Sauce’s summer scent guide
A summer scent should be a tonic, something to refresh, lift one’s mood, and invigorate. Most importantly, a summer scent should be something that you simply love. This guide is a great place to start, but the ultimate guide is your nose. Scent should always be a love thing. If you love it, wear it. Forget the rules. Male/female, spring/summer, day/night, if it is what you want to wear in that moment, spray with reckless abandon! Basically, you want to be the woman in the elevator from Fleabag each morning when you spritz yourself, declaring that you smell absolutely gorgeous!
Eau Ressourçante, Clarins, 100mL
Eau Ressourçante smells like the spas you read about in magazines. You know, the ones that are almost too tasteful, with swathes of white linen, and gorgeous little green tiled plunge pools everywhere, those ones. This scent is incredibly relaxing. If you find the heat and humidity stressful, reach for this, it will calm you every time. I love travel, but hate flying, and Eau Ressourçante has been my go-to flying fragrance forever. Needless to say, I haven’t worn this in a while, and long for the day where I once again pack this in my carry-on. This fragrance is ‘non-photosensitising’, meaning that it is safe enough to wear in the sun (the alcohol in most fragrances, when sprayed to exposed skin, increases the risk of sensitivity to burning). Clarins call this a ‘treatment fragrance’ due to the natural essences of basil, iris, cedarwood, and sarsaparilla it contains. Personally, I find this acts like a traditional Eau de Toilette, and it lingers.
Eau Sauvage , Christian Dior, 50mL
Eau Sauvage has had many flankers over the years, but here I am referring to the OG. Originally created in 1966, this iconic fragrance really has stood the test of time. Scent is for everyone and anyone, but this men’s fragrance would smell très très chic on a woman. Think of Tonne Goodman in her men’s Rolex. I adore classic cologne on women, the juxtaposition is just so chic. I like to think of scents in terms of moods, not notes, and to me, Eau Sauvage is a crisp white shirt, with just a hint of sweat from the Provencal sun. Divine.
Un Jardin Sur Le Nil, Hermès, 100mL
For me, Jean-Claude Ellena, former in-house perfumer at Hermès, is a master. His work is both transparent and complex, and his second instalment for the Jardin series by Hermès is no exception. Ellena wanted to evoke the smell of the vegetation along the banks of the Nile River. This is another reason for my love-affair with scent, the ability it allows us to travel, dream, and escape. Staying put this Summer? Introduce Sur Le Nil to your routine, and you will be transported to Egypt each time you spray, how lovely. Chandler Burr, the New York Times fragrance critic, writes about the creation of this scent in his book The Perfect Scent: A Year Inside the Perfume Industry in Paris and New York. For those who like to do their market research pre-purchase, can it get better than that? The book details Ellenas infatuation with the smell of a ripe, unpicked mango, which is meant to be quite different to the smell most of us associate with the mangoes we buy at the supermarket. If the gardener in your life is after a new fragrance this summer, get them this.
L’Eau de L’Artisan, L’Artisan Parfumeur, 100mL
Make like Madame de Pompadour and spritz yourself with the elegant crispness of verbena. This take on a classic French Eau de Cologne, is so elegant in that annoying French ‘I don’t have to do anything, I am just this chic’ way. This would be a beautiful fragrance to share with your partner. For those of you who hate your perfumes to shout, but prefer an elegant whisper, that speaks of quality, not quantity, buy this. If Eau Sauvage is a white shirt, L’Eau de L’Artisan is a French tank watch.
Eau de Magnolia, Frédéric Malle, 50mL
I first smelled this in Paris about 5 years ago when a shop assistant insisted that I try it, and it has been love ever since. It is in a classic Eau de Cologne style, with a white-floral twist, which should not be so unique and addictive, but it is. Catherine Deneuve wore this while filming a movie recently. Deneuve likes to wear a new scent for each project so she can keep the fragrance after filming has wrapped, the bottle then holds the key to unlock those memories. If it is good enough for Catherine, it’s good enough for you this summer! The after-sun gel in the Eau de Magnolia range is heaven, keep it in your fridge, and let it be the most decadent post-shower treat. Although a floral cologne, this would smell exquisite on a man. Buy it for your kiwi bloke this Christmas, he will love it!
Ambre Sultan, Serge Lutens, 50mL
Don’t like fresh? Don’t wear fresh. Ambre Sultan is an other-worldly, resinous, herbaceous amber-centric oriental fragrance which smells superb in heat and humidity. It is dry so it never feels cloying, no matter how hot it gets. Although a rich scent, it is not a shouter, and the herbaceous aspect (bay-leaf, oregano, myrtle), balances out the amber, myrrh and vanilla. There is nothing more intriguing than the unexpected, so put the fruity-floral to the side, and wear Ambre Sultan this summer. Gorgeous.
Words – Roman Szymanik
