It’s summer, again. Which means days of checking the forecast to see just how high the temperature’s gonna get and planning the day around staying in an air-conditioned room. Or heading to the beach to catch some gnarly waves, breath in that salty air, and covering your food from any vicious seagulls. Just to name some possible ways to spend your 12 hours of sunlight.
There’s nothing wrong with the sun and the heat, but things are decidedly less fun under the sun when you’re sweaty, feel sticky, and arguably overheating. A cool shower can help aleviate much of that but, only until the sun’s effects catches up once more. Fragrance might not protect from the heat but it’ll keep you smelling fresh until the next time you’re in the safety of an air conditioned room.
This selection is focused on citruses and summer florals—generally staying away from anything that leans heavily towards gourmands like vanilla or tonka.
Neroli and Some Zest: Je M’en Fous from What We Do Is Secret
When the weather forecasts say that your day trip is going to be plagued with clear skies and temperatures from the high 90’s, the scent of freshness becomes your best friend. Je M’en Fous from What We Do Is Secret (originally A Lab On Fire) starts with a bright, tart orange that mingles with the very prominent scent of neroli. After some time, it settles into a combination of the aforementioned neroli, chemical citrus, and a soapy musk that really emphasizes freshness and the fact that you bathed today. In short, it’s an aldehydic citrus tree. It also lasts for a few hours before it becomes imperative to respray to maintain freshness.
Tropical Fruits: Limonata from Narcotica
A sweet juicy mango that’s only made sweeter with berries and a splash of grapefruit, all in a base of thin amber and cedar. To put is simply, it’s a classic tropical fruit scent. It’s not quite a realistic mango if that’s what you’re looking for, it certainly is a stylized rendition of the fruit done in a way that it leans quite close to a guava. Because of the guava, it doubles up the tropical vibes of the scent.
I am currently writing this after a disastrous spill and if there’s one thing I can assure about this scent, it is the tenacity of it. I’ve washed my hands twice already and yet it persists. Any other time I would be happy because it means that I wouldn’t have to worry about loosing the scent half way through the day, but unfortunately for me I’ve spilt it all over a fresh set of pajamas.
Fresh Frangipani: Lys 41 from Le Labo
Le Labo has a habit of naming their scents quite differently from the notes that people can smell from it and Lys 41 is no different. Marketed as a tuberrose and lily scent, upon first sniff, it is recognizably a frangipani in full bloom. And it’s the association of frangipani with summer that really makes this a thematical warm weather scent. Similar to Limonata above, this scent has longevity and it doesn’t take too many sprays to get the scent to stick. With that in mind, do limit the sprays since it can become quite headache inducing and remember to spray anywhere but the front.
Whether you decide to spend the summer picnicking under the trees or shying away from the heat with an iced coffee, there’s a scent out there to match with the kind of summer you plan to have.
