Pack up your scarves, cableknits and mukluks, summer's coming! Oh, and pack up your perfume, too.
Yes, just as it's time to trade in your heavy winter gear for airy dresses and strappy sandals, it's time to switch to a lighter summer scent. "We reflect our surroundings through what we wear," says Sixth Scents' Marian Bendeth, an internationally known Toronto-based consultant who uses her formidable fragrance expertise to help clients build fragrance wardrobes that fit their personalities and lifestyles.
Bendeth points out that winter is all about dark colours and rich, cosy textures, and that summer is about fresh air, green grass, hot sun, cottage getaways and glowing sunsets. "We have appropriate clothing for those things; it makes sense to have appropriate scents, too." Here are her tips for smelling scent-sational this summer.
1. Lighten up
"Heavier fragrances work better in cold weather than in warm -- heat activates the perfume oil to release more scent," Bendeth explains. As the air warms up, heavy perfume can become overpowering, so consider switching to something lighter.
If you can't bear to break from those heavier notes, don't worry: Fragrance lines often include companion products such as shower gels and body lotions, so you can hydrate and scent your skin with your favourites without the intensity of the actual eau de parfum or eau de toilette.
2. Look for summer versions of your faves
"Fragrance companies know you have your favourites and they want to keep you as their customer," says Bendeth. "Many, like Stella McCartney, Issey Miyake and Jean Paul Gaultier, offer summer editions of their best-sellers, lighter versions that pump up the softer notes and knock back the intensity of others. Some, like Calvin Klein with Eternity, release entirely new scents designed to appeal to a brand's established consumer."
3. Let seasonal activities inspire you
Summer is about sipping cool beverages, lounging in the garden, relaxing at the cottage and frolicking at waterfront picnics. "Hold off on incense-inspired, intense vanilla, very sweet florals and sweet fruity fragrances," advises Bendeth. "Think energizing citrus, fresh white flowers, crisp green, woody or aquatic scents."
In the citrus family, try Fresh Sugar Lemon (30 mL, $30) or Elizabeth Arden Pure White Linen Light Breeze (50 mL, $60). If white flowers appeal, try Vera Wang Sheer Veil (100 mL, $87). Demeter Grass (30 mL, $19.99) hits the green notes, and Miss Boucheron (100 mL, $110) is a sophisticated woody scent. In the aquatic arena, go for Davidoff Cool Water Woman Freeze Me (100 mL, $69) and L'Eau d'Issey Summer Eau de Toilette (100 ml, $74).
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