My Favorite Summer Scents. Part 1.

Ina from Aromascope had a wonderful idea of compiling a list of summer favorites categorized into “types” or “fragrance families”. All this week, please look for similar posts on several other blogs. Here is my Summer Perfume Hit Parade, Part 1: Favorite summer floral perfume Songes by Annick Goutal. This beautifully romantic, elegantly tropical, sumptuous blend of ylang ylang, frangipane, vanilla and woods, is an epitome of languid summer days and sultry nights, of most delightful dolce far niente… Shalini by Shalini. The tuberose that broke my heart with its atypically ethereal beauty and its cost. Shalini is a fragile, airy rendition of a bouquet of white flowers picked in the heat of summer. The scent evokes gossamer fabric fluttering in a summer wind… it is a scent of a land of endless summer where the sun is always shining and the sky is always blue. Le Maroc Pour Elle by Andy Tauer. The passionate blend of exquisitely indolic jasmine and sensual rose…a scent to wear while falling in love with a dark, brooding stranger in an exotic location…a perfume of old black and white movies about beautiful but doomed love…a fragrance of a garden at twilight…somewhere in Casablanca… Favorite summer citrus perfume Eau d’Hadrien by Annick Goutal. My most favorite citrus scent. Period. This is the clearest, most transparent lemon fragrance I have ever encountered; that clear transparency is what I consider to be the most attractive quality in a citrus scent. It goes without saying that Eau d'Hadrien is wonderful on a hot summer day. Ananas Fizz by L’Artisan. According to the little Miss Colombina, Ananas Fizz smells “like oranges”, and her little nose is absolutely right. This uplifting, "thirst-quenching" fragrance to me too smells of (bitter) oranges and other citruses more so than pineapples. The sweetness of the fruits is balanced by the woody notes and all in all Ananas Fizz is incredibly enjoyable in summer. Le Jardin Sur Le Nil by Hermes. Created to evoke a scent of green mango (and it does indeed have a lovely unripe mango note), to me this scent is mostly about grapefruit and a little bit of orange. Bright and subtle at the same time, Le Jardin Sur Le Nil is one of the most delightful scents to wear in summer. Watch out for the pleasant twist in the end, for the frankincense note in the drydown. Favorite summer amber perfume Attrape-Coeur by Guerlain. I must preface this by saying that I am unable to wear straight amber scents in summer. Scents with the dominant amber notes overwhelm me in warm weather. In Attrape-Coeur, on the other hand, the note is woven into a complex composition and compliments beautifully and is complimented by iris, rose, violet, vanilla and sandalwood. One of my year-round favorites. Fifi by Fifi Chachnil. It should have been “too much” in hot weather but, miraculously, it isn’t. The coriander note that I adore in Fifi goes a long way to “sharpen” the blend and to keep in check the richness and sweetness of amber and rose. And as for the husky tobacco note…oh mamma! Bois de Paradis by Parfums Delrae. Again, not an amber scent per se, but the note is certainly here and is gorgeous and harmoniously interlaced with rich woods, delicious blackberry and fig, darkly sensual rose and sweet spices. Exquisite! Favorite summer green perfume Yuzu Ab Irato by Parfumerie Generale. Yuzu Ab Irato could have easily been filed among my favorite summer citrus scents, however, to me, citrus is only one of the facets of this scent. Apart from the tangy greenness of yuzu, the perfume also boasts the chilly verdancy of mint spiced with a little pepper as well as an herbal-green blend of thyme and hyssop. Citrus-green, minty-green and herbaceous-green, Yuzu Ab Irato is a summery delight for a fan of green scents. Terre d’Hermes by Hermes. Earthy-green rather than brightly-leafy green, but green nevertheless, Terre d’Hermes was one of my favorite new releases this year. Its blend of grapefruit, vetiver, pepper, cedar and patchouli is redolent of moist soil, grass and grey stones polished to perfect smoothness by a relentless sea. I have found myself reaching for the bottle of Terre d’Hermes a lot during the hot weather. Climat by Lancome. Always appropriate, always impeccable and always wearable, Climat is a “light-green” blend of lily of the valley brightened by bergamot and sweetened by rose. A subtly powdery violet note adds to the scent that indefinable something that makes the fragrance feel classic. Subtle and full of personality, fresh and soft, this is my green summer scent of choice when I want to feel elegant and feminine. Continue reading Part 2 of my Summer Favorites. *The images are by Jason Brooks, from jason-brooks.com.