My Summer Fragrances
Soft & Smoky Love Letters from Gin, Honey, & Neroli
i’ve been branching out slightly from my usual repertoire of dainty florals into more interesting scents, which doesn’t just mean dainty fruity smells. i know what i like and what smells good on me (dainty florals and dainty fruits), but i’ve been reaching more for sensual scents. summer evenings have a wild and free eroticism about them, a feeling that draws me towards something sultry. sometimes slutty. skanky, on occasion.
i present to you four of my new summer scents and where i will wear them.
on the daintiest end of my new acquisitions is Jo Malone’s Nectarine Blossom & Honey. when i first tested it, during the harsh winter months, i was instantly transported to summer. the nectarine note cupped my face and begged sweetly to be eaten. i don’t typically like gourmands due to the bloated weight of the scents, typically overpowering and thick. Nectarine Blossom & Honey cuts the sweetness of, well, nectarine and honey with a sour quip. unfortunately, when it first arrived on campus, it was wet. thick and weighty, it completely lacked the sharp sweetness i smelled in-store. it still sort of smells damp, but a punchy note of nectarine skin becomes more available as the scent ripens. it’s a good fragrance for a summer day, lying on the skin lightly but confidently, not to be overpowered by sunscreen or sweat. it’s as good for a picnic, light cardio, and coffee on campus as it is for sitting around binging Twin Peaks. all of which i’ve done wearing this perfume.
Nectarine Blossom & Honey has been one of my everyday scents, trading places with Glossier You and the Orange Blossom Neroli Body Spritz i was gifted from GLabs.
Ave María is a recent addition to my collection and hails from the House of Bō. though light and fresh in its powdery and floral notes of gardenia and neroli, Ave María has a confident base note of red wine that cooperates elegantly with its gentler counterparts. on the skin, it smells immediately of white florals, but the red wine draws you in for a second sniff. simultaneously, it is a typical floral fragrance, more than appropriate year-round, and a sultry secret depth you need to know. while only having a couple of notes, Ave María is not a simple scent to get bored of; she’s just a class act. so be subtle when you lean in for another whiff. i’ve been wanting a fragrance with a red wine note in part for the pretentious satisfaction of saying that i smell like red wine. my ego, however, is not what makes me love this scent. it is a fantastic perfume my throat wears like lingerie. lying between Nectarine Blossom & Honey and my other, sultrier scents, it’s a perfect scent for a hot, but sophisticated, date. do not expect to lure me under your covers without undressing your mind for me first. in between dates and psychosexual seduction, i might spray Ave María on a love letter quoting Audre Lorde, begging you to finger fuck my beautiful mind.
unfortunately, i have not had the pleasure to wear it out, but trust i am searching for the right opportunity.
Vétiver Écarlate from L’Artisan Parfumeur is next in order of sultriness. muskier than Ave María, grapefruit and tomato leaf are laid to rest on a dry, woody bed of vetiver. notes in this fragrance are light and fresh; a flavorful, green scent of tomato leaf is bright and raw, while the grapefruit donates a sour tanginess. combined with the vetiver, this fragrance smells exactly like a basket of summer produce, filled with citrus and tomatoes still on the vine. a perfect scent for the season. it is friendly and welcoming, nostalgic perhaps for some, but not necessarily playful, likely too standoffish for a date, especially a first date, but could be memorable for a meet-cute. better for meetings and errands, conveying a cool, unoppressive confidence.
it will be a very good everyday scent. due to its newness, i haven’t worn it yet, but i can imagine it doing well in a Trader Joe’s.
Virginal from Amphora Parfum is last on my list as the sultriest scent. it is also one of my more difficult perfumes, likely due to a hefty scent of sweat. while certainly not bloated or intrusive, containing mostly lighter notes like tuberose and strawberry skin, the scents of gin and rank sheets lend something almost nefarious to the smell. not nearly as offensive as a rather notorious sample i own, Virginal is nearly unwearable due simply to how wildly sexual it is, perhaps due to the burning wax or scent of my lover’s sheets. these notes are laid on the skin as thickly as drunken hands on drunken hips. while Ave María demands psychic seduction, Virginal has already decided she wants to get laid tonight by someone hot. and if you play your cards right, you might just be that sexy someone. it’s a scent that ignores the complicated dance of seduction, preferring to grind on your hips under neon light. it’s a smell that suggests, not very subtly, that i sit on your face. and it asks in such a sweet tone that you can’t help but agree. i think this perfume would probably say love letters are for dorks, opting instead to send nudes that would rival Playboy’s wildest photoshoots.
absolutely not an everyday scent. great for the club, a hook up, or date night (if, and only if, date night will be followed by hot, sweaty sex). very excited to be the strangest smelling dyke at the club and, just maybe, your bedroom.
even the sexualization of perfume is lovely if it’s Anadys who performs it <3