Top 10 Scents of Summer

Yessirree, it’s time for our annual Top 10 Summer Scents!   The weather’s been a little freaky (too hot?  too cold?) for many of us, but that’s not slowing us down any when it comes to this post.  What are we craving this summer?  Read on.

Anita/Musette:   My first selection is Agraria Bitter Orange.  So cool and refreshing, with that kicky hint of spice.   In a 2007 review Book of Joe calls it “The Official Antidepressant Scent of bookofjoe” It has a distinctly urban feel to it and for me it´s the scent version of the epitome of summer: Constant Comment iced tea, sipped under an umbrella at an alfresco table in upper 80s Manhattan on a Saturday afternoon.    It has weight-loss properties, too:  I´m 10 years younger, about 30 lbs lighter, lots of disposable cash and having a (good) Sex in the City afternoon, complete with shopping montage and soundtrack.  As a bonus (in this scent-infused fantasy) I´m wearing a kicky little sundress and stiletto thong sandals – and my feet wouldn´t DARE swell in the heat of a Midtown summer afternoon.  Yeah, it really is that delightful.  I swear!  Y´all need to give it some love.   Not too much orange or too much clove but if you´re not into the clove-y spice of it all, a lovely alternative is Frederic Malle Bigarade Concentree – JCE hit it out of the park with this one.  Juicy, bitter orange, with the leaves and stems thrown in to give it that eau´ edge so desperately needed in the sweltering heat.  It lasts about 32 seconds but so what!  It´s absolutely refreshing.  When I´m feeling truly louche (or it´s hitting triple digits) I layer them.  Both are great to spritz on fans and/or hankies.   What?  You don´t carry either?  Well, get with the program. You´re welcome.

My other selection: Vintage Coty L´Aimant.  This is a ultra-classic, fizzy aldehyde, perfect in the heat of a Midwestern summer. It´s complex but unfussy and it keeps its cool while other, more modern fragrances are losing it in the blast furnace of 90F temps.   I read somewhere that this was Coty´s answer to Chanel No 5 and I can certainly see that – but L´Aimant is a bit more charming in its fizziness, like  – okay, here´s what it´s like:  you really want an icy-cold root beer, but all your gal-pals are swanning around with martinis and you don´t want to look like a dork.  So you order a martini – but lo! and behold….it tastes just. like. that icy-cold rootbeer.  Whoo-hoo!  Eat that cake and have it, too, bay-bee!

Vintage ONLY, mind you.  The current iteration smells like gingerale and cat piss and it makes horses sneeze, not the best thing when you´re smooching a 2000-lb Percheron.  So stick with the vintage – they like the vintage.

Lee: I’ve already said it – I’m wearing Sel de Vetiver and Geranium pour Monsieur most of all (with a splash of Nicolai’s Eau Exotique, some Eau de Guerlain and a little dibble of Declaration – but I’m not allowed to mention those as I have to stick to two, right?). {March: yeah, Lee, because we are all about following the rules here at the Posse.}  Anyways, Sel de Vetiver cuts through the stinky sweatbomb I become in heat to make me refined and sparkling, like moisture on the side of an iced drink. Make mine a mojito, wouldja? Vetiver, cardamom, grapefruit, salt. Exquisite. And Geranium pour Monsieur – you doubting Thomases, naysayers and gloommongerers are missing out. It’s genius how this turns from mint and geranium bright but austere cleanliness to a musk tinged damp incense. That’s all there is to say on the matter. And March – notice how I’m keeping things short nowadays.

March:  I’m going with Ormonde Jayne Champaca, which I’ve been wearing the heck out of this summer (neroli, pink pepper, bamboo, champaca, freesia, basmati, myrrh, green tea, musk) and probably at this point would be on my Desert Island Top 20 list.  OJ Champaca is never wrong, the perfect balance between sweet, spicy, cool and dusky, rice-y without being edible.  Divine.  For my other choice, I’m categorizing:  Dairy Queen scents.  Seriously, it doesn’t always have to be highbrow.  Sometimes, don’t you just want the fragrance equivalent of a Soft-Serv cone with sprinkles?  You know you do.  Summer is perfect for Estee Lauder Bronze Goddess, Coty Sand & Sable, Dior Addict Eau Fraiche, or (high-concept lowbrow) Creed Virgin Island Water.

Nava: One of my selections is an automatic: Philosophy Pure Grace. This is my default, no brainer, non-nausea, non headache inducing summer stand-by and for me, it is enduring and timeless. My skin seems to be pulling a lot of orange blossom out of it these days, and I’m not even sure if orange blossom is in it. Must be the residue of my other current summer fave, Dior Escale à  Portofino. So far this summer, orange blossom and almond are standouts that I can’t seem to get enough of, despite the fact that I’ve been missing high summer on the Beltway.  Even my kitschy summer favorites, Creed Virgin Island Water among them, haven’t gotten any love so far. Bond No. 9 Coney Island didn’t make the trip, but I miss it terribly since I’m dealing with the bona-fide stench of garbage courtesy of a local city workers strike. And it reeks far worse than the actual Coney Island ever did.

Patty: (nursing a pint of Guinness, surrounded by shopping bags from Harrods) “Eh?”

For other Top Ten lists, check out Now Smell This, Perfume-Smellin’ Things, Bois de Jasmin and Grain de Musc.