Imaginary Authors Sundrunk (Josh Meyer) ~ New Perfume Review + California Dreamin’ Draw

Imaginary Authors Sundrunk and Endless Summer from R.H.’s collection apped by Robert H.

Josh Meyer of Imaginary Authors has a new perfume out called Sundrunk that perfectly captures a 1960s summer spent on the beaches of California.

“Woozy and warm from the sun, we shared an orange pop and watched the surfers’ last lines of the day.” -Clementine Cope

 Josh Meyer of Imaginary Authors via Josh

“When Clementine Cope set foot in snow deeper than her knees, she knew it was for the last time. Leaving the rural Montana home she’d been raised in, with no plans other than to follow the setting sun, she’d wake up every morning and head towards the warmth; dreaming of Dennis Wilson, push pops in the sand, and convertibles. Her journey covers thousands of miles and delivers her first-ever view of the ocean. By the time summer hits, Clem is consumed by an incomprehensible joy. She finally stops traveling when she settles into a ramshackle surf camp with newfound friends from the hills of Topanga, California. Now realizing for the first time her journey is only beginning.” -Imaginary Authors

Beach Party movie poster 1963 

Imaginary Authors Sundrunk is the kind of scent that opens up a treasure box of memories for me. I have such a deep abiding love for so many beautiful perfumes, but opening a bottle that takes me back to a specific moment in time, place or era is intensely exciting. Growing up in coastal California was like living in a dream state. Certainly we all read and knew about the “California lifestyle” hype the media bombarded us with, but to actually live it was a whole different reality. Summers in coastal California lasted from the first of May to the end of October, with September being the hottest month of the year traditionally.

Orange Crush vintage ad via wikiads

And regardless of any social status, race, religion, creed, sexual orientation, gender etc. the common denominator or equalizer was always “The Beach” and/or “The Pool” (capitalized to denote the sheer enormity and importance to a then-teenager.) we lived our lives by the water. The drink of choice was almost always either Coke (or later Tab), Diet-Rite Soda, or the ubiquitous Orange Crush. Wrap that up with bright sunshine, sparkling water, cool fog, bonfires and what we used to call “Jams” or “jammers” (board shorts), bottle it and you’ve just captured the California vibe of  Imaginary Authors Sundrunk to a “T”.

Coppertone via Wikiads

Opening with a fizzy, almost-carbonated blast of sunny orange, Imaginary Authors Sundrunk replicates the smell of Orange Crush Soda and takes me right back to my beach days (and nights) when summers were spent getting as tan as possible, riding in cars with the top down, and watching the surfers hang-10 in the distant breaks. Life was sweet and slow like warmed honey, we knew nothing about mortgages and adulting in general. We were young, quite reckless, and convinced we would live forever. The air was always scented with jasmine, honeysuckle, and wild rose combined with the bright bracing slightly salt-tang of sun-warmed sand.

Beach Romance via Shutterstock©

I got my very first serious kiss on the beach, and thought at the time it was the most perfect and romantic moment possible. (In truth, it was dry and felt kind of weird to my 15 year old brain, this act of simply crushing closed lips together and feeling nothing, but moving our faces around like we knew what we were doing so we could brag about it later.) In the evenings there would be small bonfires, we would wrap ourselves with blankets or towels, and inevitably someone would start playing a guitar badly. We all have our own olfactive memories of younger years, and somehow Josh Meyers has extracted these remembrances from my brain, and made them live again with Sundrunk. I am in fact, sundrunk from just smelling it. Notes: Neroli, rhubarb, honeysuckle, rose water, orange zest, first kiss.

Disclosure: Many thanks to Josh Meyer for the sample. The opinions are my own.

–Robert Herrmann, Senior Editor

       

Imaginary Authors Sundrunk 14 ml

Thanks to Josh Meyer we have one 14 ml. travel spray of Imaginary Authors Sundrunk for one registered reader in the USA, so be sure to register if you have not done so. To be eligible please let us know what you enjoyed about Robert’s review of Imaginary Authors Sundrunk and if you remember your first summer love or what did your first kiss smell like. Draw closes 8/1/208

 We announce the winners only on our website so like Cafleurebon and use our Blog feed…or your dream prize will be just spilled perfume.

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27 comments

  • VerbenaLuvvr says:

    Orange Crush bottles on ice, probably a summer memory shared by so many of us in America. It’s very pleasing to see a summer fragrance with an orange theme for a change and this is one I will be trying. My first kiss? He was wearing Old Spice, which I adore to this day. I love in the US and thank you for this chance.

  • Alen says:

    Sounds really really good. All the reviews i’ve seen about this fragrance are super positive. I would love to try this awesome juice, thanks for the draw.

  • INYA says:

    Yep, wore Coppertone, the oil. And life was “sweet & slow”. After graduation, my first summer love was freedom……warm beach breezes, sand, rocking bikinis & golden tans. Thanks for the draw, USA.

  • Josh Hoke says:

    My favorite parts of this review are all the different nostalgic notes references like orange crush and copper tone sun. I also enjoyed hearing about the writer’s own memories of summer and first kiss. My first kiss was in summer actually and it mainly smelled like a LOT of CK1!! Thanks!

  • doowtnehpets says:

    Sounds really good. I like the description of the orange fizzy cola. Hopefully it has more than that, but Josh does well. I don’t remember a smell from my first kiss or a summer love…soooooooooooooo, yeah.

  • Belladonna says:

    This was not my life experience, but I enjoyed hearing about yours and of course who doesn’t like a little romance to spice up the day? I’m so excited to sniff this one, I love Imaginary Authors as a rule! Thanks you for the drawing – in the US.

  • NiceVULady says:

    Went to the beach, though it wasn’t the ocean. Wore Coppertone, drank Diet Rite and had my first serious kiss elsewhere. This sounds marvelous. I’m so looking forward to trying it. Thanks for the draw. I’m in the US.

  • James2473 says:

    Great review, Robert! I really enjoyed your wonderfully descriptive article about Sundrunk. It sounds like an amazing fragrance. I cannot say I remember the smell of my first kiss, but have very fond memories of my first summer love, and think back on those days often.

  • Hasib says:

    Sounds like a great fragrance. Heard good reviews about this also
    The notes and description of this reminds me of summer. A beautiful warm clear sky day where the sun is shining. Would like to try it out.
    Thanks for the review and giveaway
    U.S

  • olleriksson says:

    Oh wow, I hadn’t realized it smells so much like Orange Crush Soda! What an interesting thing for a summer scent 🙂 It would fit so well for these extremely hot days that we’ve had lately. My first kiss smelled like fresh laundry (not like those Clean fragrances though). He smelled like he had just walked through a laundromat, with all those fresh scents mixed together, and a little bit like sweat at the same time. I guess he had new clothes on, but hadn’t showered that day. I’m visiting family in the US soon, so I hope I can be eligible because of that! Thanks!

  • Ivan.napoleon says:

    My fav: got my very first serious kiss on the beach, and thought at the time it was the most perfect and romantic moment possible. Almost like mine!
    And smelled amazing vanilla!
    Miami Florida Thanks

  • amirpasha says:

    All the nostalgic notes, orange crush, copper time, it really takes me back in time ,, it’s a great scent and I hope I win it!! Thank you
    California USA

  • Christopher A Stribley says:

    Thank You for this!

    As someone who grew up in Perth, Western Australia and visited the beautiful beaches there almost every weekend, year round, Robert’s review of Sundrunk really takes me back to a time that I hold dear. I always felt free at the beach and the memory of the salty air filling my lungs and the smell and feel of the sand beneath my feet takes me right back there.

    After wearing ourselves out at the beach we would go and get fish and chips, which was usually accompanied chocolate milk or iced coffee. If we had soda, it was ginger beer, which another whole set of sensations, with its carbonation met by the peppery snap of ginger and a hint of lemon.

    My first summer love smelled of patchouli, books, and antique wood, with hints of tobacco and whiskey. He tasted of sweet plums and the softness of his lips and the arch of his nose made my head spin.

  • Diana D says:

    This fragrance sounds so charming and fresh! I love neroli for its freshness and I always found honeysuckle to be so feminine and nostalgic. My first “kiss” was when I was 12. I still remember it like it was yesterday! And whenever I think of that time, I immediately think of Love’s Baby Soft. I’m still friends with the guy and he remembers it just as vividly. And, I still love Love’s Baby Soft.

    I live in Pennsylvania (USA)

  • Rebeccaf says:

    I grew up drinking orange crush and being near Detroit, orange Faygo. Every note in this is among my favorites. The story about 60s surf culture in California adds to the nostalgia. I’m in Ohio.

  • ElizabethC says:

    I love the comparison to Orange Crush! This sounds absolutely amazing. No kissing my first summer crush – I was wayyy too shy and awkward. Thank you so much for the drawing! I am in the US.

  • Claudia says:

    I grew up at the beach in Corona del Mar in the 60’s/70’s. Leaning back against your wooden beach chair with your toes in the warm sand…late afternoon . And my summer crush I’m still friends with!

  • roxhas1cat says:

    Take me back!!! I never appreciated growing up in Huntington Beach until I moved away at age 30. I didn’t do the bon fire/guitar thing. I lived so close that we would just go for a few hours when we had the chance. My high school even had a surf team. My parents always grew rhubarb and we had an orange tree in the backyard. Seems like the perfect scent to bring back old memories! Hard to imagine my first summer love was now over 40 years ago!!!! Thanks for the chance!! US.

  • Scented Hound says:

    Robert, you nailed those earlier California years all too well, wonderfully nostalgic. This fragrance sounds so refreshing! My drink in those years had been Bireley’s orange, a competitor to Orange Crush. My first summer love found me permanently fixed on the back seat of a Vespa, flying around corners and going down dirt roads at the screaming speed of 35 mph, ha! The air was saturated with the scent of Coast Tarweed (Madia Sativa) which I happened to like. My grandmother made Rhubarb pie, which I miss. Good times and memories. Thank you Josh Meyer for this draw! Waving from California!

  • audesko1 says:

    How come first kisses and summer go together. Mine was in Florida. Overlooking the atlantic ocean. This draw sounds incredible! I would love to win. I live in So Cal.

  • jeremyn87 says:

    I’m interested since it sounds like a fresh and juicy orange. I remember a sample of one of the Amen flankers, I forget which one, which had a kind of orange cream smell to it. I found myself enjoying it more than I expected. I’d imagine I would enjoy something like this even more.
    I don’t remember what my first kiss smelled like, but the most memorable one was with someone wearing Eternity for Women. I still get some chills whenever I smell it.
    Im in the US. Thanks.

  • cwoody says:

    I think Imaginary Authors is such an awesome brand! From their imaginary notes to the bottle names and edgy design, I just love their stuff. I enjoyed Robert’s review and how he described the fragrance as “almost-carbonated blast of sunny orange” in the opening. My first summer crush began at my hometown’s carnival. My fingers are crossed! Arkansas, USA

  • Lori Laws says:

    Great article Robert! Orange crush on ice and cookouts everyday are the summers that I remember at my grandmothers. After playing outside all day or swimming at the pool she would always give us orange creamsicles to cool down. This article brings back so many special memories and I can’t wait to try Sundrunk as I am sure it will evoke even more. I remember this Coppertone ad from my mother’s magazines that I would skim the pages of. Thanks for the generous giveaway and I live in the US! 🙂

  • doveskylark says:

    I used to love Orange Crush! It was the most refreshing soft drink for the summer. I haven’t drunk soda (or pop) in years, but if I were to have one swig of soda, it would be Orange Crush….writing this made me think of Orange Julius snack bars in every mall food court….oh, how I miss those days. Thanks for this rousing walk down memory lane.
    My first kiss was metallic and cherry chapstick and Marlboro cigarettes and so good!
    I live in the USA.

  • mnguyen53 says:

    Washing my car, and waxing it while drinking ice code Orange or Grape Crush is something that always reminds me of summer, and Robert’s description of those slow lazy days brings back great memories. I’ve just recently started smelling some of IA’s frags and really enjoying them.

  • davidzev says:

    I like this review because it’s very descriptive of nastalga that’s personal to him yet still very relatable. I don’t remember what my first kiss tasted like but I do remember falling in love (or at least developing a crush on) with a guy I had just met that summer after coming back from a year abroad after high school. Seems like dream now.

  • StaceyW says:

    Love the description of those California summers by Robert, I’m from Chicago so cannot relate at all but can imagine what that must have been like. I’m dying to try this as the smell of Orange Crush holds many memories for me as well. I’m in the U.S. Thanks!