Top Ten Scents of Summer
Friday, July 20th, 2007
1.) Alan Cumming - Cumming
Sometimes I fear like I’m banging the drum for this fragrance as annoyingly as a Gunter Grass character. But I’m merely banging away for the fragrance version of a pleasurably rotten rainy day, which I hope is much less pedantic and insane. It’s muddy, it’s wet, it’s wonderful.
2.) Novaya Zarya - Barber of Siberia No. 3
This fragrance is an ode to a Russian film of the same name. It smells very much of a gin and tonic with lime, and though one can find similarly inspired gin and tonic fragrances, thus far this is the best one I’ve found. I think I even smell the quinine, though I’ll admit the possibility that this note may be imaginative conjuring.
3.) Czech & Speake - Dark Rose
Spiced rose on ice. ‘Nuff said.
4.) Hermes - Eau de Mervielles
I don’t regularly go for orangey fragrances, but I cannot fathom how anyone couldn’t submit to the beauty of Eau de Mervielles. It’s peppered wood heart belies its erstwhile sweetness in summer, lending it a more tawny beach-strewn driftwood feel.
5.) Versace - The Dreamer
The Dreamer should be regarded as a mess of a fragrance - and what a glorious mess it is. The tangled web of sweet shop and forest it spreads across the skin is all wrong in the best possible way. The Dreamer adopts a soapy tone in the high heat of the season, giving one a sanitary impression of what the candy cottage in the woods might look like to Hansel and Gretel if the old witch that lives there was a committed vegetarian.
6.) Penhaligon - English Fern
Listen, I’m not saying this is the most complex thing ever, but when the temperature hits triple digits Fahrenheit, the simple fougere just clicks with me.
7.) Carven - Ma Griffe
Vintage bottles of Ma Griffe can still be picked up for reasonable prices, thankfully enough. If you crave perfume complexity no matter what the weather, the spiced galbanum of Ma Griffe will satisfy without laying on the air like a wet wool blanket.
8.) Frank LA - Frank LA No. 1
Frank LA (now Frank LA No. 1, with the newish additions to the line) is another greeny fragrance, which entices me to the point of addiction. It’s got herbal salad tones that include the chopped green pepper of galbanum, it’s got incense, it’s got a smidge of nutmeg. Sound too heavy? Somehow it manages to slice a clear swath through the thick humidity and sleepy heat of even the hottest day. Rather than feeling oppressive, it invigorates, and wipes the smile that descending sweat melted off back onto your face.
9.) Guerlain - Sous Le Vent
For what seemed like ages, I had the worst time figuring out what I thought of Sous le Vent. Mostly because during the cooler weather the appearance of a note I sadly can only describe as asparagus pee-like popped up on my skin. But now with the rising mercury, that troublesome asparagus pee is no more! I’m left with a refreshing rush of green florals and herbs that overlap like waves greedily consuming one another on the incoming tide. It does play out as more animalic in summer than during winter, however, this is simply not a deal breaker for me. I find its indolic animal on sweaty summer human possesses the same negating effect as fighting fire with fire.
10.) Cote Bastide - Peche de Vigne
The peach orchards of Goldendale, Washington are not legendary, but they should be. During the peaches’ peak ripeness, they taste of honeyed blossoms as much as they do of fleshy fruit. Peche de Vigne grabs me with the same gravitational force as the wafting aroma from pallets loaded with Goldendale peaches.
To read some other great compilations of summer fragrance choices, please click on any or all of the links below:
Thanks to Marina for the graphic used at top!
