Summer – Juliana Waiheke Dreams

It is the summer perfume slump.  Not much exciting in the way of new releases, and very little ambition to put on perfume.  It’s 100 in Denver this week, my AC is on the fritz in the upstairs, and of course every AC service company is booked until next week. I am roasting at night when I sleep.

Juliana Parfums Waiheke Dreams

So I grabbed something summery – one of the last 2016 Art and Olfaction Award nominees that I just got, Juliana Parfums Waiheke Dreams.  A New Zealand perfume company, Waiheke Dreams has notes listed of hokey pokey, praline, pina colada, New Zealand summer fruits, cherries, strawberry, apples, vanilla, coconut, candy bonbon, Amber, marine accords, seagrass.

I was expecting a fruity mess when I put it on, but it’s not that at all, and it’s not that gourmand’ish.  I’m not even sure how to explain it except it feels like a long, lazy weekend on a very expensive beach – think Cap Juluca in Anguilla.  It’s perfect for the 100-degree days we are having and letting me feel more elegant about the sweating I’m doing.    How is it June got so hot so fast?

Of course in this heat we are painting the trim on my brick house. This seems like such a small job in theory until you start doing it, and then you realize how long and tedious this really is.  I thought I had a guy to paint it, and I hired him to paint the garage, and he just never gave me a bid for the rest of the house. I think he didn’t want to do it.

So my other summer dilemma – how many pairs of sandals are too many? My sister and I had this conversation recently when I fell into a shopping accident involving my fifth pair of new sandals for the year. This seems perfectly reasonable to me somehow. I wear sandals from about March until October.  In October or November I switch to boots.  It makes sense to me to have a large sandal wardrobe.  So how many are too many?

The nice people at Juliana Parfums sent me three carded samples of their lovely fragrance, so we are going to give those away. Just leave a comment to be entered in the drawing.

Winner of the sample grab bag from last week – Lemoncake.  I loooove your user name. Just click on Drop Us a Note at the top, send me an e-mail, remind me of what you won and get me your mailing address. I’ll send you a quick e-mail to let you know I got your e-mail and it didn’t land in a spam filter and then get it on the way to you.  I only check Posse e-mail like once a week, so it can take a few days sometimes to respond there.

  • pats133 says:

    Even though its much cooler here, i still own about 10 pairs of sandals. My feet seem to control my body temperature lol. I’ve been using a lot of Pomelo Paradis here whilst it has been ‘warm’. And i knew was ‘hokey pokey’ was, having had a Kiwi ex some time ago… 🙂

  • Sonia says:

    Love your list. Hope it’s s little cooler now.
    I’d love to try this scent. It been looking for aquatics that are well made. Thank you!! Enjoy your sandals!!

  • PJ says:

    Hokey-pokey? Gotta hear what this is. I believe I’d enjoy smelling like an expensive beach. ?

  • Nemo says:

    What is hokey pokey? I would normally scream and run away from that notes list, but you have my interest piqued 🙂

  • Tatiana says:

    I’m not sure where the line falls between just enough and too many pairs of sandals. I bought four new pairs this year. I own at least a half dozen pairs of flips alone. Then there are my go to, everyday sandals and then there are the embellished, pretty party sandals. My excuse is that I live in CA and when I come home from my mornings at the barn all I want to do is peel off my boots and breeches and wear something cool and comfortable.
    I’m wondering what hokey pokey is or smells like. Need to go ask my Kiwi boss what that is. I have to admit the fragrance notes make me think this is a fruit bomb. Curious…

  • Bastet says:

    I have at least 10 pairs of sandals, if you count flip-flops. Its important to have a variety of different colors, and also a range of casual to dressy!

  • BaptisteBound says:

    I have the disease of more and no amount of sandals is too many in my book! This scent sounds lovely! Thank you for the draw and try to stay as cool as you can!

  • Connie says:

    Oo, please do enter me!
    on the sandal dilemma, I believe I have three pairs at the moment. I don’t think five is too many, but I think five in a year might be a bit overdoing it 😉
    Of course, it all depends on how much wear you get out of them

  • Koyel says:

    I don’t specifically have this problem with sandals, but I do with shoes in general. I think my limit is when I run out of places to put them, even with an eight-level-high shoe rack.

  • Meeee. It’s been 105+ out here and just augh.

  • Jennie says:

    I would love to try a New Zealand fragrance – there aren’t too many of them as far as I know. Hokey pokey is a New Zealand version of honeycomb toffee. It’s a popular flavour in NZ icecream. And sandals …. well, as one who lives in a sub-tropical climate I can tell you that you can never have too many of them, but you do need to start culling them when the weather is so humid they start growing mould (eeewwwwhhhh).

  • Ann says:

    Amen, Patty! What is up with these 90-plus temps that we usually don’t have to put up with until July? It scares me to think what July and August will be like — yikes! Anyhoo, think cool thoughts and I hope your A/C gets fixed quickly — hang in there!

  • odonata9 says:

    This sounds like something I would love – thanks for the draw. And I was just asking myself the same question the other day (though mine involves flip flops as well). I live in San Diego and wear them daily from May to October at least. But even for that amount of time, I think I have way too many. At least they aren’t super expensive ones (except for those $100 Danskos I bought a few weeks ago!). Ah well.

  • Civet says:

    Sounds fascinating, and I’d love to try it! Sandals take up little room in the closet or in suitcases, so you’d have to have scores of pairs to have too many.

  • Neva says:

    Considering the number of months you are wearing sandals, there are never too many. I’d say one pair for each month is allright. Some must be flat, some with heels, the basic colors must be covered in both versions…hmmm…
    The notes of Waiheke Dreams sound like a big fruit cake but I’m curious how the last three fit in: amber, marine accords, seagrass. I bet they make it beachy. Thanks for the draw.

  • mals86 says:

    Was just in Denver yesterday! Waving! (Flew there from Dulles to drop Gaze off at the AF Academy for their summer session… he just finished weeks at West Point and Annapolis, trying to make decisions for college.) Anyway, it was Ungodly Hot there. I hope he doesn’t fry.

    Now I am in Honolulu 😀 and loving the whole summer scent thing in this humidity. Just bought a cheapie made-in-Hawaii plumeria body spray for $10 and it’s nice. It’s like Sand and Sable Lite.

    Might have to check out the NZ frags. The CEO will lead another study-abroad trip there next December, and I can send him to get me samples…

  • Maureen says:

    You can never have too many sandals, as long as they are comfortable. I even love my high heeled ones , just cannot wear them as long as I used too. I cannot imagine what this fragrance is like, but I’d love to experience it. Thanks for the draw, and please enter me.

  • Fleurious says:

    I am a sandals to boots gal as well.I wear my sandals until autumn has truly arrived and then I LOVE pulling out my boots and jackets. There are so many types of sandals (and boots): high, low, casual, dressy. The same with boots. Also, at my age I appreciate shoes as the ultimate accessory. Budget and storage are the only issue.

  • This is going to be one for the books, this summer is! Already the southwest is basting in the oven with SoCal not far behind. Ugh. Sounds like you found the perfect heat cure. This sounds so interesting because I can’t even imagine what it smells like, given the notes. LOVE stuff like that!

  • HeidiC says:

    I’m not sure “too many” belongs in the same sentence with “sandals”!

  • Brooke says:

    This sounds like everything I love-including but not limited to hokey pokey! Please enter me in the draw!

  • Tiara says:

    The note list is so fruity that I’m shocked it isn’t but what the heck is hokey pokey? I know there is Hokey Pokey candy (corn syrup, sugar and baking soda) and a dance called Hokey Pokey but what would be added to perfume that’s called hokey pokey? Not too fruity, not gourmand’ish, includes hokey pokey and feels like a long, lazy weekend on a very expensive beach. I’m in!

  • Tora says:

    A perfume you recommend for the heat is a must try here in Orlando, where it is like a steamy oven until October. I wear sandals all year round, so my closet floor is full of them!! Other fragrances that work well in the heat (for me) are Profumum Roma Battito d’Ali, Imaginary Autors Yesterday Haze, Tom Ford Neroli Portofino Forte, Atelier Grand Neroli, Vero Profumo Rubj VdE, Bruno Acampora Musc, Teo Cabanel Lace Garden, and La Parfumerie Moderne Annees Folles.

  • spring_pansy says:

    I love sandals and flips. I guess it’s too many when you don’t have room for more. Please enter me in the draw. This sounds lovely. I’m still on the lookout for a favorite summer fruity fragrance. Thanks!

  • Ellen M says:

    How many pairs of sandals do you need? As many as you want. I really don’t have a summer fragrance, so maybe this is it.

  • mikasminion says:

    Summertime, why do people love it so much? I suppose that if I did the vacation thing it might be nice (to go someplace cool). So far this year even the things I like about early summer have been a bust: the three watermelons I have purchased have all been flavorless atrocities and the sweet corn has been a starchy joke and priced entirely too high. Can’t go outside for the huge swarms of mosquitoes because both neighbors have water-catching trash piles in their yards (mosquito dunks aren’t that expensive so there’s no excuse). I’m getting carried away, aren’t I?
    In the interest of not being a complete grump, I am enjoying wearing my less serious scents such as the shampoo-y fruits and floral aquatics. I’m glad you found another such to add to my sample list and I hear you on the trim painting. I did that two years ago and hope to find some sucker to hire if I ever need the job done again.
    There is no such thing as too many sandals. They are smaller than boots, so take up less room and can be collected in much larger quantities. They also start to look manky sooner, so the wear should be spread out over more pairs.

    • spring_pansy says:

      Hi MikasMinion,
      I’d love to know some of the shampoo-y fruits that you like. Always looking for good ones like that for summer…
      Thanks.

      • spring_pansy says:

        And by the way, what’s hokey pokey? In a perfume. I know the dance!

        • spring_pansy says:

          Oops – that question was not necessarily directed at you, Mikas!

        • poodle says:

          I’m pretty sure hokey-pokey is a candy. I think it’s made by carmelizing sugar and water and maybe something else, and then adding baking soda which makes it foam up. You pour it out quickly onto a sheet and it hardens rather fast. It’s crunchy and looks pretty cool because of all the air bubbles in it.

          • spring_pansy says:

            Thanks, Poodle – I finally googled it. Hokey Pokey Ice Cream, too – I need some of that!

      • mikasminion says:

        Took me forever to answer. Sorry. To me, the fruitier Inekes (Angel’s Trumpet, Scarlet Larkspur, and to a lesser extent Evening Edged in Gold) are great for summer. I also have a secret soft spot for Woman in Yellow and Oiseau Papillon, even though the latter is really for a much younger audience and hard to find these days. I’m sure I have more, but right now those are the ones I can think of. They’re all clean-feeling and fresh but not sticky-sugary or too 90’s Bath & Body Works.

        • spring_pansy says:

          Fun! Thank you for the list – I haven’t tried any of those. I’ll keep them in mind when ordering samples.

  • Patchgirl says:

    Too many is in the eye of the beholder! I live in SoCal so sandals are pretty much a year round reality. Our variety is rubber flip flops for around the house, all the way up to fancy Prada strappy ones for a night out.
    I’d love to sample. It’s hot here too, and the note list sounds like a yummy tropical drink!

  • Luanne Teall says:

    You have too many sandals when you there aren’t enough days in the year to wear them. You aren’t there yet. I would love to win that perfume, it sounds beautiful.