New Perfume Review: Dasein Summer + Summer Solstice Draw

René Gruau  summer beach

Rene Gruau Jantzen Swimwear ad

Yay!  Summer is coming – no wait, summer is here.  Hot days, warm nights and the beach forever!  (Or you know, until September, but who’s counting, right?)   My husband doesn’t understand my love of this time of year – he’s an Autumn kind of guy.  But for me, there’s nothing better than hot weather and a blazing sun high in the sky.  But Summer is a tricky season when it comes to perfume.  You don’t want to wear something heavy and spicy, but you also don’t want a scent that’s too throwaway and boring, either.  Most people just go for light citrus and call it good, but not me.  I want something more magical to wear to the beach!

sam rader  daesin perfumes

Sam Rader of Daesin

Dasein Summer is the third release in the Dasein line (Winter and Spring have already been launched, and Autumn is  debuting later this year); Dasein’s perfumer Sam Rader  was featured in CaFleureBon Profiles in American Perfumery series right around the time she launched her first scent Winter.    Her first offering, Winter, is heavy with spruce and lavender, with a rich thread of cardamom spice woven through it.   Spring is both soft and spiky with both black pepper and violets present in the scent. Sam began Dasein in 2012, as a way of expressing her innate “claustrophilia” or need to be surrounded by comforting feelings – using her love of scent and creating perfumes as a return to the womb.

rene gruau summer beach

Rene Gruau

I have tried all three scents from Dasein, and I believe Summer to be Sam Rader’s best composition to date. Instead of giving us what we would expect from perfumes named Winter and Spring (one cool, forest-like and Christmas-y and the other light and green), Summer smells as if I could  taste it. It is instantly appealing, due to a large dose of cilantro, an unexpected note.  Grapefruit combines with the savory cilantro to give off an almost sweaty feel underneath that makes Summer that much more fun to wear out in the sun – almost like the scent is expecting you to get a little damp in advance.

rene gruau green

Rene Gruau

The grass note is also very appealing here; it lends an earthiness and roundness that lets the jasmine breathe a little more into the heart of the perfume to keep things lighter and fresher.  Summer has a depth to it that can allow you to wear this fragrance past August and into the Fall months without feeling like you want to switch it out for something spicier or heavier as the temperature drops.

rene Gruau flowers

Rene Gruau

Its unusual top note pairings of cilantro and grapefruit, combined with the light floral pillow of jasmine on a grassy bed with the powdery, happy brightness of orange blossom is such fun to wear.  This isn’t some synthetic, big-blast of Vitamin C linear engineered perfume you forget after one spritz.  It’s a scent that understands what Summer is all about – it knows you’re going outside, and that you’re going to move around and get a little sticky (in all the fun ways) and it wants to come along with you. Dasein Summer wants to be a part of whatever you want to go and do when the sun is high in the sky.  Don’t miss out on this scent – it’s already one of my favorites!

Pam Barr,  Contributor

Disclosure: Sample received from Twisted Lily Fragrance Boutique in Brooklyn, opinions my own.

Editor’s Note: Each small batch is hand blended in the hills of Glassell Park, Los Angeles. All Dasein scents are paraben, glycol and cruelty free. All art by the great fashion and fragrance illustrator Rene Gruau

daesin summer perfume

Thanks to Sam Rader we have a draw of Dasein Summer registered ÇaFleureBon reader in the USA.  To be eligible, please leave a comment on what appeals to you about Daesin Summer and what you plan to do or what you did on the longest day of sunlight of the year in The Northern Hemisphere akaThe Summer Solstice June 21 12:39 EST.  Draw closes June 24, 2015

We announce the winners only on site and on our Facebook page, so Like Cafleurebon and use our RSS option…or your dream prize will be just spilled perfume.

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25 comments

  • linnea wiedeman says:

    I love the scents of summer. This sounds wonderful. The summer solstice is tomorrow, my family is going for a.long hike in the forest for fathers day as well.

  • madeleine gallay says:

    the grapefruit and cilantro, so piquant and fresh and beach, everything summer

    toes dangling in warm sand whilst feeling refreshed and sun kissed

    just memorable

  • This could be my new summer scent. 🙂 I enjoyed the description of this fragrance in the article. It isn’t the 21st here yet. USA

  • Thanks for the draw! I am curious about the grapefruit notes combined with the light jasmine.
    I am taking a vacation to Italy.
    U.S.

  • ringthing says:

    This sounds wonderful, I’m especially interested in the cilantro as it’s one of my favorite smells, as is grapefruit. Today I will be walking my parents around their yard to check out the lilies up close. Thanks for the opportunity and the ebullient review 🙂

  • FearsMice says:

    I love grapefruit scents, and I will be celebrating my birthday along with the solstice on the 21st!

  • fazalcheema says:

    i am currently exploring some Korean popular cultural stuff so I will be binge watching on some Korean dramas 🙂 thanks so much for the draw. I am in the US

  • d3m0lici0n says:

    I used to live in Glassell Park!!! Well I live in LA and this sounds perfect for our weather, it is always hot here and summer means it is SUPER HOT!!!! yes, with capital letters and exclamation marks…
    But this sounds like the cure for those crazy hot days.
    Thanks for the draw!

  • Summer scents make me very happy. The cilantro and grapefruit sound very appealing. I plan to spoil my hubby rotten since it will be Father’s Day as well. I live in the U.S. Thanks for the draw!!

  • MikasMinion says:

    I have been really wanting to try Summer! Cilantro is one of my favorite smells and I love grapefruit. Today is Father’s Day so my in-laws are visiting for an afternoon of walking along the river, playing with (socializing) our foster kittens, and eating breakfast for dinner. I’m in the U.S. Thanks for the generous draw!

  • Big grapefruit fan, so yes I’d love to win this one. It rained here all morning and now I’m busy doing things indoors as it’s wet out. US

  • Valentine Girl says:

    I am also a fan of grapefruit & cilantro and this sounds like a perfect summertime scent. It rained all morning, but now the sun is shining and I can go outside and do some work in my garden. Thanks for the draw. USA resident. Happy Alban Heflin!

  • Cilantro and Citrus sound beautiful together… and I love Dasein Winter. For this summer solstice I am enjoying the hot warmth of the sun as I sit by the ocean. USA and I Love summer, bring it on

  • I will light candles this evening as usual and quietly celebrate this day. Its a special time in so many ways. What appeals to me about Dasein Summer is the notes and the freshness it conveys, the feeling of summer captured in a bottle.I’d love to try this. Sounds like it could be a constant companion! I am a US registered reader.

  • JazzBelle says:

    Dasein Summer sounds like a delightful scent. I love grapefruit scents. This one sounds especially suited for summer with the combination of cilantro. It sounds fresh and perfect for summertime. I agree that some citrus scents can be too linear, but this one sounds very layered and complex, perfectly capturing summertime.

    I’m sitting in the backyard in a bed of chamomile and lavender and enjoying some iced tea with the family since it’s Fathers Day here.

    I live in the USA, am a registered user, have liked the CaFleureBon page and would love to win. Thank you!

  • rodelinda says:

    Orange blossom is one of my favorite things to smell, and cilantro is one of my favorite things to eat, so two favorites, together at last! I did a lot of cleaning, shopping, and working in the yard today. Now we might go swimming before dinner. I’m in the US. Thanks!

  • So interested in a fragrance with notes of cilantro in it! In addition, I am thrilled by anything lovely created in Los Angeles, where I lived for ten years. We enjoyed the extra daylight last night by taking an exploratory drive along the edge of Surry/East Blue Hill Maine, where we are vacationing.

    I am located in the USA. Thanks so much.

    Deborah

  • Jennifer Witt says:

    Summer in a bottle, what’s not to love? All of the notes sound lovely and totally summery. I’ve love to win this one… This past first swing of summer we went to Cape Cod (my first time out East – LOVED the seashore!) I live in the US

  • tomate farcie says:

    This sounds great a little citrus, a little spice, a little green and made right near me! Always think of my grandmother on June 21 as it was her birthday. I’m in the U.S.

  • Sharyl Morris says:

    I LOVE the smell of cilantro, and imagine that it would be wonderful paired with grapefruit. I’d love to try this. Thanks so much for the draw (I’m in the US)!

  • Daesin Summer appeals as a fragrance to live and play in during the warm sunny months. I am always happy to try a jasmine fragrance. Our family spent the day together at home enjoying a quiet celebration of the Solstice. We talked about the longest day of the year for us and for our friends in Scandinavia who celebrate Midsummer.

  • Latifah S says:

    I find Daesin scents utterly gorgeous. I had been wondering when there would be a Summer and Autumn scent in the collection. lol The combination of cilantro and grapefruit sounds so different and creative. As a matter of fact, I was wearing Spring this past week. I went to church and shopping on the 21st. It was Father’s Day, so I talked to my dad for a bit. It would be nice to take a trip to visit him soon. I am extremely curious about this one. I live in the US. Thanks for the draw.

  • Grapefruit PLUS cilantro sounds divine! I spent the longest day of the year with my sweetheart, gazing up at the night sky and out at the ocean. Perfection. I live in the U.S. and would love to sample Summer! Thanks for the draw!

  • Daesin Summer’s cilantro and grass notes appeal to me. Sunday the 21st was a day spent with extended family.

  • The cilantro combined with grapefruit is very interesting to me! I can’t wait to try this one. On the longest day of the year, the summer solstice, I reflected on where this year has brought me and where I’d like to be by the end of this summer. Thanks for the draw, I’m in the US.