If you’ve ever spent time on an ocean beach there is a part to the crash of the waves that doesn’t get mentioned. After the wave has crested and crashed on the beach there is a coating of bubbles on top of the water which fizz and pop. It is one of those scents of the beach which hasn’t made it into a perfume. Ever since I heard of a new aromachemical from IFF called CristalFizz I was wondering if that was going to bring that to fragrance. Ralph Lauren Polo Deep Blue is my first chance to see.
Carlos Benaim
Polo is perhaps the most venerable men’s fragrance brand ever. It has spawned numerous flankers ever since its debut in 1978. I’ve lost count. There is a durability to the basic structure that perfumer Carlos Benaim created back then which has been ripe for creating new versions from. In 2016 an aquatic version Polo Blue was released. It was exactly that; aquatic facets added into the herbal core of the original. As Polo flankers go it was above average. With the release of Deep Blue, a flanker of a flanker, I probably would have paid cursory attention but for the presence of the novel CristalFizz. M. Benaim incorporates it into another aquatic take on Polo.
I’ve never smelt CristalFizz by itself so I’m unsure how much of the top to attribute to it. What is there around a tropical mix of grapefruit and green mango is a fresh aldehydic scent. This is a different effect than Calone which is the standard aquatic ingredient. There is a hint of that real-life fizz because it reminds me of the typical way aldehydes act in a perfume. There is an airy lift to the fruit which I am going to attribute to the CristalFizz. From here the traditional Polo DNA appears clary sage doing the herbal part over the fir balsam. Some ambrox and patchouli make it contemporary feeling.
Deep Blue has 8-10 hour longevity and average sillage.
This is also a better than average flanker of Polo. If you’re looking for a different type of aquatic to add to your warm weather rotation this might fit. I was looking for the fizz of the waves. I almost found it.
Disclosure: This review is based on a sample from Ralph Lauren.
–Mark Behnke
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