A few weeks ago in the lunchroom at work, an off-duty drag queen and I swapped perfume insight. Austin — better known as Alexis Campbell Starr and Miss Gay Portland 2013 — said he favors an Adidas cologne during the day. When he transforms into Alexis, he tops the Adidas off with a few sprays of a Playboy fragrance. “I like how they blend,” he said. (I see Alexis in a glamorous Dior, maybe one of the Poisons. We'll talk later.)
Yet again, a drag queen and I see eye to eye. When night falls and I want a perfume with more presence or mystery, I often try to find something that plays off an aspect of the day’s fragrance. That way, whatever’s left of my perfume doesn’t grate with my later choice.
Here are a few of my summer day-to-evening perfume selections:
L’Artisan Parfumeur Ananas Fizz to Jean Patou Colony: Ananas Fizz is an easy choice for a warm day. It’s sheer and playful with pineapple and gentle flowers cooled by vetiver. (And hurray that L’Artisan has resurrected it!) A dab of the pineapple chypre, Colony, is the perfect way to deepen and “sultrify” it for evening. Colony is brutally difficult to get hold of these days, so another route would be to go for a touch of a richer fruity perfume like Byredo Pulp.
Chloé L’Eau de Chloé to Frédéric Malle Une Rose or Parfumerie Générale Corps et Ames: If I hadn’t stumbled on a bottle of L’Eau de Chloé at a thrift shop, chances are I would have turned up my nose at it without even giving it a whiff. What a ridiculous snob I am. L’Eau de Chloé is a buzzy-tannic green rose with an almost vintage vibe, and it wears like fresh mist in the heat. In the evening when you want something more robust, you can play up its rose with something dark but dry like Une Rose. Or, you can punch up L’Eau de Chloé’s greener aspects with Corps et Ames.
Cartier Baiser Volé Eau de Toilette to Caron Alpona or Serge Lutens Un Lys: I do love my Baiser Volé Eau de Toilette in summer. The Eau de Toilette sings of orange, and the deep woody-desiccated orange of Alpona is a good way to turn Baiser Volé serious — but not too serious — for evening. Alternatively, you could play up the fragrance’s lily with a dose of Un Lys. With Un Lys, though, you're injecting a bit of clean musk, innocence, and class that might better match a bar mitzvah than a romantic outing. Of course, if you’re lucky enough to have Baiser Volé parfum on hand you don’t need any further suggestions.
Keiko Mecheri Passiflora to Penhaligon's Amaranthine or Chanel Coco Noir: Passiflora is a cinch for smelling friendly and delicious any day between now and September. Adding a spritz of Amaranthine ups your carnality quotient tenfold. If you fear coming on too strong, choosing Coco Noir riffs off of Passiflora’s fruit and wood with a slightly classier take. I know I’ve ragged on Coco Noir in the past, but in smelling it around town I have to admit I’ve been appreciating it. Sure, Coco Noir is kind of obvious with its fruity-patchouli-oriental vibe, but like the crème caramel you can count on after dinner, it’s obvious in a comforting way.
What about you? Do you have any favorite summer day-to-evening perfume choices?
Note: top image is Greetings from Wildwood by the Sea, N. J. -- Crest Pier, at night, boardwalk at night, at auditorium, beach, at end of Ocean Pier, bathing beach and fishing pier by Boston Public Library at flickr; some rights reserved.
Interesting pairings Angela. I have to admit I don’t see myself doing some of those (the Ananas Fizz combo, this L’Artisan totally doesn’t work for me).
My favourite summer day-to-night perfume is probably LM Parfums Vol d’Hirondelle. I would’ve answered Eau d’Italie Acqua Decima but it’s bright citrus and min freshness seems to be reserved for a daytime use.
The combo I need to try this year is Grand Neroli + AA Mandarine Basilic and Pd’E Eau de Gloire + SL Encens et Lavande.
The Eau de Gloire and Encens Lavande combo seems particularly interesting!
Doesn’t it! Eau de Gloire with its herbal aroma of shrubs, maquis and lavender for a day combined with Ensens et Lavande and its smoky aspect for the nighttime.
You remind me that I’ve been longing for a Diptyque candle in Maquis…
Must get more adventuresome re layering. Don’t have Colony, but I do have minis of Cocktail and Vacances….any suggestions? BTW Angela, apropos of nothing, the day after you posted about classics & Phyllis Diller, the classic tv station here aired a Batman episode featuring Diller in a cleaning lady cameo. I’d forgotten about her ragamuffin persona…such campy fun!
The lilac in Vacances would be a nice prelude to FM En Passant, although I don’t necessarily think of En Passant as a big choice for evening. Cocktail is a zippy chypre and would be great seguing to Rochas Mystere or a big green chypre, I bet.
I’d have loved to see that Batman episode!
Alexis has to wear something with a woody base that’s richer than the “Adidas” during the day, like “Arpege” or Jean Patou “1000”; isn’t the “Playboy” scent too light? When you take that kind of time perfecting an appearance and in the case of the pageant, putting on a performance, you need to top off the effect with a heavy hitting scent, that throws loads of sillage.
…I mean “too light” even layered with the “Adidas”?
I don’t know what the Playboy scent is like, so I can’t comment on that, but I agree 100% that Alexis need SILLAGE!
AG Vanille Exquise (or AC Orange Sanguine) in the morning, Shalimar in the evening.
AG Rose Splendide in the morning and Amouage Epic, Guerlain Rose Nacrée or AC Rose Anonyme in the evening.
Chergui in the morning and Fumerie Turque or Kilian Back to Black in the evening.
Actually, come to think of it, I always consider my morning perfume when I choose what to wear for the evening.
Great suggestions! The Chergui-Fumerie Turque suggestion could almost go either way, too, wit Chergui as the evening scent. I especially love the Vanille Exquise or Orange Sanguine to Shalimar idea.
Yes. Shalimar after the Orange Sanguine sounds good. I haven’t sniffed the Orange Sanguine yet, but I am looking forward to it.
I like the idea of going from fruit to amber-fruit, too. I wish I would have thought of it first!
Gianfranco Ferre’s Bergamotto Marino in the morning, topped off the Malle’s Carnal Flower in the evening. Both feature bergamot, orange blossom and jasmine and the salty, sea-spray vibe of the former doesn’t interfere with the latter by the time night comes around. Lovely.
That sounds fresh and relaxing, like an ideal vacation day combo!
Angela, at first I thought CF would be too much in the summer but what I’ve found is that it needs heat and humidity to ‘bloom’ on the skin, if that makes any sense.
I’ve heard the same thing from others, even though I’ve been too chicken to try it yet. The next hot day that comes along, I’ll give it a try.
I second this, and reading this I realise that I am not the only one mixing CF with other things!
I wish I knew some other good segues into Carnal Flower, too.
I don’t layer perfume as a rule, though I do layer perfume with scented lotion.
The other day however, I did a combination of Un Matin d’Orage, my daytime scent, with Carnal Flower which was put on to impress at a work do. I thought they worked wonderfully well together.
Oh, that’s a good idea! I almost wrote in my last comment that I wish I had a good, lighter tuberose/gardenia prelude to Carnal Flower, and now I realize that Matin d’Orage might be it!
I love that suggestion, will have to try it soon.
I may be going out on a limb with this confession, but sometimes my frags just need a little Va Va Voom for a night out, and one cheap and dirty trick is to add a light spritz of White Linen. For me, I have had success with the WL Va Va Voom addition to citrus fragrances (especially with top notes of lemon, lime, or grapefruit), rose fragrances, and even those with iris top notes (specifically Iris Nobile) when I was looking for sillage and other accessories to compliment an insipid gala meal, mixed finery, and the dubious relationship between the event and the purpose of the organization raising the funds…
No way! And yet–way! I have a mini of White Linen on my dresser right now. I’m going to try layering it over something nice but dowdy and see what vavoom it adds. That’s so funny. I can’t wait to see what it does.
Well? How did it go? You do have to be judicious in how much White Linen you use–or you will just end up with, well, White Linen. But I was trying to turn up the volume on Grand Amour this morning … and voia! I had GRAND AMOUR with just a tickle of WH to give it a boost. (This process usually renders even the tamest frags no longer office friendly… but good for random “you smell great” comments….
I overdid it! Yikes! Next time I’ll go lighter on the White Linen. I wonder if it’s all the aldehydes that boost another fragrance?
I like to wear guerlain vetiver in the morning as I go about my chores or work in the garden, then later in the afternoon or evening layer with a light spritz of mitsouko for something just a little bit warmer, richer and more feminine. The vetiver in mitsouko seems to make it blend well.
Oh, that sounds nice! It would work well for any gender, too.