Orto Parisi Megamare

Almost no fragrance of the last decade has generated arguments like this one. Orto Parisi released Megamare in 2019, an Alessandro Gualtieri composition that takes the polite marine accord of nineties aquatics and turns it into something salty, mineral and confrontational. Seaweed and calone do the work, with musk, ambroxan and cedar holding the base, and it is bottled at parfum strength. Aromatica lists the Megamare price in Bangladesh, and a decant is the correct way to find out which side of the argument you are on.

Fragrance Notes

Top: Bergamot, Lemon

Heart: Seaweed, Calone, Hedione

Base: Musk, Ambroxan, Cedar

Full note breakdown on Fragrantica.

The Scent

Bergamot and lemon appear for about a minute and then the sea arrives. What follows is seaweed, iodine and salt, and it is the low-tide version of the ocean rather than the perfume-counter version, closer to wet rope and shoreline than to a swimming pool. Calone is doing recognisable nineties aquatic work here, but at a volume nothing from that era ever attempted. Hedione keeps a thread of transparency running through it so the marine accord does not turn completely opaque. Underneath, ambroxan and musk build a warm mineral floor, and cedar gives the dryness that stops the whole thing smelling wet. That base is what most reviewers point to when they say it becomes wearable after the first stage. Reactions divide hard and early. One group calls it the most convincing sea fragrance ever made and wears it happily through spring and summer, while another finds it brackish and stale rather than salty and cannot get past the opening. The negative reviews are worth reading precisely because they are so specific, with rusted boats, wet fishing nets and old diving suits all coming up. Comparisons run to Bvlgari AQVA Pour Homme for the mineral marine idea and to Kenzo Homme as the affordable designer route into the same territory. Reviewers also note the formula appears to have shifted over time, with the seaweed and calone punch reportedly softer and the ambroxan more prominent in recent bottles. This is not a fragrance to buy unsmelled, regardless of how many recommendation lists it appears on.

Restraint matters with this one more than with almost anything else in the catalogue, and reviewers who love it are usually the ones spraying once rather than four times. On fabric it behaves differently again, holding the seaweed accord far longer than it does on skin.

When to Wear

Spring and summer, in casual and outdoor settings rather than anywhere enclosed. Beach days, boat trips, humid afternoons, and evenings out in the open air. Aromatica's aquatic and ozonic fragrances collect the calmer members of this family.

Who Is It For

Someone who finds most marine fragrances weak and wants the idea taken to its limit. It suits people who enjoy divisive fragrances and are not wearing them to be agreeable.