Yesssss!  It’s SUMMAH!

I know a lot of folks hate summer, hiding out in their AC until the first nip of autumn arrives.  Not Musette.  I love the whole ‘so hot you can’t move’, louche, laissez-faire feeling of a Midwestern summer, as the tomatoes ripen and the sunflowers hit shoulder-height and the blood runs just under the skin,instead of having to drop deep into your core, like it does in deep winter,  just to keep you alive.

On the hottest days I get mah Freak on.  Where others might long for cool citruses and vetivers, my soul cries out for Amouage Tribute Attar.  Hey, go big or go home!  Of course, the Amouage line is an Omani house (Royal, don’tchaknow) – and those folks know a thing or two about perfume in extreme heat.  Tribute Attar comes into full bloom right about the 90F mark.  That raspy smoke accord that can be somewhat distracting in cooler weather morphs into this ashes of roses tone and the rose oil melds into your skin and the whole thing becomes a silken,languid lounge on the pavillion, watching sunlight play on the splashing water in the fountain.  If they made a body cream of this attar I would have to kill myself.  Christopher, don’t do it, I beg of you! (okay…do it!  Just. Do. It.)

Carnal Flower.    This is another beauty that just blooms on hot summer days  but you know what?  In extreme heat the Body Butter (Beurre Exquise) is even mo’ bettah!  Something about the perfume goes a little scratchy in the summertime but that butter… yum!  It’s been reformulated so it doesn’t separate anymore – it’s a smooth slickery-slide of hot-flower goodness, with that beautiful stab of eucalyptus winding through it.  I am unrepentant about wearing it in high heat and you know what?  Folks seem to love it.  Either that or they’re too terrified to complain.  I wore it yesterday.  It was 96F.  Gorgeous!

Tom says:

We in Los Angeles are having out usual wild swings between chilly onshore flow and arid Santa Anas, with a week or so of humidity to make it interesting.  So my two summer faves have been from the vault:

Acqua di Parma (the original, whatever they’re calling it these days) is a go-to for summer weather.  A lovely citrus floral with a clean drydown that makes me feel crisp and fresh in the worst of summer.

The other that I’ve found myself reaching for is Montale Musk to Musk.  It’s light touch of spicy woods and warm oud that whispers.  I’m starting to run low on this one, it’s been in such heavy rotation.

From the lovely Ann:
For the never-ending heat wave that this summer is turning out to be, I’m dusting off something old and pulling out something new (well, not THAT new, but newish, at least to me).
With all the talk this spring of the royal wedding scent,
Illuminum’s White Gardenia Petals, several comments bubbled up about its resemblance to Prescriptives’ Calyx. I loved the heck out of Calyx in the late ’80s but over the years sort of forgot about it. So when I sniffed the Illuminum, I definitely thought it could be Calyx’s quieter, more reserved younger sister. And although I liked the WGP a lot (but not enough to fall full bottle for), it did serve to re-ignite my love for Calyx and I made haste to get some in my hot little hands.
My second summer love is Le Labo’s Tubereuse 40. As others have said before, it really is sunshine in a bottle. There’s just something about it that tickles my nose, my mood and my fancy. It makes me happy, and, silly as it might sound, near-giddy. And all with nary a prescription drug in sight. Now if it weren’t for that hefty price tag and that pesky NYC exclusivity business, this baby would be mine in a heartbeat.

From Patty:

I am the most boring favorite summer scent person in the world.  I pick the same things over and over.  Hermessence Osmanthe Yunnan, Rose Ikebana, along with Rosine’s Zeste d’Rose and Jo Malone Lime Basil and Mandarin. The last one used to not be on my list, even though I’ve had it in my drawer for years. I finally noted it was in a Top Ten List from Perfumes: The Guide, so I tried it, and it’s really pretty freaking great.

From Nava:

Patty thinks she’s boring; she’s got company. Another Rose Ikebana fan here, albeit there ain’t much left in the bottle; Philosophy’s Enternal Grace has replaced Pure Grace this summer, because…I know, I know, you’re sick and tired of hearing about it. And bringing up the rear is Fresh Brown Sugar. That’s all I can tolerate; it’s been a freakin’ scorcher here in the Great White North!

photo: DBsDesigns “pooling around”

for more Top Ten Summer picks check out  Now Smell This, Perfume Smellin’ Things, Bois de Jasmin & Grain de Musc.

Unfinished Bizness from March — winner of the DSH draw is …. Jennifer!   I emailed you.   Winner of the Tauer post I will put up in that post (and close comments.)  Also, speaking of scents for men (and for those of us who like to smell like men) …. CB I Hate Perfume has some excellent news for those of us who mourned the loss of Cumming…!

Okay, on to today’s review…

By Tom

I often get questions from friends about what they should get for their guys, usually with a caveat that the guy in question really doesn’t wear cologne so it can’t be something that’s too strong.  It also should be something that’s readily available and not too expensive, so if he decides to replace it when he runs out the poor dear isn’t upset when he sees that you dropped $200 at Saks on him while he got your present at Home Depot.  Which is very nice of you.  I would have told him exactly where to put that garden gnome and perhaps offer to assist, but that is perhaps why I am alone…

In any case, here are five that are delightful, available readily at places on the internets or Sephora, and not bank breakers.

Acqua di Parma Colonia is a beautiful citrus/lavender number with hints of rose and sage and a lovely woody drydown.  At $83 for 1.7 oz it’s one of the more expensive ones in this post, but the quality of the ingredients and general luxe-ness makes it a bargain.  It looks and smells like $283.  Cary Grant wore it.  Need I say more?

Dior Eau Sauvage is a close second.  It was created in the 60′s but there’s nothing dated about it; it’s as fresh and modern as its sparking lemon/petigrain opening.  There is something about this one that just smells “right” in a way that even a man who insists that he does not and would never wear cologne couldn’t resist.  At $52 for 1.7 oz it’s also a bargain.  I’ve personally always wanted one of those mammoth bottles of this…

Guerlain Vetiver is the Gold Standard reference for what a vetiver should be.  Not too grassy, not too rooty, and skillfully married to citrus, spice and pepper.  Lovely, but I do have a warning: I got this for a friend’s husband and he managed to wake her from a sound sleep by his over-application of it.  From a splash.  If he’s like that you might want to get the smallest bottle or apply for him.  $71 for 2.5 oz.

Bvlgari Black is for your more adventurous man.  Smoky tea with a hint of rubber and leather in a bottle that looks like a mag wheel and low-profile tire.  It could have been tragically silly, but it’s a  masterpiece.  It’s also $74 for 2.5 oz.

Bvlgari Green Tea skates the other side of the rink.  Crisp citrus and refreshing green tea mixed with discrete spices and dry woods make this the cologne equivalent of a shirt fresh from the cleaners.  On hot days you’ll be poaching it.  $60 for 1.33 oz.

The prices quoted are from Sephora, which I chose because I’m sure that there’s one near you even if your current address is somewhere in orbit.  I daresay that you can do better price-wise at discounters or on the internets.  I know I did.

Disclosure: three of these I own currently purchased from various sources, the other two I have owned in the past and am remembering.

Until last week I’d probably spent less time and attention on Acqua di Parma´s Blu Mediterraneo line than on picking the chipped polish off my nails. I tried Fico di Amalfi on my fig jag and found it nice enough, but anything that sounds like “fecal” when you say it isn´t on the top of my list, no matter how dumb my thinking is. Yet there I was recently in our newly opened, kinda mediocre Bluemercury (seriously, do the mediocrity fairies live here in the area? Are they employed by the CIA in Langley? What.is.the.problem.with.our.retail?) because I wanted to re-smell L´Artisan Vanilia based on its review in The Guide. And I am sure that, reading those words, there are a number of you who wish you had a tiny button you could push that would give me a short, sharp electrical shock through my computer keyboard so I´d shut up about The Guide and never mention it again, but honestly I feel like I need to give credit for an inspiration where it´s due.

Anyway, shutting down my usual sidewinding mental amble through the weedy hills of my mind and getting to the point, next to their pitiful L´Artisan collection was the Blu Mediterraneo, which I know some of you think is kind of heinous-looking but to me appears intended to be a spa-brand product extension of the AdP line – clean and calm and simply packaged. Actually, I think the bright colors and blue bottles are cheery. In the teeth of the heat that day (high 90s, matching humidity, air quality index = unhealthy), I couldn´t face the L´Artisan, so I gave this line a go instead.

Fico di Amalfi – bergamot, grapefruit, lemon, orange, tangerine, cedar leaves, jasmine, Rose/pink pepper, fig nectar, cedarwood, fig wood, guaiac wood. A dry, herbal/woody fig, more about the wind through the grove than the fruit, and totally absent that sweet coconut smell you sometimes get with fig sometimes. Although I don´t like it as much as, say, Philosykos, my appreciation for its subtleties has grown the longer I sniff its figgy kin. The woodiness is smokier and more nuanced than I’d given it credit for.

Arancia Di Capri – probably the least interesting to me, although it´s fine. A pleasant citrus (orange, mandarin, lemon, grapefruit) with a hint of petitgrain and a little musk. Worth trying if you like orange blossom-type fragrances.

Mirto Di Panarea – myrtle, bergamot, Calabrian lemon, sweet orange, basil, jasmine, rose, green lilac, sea accord, blackcurrant, lentisc, juniper, cedarwood, amber. The sleeper of the bunch — a lilting, dry cocktail of a summer scent, woody and faintly sweet, like the breeze coming off the sea and across the small sunny Mediterranean garden to reach you. Unisex, tilting interestingly (interesting to me, anyway) in reverse order from the slightly more masculine woodiness of the opening to the softer citrus and florals, still with plenty of woody herbs to ground it. Don’t let that “sea accord” scare you, I don’t get anything that isn’t delightful. It made me smile. I want some more.

Mandorlo Di Sicilia – bergamot, star anise, jasmine, white peach, green almond, coffee, cedarwood, white musk, vanilla. The gourmand of the bunch, obviously, although lighter than you´d think reading that list. This strikes me as a love-it-or-hate-it, depending on your tolerance for its sweetness. It´s supposed to be almond-scented, but instead was weirdly reminiscent of either sassafras or birch beer. It´s fun to try, but I can´t say I´d want to wear it more than once. It dries down into a pretty musky/gourmand floral that my girls quite liked.

Cipresso Di Toscana – grapefruit, petitgrain, clary sage, basil, rosemary, ferns, lily of the valley, jasmine, coriander, cardamom, woods, pine needles, cypress, oakmoss. My other strong favorite of the bunch. A delicious, straightforward masculine herbal/woody scent that manages to avoid cliche and that I´d borrow in a heartbeat. You know what I love about this? It´s the perfect non-romantic gift scent for some nice man in my life (nephew, brother, friend, dad) – something I´d smell very happily that isn´t laden with a weird ad agenda (I’m rich!! sexxxy!), it looks nice but not too nice (no guy-perfume vibe), not too pedestrian either, yet would be fairly easy to replace if he wanted some more. That´s a harder combination than you´d think.

Trying these all together, I found myself charmed — and reminded that when exploring fragrances, sometimes a lot can be learned from sniffing one line together and nothing else. No, none of them is going to win the Comme des Garcons award for perfume innovation (on second thought: that Mandorlo is pretty strange), at worst they’re merely pleasant, and I´d cheerfully wear the fig, myrtle and cypress scents. Their lasting power isn´t anything to write home about, but somehow that seems right. I think each also comes in a body cream and shower gel, with a couple other ancillary products for particular scents, and now I´m thinking a gel would be pretty fabulous. If you´ve fallen into a summer rut and are looking for something to wear in brutal heat that ends up feeling refreshing, but isn’t a straight-up cologne, these are definitely worth a try. Maybe it’s living in such a status-conscious area, but I am appreciative of a line of fragrance that doesn’t immediately conjure any particular marketing message, highbrow, trendy or otherwise (Chanel! David Yurman! Gwen Stefani!) These say: hey — smell nice,simple, relax, enjoy, and they do so beautifully. At $65 for 2 ozs. of sunshine, I can think of worse ways to spend my money.

March