A couple of weeks ago I asked about linden fragrance recommendations, and y’all delivered! Here’s the first three, which I got from Surrender to Chance, and other samples are coming via … somewhere (Scent Splits, maybe?) It’s been like an oven here – no rain, temps in the 90s, humidity in the single digits. We’re all under a fire watch but so far, so good. Anyway, this has been a great time to sniff summery scents. Here are my thoughts on these fragrances, with blurbage/notes cribbed from the StC site:
Imaginary Authors Soft Lawn was released in 2012 and updated in 2021 with the same notes, but the green of the lawn was smoothed and softened. Notes: Linden blossom, laurel, ivy leaves, vetiver, oakmoss, fresh tennis balls, clay court.
So, this one is delightful, if not exactly linden. It paints a picture (okay, tells a story) about a particular day / place in time on the clay courts, with everything showing up at the same time on me, including a little ziiiing of something fresh/rubbery. The fragrance has breadth but not depth — no real development after the first 5 minutes, and it’s more or less gone after a couple of hours. Fun, though, and a great summer scent.
Air & Weather Linden is a unisex floral green fragrance launched in 2023. Julia Crowe is the nose behind this fragrance. Notes of neroli, linden blossom, honey, tuberose, wood, resin and balsam.
Huh. It starts off with a sharpish burst that I can’t quite figure out based on those notes – more tart citrus than neroli. To me, it drifts through the linden phase really fast – that furry, funky sweetness – and then settles into honey, neroli and balsam. This is pretty much what I’m smelling after the first 20 minutes, and it lasts surprisingly well. Don’t get me wrong, that’s a compelling trio of notes with the balsam dialing down the sweetness, but for a fragrance literally named linden, not so much on me. Another great summer pick-me-up though.
Marc-Antoine Barrios Tilia is a 2024 release. Created by Quentin Bisch, it has notes of linden blossom, jasmine, broom, heliotrope, vetiver, orange blossom, ambrofix and georgywood.
When I sprayed this, my first thought was whoa … okay, now we’re talking. It has that enveloping richness and an almost oily, vegetal sweetness that I associate with standing under a linden tree. Apparently this is a polarizing scent, and I can see why. Definitely the most linden-like of the three, an almost photorealistic linden fragrance. I can pick out a bit of those individual notes if I look for them, but if I stop looking for them and just lean into it: the full linden-tree experience of blossoms and leaves and earth and shade. This clearly has a higher percentage of perfume oils judging by the gloss on my skin, so exercise caution when spraying. I maybe wouldn’t douse myself in this before work, but it is stunning.
images via Pexels
Isn’t Tilia GLORIOUS? I really should save for a bottle. I’ve already gone through two biggish samples.
It’s currently 88% humidity & 30c (86f) at 11pm here in the middle of the UK. We aren’t even in the red alert heat warning that Cinnamon referred to.
Poor Jarvis, he’s black & has a poodleish woolly coat. We keep spraying him, rubbing it in & putting a fan on him. I even put my neck fan on him. He wasn’t keen round his neck but was happy with it round his waist cooling his belly.
It IS glorious. It’s wildly expensive, I assume, based on the decant, but I’m going to need more … your weather is terrible! It’s hot here but I have A/C so Coco and I are fine. In the past I’ve done all the things you mentioned to keep Jarvis cool. They also make … refrigerated dog mats? Not sure what they’re called. Coco would sprawl out on the nice cool tile in the casita. I still put ice in her water bowl since the kitchen is the hottest part of our house.
He won’t lie on anything I don’t! He is a Velcro dog. Hands to me touching his human if I’m not moving, even then he’s my shadow & trip hazard.
As for Tilia, the cheapest I can find is £103.47 & £172.45 on My-Origines. They don’t ship to the US though.
I’m going to keep poking around for that Tilia, and thank you!
As usual, you create total lemmings..
Hey, you said you were linden-curious!
I’m so happy to read your review of IA Soft Lawn! I was charmed by it the first time I sniffed a sample, and I added it to my wish list immediately. Tilia sounds beautiful, too. I can’t resist a refreshing green floral in summer.
Hey, today I splashed on some Cristalle Eau Verte and thought of you, scent twin! Soft Lawn is delightful, I need a bigger decant, I think.
I have a visceral dislike for Imaginary Authors. Just don’t like the concept.
If I could send you some of our humidity I definitely would. 83% this morning. I feel wooly brained. We’re on a red warning for heat today and tomorrow (highest level). I don’t think I’ve ever experienced that while living in this country.
The Marc -Antione Barrios sounds intriguing.
Good luck in that heat — stay hydrated! Keep the dog hydrated too! Mine hates the heat, they can’t take their fur coats off…
No, if only they could unzip their jackets…
I had never heard of Marc-Antoine Barrois. I like your description of Tilia and will include it in a sample order that I have been putting together. I will add Aldebaran by him too. It seems to be a love-hate perfume and what people smell is all over the place.
Oh, and instead of yelling at you for being an enabler, I’ll thank you. The bottle of Jo Malone Jasmine Sambac & Marigold that I ordered came in this weekend. 🙂
Yay!!!! Do you like it? I hope you like it! In fact, I think I’m going to spray some on for bedtime in a bit. It’s cooled off outside and I have the front door open and my potted jasmine is perfuming the living room. <3
I did sample it first and yes, I like it very much! There’s something about jasmine perfumes that really work for me in the summer. Jasmine and citrus is great, but with marigold, it’s the chef’s kiss! What a way to fall asleep – the perfume and the living blossom!!!
Linden always smells of warm weather relaxation to me – and the Barrios Tilia sounds like it smells of an afternoon on ny porch in high summer!!!
That seems like an excellent comparison. I’ll throw in the scent of mown grass which I love, and a burbling fountain…
OMG!!! Are you serious?
That sounds like perfection
Wait, no! What I meant was, to capture your PORCH we’d need to add those things!