Surfing in Puerto Escondido is one of the biggest reasons visitors visit Oaxaca, Mexico. Even if you have no desire to test your balance as a 20ft wave curls over your head, Mexico’s ‘hidden port’ is a highly desirable place, a small mellow town where Mexicans, ex-pats, and world travellers intermingle. The south winds hit the coast between May and August, generating great waves and breaks at Playa Zicatela. And Surfing Puerto Escondido recalls huge waves crashing on Playa Zicatela, with sour and balmy notes mixed with flowers and rounded out by sweetish musk at the end.
When I tested the four elements of the new Chapter No. 2 collection right from the start, this was the one I should have noticed despite it firmly deviating from the other three. Then, as the hours wore on, it glistened on my skin, catching my attention to the point of making me want to have it in my spring rotation. Puerto Escondido is very floral, I would say the most floral of the collection. It smells very similar to a creamy white blossom, the presence of coumarin and jasmine are remarkable.
Let’s talk about Surf Puerto Escondido. First, the bottle is the same one used in chapter n.1, this time with clear coloured glass, yellow for this one, so simple but nice. ZARA classifies the fragrance as amber-floral, unfolding sunny, warm, and slightly sweet. To my nose, I perceive the fresh citrus note of the sweet mandarin that gives a sparkling slant. The saffron is more flowery than leathery; the artemisia is just a breath, while the greenish and balsamic aspect of the cardamom is hard to recognise. Thus, the opening is slightly harsh with a massive floral background.
The heart reveals a bouquet with a watery green tone, composed of bitter lily of the valley and magnolia-like subtleties, with the initial sweetness of the gooey ylang-ylang, the chief actor in this perfume, a semi-bitter orange blossom, and all the dry radiance of the spicy and racy immortelle. The latter also evokes the sun, the beach, the sea, and the scents of the Corsican maquis. Creamy, a creaminess arises in the heart that grows and continues for the entire duration of the perfume.
In the dry-down, Puerto Escondido pursues the sweet path with a clean musk, an overdose of Tonka, and shades of resinous and balmy benzoin. Besides, there is a so-called solar note, so the perfume smells like a sea breeze, and sun-warmed skin is rubbed with Monoi oil. What remains on the skin is a musky amber redolence.
Despite the flowers riot, the fragrance stays in the masculine area. Still, I see it as unisex, neither too virile nor too feminine. Without terms of comparison, the fragrance sometimes recalls
Eau de Soleil Blanc without being a clone of it. It's a bit like when we customize a recipe and we change the quantity of ingredients as we like, we remove some and add others. Indeed, a more virile version while maintaining the same accords.
Ultimately, Surfing Puerto Escondido is an ideal fragrance for late spring and summer mornings and evenings, safe for the office and for going out with friends but mostly for leisure time, so relaxing and soothing. I don’t have enough data to judge the performance, which I would say is moderate at the moment.
I'm basing my impressions and review on a bottle I've owned since March 2023 (BC 30130)
-Elysium
Top Notes 
Heart Notes 
Base Notes 
PedroCabral
BertolucciK
Elysium
