Almost everyone who knows Sol de Janeiro knows Cheirosa 62, the salted caramel and pistachio one that turned a Brazilian body cream brand into a fragrance phenomenon. Sol de Janeiro Cheirosa 68 is the flanker that went the other way entirely: no gourmand, no caramel, no nuts. Jasmine, dragonfruit and something the brand calls ocean air.
If you have been avoiding Sol de Janeiro because you do not want to smell like dessert, this is the bottle to know about. We covered the original in what does Brazilian Crush smell like, and 68 is a genuinely different proposition rather than a variation.
Also worth saying up front: this is a perfume mist, not a perfume. That distinction does most of the work in this review.
1. The Bottle Prints Its Own Pitch
Most fragrances make you go looking for the notes. This one prints them on the glass, along with the line about stepping into Rio’s garden by the sea.
The full listed pyramid runs a little deeper than the bottle copy: pink dragonfruit and lychee on top, Brazilian jasmine, ocean air and hibiscus in the heart, and sheer vanilla with sun musk in the base. Sol de Janeiro’s own launch notes tie the name to 1968 and Brazil’s Tropicália movement, which is a more interesting reference point than most body mists bother with.
Printing the notes on the bottle is a small thing that I wish more brands did. It also means that unlike almost every fragrance I review, there is no gap here between what the packaging claims and what the databases say.
2. First Impressions: Fruit, Then Actual Jasmine
The opening is pink dragonfruit and lychee, and it is sweeter and more synthetic-smelling than the printed copy suggests. Dragonfruit has very little scent in real life, so what you are smelling is a constructed tropical-fruit accord rather than a fruit. Lychee gives it the slightly rosy, perfumed edge.
Ten minutes in it gets much better. The jasmine arrives and it is a real presence rather than a whisper, indolic enough to have some weight to it, and it lifts the whole thing out of body-mist territory for a while.
Hibiscus and the “ocean air” accord sit underneath and keep it from turning into a straightforward white floral. Ocean air in perfumery usually means a calone-type material, clean and slightly melon-ish, and here it is used with restraint.
3. How It Wears, and the Mist Problem
Two to three hours. That is the honest number and it is the single most important fact in this review.
A perfume mist is a low-concentration product designed for reapplication, not for a day’s wear, and Sol de Janeiro have never claimed otherwise. But the price sits high enough that people reasonably expect more, and I have seen a lot of disappointed reviews that are really complaints about the format rather than the fragrance.
Sprayed on hair and clothes it lasts considerably longer, which is what the “hair and body” label is telling you. On a scarf it will still be there the next morning. On skin in summer heat, plan on topping up after lunch. If longevity is your priority, our guide to how long perfume lasts explains why concentration matters more than price.
The sheer vanilla and sun musk drydown is the nicest part and you get maybe forty minutes of it before it goes.
4. Packaging and the Sprayer
The sprayer is the best-engineered part of this product. It throws a genuinely fine mist over a wide area, which is what you want for hair and clothing and is noticeably better than the wet, concentrated spray most body products give you.
The bottle is plastic, not glass, which is correct for something meant to live in a bag. Mine is the travel size and it is genuinely pocketable. Sol de Janeiro sell this in more than one size, so check which one a listing is quoting before you compare prices, because the per-millilitre gap between the travel and full sizes is substantial. Our guide to travel size perfume covers the format more generally.
5. What the Base Tells You
The batch code is inkjet-printed on the base. Mine begins 2334 and ends CF, with one or two characters in between sitting under a moulding seam that will not resolve however I light it.
That is enough to place the batch roughly and not enough to quote in full, so I am giving you what I can actually read rather than a tidy-looking code I have guessed at. Inkjet on curved plastic under a seam is a hard read, and if yours is similarly obscured it is not a sign of anything wrong with the bottle.
6. Who This Is Actually For
Louise Turner, the perfumer behind Glow by JLo and Carolina Herrera Good Girl, said something about her breakout fragrance that applies neatly here:
“Glow by JLo was a real phenomenon and unexpected success. The licence was with Coty at that time and Jennifer Lopez was directly involved in its creation, she wanted the smell of clean and fresh skin, which was inspired by the smell of a particular soap she used.”
Cheirosa 68 is chasing the same thing from a different direction. It is not trying to be complicated or to reward close attention. It is trying to smell like a good day, and to smell like it on a lot of people at once. That is a legitimate brief and this executes it well.
Buy it if you want something bright and floral for summer that you do not have to think about, or if you like the Sol de Janeiro house style but bounce off the gourmands. Do not buy it expecting a perfume, at any price.
The Bottom Line
Cheirosa 68 is the best argument for Sol de Janeiro if you dislike everything else they make. The jasmine is real, the tropical fruit opening is pleasant if unsubtle, and the sprayer is excellent.
Two to three hours on skin is the catch, and it is a format limitation rather than a flaw. Buy it as a mist you reapply, spray it on hair and clothes as well as skin, and it makes sense. Buy it expecting eau de parfum longevity and you will be annoyed.
The travel size is the right way in.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does Sol de Janeiro Cheirosa 68 smell like?
Pink dragonfruit and lychee at the opening, then Brazilian jasmine with hibiscus and an ocean air accord, finishing on sheer vanilla and sun musk. Bright, floral and tropical rather than sweet or gourmand.
How long does Cheirosa 68 last?
Two to three hours on skin. It is a perfume mist rather than an eau de parfum, so the concentration is low by design. On hair and clothing it lasts considerably longer, often into the next day.
What is the difference between Cheirosa 62 and Cheirosa 68?
Cheirosa 62 is the gourmand original, built on salted caramel and pistachio. Cheirosa 68 is a fruity floral with jasmine, dragonfruit and an ocean air accord, with only a light vanilla in the base. They smell almost nothing alike.
Is Cheirosa 68 a perfume or a body mist?
It is a perfume mist for hair and body. That is a lower concentration than an eau de toilette or eau de parfum, which is why it needs reapplying through the day.
Where is the batch code on Sol de Janeiro Cheirosa 68?
Inkjet-printed on the base of the bottle. On mine it begins 2334 and ends CF, with the middle characters obscured by a moulding seam, which is common on this packaging.
Related Reading on Everfumed
- What Does Brazilian Crush Smell Like?: the Cheirosa 62 original, and the house style this departs from.
- Best Jasmine Perfumes: the note that carries the heart.
- Perfumer Louise Turner Interviewed: the interview quoted above.
- How Long Does Perfume Last?: why a mist behaves the way it does.
- Best Travel Size Perfumes: more on the pocketable format.
- The Floral Fragrance Family: where Cheirosa 68 sits.
- What Does Vanilla Smell Like?: the sheer version used in the base.
Selena Marc is a fragrance enthusiast, freelance writer, and dog mom living in Houston, Texas. When she's not writing about her favorite new perfumes, you can find her enjoying yoga or a morning hike.
