Listastic! My Faves for Summer
“The advice of their elders to young men is very apt to be as unreal as a list of the hundred best books.” ~ Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. (1897, in a speech in Boston.)
Here I am, about to write a list of my own best summer scent choices. I figure I may as well impart some useless (possibly unreal) advice from an elder (me) to young men. Never wear fragrance that appears to be inspired by clean windows. Listen boys, we all like to smell good, but I guarantee you that no one is looking for a guy with a streak-free shine. Well… maybe Tom Ford.
here are some of my favorite scents for summer broken down into general categories:
Favorite Summer Floral:
Not to beat a dead horse or anything, but have you tried Compagnia Delle Indie’s Donna? It’s a lovely floral and marine bouquet! (It appears to be the cheapest via 1st Perfume, but is also available at Perfume Bay.)
Favorite Summer Citrus:
My favorite summer citrus choice for years has been a combination of the Earl Grey and Grapefruit oils from Escential Lotions & Oils in Portland. Their Earl Grey adds a bit of lime zest to the scent of Earl Grey tea. It is quite nice on it’s own, but with a touch of their Grapefruit, which has the pulpy smell of freshly split fruit, you’ve got a long lasting citrus scent that cuts through heat and humidity without turning sour. (Do USE caution with application if you have easily irritated skin, as citrus can cause photosenstivity issues in many people. Moreover, while I personally have never had problems using their Grapefruit on my skin, Escential warns against it.)
Favorite Summer Amber:
This one’s a toughie for me. I love ambery scents anyhow, so I have a ton I turn to whatever the season may be. The one I dig the most has to be i Profumi di Firenze’s Ambra del Nepal. It’s a crowd-pleaser.
Favorite Summer Green:
I am going to pick one that might sound counter-intuitive for summer, but Givenchy Very Irresistable for Men has a refreshing minty green herbal note that alleviates what could wear as an overly rich chocolatey center.
Favorite Summer Leather:
I suppose it’s a bit premature for me to pick Lonestar Memories, since it’s only been in my hot little hands for a short time. (I will be wearing it all this summer though.) So, I will pick Knize Ten. This graceful and herbally leather fragrance is a classic, and while some complain it’s old-fashioned, I have to admit little understanding of what they’re talking about. It just smells good. To me, it’s timeless.
Favorite Summer Musk:
I rather like Galimard’s winning little musk, cedar, and apple combination in their Si Tu Savais… I personally believe it’s clear the fragrance was inspired by Dolce & Gabanna’s Light Blue. However, Light Blue seeks to axe-murder me by wielding a sharp metal blade of notes that slice right into my head. Si Tu Savias… on the other hand is brightly golden, and wears crisply without the aching migrane of having a weapon buried through my nose.
Favorite Summer Spices:
Fendi’s Theorema is a dry expression of orange and spicy woody goodness. Were it sweet I’d use it sparingly through the summer, but this perfume is sugar-free, and can be enjoyed with impunity.
Favorite Summer Gourmand:
Serge Luten’s Arabie. Dunno, it just works on me when it’s hot out. Your mileage may vary, as they say on the interwebs. Well, on the interwebs they say YMMV - it took me forever to figure out what that acronym meant. Arabie is briefly mentioned in this recent post.
Favorite Summer Scent Overall:
Cumming! Cumming! Cumming! A fragrance that is cooling, like a bit of Pacific Northwest winter brought back to me. Delightfully wet and grey on summer oven days that make rain seem like a far-fetched dream, Cumming was my favorite choice for summer last year, and it is again this year.
Favorite Summer Beach:
CB I Hate Perfumes’ At the Beach:1966 is so terribly fun, and should not be missed by those who like evocative or unique smells. Can’t go to the beach, but like to “Walter Mitty” yourself there when you’re stuck at work, boxed in traffic, or waiting in some excrably long queue? This is the fragrance for you.
Favorite Summer Wood:
I think this year, I’m going to pick two Hermes. One is the new Terre d’Hermes by perfumer Jean-Claude Ellena, which is slowly proving to be better loved by women than men on the fragrance boards. The second is the lovely woody dream of Eau Des Merveilles by perfumers Ralf Schwieger and Nathalie Feisthauer. Eau Des Merveilles features ambery and peppery notes underscored by citrus top notes that smell more like zest than juice. The dry down melts me into a summer languor: it’s the smell of a hot cedar deck and an old Adriondack chair warmed both by the sun and the napping body of an accidental tanner.
Favorite Summer Fruit:
I’d have to say Bond No. 9’s Chinatown was one of the best things released last year. I guess technically it could be considered a gourmand, but it just doesn’t ever FEEL like one to me. I’ve never written a review of it, and won’t, because anything I could say seems pointless after reading the most well-written review of Chinatown I’ve read yet at Brain Trapped in Girl’s Body.
Please share some of your own summer favorites, whether or not they fit any of these categories!
For more listy goodness, please visit these other great sites:
All images contained in this post are either by my hand or by my camera. The bikini wearing monkey was drawn for reasons too silly to mention. Sorry for the distortion in some of the photos - I culled them from my Flickr account, and had to resize them via browser rather than manually. Top photo shows my son running out of frame in a mad dash to the sea at Rockaway Beach, OR. Second photo of the Columbia River Gorge taken from the top of Crown Point. Third photo is a sculpture of the Maid of Orleans. The gold leafed statue was created in 1924 by Emmanuel Fremiet, and dedicated to the soldiers of WWI. It stands in the Laurelhurst neighborhood in Portland, OR on NE 39th Street. Fourth photo of sandcastles taken I believe somewhere near Lincoln City, OR? I don’t remember anymore. Fifth photo is of a footbridge in Gresham, OR that leads from a park sidewalk to… nowhere in particular. Last photo is a picture of the monkey pile of bikes always stacked by the effing Zoo Bombers on the sidewalk across from Rocco’s Pizza in downtown Portland. The stack of bikes glinting colorfully in the sun is so beautiful to me, though. It may not be an official piece of public art, but that daily changing stack is one of the best.