2/1/15

Ocean Rain (Mario Valentino)

When considering Edmond Roudnitska's work, his contributions to Dior (Eau Sauvage, Diorissimo, Diorella) and Rochas (Femme, Moustache) typically come to mind. But Mario Valentino? Who’s that? It doesn't matter. What matters is the fragrance, the one and only "men's cologne" put out by this Italian leather goods brand, Ocean Rain, released in 1990. Ocean Rain was, and remains, a defining fragrance of the aquatic era that followed, with virtually every serious aquatic scent, from Acqua di Gio to Heeley's Sel Marin, tracing its lineage back to it. For the first time in his career, Roudnitska had created the zeitgeist. 

His work was not only innovative but astonishingly avant-garde for its time. His inclusion of salinated fruity notes such as Calone 1951 (Diorella) and Hedione from jasmine isolates like methyl jasmonate (Eau Sauvage) cemented his legendary status even during his lifetime. It’s no surprise that Pierre Bourdon, a later master perfumer, was his understudy—great minds truly think alike. Bourdon expanded on these ideas, unrestrained by the more conservative tastes of his mentor's era, as without Ocean Rain, we wouldn’t have Erolfa or Millesime Imperial, and the fact that it was Roudnitska’s final creation adds a poignant touch, as if he delivered his Big Idea just in time.

What was this Big Idea? It was something he had been developing for decades, a concept he had yet to fully showcase: a Diorella for men. While there are loose similarities to the 1972 chypre, Ocean Rain ultimately stands as an aquatic chypre that evokes the sensation of lying next to a sexy woman on a sun-soaked beach after a summer shower. It captures the narcotic aroma of wet sand mingling with a freshly revived perfume on female skin. The fragrance reveals hints of melony and banana-like notes in its white floral accord, layered with Japanese umami-flavored seaweed and salty oakmoss in the base. The interplay of florals, woods, and mosses creates a literal representation of wet sand, with only a subtle trace of dusty cedar allowing itself to be fully clear and recognizable.

Despite its innovation, Ocean Rain and its Bourdon-signed successors haven’t achieved the mainstream success one might expect. While many Gen X, Millennial, and early Gen Z men are drawn to aquatics, true aquatics with briny, salty, and mineralic notes have never fully captured the public's imagination. The actual seaside experience often overshadows the abstract olfactory representation for most people. The genre’s limitations are evident to those familiar with low tide smells, but what’s intriguing about fragrances like Ocean Rain and Erolfa (1992) is how they linger on the beach longer than in the water.

Ocean Rain has become something of a unicorn in recent years, with secondhand bottles becoming increasingly rare. My own bottle, now about a quarter used, has deepened in color to a rich orange over time, suggesting the presence of an anthranilate element, likely Isoamyl Anthranilate, in a Schiff base-adjacent premix that Roudnitska favored. While the composition carries a hint of mid-century mustiness in its floral-chypre facets, the overall beauty of the fragrance overshadows these nuances. It remains a truly great scent, especially for men who are genuinely drawn to the sea.