Sensitive Nose - Summer Fragrances

I have a really long history with perfume.  It starts with my mother; she has a really sensitive sense of smell, and for her - and subsequently me - aromatherapy is a very real thing.  Growing up, I came to associate the smell of Cover Girl Clean pressed powder with my mother.  To this day, when I smell it, I smile and feel homey and cosy.  She didn't splurge on much, but she has always worn Ysatis by Givenchy to bed.  The smell of it is enough to make both of our eyelids droop.  As I got older, I started to develop my own, decidedly different tastes in perfume.  In high school, I wore Joop! Nightflight for men and Polo Sport.  I fell in love with musky orientals.  Which was why I was surprised in recent years to find more of them made for women.  It gave me more options, and opened up something awesome - changing my perfume with the seasons.

It sounds terribly stuffy, but makes sense - the world itself smells different in the winter, spring, summer, and fall, so why shouldn't you?  The only problem with this is that I live in Texas, and we don't really have spring or fall.  We kind of go from summer for ten months to winter for two, then right back into ballsacky heat.  During those two months of winter, I tend to go for crisper oriental fragrances.  Lately, I've been wearing L'eauparKenzo (and yes, they smoosh it all together, don't ask me why).

from Sephora.com

It smells like clean, fresh sheets should always smell - minty, vanilla-y, and with a little bit of fresh rainfall mixed in.  The weartime isn't really that great; I can only smell it on myself for about four hours, max.  Granted, I haven't tried layering it, but I don't mind carrying the bottle around me if smelling it longer is crucial.  Just smelling it puts me in the mood for cooler weather and cosy blankets.  One ounce  of the eau de toilette spray sets you back 41.00 USD.  Considering how long perfume lasts, this isn't a bad deal.  I'll repurchase it.

I try to feign springtime around March and April with something floral and girlie.  Normally I don't like florals, so it took me eons to find the right one.  Whenever anyone smells Tocca's Florence on me, they tend to say things like "I wouldn't expect you to wear that, but god, it smells fantastic".  It's rose and Iris, and it smells the way I think Aslan smelled in every single Narnia book.  (Not so much wet Jesus lion, but more like flowering springtime and musk.)

from sephora.com

I have gone through two bottles of this perfume.  It's something I find myself reaching for if I know I'm going to have a bad day, just because the smell anchors me so much.  Even though it's 68.00 USD for 1.7 ounces of the eau de toilette, I'll rebuy this until they stop making it.  And when they stop making it, I'll cry.

But now it's summertime, and the living is sticky.  I went out today to go to the gas station to replenish my Diet Coke stock, and that five minute trek was enough to make me shake my first and swear I'd never go outside again.  (It's 94 degrees Fahrenheit, in case you're wondering.  On May 5th.)  Florals make the bees come and inspect me now, and frankly, there's enough of the real things about to make me angry if I smell them.  So it's time to switch to something lighter and brighter.  These days, I'm wearing Orange Sanguine by Atelier Cologne.  It smells just like you think it will - like walking through an orange grove while eating an orange creamsicle, but not too cloying and overpowering.

from Neiman Marcus

In fact, the subtlety of this perfume is my only dislike of it.  At first it's pretty obvious I have it on, especially since I keep huffing my arm.  But three hours later, I forget I have it on at all.  I've debated buying an atomizer for my purse so I can put some in there.  This was a Christmas gift - my mom got me the 6.7 ounce bottle, which set her back 150.00 USD.  I don't know if I'd buy it myself (one ounce is 55.00 USD), but since I have a metric boatload of it, I'll never have to.

None of these are my Holy Grail perfume, which is something I'll write about another time, but what perfumes/colognes/scented oils are you guys wearing?