How To Pick The Perfect Summer Scent

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With summer in its way other fragrances might be more appropriate than the ones you having been wearing during wintertime. It can be a good moment to start wearing other more suited summer fragrances like tropical florals, refreshing citrus or beach fragrances.

Try exotic flowers

Try fragrances with exotic flowers like ylang ylang, tiare, tuberose or fragrances with milky coconut undertones. The combination of tuberose and coconut can be found in Killian Beyond Love. Another more creamy tuberose is the budget friendly but discontinued Madonna Truth or Dare. The recently released Dusita Le Douceur de Siam is a beautiful tropical creamy rose ylang ylang fragrance and very well suited for summer. Tiare and coconut can be found in the recently discontinued but still available Guerlain Terracotta Le Parfum, Estée Lauder Bronze Goddess and Nicolai Createur Juste Un Reve.

Freshen up with citrus 

Another good choice is to freshen up on hotter days with fragrances which contain lemon, neroli or bergamot.  Heeley Oranges and Lemons Say The Bells of St. Clements, the natural and organic April Aromatics Ray of Light or the longer lasting Le Galion Whip are excellent choices if you like lemon in a fragrance. The refreshing Annick Goutal Neroli Cologne or Yves Rocher Secrets d’Essences Neroli are good choices when you are looking for a neroli scent. The zesty green Martin Marghiela Untitled L’Eau is my personal favorite for those very hot days with notes of lemon, mint and mandarin.

Go to the beach

Salty fragrances like Laboratorio Olfattivo Salina give the impression of being at the seaside which can be very suited on those warmer days. If you like the scent of sun lotion you can choose Nicolai Createur Musc Monoi which was inspired by the scent of Ambre Solaire sunscreen lotion.

Do you have favorite summer fragrances? Which one is your favorite?

Further reading: read my reviews of Laboratorio Olfattivo Salina, Madonna Truth or Dare.

Disclaimer: all fragrances mentioned in this article were my own acquisition, all photographs made by Esperessence

Do you have favorite summer fragrances? Which one is your favorite?

Perfume Review and Budget Pick of the Month: Yves Rocher Secrets d’Essences Rose Oud

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Notes: Rose, Rose Damascena, Oud, Cistus Labdanum, Cumin

Rose Oud was created  in 2016 by perfumer Annick Menardo who made Lolita Lempicka Eau de Parfum, Amouage Opus X and many other excellent fragrances. This woody fragrance is an adult, grown up and very dark red velvet rose. She had lead a bit of a turbulent troubled life and lost her innocence. Its darkness with boozy fruity aspects are quite surprising. Especially for a Yves Rocher fragrance. Some compared Rose Oud online to Serge Lutens Feminite du Bois. I can relate to the boozy plum soaked in alcohol part which both have in common but Rose Oud is much more floral in my opinion. I get cinnamon as well as part of the boozy plums.  A veil remains of slightly brighter dusty rose as a base. Honestly Rose Oud is slightly too dark for my taste, personally I prefer lighter roses. I wonder how this fragrance will sell as it smells much more like a niche fragrance compared to other Yves Rocher fragrances.

 

What can Rose Oud do for you?

What does it do? If might be a good scent for those who are dealing with hardships in their lives for example when having to make complicated personal financial decisions, dealing with lawsuits, losing their jobs, losing a loved one or at the end of a relationship. To go through this process and make the best of it as there will be light again. It helps to loose one’s innocence and maybe even naivity when one needs too when dealing with life challenges as we all encounter in our lives. I could have used this scent for this purpose while going through very rough times in my life.

Yves Rocher Secrets d’Essences Collection 

Rose Oud is part of the Yves Rocher Secrets d’Essences Collection which focuses on raw materials in perfumery like vanilla, jasmine, neroli, iris and rose. All of the fragrances come with excellent accompanying body products except Rose Oud. Yves Rocher Secrets d’Essences Collection was launched in 2005 with Voile d’Ambre. Two fragrances from this line have sadly been discontinued Rose Absolue and Iris Noir. I have to admit I bought all fragrances from this line.  The scents are not multilayered but very well made for a good price. Who doesn’t want that?

All Secrets d’Essences fragrances were created by well known perfumers like Olivier Cresp, also creator of Thierry Mugler Angel and Jacques Cavallier. He made Issey Miyake L’Eau d’Issey as well. The beautiful bottle was designed by Thierry de Baschmakoff who designed bottles for Bvlgari, The Different Company and many other perfume houses.  As you can see, quite some effort has been put into producing a high quality perfume line by Yves Rocher.

Why did I pick Rose Oud as Budget Pick of the Month?

Rose Oud is excellent value for money. If scented Rose Oud blindly one would believe it to be a fragrance sold at Harrod’s or the Dutch department store Bijenkorf for 10 times if not more its price. It is a marvelous gift or if you are on a limited budget (or both). The fragrance leans towards feminine but can be worn by men and women.

I recommend anyone who likes rose/Oud, darker roses or even boozy fragrances to try this fragrance as soon as possible.  No one ever knows when Yves Rocher will discontinue a fragrance as they have done so very often in the past. I bought my bottle blindly and recently ordered another bottle as I gave one away.

Bottom line: buy a bottle or test the fragrance while it is still easily available for a reasonable price.

Rose Oud in a few words: dark, troubled, turbulent, lost her innocence

Have you tried any fragrance of the Secrets d’Essences Collection? Do you have a favorite one?

Price: 55 euro for 50 ml (but it is frequently on sale, I bought mine for 27,50 euro online)

All photographs were made by Esperessence, Rose on photograph: Rosa Amor, In a few words was inspired by the excellent perfume blog The Scented Hound.

 

Slow down with scent: L’Artisan Parfumeur Traversee du Bospore

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Traversee du Bospore was inspired by a trip to Istanbul in 2010 by French perfumer Bertrand Duchaufour. The notes of sugared sweet apple, Turkish delight and very soft dusted powder, almonds and vanilla make it a rather original but well balanced easy to wear fragrance. To my surprise I found it to be very relaxing like a sunny beach holiday on a luxurious resort with nothing to do but read in the sun and enjoy the sound of the sea. I had several of those holidays years ago in Turkey and quite enjoyed them.

The fragrance opens with a sweet Turkish apple tea note dusted with a bit of cinnamon. I remember this tea being served in Turkish shops to tourists. The apple is slightly covered with powdery sugar and smells more like apple softly baked in butter with sugar than fresh green apple. The Turkish apple tea note is mixed with Turkish delight, a very sweet note as well. Both are quite original to use as top notes. What I really like about this fragrance is its originality by using these notes while still remaining very wearable.

Traversee du Bospore is the interpretation of Turkish (Eastern) scents by a Western perfumer which clearly shows he used notes he smelled as a visitor/tourist the Turkish delight, leather, apple tea. Bertrand Duchaufour did not notes more commonly used in an oriental fragrances by Western perfumers like Rose/Oud combinations, more ambery or resins notes.

While I recall reading online some people having problems with its sweetness to me it had the right amount. I get almond notes as well after some minutes although it is supposed to smell like pistachio nuts. The base smells of vanilla with some sweetness probably of the apple and Turkish Delight.

What does it do? I find the fragrance to be very relaxing and I use it to slow down or unwind. My bottle recently arrived but I have used it quite often as I really enjoy wearing it. I have to admit I bought this bottle without smelling it first and it was love at first sniff.

Notes: Apple, pomegranate, tulip, iris, leather, saffron, Turkish delight accord (rose and pistacchio), vanilla, musks.

Origin of sample: my own acquisition, tested on skin. Photograph: made by Esperessence

The title was inspired by photographer Christina Greve Slow down with stills Hashtag.

Have you smelled Traversee du Bospore? Do you like it?

 

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