I didn't realize how much I missed summer bugs (animals, not diseases) till I left Virginia as a teenager. Living on Manhattan, then Los Angeles and now Seattle doesn't compare to the South when it comes to insect life. My childhood summers were filled with the sounds of crickets and cicadas. Butterflies put on a non-stop show in the flower gardens. Nighttime was when my grandmother and I would sit on the front porch (swatting mosquitoes, one bug I do NOT love) and watch the fireflies as we took in the heady scent of gardenias — whose white blossoms also lit up the darkness. I'd love to see a grasshopper or praying mantis, a big black-and-yellow garden spider shimmering in the sun, or a dragonfly flitting about my yard.
Here in Seattle I do get to see some beautiful moths, living their brief moments on earth holding fast to my deck screens or circling a light bulb. Tiny spiders are everywhere, inside and out, and I would never think to kill one — they work so long and hard to live and make a living. Right now in Seattle it's the season for ten-lined June beetles (a type of scarab beetle); my cats (to my chagrin) love to chase, torment and kill June beetles, who, as they fight for their lives, raise up their antlers (yes, antlers) and make puffing sounds to ward off attacks. Here's to bugs! (AND summer perfumes!)
Coqui Coqui Rosas Secas ~ This wonderful rose perfume smells of dried rosebuds mixing with a fresh rose bouquet; there's also a pinch of tobacco leaf. Rosas Secas is a great rose perfume for men. While I was choosing my ten best summer scents of 2016, my cat, Teddy Caramelo Calzini, jumped on my desk and sent my bottles of Coqui Coqui Rosas Secas, Rosas Frescas and Tabaco falling to the floor...where they all shattered. The sacrifices I make for Now Smell This! (Ted kills June beetles...and now this!)
Oriza L. Legrand Foin Fraîchement Coupé 1886 ~ Perhaps the secret to staying cool (at least psychologically) is to wear 'dry' fragrances in summer (as opposed to juicy or sweet perfumes). Foin Fraîchement Coupé 1886 (freshly cut hay) has a dry-grass scent that comes close to reproducing the aromas of sitting on a bale of hay in a field, with edge-of-the-woods herbs and greens thrown in for good measure.
Astier de Villatte Eau de Cologne ~ A big bottle of classic Eau de Cologne should be on every bedside table year-round. There are scads of possibilities in the Eau de Cologne genre but this time I'll vote for Astier de Villatte's Eau de Cologne, a beautiful herbal and sweet citrus (peel and blossom) concoction.
Parfumerie Generale Querelle ~ Why haven't I ever reviewed one of my favorite woody-resinous perfumes? Querelle is mellow and full of spice, vetiver, oakmoss...I can't get enough of it. It works in about any situation and is a great travel perfume (fitting for day or night, the beach or the opera).
Olympic Orchids Kyphi ~ Even in summer I burn incense and wear incense fragrances. Kyphi is an interesting 'hot climate' incense; its frankincense is balmy and mixed with cinnamon and lemongrass for an interesting twist. Apply lavishly for Kyphi's full effect (and while you're at it, spritz some in the direction of your favorite Egyptian god or goddess image — All Hail, Sekhmet!)
Santa Maria Novella Marescialla ~ What could be more invigorating than the scents of lemons and mace? I've yet to meet another person who wears Marescialla but it must sell SOMEwhere (thank goodness!)
Salvatore Ferragamo Tuscan Scent Golden Acacia ~ If you love acacia blossoms, fragrant broom, honey and beeswax, check out this opulent perfume; wearing it in early or late summer makes me hopeful for what's about to be, or nostalgic for what's ended.
Hermès Un Jardin Sur Le Toit ~ I didn't try this perfume for YEARS; my (almost) scent-twin Robin here at NST didn't like it and when she reviewed it she mentioned crisp apple and pear notes (not favorites of mine). Well. One foul day as I wore a particularly ugly fragrance (thankfully, just on my wrists) I decided I needed to scour the gross perfume from my person and walk to Nordstrom and apply something wonderful to replace it. I wanted to wear Hermès Un Jardin en Méditerranée but while running my mouth with the sales person I grabbed Un Jardin Sur Le Toit instead and doused each arm. I cursed my luck and walked back to work. I had not even sat at my desk before I was getting compliments and loving how I smelled. Yes, there's pear a'plenty but this is a dark, leather-y skinned fruit, that's tinged with earthy smoke-incense (peat?) I ordered a bottle and have been using it happily ever since.
Comme des Garçons + Monocle Scent Three: Sugi ~ a sensational light/bright cedar-like aroma (with lemony and iris accents). I think of Sugi as a great wood-based (as opposed to citrus-based) Eau de Cologne. It's a, shall we say, 'solibois?'
Mirus Wicked Stepmother ~ During the hot summer, if you ever need/desire to smell like a dark garden full of night-blooming flowers, give this heady and humid floral a try. I hope as you wear it you're hearing a sweet little cricket chirp and seeing fireflies twinkle in the air.
You can find more summer lists at Bois de Jasmin :: Grain de Musc :: Perfume Posse :: The Non-Blonde.
Note: top image by Jan van Kessel via Wikimedia Commons; Ten-Lined June Beetle image by Celeste Ramsay via flickr, some rights reserved; other images of Dragonfly, cricket and Cicada via Wikimedia Commons.
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Was smitten with Golden Acacia as soon as I sprayed it on my arm but I really can’t see wearing it in the summer heat. I’ll wait until autumn to wear it.
Thegoddessrena, on a scorching day, no! But it’s always ‘autumn’ with the AC, right?
Currently 95° and humid here in Boston. I don’t have AC and Golden Acacia wears pretty big on my skin so I can’t even begin to think of wearing it
Darn…poor thing!
I love that I haven’t tried a single thing on this list, and haven’t even heard of most of them. And I love the images you used. Off to order samples – am especially excited to try the Oriza Legrand. And nice to know that someone else wears incense in the summer. I like to wear Tauer’s Incense Flash and Jaisalmer.
Jirish, love that CdG! And hope you like some of these.
Agree! So fun to read a list with many unsung fragrances. And one of those beetles made an appearance on my doorstep just a few days ago. They’re beautiful.
My bug inspiration will be the beautiful Cio Cio San from MDCI. A show of citrus then followed by blooms of elegant florals.
Realistic bug that I can actually say I find beautiful and fascinating is the majestic Atlas Moth. They can be found just perched on the wall at sunset sometimes, all still and magnificent. It wasn’t until recently that I found out the tragic fact about these creatures: they actually have no mouths at the moth stage of their lives. Once emerged from their cocoon, they are destined to burn through their energy reserve and fade away…
Happy888…to read about moths puts life in perspective.
Mmm, I love Sugi. Too bad it lasts all of 5 minutes on me.
I enjoy Sur le Toit as well. I wouldn’t purchase it but it is a very beautiful portrait of ripe fruit.
Coumarin…I’m lucky I guess…Sugi lasts for three hours on me if I wet myself down with it.
If it came in those Cologne Series bottles I’d buy it in a heartbeat but even the adorable bottle doesn’t make it worth the price to me (and I love buying FBs!).
I miss fireflies. I grew up in Cleveland, and when I was very little, my cousins and I would chase them and wear them as glow-in-the-dark warpaint ( I know, we were little savages. . .). I haven’t seen any here in central Texas in ages.
BTW, the priest at my church said that June bugs are minions of the devil, and he should know. . . I think what we call June bugs here are not the same critter as what you call June bugs, though. Our June bugs are bumbling brown things that fly right at you and get in your hair. Not the pretty striped buggies your post showed.
Kyril…I think that family of insect is large…I am happy to have the shiny striped ones
Monocle: Sugi is so crisp, almost piercingly so, but when layered after using the (incredibly expensive) soap, it seems to soften and cool on the skin.
SN Marescialla seems to very popular in Portland, OR- the store Manor sells a lot of Santa Novella products and that scent seems to be out a LOT.
Ede…interesting!
Dang, it looks like the soap is no longer in production! Id but some right now.
Kevin, your trip down summer bug memory lane made me smile. Growing up further south and west of VA, I have quite a different memory of summer bugs. During the evenings in Texas, a run in with a flying cockroach was always a possibility.???? And don’t get me started on scorpions….
The CdG scent sounds lovely. I need to hunt that one down.
Oh those flying roaches! Or as they were introduced to me when one landed on my head not long after I moved to Texas, “it’s just a tree roach.”
Aagh the thought of one of those things landing on my head is making my skin crawl. I’ve lived in Texas for over 20 years and I don’t think the flying roaches will ever not freak me out.
YES!! Thank you affirming my sentiments Sweetgrass. I’m right there with you on the crawling skin. See my response below????
The absolute worst is when they land on your head????
To me, they are so big they are cute!
ARE YOU KIDDING ME KEVIN??????????????????
Those things are huge and NOT cute. When one flies and hits you in the dark, guarantee you’ll go running and screaming for the hills ????
Hahaha!
I live on the Central Coast of California, and I do love the sound of crickets at night. I’ve thought about getting a CD of cricket chirps to fall asleep to…
I am unfamiliar with most of the scents that you chose, but they sound wonderful, especially the Oriza L. Legrand.
A couple of weekends ago, it was very warm here, and some kind of tree was blooming and the fragrance mixed with the hot dry air and it was delicious
Thanks for the recommendation.
Sunnlitt…you’re welcome
Well, I have never heard of any of these fragrances, but I would like to try them out. Will probably try to get samples of these. Thanks for this list.
Scentfromabove…hope a few of them hit the spot
I miss fireflies SO much. I grew up in MD and now live in San Diego. It’s nice that we don’t have so many mosquitoes, but man do I miss the fireflies. My husband is from SD and the first time he went to the east coast with me to visit family, he sat outside transfixed every night for hours, trying to get pictures of them. They are so magical.
And of course my other summer favorite is dragonflies, as you may see from my avatar and user name. Just saw a huge swarm of them yesterday up pretty high, not near any water, just flying around.
And nice list- seems like for summer ones especially, we see the same ones over and over. I could probably go all summer with AG Chevrefeuille, AA Herba Fresca, and AA Mandarine Basilic.
Odonata…wish I could have seen those dragonflies….
One I was driving around with my windows down and all of the sudden a dragonfly flies into my car! It was gorgeous, iridescent and so graceful. I’m glad I was stuck in traffic though because my car has VERY little room for a flying thing.
Kevin, the insect pix you chose for your article are great! I wish I could say that I’ve seen fireflies this summer. Not so. They haven’t shown up very much here in south Jersey this year.
Jalapeno…that is sad.
I had never heard of or seen a ten-lined June bug before; I think your cats are pretty brave to confront a creature with antlers like that.
I’m sorry that your Teddy sent those perfume bottles to their demise, though! They will be difficult to replace…
I’m looking forward to trying out as many of your picks as possible — thanks for choosing the unexpected!
Fearsmice….wish you could HEAR the beetles as they scream to scare the cats … When we hear that we drop what we’re doing and run to the rescue.
While I never would have considered it a summer perfume, I ADORE Marescialla! It’s so othersideofthewordly — I feel like I’m in some 16th century Italian church.
To me it just smells like must and holiness and weird, I love it!
(I actually prefer it most as a room scent, and often use it that way)
Marescialla ‘accents’ the cocktail hour quite nicely!
Summer always reminds me of bugs. I always know summer is here when I see the “bugs.” MCDI “Cio Cio San” is the perfume of choice this summer,but it does not remind me of bugs!
I love the Astier de Villatte EDC – wearing it now on a muggy afternoon. I’d like to try Grand Chalet too – enjoyed your review.
MrsD, It’s 63 degrees right now in Seattle! It feels like autumn. Grand Chalet is very good…do try it.
Lovely post. Now here’s something that’s both buggy and Summer-y. Dasein’s Summer has a distinct note de stinkbug to me – those green garden bugs that make themselves known when crushed. In my quest for an explanation, I found that Summer has cilantro in it and cilantro to some people smells like stink bugs! Having said all that: cilantro normally does NOT smell like stink bugs to me and: I like the smell of Dasein’s Summer, even though (because?) it smells like stink bugs, and therefore, really smells like summer!
Ida: OK…I have to smell this! Poor cilantro…many think it tastes of soap, too.
Yes, Kevin, I read that too. Cilantro smells like neither stink bug nor soap to me
I’m in northern Virginia and enjoying the weird and LOUD sound of katydids now. There are a few cicadas this year, too.
I’m liking AG Ninfeo Mio, L’AP Dzing! and Astier de Villatte Eau Chic this summer.