Fragrances Boutique

Penhaligon’s has added two more fragrances to their Anthology collection (”breathing new life into fragrances from our archive”), Jubilee Bouquet and Zizonia…

To me, perfume has a texture. Some fragrances wear like silk velvet, others like a practical gabardine, and still others — unfortunately — like double knit polyester. In summer, I want to wear perfume that feels like chiffon, linen, the fabric of a well-worn tee shirt, or even nothing at all. Here are the 10 fragrances I’ll be probably be wearing most this summer:

When it’s sizzling out, when lifting the bedroom window feels like opening the door of a convection oven, I want perfume that is crisp, cooling, and effortless. In short, I want perfume that wears like linen.

Christian Dior Eau Fraiche is a perfect linen-like fragrance. I have a bottle more than 40 years old that still sparkles and still has the warm chic of real oakmoss. I can wear it to work, after a bath, or while enjoying a gin and tonic at the neighborhood bar and feel fresh and even elegant, if I have to be.

Annick Goutal Folavril is another good linen substitute…

Father’s Day is coming up on Sunday, June 20th…it’ll be here before you know it.

From John Varvatos, the Artisan fragrance in a gift set with Eau de Toilette, After Shave Gel, Hair & Body Wash. $58 at Nordstrom…

As I write this review, the temperature in Seattle is nearing 70 degrees; it hasn’t been so warm here since last October. Fueled by optimism, I’m taking my spring shirts, even short-sleeved shirts, out of storage, and I’m “rousing” my spring and summer perfumes from their winter hibernation closet. (Come March, I need a break from heavy oudh, musk and wood fragrances.)

I’ve also been having a recurring “scent fantasy”: I’m sitting in the middle of a bright citrus grove, and the trees are full of ripe lemons, oranges and limes (and since it’s a fantasy, some orange trees are in full bloom as well). One citrus cologne that helps me conjure this scene is the recently reissued Penhaligon’s Extract of Limes — an old favorite of mine.

Extract of Limes was created in 1963 and disappeared sometime in the Nineties; it’s now part of Penhaligon’s 2009 Anthology Collection…

Penhaligon’s will add two more fragrances to the Anthology collection next month, Eau de Cologne and Orange Blosssom. The Anthology series, which highlights fragrances from the Penhaligon’s back catalog, debuted last year with Extract of Limes, Eau de Verveine, Gardenia and Night Scented Stock…

From the looks of so many celebrity fragrances, it must be easy to turn out a tropical, fruity floral fragrance. It’s almost become a cliché. Not that there’s anything wrong with a jumble of white flowers, roses, and grape juice, it’s just that it gets boring. In Penhaligon’s Amaranthine Eau de Parfum, perfumer Bertrand Duchaufour shakes up the tropical fragrance game by adding a distinctly sweet, milky note; a kick of spice; and a healthy portion of naughtiness to the fruity, banana-inflected flowers most people associate with tropical fragrances. The result is a sort of tropical-oriental, like Jayne Mansfield Jane Russell in Macao.

According to Wikipedia, amaranthine either relates to amaranth, a gorgeous plant with dripping reddish-purple stalks from which you can harvest grain; or an imaginary flower that never fades. Another online definition said amaranthine stands for “eternal beauty”. Penhaligon’s website lists Amaranthine’s top notes as green tea, white freesia, banana tree leaf, coriander seed oil, and cardamom absolute; its heart notes as rose, carnation, clove oil, orange blossom, ylang ylang oil, and Egyptian jasmine absolute; and its base as musk, vanilla, sandalwood, condensed milk, and tonka bean absolute. (Props to Penhaligon’s for listing perfumers on their website.)

When first on my skin, Amaranthine smells like green tea and kiwi with a trace of cumin…

From Kenzo, two Matryoshka dolls: at left, with a miniature bottle of L’Eau Par Kenzo Pour Femme, available at the US Kenzo website with purchases of $50 or more using coupon code 09GIFT, from December 8 – 14 only. At right, a doll with Kenzo Winter Flowers, available at Harrods in the UK for £46.50…