
“Any plans for the summer?” he asked, trying to make conversation.
“Nope” I said, looking up from the magazine I was pretending to be interested in. “How about you? Are you going away anywhere?”
He sighed. “I’d like to go to the ocean, somewhere fun resort, and spend some time on a beach. Maybe make it a family vacation – my wife and our kids, my brother and his wife and their kids. You know, kids, swimming, sand castles, drinks on the beach.”
“Sounds like fun” I lied, flipping through the magazine.
Actually, I wouldn’t mind a beach vacation this summer, I thought to myself, but not that beach vacation with crowds and kids and sand in my sugary drink. Then I just zoned out and slowly an image came into mind and I saw myself strolling along the clean, white beach of a tropical island. It’s warm not hot, it’s serene not frenetic, it’s soul restoring. My long, sun-dyed hair hangs loose and grazes my tanned shoulders (hey, it’s my fantasy…) as it’s tossed by a gentle salty sea breeze, my bare feet are cooled by the sand and the linen sundress I’m wearing sways as I walk. Further down the beach I see the local boys selling coconut slices from baskets calling out "a cocco bello!" – beautiful coconut. I can see this place, but with all the chemical, salon smells around me I can’t summon the smell of this place.
“I wish I was wearing Coccobello” I muttered.
Anytime I want a sublime tropical beach experience, Coccobello perfume by James Heeley is the perfect ticket. Coccobello opens with a gentle green note from palm leaves along with a note of coconut water - not coco butter, suntan lotion or the sweetened coconut used in baking. It smells tropical, it smells good but when a quiet floral note of indolic gardenia wafts through it, Coccobello soars. Bourbon vanilla - named for its provenance; the tropical islands of Madagascar, Comoros and Réunion and not its alcoholic content – adds a sweet creaminess while an ozonic note gives it a gust of salty sea air. The base is woody and dry from cedarwood and sandalwood, slightly sweetened by the vanilla aspect of benzoin, with oakmoss rounding out the woody, slightly sweet, dimension.
Coccobello thrives on warm skin, but never gets loud or cloying. The drydown is sophisticated and chic – this is a five-star beach vacation on an exclusive tropical island.
“OK, we’re done. Short with blonde highlights and ready for summer” he said, holding a mirror up to the back of my head so I could see the final result in the mirror in front of me.
“I love it!” I said.
“Hey, and you know what? I booked an all-inclusive family beach vacation while your colour was setting” he said and gave me the details.
“Sounds like the perfect vacation for you and your family” I said and I meant it.
We chatted some more before I went home, spritzed myself with Coccobello and spent the rest of the day on my own tropical beach binge watching Game of Thrones.
Coccobello is listed in our Decant Store. Decants are $5.00 for 1 ml.