Earlier this year, indie line Kerosene launched Winter of 99, a new limited edition unisex fragrance. Late last year, the brand also launched Sacred Memory…
5 perfumes ~ vanilla fragrances for summer
I should have written this post weeks ago, when we had a brief period of glorious summer weather. Other than that, it’s been a rather odd summer, weather-wise, after a rather odd spring. At the moment, we’re having the usual heat and humidity you’d expect in August, but far more gray, gloomy days than usual for this time of year, and we seem to be on a daily thunderstorm schedule. But onward and upward: this is the last of my seasonal vanilla posts, since I’ve already done fall, winter and spring. As always, do chime in with your own picks in the comments!
Diptyque Eau Duelle: The vanilla martini top notes are perfect, and even though I don’t love the dry down (a quiet hum of tea and spice) quite as well, Eau Duelle would be my first choice for a vanilla that can take the heat of high summer…
Top 10 Summer Fragrances 2018
I have never done one of the spit-or-scrape genealogical tests, but I have always suspected that my family has secret Nordic or Baltic blood, as both my brothers are enthusiastic enough about outdoor swimming that they’ll do it in early May or October… in Canada. While I hesitate to frolic in 50F waves, I do sport sandals until snow accumulates, drink Arnold Palmers in January and I’m the only non-menopausal female in my XX-dominated workplace who enjoys our arctic air-conditioning. In a similar fashion, I wear citrus colognes all year. When it is my turn to list summer fragrances around here, I remind myself that normal people generally turn to crisp, refreshing eaux only when the temperature rises. Having exhausted my stable of favored classic colognes in previous posts, though, I thought that this time I’d highlight some atypical choices. Please bear with me. I did test these on myself in the heat, but YMMV…
Kerosene Walk the Sea ~ fragrance review
The latest release from Michigan-based indie perfume house Kerosene is Walk the Sea, a fragrance “like high tide dried on skin, memories of the waves, sun and shore.” Like all Kerosene releases, it’s a unisex scent; its notes include sea salt, white florals, cedar, ambergris and musk.
This fragrance is titled Walk the Sea, not Walk the Beach, and I think there’s a certain distinction being made there. For me, the “beach” has a whole set of associations that the “sea” alone does not — summer, vacation, suntans, children with sand toys, nearby amusement parks. Walk the Sea doesn’t evoke any of this imagery or its accompanying smells and tastes. There’s no Coppertone, no piña colada, no cotton candy…
Top 10 Spring Fragrances 2018
We have snow in the forecast as I’m writing this post, so it doesn’t feel like spring; yet here we are. Looking back at my lists of favorite spring fragrances from 2008 and 2013, I’ve decided to do something different this time. I’ll never stop loving Après l’Ondée or L’Eau d’Hiver, but I gave myself a new assignment for this round: I sampled lots of new releases and chose ten that I’d want to continue wearing in the coming months. I’ve been feeling for a long time that I just can’t keep up with the tide of new launches, but this is my deliberate small effort at feeling more current (even just for one season)!
Spring is the season when I enjoy white florals the most, and Dawn Spencer Hurwitz Je Suis La Lune (I Am the Moon) is a jasmine fragrance that smells more like a creamy, slightly salty lily to me…