At The Beach 1966 (2005)
by CB I Hate Perfume

I've never smelled 45-year-old suntan lotion, so I'm going to ignore the fact that this was meant to smell like a particular product. If you told me this was a new Gendarme, I'd believe you; right away it has a similar lush green and floral aspect to my beloved but unpurchased Gendarme Green, or even Kiehl's Forest Rain, but the florals are turned up a notch, which might make this serve well as a women's scent. I agree that the sea air is playing a role here, with a trace of something like Aqua Motu, but I wonder if it's simply because we think the beach "smells like suntan lotion" or vice versa, from being so used to that association. Later, the bright freshness starts to fade and leaves behind more powderiness, though I wonder if the note progression in a "water perfume" should be slower because the solvent sticks around longer. By the base, it's a lot closer to just being a standard women's floral scent, but still hasn't totally crossed over because the standard suntan lotion notes (partially violet?) are relatively sharp and assertive. For those of you who are into masculine or not-too-feminine florals, or fans of the Gendarme line, this is definitely worth a try, though I'm not sure I'd use it myself. Thumbs up for uniqueness!

11th September, 2011.

CB I Hate Perfume At The Beach 1966

I own four scents which are meant to resemble suntan oil/lotions. Some of them get the suntan lotion note completely right, Bond No. 9 Fire Island and Jean Patou Chaldee. Some of them remember to include the smell of sun-warmed skin, Estee Lauder Bronze Goddess. Only one of them remembers to add the ocean to the mix, Christopher Brosius’ 2005 release for his CB I Hate Perfume line, At The Beach 1966. As in all of the scents I mentioned previously Mr. Brosius’ inspiration was the scent of a suntan lotion of the time, Coppertone. 1966 was a simpler time when we, probably foolishly, didn’t pay attention to SPF’s or dermatological risks of being in the sun. We just wanted to be as brown as we could get. The choice of suntan lotion for many in those days was Coppertone. Right from the top of this Mr. Brosius hits the Coppertone accord accurately. It reminds me as I would arrive at the beach walking by the early risers who already had absorbed the sun’s first rays. The smell of Coppertone on warm skin would surround me. Then as I’d unroll my towel the breeze would blow in from the surf and I’d get the smell of the salt spray from the waves crashing, followed by the smells of the sand. Mr Brosius brilliantly brings that milieu to life in At The Beach 1966 as after the Coppertone accord fades a bit there is a strong salty, ozonic accord which mimics the surf followed by an iodine laden accord which evokes the wet sand under that surf. Mr. Brosius sells his creations as water perfumes and if that term makes you nervous about strength or longevity I haven’t found the use of a water base to have any difference over the alcohol used in most other perfumes. At The Beach 1966 is a long-lasting, close wearing scent on me. At The Beach 1966 is like captured time in a bottle of perfume and it has all the ingredients from a day at the beach.

3rd August, 2009.

I really wanted to enjoy and appreciate this scent! Honest and for true!

The top notes are wonderful, very much like hanging out in a marina or on the shore. The only hitch I found was that after a while, somewhere between the middle and base notes, at least on yours truly, it switches from the smell of crashing surf and sunshine on the sand to that of pure human perspiration. To be totally truthful and blunt, it just smelled like body odor. I made the mistake of wearing this to work the first day I had it in my possession and had had to keep reapplying throughout my shift in order to keep the "BO" at bay.

Sorry, CB!

18th January, 2009.

I was surprised by how much I like this scent. Apparently, it's the scent of Coppertone, crushed shells, sand, and ocean air. It defintely smells fresh...but to me, there is a dandelion smell to it.

19th December, 2008.

The first 5 minutes it is a tremendous aquatic fragrance that if i smell it walking in a street i would run after any stranger to ask what is this? It is so fresh that standing in the middle of ocean in a rainy day would not make feel you like standing there more than this frag does. But my god can anything on world be so good? Of course not. At the tenth minute or more the ozonic note exhausts into a irritating banal scent we know well from the cheap detergents with names like "ocean breeze". After an hour or so the irritation of it on the nose disappears and the clean cheap laundry smell (which you would decide to change next washing day) stays for a several hour more... I hope this second stage is all fault of my skin chemistry as the very first note is really enjoyable.

10th July, 2008.

Wow, what an amazing beach frag! I usually detest ocean scents, Armani's makes me gag, but this scent is completely different. Instead of focusing on the water, or on the air, Christopher BROSIUS directs his attention to the human experience of sunning. The notes, including summery sand, jasmine, sea spray, dianthus dune flower, neroli petals and driftwood, help form the more synthetic smell of drugstore tanning oil heating on the skin. Not unlike Bond no 9's Fire Island, this scent is clearly a reference to the ritual of the beach, rather than the landscape itself. This is one of 3 in his Memory Series, along with Memory of Kindness and Winter of 1972. The Kindness scent is incredible! Before I read about the notes, I sat and tried to remember where this familiar smell was located in my own memory. It is the scent of tomato vines and leaves, and that was my childhood. Winter, on the otherhand, delivers the still cold air. CB I Hate Perfume is a very interesting brand, and not too pricey!

11th September, 2006.