Fragrance Friday: The Virtue launches a new limited-edition fragrance with the ocean top of mind

Those that check in here regularly will know I’m a raving fan of The Virtue, an Aotearoa-based fragrance house that never ceases to delight and amaze. I fell instantly in love with the brand after being gifted some of their stellar scents several years ago, and after visiting their Taranaki atelier I was even more enamoured – its Founder and Creative Director, Brooke Lean is a seriously inspiring woman, its offering the stuff of dreams.
Brooke is a longtime surfer and lover of the sea (she had just returned from an early morning session when we met), so it came as no surprise at all to me when it was announced she had created a new, highly anticipated new fragrance inspired by and devoted to ocean conservation. Called Seakeeper , it’s a perfume with a purpose, and has been launched in partnership with the International SeaKeepers Society in order to support their incredible initiatives globally.

The International SeaKeepers Society was conceived in 1997, and was officially established in 1998 in Monaco by six yacht owners who were drawn to the notion of “turning yachts into research platforms.” Over the years SeaKeepers has helped facilitate oceanographic research, conservation, and education by engaging the yachting community, and in 2023 education became a central focus of SeaKeepers’ mission, enabling a greater emphasis on student engagement and development. That same year the third international chapter was established in the South Pacific, with headquarters in Tāmaki Makaurau, Aotearoa to enhance programming and support initiatives across the region.
Officially launching on October 30, at the SeaKeepers Founders Dinner, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, the sublime Seakeeper was directly inspired by New Zealand’s wild West Coast. Built on five precise notes - sea salt, saffron, jasmine, white oak, and cedar – it is sharp, modern, and enduring, and I fell instantly in love.
Seakeeper is memory, heritage, and purpose, captured in scent. For Founder and Creative Director Brooke, Seakeeper is also very personal — a quiet tribute to her late dad, affectionately known as Daisy, whose life was tied to the sea and who passed away earlier this year. “Seakeeper is really close to my heart, says Brooke. “It speaks to our shared responsibility for the oceans and honours my love of the sea. The collaboration timing was perfect, an easy yes - for the sea, and for my Dad,” she adds.
When asked to describe the fragrance, Brooke offers quite simply: “the Sea is the Sea, this is the scent.” An avid surfer, having grown up in Taranaki, the ocean is something very special to Brooke. “Seakeeper captures the place where the land gives way to the ocean. It’s wild, raw and magnetic – everything arrives at once”.
When I received a bottle of Seakeeper I had not long returned from a day at windswept Muriwai on the West Coast, salt in my hair and the scent of the ocean still in my nostrils. Seakeeper was the perfect way to keep that wildness in my heart, and it’s become an instant favourite and I predict a signature scent throughout the coming months.
Pre-orders for the limited edition scent are open online now, and Seakeeper will be available online and instore for purchase from October 30. It has an RRP of $275 with $50 from each 50ml bottle purchased going directly to support ocean conservation through the SeaKeepers Society efforts.

Head to the The Virtue to secure a Seakeepers of your own.

Main Photo by Ivan Bandura on Unsplash