Certain perfumes in the heat become a restorative salve – a cooling fluid – generously applied with instant effects. You Or Someone Like You by Etat Libre d’Orange concentrates the very best of mint, grapefruit, and green tea-like rose into an energising tonic. The result is a bursting and sizzling sort of freshness, energetic and beaming. Whilst Heeley’s Sel Marin represents the steady and minimal iteration of freshness – a graceful and soothing dose of salty effects creates an atmosphere of marine-like smell. A soft base of woods lends stability and length to the fragrance.
Between these two styles, there’s the wildly popular The Orchid Man (Frapin), which relies on a traditional Aromatic structure, sparkling with bergamot, black pepper, jasmine, leather, and patchouli. The total result is a harmony of sweet-and-sour, cool-and-warm, a beguiling series of flourishes that charms and allures. A scent of many sides, all of them gregarious and handsome.
For a woody variation of these theme, opt for Eight and Bob, which champions a trio of confident woody notes: cedar, sandalwood, and vetiver root - washing them in a charming blanket of vanilla with a slightly salty, and ultra refreshing marine-like effect. Eight and Bob is instantly familiar, managing to transform the heaviest of materials into a gorgeously unified composition – an extended experience in all of the right places. Amp up the woods with Parle Moi de Parfum's Cedar Woodpecker, which is noteworthy not only for its delightfully generous application of highly textural cedar essences, but a particularly fascinating top-note of iris and citruses, reading like a traditional cologne. Together, Cedar Woodpecker has the bittersweet and addictively viscous qualities of an orange marmalade, balanced impeccably with wood notes.
Finally, for an unexpected treat, turn to Hermann a Mes Cotes (Etat Libre d'Orange), a fragrance that is both dark and shady, whilst having a superb freshness. Geosmin and calypsone is utilised, which is reminiscent of the cool ozonic earth after the rain – like the sweat of rocks – brightened with blackcurrant buds, intensified with pepper, and grounded with patchouli.
