The Story
Why it exists.
The beginning
Shells arrived in 2018 from Régime des Fleurs, composed by Mathieu Nardin. The fragrance is listed as Personal/Space, meaning it can be worn on the body or used to scent a space, blurring the line between wearer and environment. The name itself is simple, calling up the collected remnants left along a shore. The brand's official note list reads li hing, liliko'i, teak resin, macadamia seed, sandalwood, and vanilla oleoresin, a shorthand that reads more like a tide chart than a traditional pyramid. Each ingredient is chosen with care, and together they compose something that feels both edible and mineral, sweet and woody all at once. The li hing contributes a salty, dried-plum sharpness that anchors the composition, while liliko'i adds a bright, almost vinous tropical fruit note.
Li hing mui is dried plum dusted with a salty, tangy coating, a Hawaiian snack flavor that carries its own sweet-and-sour memory. Pairing it with liliko'i (passion fruit) and macadamia turns the tropical dial hard, but the teak resin and sandalwood pull the composition back toward something sculptural and dry. That tension between gourmand fruit and dry wood is central to what makes Shells function as it does. The fruit notes offer immediate sweetness and brightness, while the woods provide structure and a sense of weight beneath.
The evolution
The opening lands fast, salt and li hing arriving almost simultaneously, sharp and briny with a dried-fruit sweetness already threaded underneath. Within fifteen minutes the passion fruit swells, round and tropical, sitting on a bed of macadamia that adds a buttery weight without going gourmand. The fruit stays prominent for about two hours, gradually yielding to teak and sandalwood, which dry the composition into something warmer and more architectural. Vanilla arrives last, not as a dessert note but as a softening, almost like resin heated in afternoon sun. The drydown runs warm and woody for another three to four hours, the woods deepening as the brighter fruit notes fade. The transition from the salty, fruit-forward opening to the resinous base is gradual, each phase distinct without any abrupt shifts.
Cultural impact
Shells has found an audience among wearers drawn to its unusual li hing reference, a note most mainstream perfumery overlooks entirely. The combination of Hawaiian snack flavors with classical perfumery materials gives the fragrance a specificity that sets it apart from conventional tropical scents. Collectors who already own the obvious beachy and gourmand options find in Shells something more architectural, a composition that treats its tropical references as raw material rather than decoration. The fruit-and-wood tension gives it a seriousness that appeals to people who want their scent to feel considered rather than playful.
