I was so excited for this release from city rhythm as their other scents are incredible. Unfortunately this was a miss for me. Clearly, this is a departure from what CR has done in the past. This time leaning into lime, musky accords, and strong florals with this one. Key West opens with a strong key lime that feels dry and astringent. Bolstered by salt. I hate to say this but when I let my wife take a sniff she recoiled and said it smells like bug spray. Which I really don’t like using to describe fragrances. And she isn’t a fragrance snob, she’s just a normal girl who is pretty uninterested in the world of fragrances. Luckily that strong bug spray vibe fades rather quick and makes way for the coconut water and a bitter neroli. At this point it’s begins to become watery and slightly grassy. Not quite marine, but juicy watery. Coconut isn’t exactly easily detectable in that wateriness. At that point a sunscreen like vibe begins to emerge. Like sunscreen that’s been in the sun and sea water for a little bit. The description CR uses is that it captures that short time period between transition from day to night. You’ve been in the water and sun and covered in sunscreen and are sitting on your beach chair. Sweat has dried off, the salt on your skin, mixing with sunscreen. The bitter florals serving as a backbone to all of that. The dry down is nice, and really where this fragrance shines. I get a little bit of a nice hotel room. Not really high end luxury but middle of the road seaside hotels. It’s creamy, musky, white floral, and slightly sweet. All of that riding on a hint of lime. Almost like getting out of the shower, where the salt is still in the air, the floral soap you used to wash off lingers on your skin. There’s a softness to the dry down I really enjoy.
There are small differences on paper vs on skin. Although I’m not a huge fan, I prefer the scent on skin. On paper everything is more sharp, astringent. The only thing I got in my collection that is similar is Virgin island water. But it’s very different. Think VIW but remove the opening sweetness and add in that grassy musk and you’ll get KW.
In the end this accomplishes to capture that Key West seaside vibe. Salty, floral, aquatic, sunscreen, sweat, and laid back vibes. It takes me to that point in my beach vacations where the day is done, getting back to my hotel room, showering and laying in bed getting ready for the evening shenanigans.
