Memorial Day Weekend is approaching, and with is, the unofficial beginning of the summer season. The weather is getting quite warm, the sun is shining a lot more (and a lot longer), and hopefully we're all starting to spend a lot more time outside.
As the weather turns to heat and humidity, it's just about time to swap out those fall and winter fragrances, and unbox all the best of your "freshies" -- the citrus-heavy scents, the aquatics, the fruit-centric, anything that falls into the category of "light and fresh."
The trouble there, of course, is that lighter fragrances tends to have much weaker projection and longevity. Summer is a tough time for trying to find scents that last. You spend more time outside, and the warm breeze keeps you from projecting. It gets hotter and more humid, so you sweat, and your fragrance gets diluted.
(Maybe this is why the dark and rich scents that feature heavy oud and incense oils originated in places where the weather is always hot. Maybe they were onto something, those Arabian perfumers.)
That's why I've made this list: summer scents that actually project and don't fade away after 2-3 hours.
Acqua di Parma: Colonia (1916)
You want citrusy freshness, but you also want something with depth and staying power, and this is the perfect blend. An Italian barbershop-style scent with plenty of warm lavender, earthy vetiver, musk, amber, and sandalwood, Colonia tops this off with a fresh spray of Sicilian citrus. It's bright, it permeates the air, it's very classy and versatile, and best of all, it lasts all day.
Christian Dior: Eau Sauvage (1966)
Another barbershop-style fragrance in the same vein as Acqua di Parma's Colonia, the classic Eau Sauvage takes moss, vetiver, musk, and patchouli, tops it with some green-smelling spices like basil and rosemary, then tops the whole thing off with lemon and bergamot citrus notes. The citrus is really "zingy" and the whole fresh concoction is gorgeous and refreshing. Plenty of projection, plenty of staying power.
Bvlgari: Aqva Amara (2014)
The phrase "aqua amara" means "bitter water," and so Bvlgari has taken "watery notes" and mixed them with the freshness of orange and neroli. Then they've turned the whole thing a bit dark by adding patchouli in the base. It's that patchouli that gives it good projection and staying power, though, so the whole thing works very well together, especially if you like the smell of oranges in the summer.
Creed: Green Irish Tweed (1985)
Before there was Cool Water by Davidoff, there was Creed's Green Irish Tweed. It's light, fresh, and energetic without using heavy citrus or aquatic accords. Instead, there's lemon verbena mixed with light violet and iris notes, anchored with sandalwood and ambergris, with a hint of fresh mint.
It's quite pricey (100ml goes for nearly $400), and so I recommend using the extremely well-crafted The Irish Gentleman clone by Alexandria Fragrances. If there are differences between the two scents, they are barely noticeable (Irish Gentleman is the only clone I know of that gets the "mint" note right) and the Alexandria version definitely has more projection and longevity at about an eighth of the cost.
Alexandria Fragrances: Hawaii Volcano (2017)
Speaking of Alexandria Fragrances, no summer collection would be complete without this fantastic clone of Creed's Virgin Island Water. This fragrance is loaded with authentic fresh lime and coconut, which is actually quite a nice combination when it actually smells real and not like a car air freshener's version of a Pina Colada. The scent also features bergamot, orange, ylang-ylang, and musk for some depth. Expect to get 10-12 hours of performance out of this beast.
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