Perfume Stars: Summer Favorites. Part 5

Today we are continuing to introduce summer favorites and preferred holiday destinations of some of the most talented women perfumers and perfume line creators. Patricia de Nicolaï, Parfums de Nicolaï What are your favorite summer fragrances? What are the characteristics of your ideal summer scent? “My favorite scent in Summer is my new Cologne Cedrat. It is a fragrance built around this special fruit called cedrat; it is close to bergamot, lemon and orange. It is very fresh. I mixed the cedrat oil with a spicy note: pepper, which enhances the freshness. Finally I add some dry woody notes to have a more longlasting cologne as usual. I launched this cologne this year and it seems to be very popular.” What is your favorite holiday destination? “My favorite place for holidays is in Brittany in France where I used to go since my childhood. It is a beautiful place, so different from the mediterrranée. The scenery is wild and very preserved. Because of the tide the view is changing all the time. The light is splendid and gives me good inspiration for my paintings. The climate is tonic and I practice lots of sports: golf, tennis, swimming... it is what I need to recover and be ready for a new year of creative work.” Lyn Harris, Miller Harris What are your favourite summer fragrances? What are the characteristics of your ideal summer scent? “My philosophy with fragrance is to be completely free and unbound by definitions. Wear a summer fragrance in the winter for a burst of sunshine. Or wear a rich oriental in the summer if the mood takes you. Citron Citron is wonderfully refreshing for the summer with its citrus and herbal notes (basil, marjoram). Figue Amere evokes the heat of the island of Ibiza, the source of my inspiration for this fragrance. I wanted to recreate the air that is rich with the scent of ripe figs and sea salt. Terre d’Iris and Fleurs de Sel have more depth but are wonderful in the summer months. Difficult to generalise. An ‘ideal’ scent, be it summer or winter, is one that inspires you, lifts you, enhances you and is meaningful.” What is your favourite holiday destination? “As a child, I used to visit a small village in Brittany called Batz sur Mer, where my family have a holiday home. I spent some of my happiest times here, visiting the côte sauvage and the famous salt fields which are the inspiration behind the fragrance Fleurs de Sel. This fragrance combines the rare herbs and wild flowers that are found at the edge of the salt fields. Earthy top notes of red thyme oil, rosemary and clary sage are bound with wild flowers of iris nobilis, narcisse flowers, rose and a hint of ambrette seed (which gives the salty note), finally blending them on a base of woods, vetiver grass and moss with a note of leather. It is a deeply sensual and earthy fragrance that I have dedicated to this region of France. To me, it will forever symbolise the summer of 2006 in Batz sur Mer, where I created and finalised the formula.” Isabelle Doyen, Annick Goutal What are your favorite summer fragrances? What are the characteristics of your ideal summer scent? “The smell of Suntan Lotion. In France its Coconut with Tiaré. I think it’s comparable with the Americans feelings toward "coppertone". Childhood memories. Each country has its own classic suntan lotion fragrance.” What is your favorite holiday destination? Isabelle likes to have a week all by herself - quiet, no responsibilities. Images courtesy of Parfums de Nicolai, Miller Harris, René Schifferle.