Lili Bermuda SunKiss (Isabelle Ramsay-Brackstone) 2017 “Summer on a Pink Sand Beach”

June 27, 2017January 28, 2018

Bermuda House by The Sea by Gail Gross©

The mystery and magic of Bermuda, and the surrounding seas, have fascinated artists, explorers, residents and visitors for centuries. Lili Bermuda SunKiss, released May 25, 2017, is an enchanting invitation to carefree days and balmy nights on this sub-tropical, windswept island.The profile of SunKiss and the background of the Bermuda Perfumery, where the fragrance is created, provide fascinating insights into the romance and history of the island itself.

Stormy Sea by Gail Gross

The story begins on June 2, 1609, when Admiral Sir George Somers set sail with a fleet of nine ships from Plymouth, England, bound for the new English colony of Jamestown, Virginia. Admiral Somers was aboard the flagship Sea Venture, along with 153 sailors and settlers, and a dog. The fleet was caught in a hurricane and the flagship was separated from the others by the storm. After four days of brutal winds and waves, the Sea Venture wrecked on the east-end reefs of Bermuda. All aboard the vessel, including the dog, managed to make it to shore.

The Tempest by Gail Gross©

The survivors' stories, and English writer William Strachey's descriptions of the wreck of the Sea Venture, are said to have captured the imagination of playwright William Shakespeare. Elements of the survivors' tales seem to figure prominently in the mythical (albeit Mediterranean) island setting of Shakespeare's 1610 play, The Tempest. Today visitors are enchanted by the mystery of the Bermuda triangle and the magic of Bermuda Island, perhaps under a spell that could very well have been cast by The Tempest's magician Prospero or his servant, the delicate sprite Ariel.

Pink Sun by Gail Gross©

In the Bermuda town of St. George's, a UNESCO world heritage municipality, visitors find one of the largest of the island's historic houses, Stuart Hall. During the last three centuries the property has been owned or rented by several prominent and influential families.Today Stuart Hall, part of the Bermuda National Trust, is home to the Bermuda Perfumery and Lili Bermuda Perfumes. The Bermuda Perfumery, founded in 1928 by William Blackburn (W.B.) Smith and his daughter Madeline Scott, engaged French perfumers to create fragrances from the island's exotic flora and farm cultivated Easter lilies. In 2004 perfumer Isabelle Ramsay-Brackstone purchased the perfumery and moved operations to historic Stuart Hall I find it an intriguing, "otherworldly" time-warp that SunKiss, one of the most youthful fragrances I've recently experienced, was conceived and created in one of the oldest houses in the new world.

Shores of Bermuda by Gail Gross©

The opening notes of Lili Bermuda SunKiss are pure, youthful pleasure – a taste of Creamsicle® on a hot summer's day, a luscious orange and vanilla ice-cream soda, sipped poolside, or savored while basking on the pink sand of a beautiful Bermuda beach. As the effects of the creamy orange sherbet melt away, the taste and fragrance of loquat add a beguiling lilt to SunKiss.The fruits of Eriobotrya japonica, the Loquat tree, are harvested in Bermuda during late winter and early spring. The fruits of the best cultivars are deliciously soft and succulent, tangy-sweet and tart with hints of peach, plum, cherry, mango and a touch of citrus and musk. The fragrant facets of loquat give Lili Bermuda SunKiss a Creamsicle® like quality, fresh and mouthwatering sparkle. At the heart of the perfume, fruity loquat is balanced with the heady, heavenly scent of orange groves in bloom. Sunkiss lingers among the blossoms and exotic loquats for at least 8 hours before a breath of sandalwood and musk suffuse the flowers with woody, powdery hues.

Lili Bermuda SunKiss tarries on my skin from morning until far into the night, eventually fading to memories of bright days, cool orange sodas and warm sandy beaches. The sillage is at once playful and polite. SunKiss is available in Parfum and EdT concentrations (the EdT, at 12%, has the intensity of an Eau de Parfum).

For all of its exuberant, youthful, gourmand pleasures, Lili Bermuda SunKiss is much more than a whimsical summer scent. It is a complex, enticing fragrance, served with an air of innocence and carefree sophistication; a perfume suited to any woman (or man) – of any age. Notes: Bermuda Loquat, Orange Bigarade, Orange Flower, Vanilla Cream, Sandalwood and Musk.

-Gail Gross, Senior Editor and Visual Artist for this review; Gail used watercolor, pastels and acrylics for her paintings