South Bay
The Different Company (2013)

The Different Company says South Bay "represents the eternal youth and freshness of sunny Miami, at the heart of the Art Deco period." Meh. It's grapefruit over woody aromachems, barely suggesting Miami, much less Art Deco. Nothing to see here, move along…

This a a well established style of citrus-woody fragrance, but particularly well done. It is close to men's fragrances such as Dunhill Edition, and if I remember right, Minotaur by Palomo Picasso. I tried blind testing it against Dunhill Edition and was just about able to distinguish the two, South Bay having an extra crisp freshness.

Unusually, the supplier is quoted - Symrise, which raises it several notches in my book.

The opening is pleasant - tamarind, grapefruit, orange with a a greening touch - a nice mix, although it is a tad timid and does not make full use of the summery triad of opening notes to provide a convincing refreshing opening blast. This is more on the discrete side.

The drydown is reducing the citrus proportion for the benefit of the development if a floral/wood mix, with both components turning out to be fairly nonspecific on my skin; whilst the floral bit has a white floral tendency, the woodiness is quite bland.

The base is a similarly nondescript chemical mix, trying to emulate a vetiver that lacks colour and intensity.

The sillage is moderate, the projection very good, and the longevity seven hours.

Not bad and quite agreeable, and a good to wear in summer on not too hot a day, but too generic-synthetic in the second half to be particularly interesting. 2.75/5.

Opinion: Finishing The Different Company fragrances with South Bay. Verdict: an incredible shame. A pity! South Bay has one of the most incredibly beautiful openings I´ve ever smelled. This beauty lasts for 5-10 min and then everything is ruined. The woody, floral, aromatic combination that comes next, are unfortunate, to say the least.

This drydown, to me, ruins the entire composition. Maybe it´s my skin, possibly, but it´s really a shame after such incredible opening. The fragrance acquires kind of a floral important in the middle notes, which in my opinion, send´s it a bit to the feminine side. The base notes aren´t that bad, although far from the top ones.

The scent itself is smooth, and splendid for the top notes duration. After that, I get a less than "meh" scent, sadly. Perfomance isn´t good, also.


The development of the fragrance is interesting, starting with a blast of fresh citrus/spicy, but later the vetiver and salt shine. There are some hints of floral notes, for sure, but not dominant. Sel de Vetiver is a quality well balanced fragrance, and (glady) it lack the harshness of some vetiver fragrances. It´s elegant enough, I´d say. Gladly also, the vetiver here is not overpowered (this is a personal taste matter).

One of the fragrance I really feels it´s a pity.


Type/Gender: Unisex

I´d say this leans, sometimes, toward the feminine side.


Season and Purpose: Summer and Spring, also for hot Fall days. Some may find it suitable for work. I´ll go more with casual occasions. Would´n wear this on any other situation.


Achilles heel: Bad performance. Plus, the drydown ruins the beauty of the top notes.


Regarding Performance:

- Longevity: 6-7h
- Sillage: Soft to moderate
- Projection: 2h

Scent: 7.80
Longevity:6.50
Sillage: 6.50
Projection: 6.20
Uniqueness: 7
Versatility: 7
--- Overall: 6.82

Would I buy it? No!

The fragrance has an interesting price, (~$120) for 90 ml, but not worth the buying, to me.