Bath & Body: Beachgoer edition
As seen in Waterfront Living 2025.
There’s a reason customers reach for products with tropical and sea-salt aromas — they’re looking to bottle up the beach.
For retailers, bath and body lines that evoke the coast tap into a lifestyle customers want to bring home. From fresh, sea-inspired fragrances to skin-soothing ingredients, coastal bath and body products continue to resonate.
True Ocean and Inis are two brands that meet this demand. After all, beach-inspired products are much more than a seasonal trend.
TRUE OCEAN
True Ocean was founded on the mission to create natural fragrance and body care from the minerals and inspiration provided by the sea. Its products include eau de parfum, body sprays, mineral lotions, face spritzes, candles and bath care.
Gift Shop® Plus: Tell me about your product offerings. What’s new?
Darin Trimble, Founder: True Ocean created the category of “ocean water body care.” This includes the use of the ocean’s minerals to soothe, exfoliate and cleanse. We’ve also designed a signature fragrance named “Coastal,” which brings the sand, sun and surf into a fragrance collection.
GS: What are your bestsellers?
Trimble: Our bestsellers are Body Spray and Eau de Parfum. We’ve been told by many retailers that these items just fly off the shelves.
GS: If you had to pick, which product is your personal favorite?
Trimble: My personal favorite is True Ocean’s Mineral Lotion, which is a hand and body lotion that includes the ocean’s minerals plus aloe, jojoba seed and our signature scent, Coastal. It smells great and leaves the skin feeling fresh and hydrated.
GS: How do your products cater specifically to the beachgoer?
Trimble: True Ocean’s fragrance line was specifically formulated to capture your beach day and seaside scents into the collection. We’ve accomplished this by including notes of bergamot, cedarwood and acai palm, using their essential oils.
GS: What ingredients or formulations make your line ideal for sun, saltwater or warmer climates?
Trimble: True Ocean’s body care products include aloe and shea butter — both very soothing, skin-loving ingredients.
GS: Have you noticed any recent shift in customer preferences when it comes to bath and body products?
Trimble: Customers continue to look for cruelty-free and natural products. They also look for boutique brands that can’t be found in big-box stores.
INIS
Inis is a family-owned boutique perfumery with a signature collection: Inis The Energy of the Sea. The company operates independently from a converted farmhouse in County Wicklow, Ireland. For more than 40 years, it has been creating perfumes and personal care products inspired by the beauty, nature and magic of Ireland.
As a small, entrepreneurial company, Inis is devoted to the independent market. In support of local business, it partners with retailers worldwide.
Gift Shop® Plus: Tell me about your product offerings. What’s new?
Sandy Clements, International Marketing Manager: We are delighted to introduce our New Blend Scented Candle. With a scent as uplifting as a perfect sunny day by the sea, brighten your surroundings with our new-and-improved sparkling scented candle. Our blend of 80% soy wax and 20% sustainably sourced palm wax — plus a lead-free wick — gives customers more than 36 hours of ocean- fresh fragrance.
GS: What are your bestsellers?
Clements: Our bestseller is our cologne. The scent is fresh, clean, uplifting and makes you feel close to the sea, no matter where you are. It’s versatile, unisex and instantly refreshing. For many of our customers, it evokes a sense of calm and clarity, like standing by the ocean on a clear day. That emotional connection combined with how wearable it is every day is what we believe has made it our bestseller.
GS: If you had to pick, which product is your personal favorite?
Clements: My personal favorite is our Rejuvenating Body Butter. It’s a deeply nourishing treatment cream that’s perfect for dry areas or after a day in the sun. Enriched with shea butter for deep hydration, aloe vera to soothe and calm, and argan oil to protect and renew.
GS: How do your products cater specifically to the beachgoer?
Clements: Our products are inspired by the ocean, but they’re also made for people who live and breathe that lifestyle. Our scent is clean, fresh and longlasting — perfect for those who want to feel refreshed and revived.
GS: What ingredients or formulations make your line ideal for sun, saltwater or warmer climates?
Clements: Our body care products are all formulated with nourishing ingredients like shea butter, argan oil, aloe vera and vitamin E — making them perfect for after-sun skin care.
With added seaweed extracts and sea minerals, they’re all fragranced with our Inis scent, making them cool and refreshing on the skin..
GS: Do you have scents or packaging specifically inspired by the beach or ocean?
Clements: The Inis Energy of the Sea fragrance was inspired by the gorgeous Dog’s Bay in Connemara County, Galway. Our aim was not only to bottle a fragrance but also the feeling of standing on that beach: fresh, clean and energizing. The scent captures the essence of Dog’s Bay — the sun on your face, the wind in your hair and breathing in the fresh ocean air.
GS: Have you noticed any recent shift in customer preferences when it comes to bath and body products?
Clements: With all our modern life stresses, consumers are more interested than ever in mood-boosting qualities in their self-care routines. Our devoted users are focused on value with an emphasis on the quality of ingredients.
