Sea of Gray is the first offering in Solstice Scents' Light and Shadows, an amber series which focuses on gradations of light. Sea of Gray portrays diffuse light through a cloudy sky: gray, rainy, endless rolling sea. The ambers featured in this blend are an ambergris accord and a fresh creamy white amber. Upon initial application, Sea of Gray features a strong combo of vanilla rain, roasted seashells, saltwater and seaweed. The seaweed and roasted seashells provided a briny marine note with the salt water but the vanilla is in the foreground. This is a marine vanilla with a light drizzle of rain. As it begins to rain, the oceanic elements recede like a tide as you seek refuge in the beachside ice cream parlor. The scent of the cold ice cream freezers and a sweet vanillic odor typical of ice cream shops comes to the foreground. It mingles with the saltwater that has dried on your skin and clings to your towel. The white amber comes out more on the dry down which is a creamy, sweet, slightly salty vanilla. The sandalwood and ambergris are used very lightly in this formula. The frangipani is extremely subtle and is not very detectable. Sea of Gray is more about walking into the parlor itself, complete with the cold scent on the air and a vague sweetness that most parlors always have. It is a more atmospheric concept though still pretty literal.
Sea of Gray features notes of vanilla rain, saltwater, seaweed, ambergris (vegan), white amber, roasted seashells, white sandalwood and frangipani. Sea of Gray is an eau de parfum, edp.
Created by Angela St. John as part of a collection of fragrances based on the fictional town of Foxcroft, Maine.
SOLSTICE SCENTS SEA OF GRAY REVIEWS
Fragrantica: "The name is accurate. It smells like a painted cover art of Wuthering Heights. Very vanilla forward and on the cusp of powdery old lady but never quite going over the line. It's a pleasant scent but I personally would like a little more sea/salt to it. Would recommend for wearers who want people to know by smell alone that they are beautifully miserable and that, at any time, a series of unfortunate events may occur to them."
Fragrantica: "The concept behind this scent is that you’re strolling along the beach and as tide rolls in, the sky darkens and the first drops of rain begin to fall, you take refuge in a nearby ice cream parlor. I would take this one step further; this is a seaside ice cream shoppe in Innsmouth, and you’re on a date with of its fish-people denizens. This is not to say that Sea of Gray is a fishy scent, but there is more than a hint of murky dankness upon initial application, and, if only for a moment, you’re swept away in scents of sand, sedge-grass, and stunted shrubbery that gives way to crumbling houses and their repellent inhabitants, and a feeling of overall disquiet and decay. This feeling passes as soon as you cross the threshold into the cool, bright interior of the frozen dessert establishment; the cheery clanking of small metal spoons gently scraping faceted sundae glasses and the soft, vanillic aroma of cold, creamy confections lulls you into a feeling of well being as you glimpse the sun peeking out from behind the clouds again, and all that’s left of your brush with the murky seaside secrets of that shadowed port town is the salt-spray on your skin. Your fishy paramour is nowhere to be seen."
Fragrantica: "Another hit! I've been revisiting a bunch of Solstice samples that I purchased years ago, and they have aged beautifully! Now I want a full roller of this one too!! Amazing for summer. This really does conjure up scent memories of being at the beach on a rainy day, plus a yummy vanilla note just for fun! I really love this, because it's unique. Most beachy summery frags use coconut and white florals, sometimes other fruits. They can smell great, but also are reminiscent of suntan lotion and Vegas casinos. They have their place, I enjoy them at the beach or the pool, or in Vegas in warm weather, but this is something different. More refined, addictive, and a bit sexy. Salty ocean, seaweed, vanilla, sandalwood, ambers, what's not to love. Especially since I'm a person who REALLY loves the ocean. It's a healing place for me, I'd live where it smells like this if I could. I've been whale watching multiple times, and find it incredibly exhilarating, especially when you can ride on the bow as a pod of dolphins ride the wave from the boat! This scent reminds me of being there, it is self care. It is another skin scent, and I'd prefer better projection, but as with other amazing blends from Solstice, it's good enough that I'd buy it anyway. I think I have a problem with these."
Fragrantica: "I have a sample size of this I'm currently trying. Opens with a very salty, authentic ocean smell. Fresh but bracing, almost made my lips feel chapped! Very strong at the open, but as it wore, it definitely brought in the cooler vanillic smell of an ice cream parlor with the salty note present but not quite as sharp. In the dry down, sat very close to the skin with an intriguing salty vanilla balance almost like a skin scent."
Fragrantica: "When I lived in CA I got a sample of Solstice Scents Sea of Grey and tried it. A few days later I was at the beach (not wearing perfume) and sitting on the sand a few feet from where the waves came up and I vaguely thought 'something smells familiar', then I realized it was Sea of Grey that I was thinking of, that's how authentic the ocean note is, it smells like the ocean water! I've tried so many ocean scents and this is the only one that actually smells like the ocean to me. Her Cliffside Bonfire has that same ocean note only with the bonfire element mixed with it. I would love if she released something that just had the ocean scent by itself (Sea of Grey has vanilla mixed in with the ocean scent, so it smells like the ocean only with vanilla mixed in)"
Fragrantica: "Smells like Brighton Pier - a cool breeze, the sea, a stony beach full of broken sea shells, and ice cream. It's not at all the scent I was expecting, which is strange because it really does smell exactly as it's described. It's a cool scent that would be very refreshing in the summer. Unlike other sea scents, it doesn't add a bunch of florals or fruits to make the 'ocean' scent - this is more authentic oceanscape, though the vanilla does add sweetness. That being said, this isn't a gourmand, or at least it's not in my book. The vanilla is...different. In much the same way that SS's mallow isn't your typical sweet marshmallow, this vanilla isn't one that'll make you want to eat your wrist. It's cold, unapproachable, slightly stand-offish vanilla. The overall effect is one of desolation, as if you're standing on the pier after its shut down for the winter, the sea crashing on the rocks around you, a cold breeze whipping the flags around, and only that last lingering hint of vanilla to remind you that in the summer, this place was the place to be."
Fragrantica: "This scent is the most perplexing scent I’ve ever tried! I sprayed it on before heading to the airport (only rested two days from receiving in the mail). Before even leaving our home, I told my husband I thought that was a mistake. My skin amped up dirt, seaweed and salt, what a blast, and I didn’t think I was into it. My husband said he thought I smelled good. On the drive there I thought, well this isn’t so bad actually. It’s interesting and even though it’s briny, now it’s sweeter and it really takes me to the seashore. Ok, I can dig it, I’ll just have to be in the mood for an atmospheric like this. My baby snuggled with me on the airplane, and I kept getting whiffs of it from his head, from rubbing on my shirt, and now it’s salt and a French vanilla and omg I love it. Why did I not bring it with to vacation. I kept smelling the shirt in my suitcase all week and was wanting to try it again. What a scent roller coaster! Just sprayed it on myself again, it’s now rested over a week. Now on my skin - Salty, briny sea air, slightly masculine (but not! Idk how to explain it, it is slightly reminiscent of dirt, in a good way. it’s sexy), French vanilla and the slightest caramel. These last two notes get stronger with time, very strong on my skin, delicious! It’s the most unusually beautiful vanilla I’ve tried and I’m obsessed. This is one of my favorites from this house now! Wow!"
Fragrantica: "Solstice Sea of Gray captures the rainy day of a deserted beach after summer, with residual scent of vanilla float still lingering. The seashell and saltwater scent is very subtle. Then dries down to warm vanilla amber with a touch of salty sandalwood. Some may argue this is a regular amber perfume. For me, it is a seascape in the art form of perfume without calone!"
Fragrantica: "Walking along the beach as the dark grey storm clouds roll in. On my skin this stuff is gorgeous! Luckily i get none of the rank smell some of the others got!! This is one of those kinda just for me scents, but I decided to wear it to work the other day and got loads of compliments!!!"
