Marine Woody is subfamily E7 of the Woody family in the SFP table. It places a marine note, salt air, seaweed, water and watermelon, over woods such as cedar, vetiver and ambery woody molecules. Many people call this style aquatic or marine; those are common terms, while the SFP name is Boisé Marin.
On Michael Edwards' wheel marine notes have their own family, Water, added in 1998 according to Fragrances of the World to account for the sharp rise of perfumes with marine notes.
Marine notes are mainly synthetic. Calone (methylbenzodioxepinone) was synthesised by J. J. Beereboom, D. P. Cameron and C. R. Stephens at Pfizer in 1966; it smells of watermelon, sea and ozone, and is often called watermelon ketone. From the early 1990s Calone and similar molecules came into wide use. L'Eau d'Issey (1992) placed Calone in a floral structure; the same house's L'Eau d'Issey pour Homme followed, with citrus, spices and woods.
The woody part usually includes cedar, vetiver and guaiacwood, with Ambrox and Iso E Super giving a mineral, dry salty feel. The top often has citrus, grapefruit, pepper and cardamom. Dihydromyrcenol is also common, giving a clean metallic note.
Iso E Super, acetyl cedrene and Atlas and Virginia cedarwood oils are named on the expanded allergen list of Regulation (EU) 2023/1545.
The SFP website publishes only subfamily names; perfume lists per subfamily are in the printed Classification officielle des parfums. Perfumes named here are commonly cited examples, not official SFP placements.
| Layer | Materials |
|---|---|
| Top | Grapefruit, Bergamot, Cardamom, Pink pepper, Calone |
| Middle | Cypress, Rosemary, Atlas cedarwood |
| Base | Vetiver, Cedarwood (Virginian), Guaiacwood, Ambrox, Iso E Super |
No natural material gives the Calone note. Some materials suggest a sea or mineral feel: seaweed absolute (not in the current library), cypress and juniper for coastal conifer air, rosemary and bay laurel leaf for a Mediterranean herbal touch, vetiver for damp minerality, ambrette for a salty skin note.
A natural version therefore only suggests the spirit of the branch without reproducing its structure. This page gives no formula percentages.
| Name | House | Year | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| L'Eau d'Issey pour Homme | Issey Miyake | 1994 | Jacques Cavallier. Citrus, spice and woods with marine facets; SFP placement not published. |
| Evoking coastal air · Cypress · Juniperberry · Rosemary · Laurel leaf | Conifer needles and Mediterranean herbs. |
| Woods and minerals · Vetiver · Cedarwood atlas · Ambrette | Base. |
Updated 09/2026. Figures follow the year stated in each source.
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