Guy Bourdin ©

It’s warmer weather in most of the Northern Hemisphere and tomorrow June 21, 2019 is the Summer Solstice, the longest day of the year. There are no rules… spices in winter, fresh florals in summer. Take a look at our 2019 CaFleureBon best summer fragrances.

Neil Morris  Fragrances Taj by Robert H.

Summer has finally taken hold and here in the PacNW we’ve apparently skipped the “Juneuary/June gloom for a glorious sun-filled month! The fragrance I’ve been reaching for quite often came to me in a mixed sample box from a dear perfumista friend. It was a small and precious vial of a Neil Morris 2008 creation called Taj, inspired by Neil’s unforgettable early morning visit to the Taj Mahal, India’s architectural wonder, and one of planet Earth’s greatest testaments to love. Now you may think looking at the notes that this might be more appropriate for cooler months! But the heat of summer beautifully amplifies this spicy, woody creation. And it is exquisite. Taj explodes on my skin with a full spectrum array of colors; a veritable scented fireworks celebration. There’s the blue and pink-orange of the early morning sun, and the tannic herbal green of a first cup of tea from the chai-wallah. The bittersweetness of cinnamon is front and center, but softened by the deep rich and unfathomable dark chocolate, which adds not a gourmand vibe, but rather unforgettable inky-sweet coolness. It’s like running into the shaded interior of your favorite spice and attar shop on a blistering hot day, where you may be assailed by an exotic overabundance of spiced beauty. The oudh is present, but merely a soupçon supporting the other notes. As an aside I must mention that the first three days wearing this, I received more compliments that almost anything else. I usually don’t pay attention to this but with Neil Morris’ Taj….”Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

Notes: Mandarin orange, green tea, cinnamon, India rose, white tea, ylang ylang, frankincense, cedarwood, oudh, patchouli, chocolate

Robert Hermmann, Senior Editor

L’Artisan Parfumeur Poivre Piquant by dana

L’Artisan Parfumeur Poivre Piquant (Bertrand Duchaufour) sits just to the right of a summer solstice, when days start shortening again and vital strength—however much left—is starting to regroup in new concepts, new cycles, and new light. Built as a spicy oriental, PP surprises with one of the most original compositions from L’Artisan: although clinging to the heat with a clear, spicy pepper, it actually manifests in a very airy, breezy kind of way through the means of an icy licorice, some salt, and a green iris. The whole effect is complemented by lactonic notes, creamy sandalwood, and floral honey, making this nostalgically personal like the chills from too much sun… or an almost-used tub of sunscreen left on the pontoon.

–dana sandu, Contributor

Barbara Mullen in India, photographed by Norman Parkinson for Vogue 1956®

Neela Vermeire Créations Bombay Bling (Bertrand Duchaufour) is a stunning fragrance that I enjoy any time of the year, however it performs truly magnificently on sun-kissed skin. Delectable, thirst-quenching fruits (including the most beautiful fresh mango note I’ve ever experienced), an exotic white floral bouquet (the gardenia blooms really big on me, followed by the frangipani), pulsating spices (most notably cardamom and cumin), and a fascinating base (earthy patchouli, sweet tobacco, creamy sandalwood, delicious vanilla) are blended seamlessly together by the great Bertrand Duchaufour. So much more than the sum of its (many) parts, Bombay Bling is an oriental realized with the utmost French elegance, a fruity-floral extraordinaire with an almost beating heart. Effervescent like a champagne cocktail, exuberant like a perfect day at the beach, and sensual like an idyllic summer night, Neela Vermeire Créations Bombay Bling could very well be THE ONE fragrance I’d pack with me for the holidays…

Notes: Mango, Lychee, Blackcurrant, Cardamom, Cumin, Cistus; Rose Accord, Turkish Rose, Jasmine Sambac Absolute, Madagascar Ylang-Ylang, White Floral Accord of Tuberose, Frangipani, Gardenia; Patchouli, Tobacco, White Woods, Sandalwood, Cedar, Vanilla

– Despina Veneti, Senior Editor

Paperwhites by Susie Baird ©

I adore chypres any time of the year, it’s true – but during oppressive New England swelter I crave sparkly ones with lift. Sparkle vs. substance: must I always choose? Not when the chypre is Dawn Spencer Hurwitz’ Paper*White, the perfumer’s stunning 2018 Mother’s Day offering. Dawn spent a long time pondering this one before its creation: Susie Baird’s paper blossoms provided the final touch and inspiration – wordplay and design felicitously entwined, the love of fine paper and narcissus (some are known as paperwhites) aromatically encapsulated. DSH Perfumes Paper*White (Dawn Spencer Hurwitz) comprises a plethora of my favorite things: neroli and bergamot, My Favorite Jasmine (grandiflorum!), jonquil and narcissus (I faint), The Golden Standard (Mysore sandalwood), and of course inky oakmoss. All these swirl in the remnants of a vintage Aynsley bone china cup of Earl Grey. How could one resist? Delicate, full of depth and zephyr-light, it lingers on and on benevolently; it never gives up, and is so beautiful that it takes your breath away. Sometimes I marvel that I ever wear anything else and is without a doubt one of my favorite summer fragrances. It blooms in the heat.

Notes: bergamot, Earl Grey tea accord, Tunisian neroli, paper accord, jonquil absolute, narcissus absolute, grandiflorum jasmine absolute, Mysore sandalwood, papyrus, oakmoss

Ida Meister, Senior Editor and Natural Perfumery Editor

Linden Blossom by Ermano

Astier de Villatte Cologne Grand Chalet: The smell of linden blossoms fills the air with its heady and melon-y intoxication. To me it’s the key to a diary filled with childhood memories. Just a whiff of its ethereal sweetness is enough to suddenly bring up images of the blooming season: lighter backpacks and end of the school year, birthday parties and summer afternoons biking through the countryside. The opening of Grand Chalet makes me feel lighthearted with its tender linden blossoms, brighter with citrus and greenery and is one of my favorite summer fragrances.  Slowly appears the powdery malice of mimosa though, which fruity sweetness fosters the hypnotic floral honey, along with the milky softness of blond woods.  A sudden subtle languor pervades everything, unconscious yet irresistibly vanillic, veiled by the sheer soapiness of musks that makes it fly high and one of my favorite summer fragrances. –-Ermano Picco, Editor

Photograpy Magazine©

Master storyteller Antonio Alessandria‘s brilliantly summery Fara, with its bite of citrus, mint and spice, is perfect for hot, torpid days. Based on a specific Sicilian lemony-herbal hot weather drink, Fara distills bitter citrus into an effervescent burst of salt crashing into warm, bitter citrus. Alessandria infuses the tangy lime that crests on the salt note with sharp bergamot and a chilly hit of peppermint that cools everything down. A genius at adding heat to particular notes, he somehow infuses the tangy lime that crests on the salt note with slight warmth that makes it feel like soda whose ice has melted, then plays with hot and cold sensations throughout Fara’s development. If you’re looking for an offbeat, memorable citrus fragrance for the summer that won’t disappear on you, Fara is as good as it gets and is a favorite in my summer fragrances.

Notes: Bergamot, lemon, finger lime, peppermint, magnolia, light jasmine, cumin, cedarwood, cypress, incense, musky and amber notes.

– Lauryn Beer, Senior Editor

 

Stargazer Lily by Gail

I love to “scent match” the perfumes of Mother Nature, melding my personal fragrance with the air and breezes of the gardens and forests that surround me.  Sarah Horowitz Parfums 2018 Banq de Parfum Verano (simply meaning “summer” in Spanish) distills the first floral flush and fizz of June and early July into a radiant fragrant aura.  Opening with one of my favorite notes in perfumery, cassis, Sarah Horowitz Parfums Verano, one fo my favorite summer fragrances, sparkles with a hint of fruity mint and a green bubbly aroma, recalling memories of champagne picnics, Pimms in paper cups and late afternoon concerts viewed from lush green lawns. The subtle use of black currant melds seamlessly with another of my most favored scents – the perfume of the stargazer Lily. In Verano Sarah Horowitz-Thran uses a discrete rendition of Star Gazer Lily, to paint a shimmering, transparent floral bouquet. The sensual, spiced and almost narcotic presence of the Stargazer in Sarah Horowitz Parfums Verano creates the sensation of the lily from a distance, just enough to entice but never overwhelm. The smooth lily petals and the effervescence of cassis fruit and garden flowers luxuriate on a bed of sheer sandalwood, white amber and clean musk.

Notes: Cassis, Stargazer lily, sandalwood, white amber and clean musk accord.

–Gail Gross, Sr. Editor

The Impudent Cousin Matthew by Clayton©

An effervescent citrus cocktail is what I reach for when the sun is high in the sky on a summer’s day. My approach to fragrance doesn’t fall far from the citrus tree either. I love a classic eau de cologne, modern “freshies;” anything that smells invigorating, zesty and clean. British house Penhaligon’s pushed all my right buttons with its recent addition to the Portraits Collection that began in 2016. The Impudent Cousin Matthew (2019) brings the collection to a total of fourteen portraits of characters that could be in an episode of the British television series Downton Abbey. Stories aside, The Impudent Cousin Matthew is a delightful take on the classic Eau de Cologne theme by the maestro of fresh colognes, Master Perfumer Alberto Morillas (ck ONE, Acqua di Gio Pour Homme, Mugler Cologne).  The fragrance opens with zesty citrus notes. Bitter lemon is balanced with the sweetness of mandarin and petitgrain has a cooling, green leafy effect. Juniper and cardamom add to the tonic effect of the fragrance, which fizzes away with lemony freshness. The body of the fragrance is based on woody notes; cypress, guaiac wood and patchouli are expressed in a subtle way. As the fragrance wears down on skin it reveals a white musk accord, which smells like a freshly laundered white shirt. Despite having a male name, the fragrance is impudent towards gender like all eau de colognes. The Impudent Cousin Matthew is wearable by both women and men.

Notes:  Lemon, mandarin, petitgrain, cypress, juniperberry, cardamom, guaiac wood, musk, patchouli.  

– Clayton Ilolahia, Guest Contributor

Sun drenched and pure white, the Scala dei Turchi in Sicily © Anna Biasoli

Via Dei Mille Sicilia Zagara (Jacques Chabert and Nathalie Koobus): “Hot time, summer in the city. Back of my neck feeling dirty and gritty…” Summers in New York demand escape so I wear perfumes that clear my mind and send it somewhere far away. A favorite is the simple, elegant lemony neroli fragrance, Zagara, from Sicily by way of Grasse. The founder of the brand honors his grandfather who exported Sicilian neroli essence to perfumers in France after WWII. The ingredients, as well as his grandfather, are celebrated in this perfume that surrounds you in citrus from bud to fruit. A new favorite in my summer fragrances rotation.

Notes: bergamot, lemon, petitgrain, neroli, orange blossom, tonka bean

-Marianne Butler, Sr. Contributor

Magnolia grandiflora courtesy of Michel Roudnitska© is one of Michelyn’s favorite summer fragrances

Grandiflora Magnolia Michel (Michel Roudnitska): This year it has been particularly sticky in New York City and I find myself reaching for the fleshy, moist magnolia by Michel Roudnitska.  When Saskia Havekes, the renowned Australian florist, writer and Creative Director started her perfume company in 2014, the first two perfumes Grandiflora Magnolia Sandrine and Grandiflora Magnolia Michel were introduced simultaneously.  The sadly departed  (2013) Sandrine Vidreault was a pupil of Edmond Roudnitska and when Michel learned she had been working on a magnolia  perfume for Saskia Havekes, he presented her with an unreleased fragrance he had created from his childhood memories of the magnolia tree that grew on his father’s estate in Cabris. “I have been working for several years on this flower which bewitches me each summer when we have lunch under the big tree planted beside the swimming pool. A nearly achieved original fragrance is born from this research. I am just waiting the good opportunity to launch it.”, he wrote to me in 2011. This is not a simple soliflores; imagine watching a photo time lapse of a magnolia growing from seed to full bloom. Freeze frame to the EXACT moment when the flower is at its peak. You can’t get the image out of your head. Intoxicating with a whiff of lemon, a bit of bark, green shoots giving way to the ambrosial scent of magnolia  at its height. I try not to tease out notes, but unmistakably there is jasmine and ylang ylang, a hint of musk and earthy patchouli.  Michel doesn’t create many fragrances these days, so it is a must for his fans. So realistic I can feel the dew drops fall from the petals on the magnolia flower onto my sun warmed skin.  I have yet to smell a perfume that makes NYC summers bearable with a single spritz.

Notes: Lemon, bergamot, grapefruit, jasmine, ylang-ylang, rose, magnolia, vetiver, patchouli and musk

–Michelyn Camen, Editor-in-Chief

René Gruau 

For our favorite Summer Fragrance Draw (there are 7):

Worldwide:  Thank you dear Neil Morris Fragrances for 30 ml of Taj

USA, EU, Canada, Australia: Much gratitude to Via Dei Mille Sicilia for a bottle of Zagara

Worldwide: From the ever giving Dawn Spencer Hurwitz 10 ml Voile de Parfum of paper*whites

Worldwide: With love from Saskia Havekes 50 ml Grandiflora Magnolia Michel

EU, USA and Canada: From the lovely and generous Neela Vermeire 2 x 15 ml of Bombay Bling

For two readers from the talented Antonio Alesandria two 5ml bottles…one to a reader in the USA and one anywhere else in the world

USA Only: The limited edition SOLD OUT from 2018 Sarah Horowitz Parfums Banq de Parfum Verano

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Perfumes from our own collections !!!

Please be sure to register, or your comment WILL NOT COUNT. To be eligible let us know what appeals to you about  our Best Summer Fragrances a quote, the perfumer or inspiration where you live and which you would like to win (choose as many as you want and you are eligible for).  Draw closes 6/24/2018

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