Island Girl with Chaintecaille

Luckily, I work for a travel magazine and my work involves trips to some of the most beautiful locations in the country. Just over the weekend I took a quick trip to Coron, Palawan for a fun shoot and it was such a beautiful, relaxing, and rejuvenating experience. I feel much more centered thanks to a few days in the sun.

Interestingly, I always bring fragrances to my beach trips but none really match the location. Some are way too woody, way too sexy, to completely imbibe the feel of the sea. Chantecaille, a French-New Yorker beauty cult favorite, recently just graced Philippine shores via Art of Scent, my favorite fragrance boutique. While the makeup products are yet to be launched (but they’re amazing, I promise), customers can grab the brand’s fragrance line. The scent I fell in love with was Tiare, an ode to the complexity of the waters.

It makes perfect sense then for me to have travelled with a bottle that captures the feel of the turquoise seas to the island that I know has the bluest waters and most breathtaking lagoon: Palawan. I mean, the island was hailed the most beautiful island in the world. Tiare, my chosen Chantecaille scent, is a light, airy scent that captures the salty breeze with notes of classic white flowers like Gardenia and Jasmine. I’ve always been a fan of Jasmine from fragrances to massage oils, so this pick was a no-brainer. The star of the fragrance, however, the Tiare flower, grows along the Coral Reef so it makes absolutely perfect sense that the inimitable vibe of the sea permeates with just one spritz.

Sylvie Chantecaille, the woman behind the powerhouse brand, best captures the essence of the fragrance. “It’s that delight of being able to surrender to the waters…that is the spirit of this scent.” True enough, when surrounded by the vastness of the water, the seemingly endless horizon, the calming rhythmic flow of  the waves, and soothing cooing of the splashes, there really is nothing else to do but surrender to the water. And honestly, it’s one of the best feelings in the world.

The water is my chosen elixir and this bottles serves as a strong, fragrant reminder.