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In the summer of 2004, I saved up enough money to purchase Bobbi Brown Beach from the local Belk in my hometown — and, from that moment onward, sunscreen-reminiscent perfumes have become a passion. Over the years, I’ve spritzed countless vacation-inspired fragrances from the very expensive Tom Ford Soleil Blancs and Maison Margiela REPLICA Beach Walks to the more affordable Eau de Juice BeachPleases and Sol de Janeiro Brazilian Crush Cheirosa 62s. My criteria for the perfect beach scent: affordable but not cheap; fruity but not overly sweet; appropriately coconutty; long-lasting; transformative. In other words, the epitome of easy summer cool. I find the idea of feeling transported by a fragrance intoxicating — and I don’t consider anything more intoxicating than the scent of a sunscreen-slathered beach body. This brings me to my latest discovery: a $60 bottle of gender-inclusive eau de toilette that launched in May and subsequently sold out (twice) leaving a 1,500+ waitlist in its wake. As of last week, “VACATION” by Vacation was restocked and I was offered the chance to take it for a test spritz. Read on for my full review of the closest thing to a vacation in a bottle my nose has yet to sniff.
“VACATION” by Vacation, $60
Vacation took me to the beach — but, not one where my mom was forcefully spraying me down with Banana Boat Sport.
Elizabeth Buxton, R29 Deputy Director
Born out of a collaboration with well-known perfumers Carlos Huber (of ARQUISTE Parfumeur) and Rodrigo Flores-Roux (the man behind Clinique “Happy”), Vacation created the scent version of its cult-favorite SPF (aka “The World’s Best-Smelling Sunscreen“). The bottle itself is beautiful with a retro-inspired shape I can envision at home on a Floridian grandmother’s vanity, which makes sense for the Miami-based brand. Upon the first spritz, I was hit with a mix of its top note coconut and a hint of its heart note banana. The pineapple, although present, was much lighter in comparison but still cut the creamier scents with juicy freshness. The bottom notes, described as “Pool Water, Swimsuit Lycra, Sea Salt,” were less noticeable. Taken together, the scent was transformative. Vacation took me to the beach — but not one where my mom was forcefully spraying me down with Banana Boat Sport. Instead, I found myself in Hawaii. Perhaps it was a beach on the North Shore. Perhaps Kate Bosworth was there surfing a swell circa 2002 in Blue Crush. It was playful but sophisticated and sincere. It was intoxicating without feeling cloying or campy. It lingered instead of fading from my wrists and decolletage throughout the day. I was enveloped in sense of being sun-kissed and windswept from the salty air instead of pale and bleary-eyed from staring into my computer screen all day.
This scent perfectly conjures up that 80s and 90s summertime nostalgia. It does not smell cheap, nor super expensive.
KMason, Vacation Reviewer
After checking out what other reviewers had to say on Vacation’s site, I found an assortment of vivid scenes painted by the scent. Vanessa T. wrote that it smells “Like a Caribbean vacation with piña coladas and sunshine. I wear it every day & it puts me in an amazing mood. I love it!!” While George M. mused, “Neon pink flamingos? Check. Coconut Lime daiquiri? Check. White Lamborghini Countach? Check. It smells like you have been at the cabana all day.” Another, KMason, touched on the nostalgic poolside qualities of the scent: “This really does capture long, lazy afternoons spent in the pool. There is not a noxious chlorine smell and the lycra and plastic pool toy is subtle and comes in later upon spraying. This scent perfectly conjures up that 80s and 90s summertime nostalgia. It does not smell cheap, nor super expensive.” Shawn C. painted one of my favorite very specific scent pictures: “Your inner sensual pool boy will emerge in two-inch inseam red shorts, glistening as you lay out on the pool deck. A lawnmower hums in the distance and the girls laugh and splash in the deep end, red polished nails clinging to sweating margaritas.”
Your inner sensual pool boy will emerge in two-inch inseam red shorts, glistening as you lay out on the pool deck.
Shawn C, Vacation Reviewer
At $60 a bottle, VACATION by Vacation is not cheap but it certainly beats out its pricier competitors that can run well into the $200+ price points. The quality is there, from the packaging to its spellbinding fragrant punch. To echo one final reviewer, Jocelyn I., it is indeed “Like wearing a memory” — even if that memory is one you’ve only dreamed about as a 14-year-old living in Greensboro, NC.
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