Beach Hut Woman by Amouage Reviews & Perfume Facts

Eschewing the heady orientalism of earlier releases, Beach Hut Woman leads the charge for a new direction at Amouage. This scent sets out to capture the stony, mineral-laden smells of a deserted beach ... in winter, complete with pieces of silvery driftwood – and it does so with aplomb. Although the opening is unequivocally aquatic, the scent of cold sea water is created not by the dreaded Calone but by a clever clustering of a host of flinty, mineralic notes that recall the slow drying out of lichen and mosses on rocks at low tide.

In other words, Beach Hut Woman is not at all sweet or “melony”. Instead, a dry fractionated patchouli gives the scent a leathery quality, while the salty, mossy bubble of Ambroxan dries it out even further, like a balloon blown up from within. The only possible hint of sweetness comes from the minty geranium, but even this comes across as more beach grass than anything floral. The subtlety of this most atypical of Amouage fragrances allows the wearer space to think, and lends the scent a moody, thoughtful feel that aligns perfectly with the “deserted beach in winter” theme. The marine flora notes are really only there to guide the wearer towards the main event, though which is an extraordinary driftwood note that smells like the charred, ashen underside of half-burned mesquite in a campfire. Dry to the point of sootiness, it is this driftwood accord that shapes the final character of Beach Hut Woman as a smoky, salt-encrusted wood and leather affair. Don’t let the “Woman” in the title fool you: Beach Hut Woman is as unisex as they come.