To fully enjoy your perfume, you must know how to properly choose the right scent for each season. Many of us focus on perfume for occasions such as office wear or date night. However, not much focus is put on the season. Your choice of perfume during summer should match the seasonal conditions. Still, confused? Find out below why you should wear a different perfume this summer.

Do I Need to get a Different Scent this Summer

The answer to this question is yes! It’s a good idea to invest in a perfume that is designed for the summer season because it affects your overall smell and even your mood. And here’s the reason why -when perfume makers develop their scents, they normally have the scent profile in mind.

And that is why you will never find a perfume brand advertising a strong or warm-bodied perfume as a summer scent. Typically, fall and winter perfumes complement the cooler weather whilst spring and summer perfumes are meant for the warmer weather.

However, from time to time, you may stumble upon a subtle scent that you can wear during both the summer and colder seasons. And that is why it is important to know how to choose your perfume. For example, smelling perfume from its bottle or with a simple spray in the air doesn’t do the trick.

When you walk into a perfume store, lightly spray the perfume on your pressure points or the testing strips. Don’t make your decision immediately. Instead, test the perfume throughout the day – or at least for a couple of hours. This allows the scent to develop into its full profile as you get the chance to experience the top, middle and base notes.

At the end of the day, you will have a better understanding of the perfume profile and be able to make an informed decision of whether or not the scent works for you. It is also best to test the perfume during the season to which you intend to wear it. Testing a summer perfume during the colder season doesn’t fully help you decide if it’s ideal for the warmer weather.

What is Different about Summer Perfumes?

The main difference between summer perfumes and those designed for cooler seasons is their overall body make up. Generally, summer perfumes tend to be lighter and boast less strong base notes. Remember the summer season can be extremely warm, thus, you don’t want to wear overly strong perfumes that will be overbearing and even irritating to the nose.

Perfumes designed for the fall and winter season on the other end are strong because the weather and your body during this time can accommodate strong scents. During the cooler seasons, your body temperature is low, thus, wearing stronger scented perfume allows it to last longer on your body. Unlike the summer season, if you wear light-bodied perfumes during the cooler seasons, the scents will be muted.

How to Choose Perfume

Before you even decide which perfume to get for summer, you must know how to choose one. It is not always easy for people to choose their ideal perfume. So, knowing the standard principles can help narrow down your choices. The common factors to consider when choosing your perfume are the overall perfume profile, fragrance notes, and concentration.

As mentioned before, practice the “leave the store” principle. You can only know the full profile and scent of your perfume after testing it for hours. So when you are looking for a perfume to buy, never buy it after just a single smell at the store. Remember, even our bodies react differently to the same perfume scent due to our chemical makeup. Thus, your best bet to understanding the profile of a perfume is to test it on your body for several hours.

Fragrance Notes

Fragrance notes are what determine the overall profile or body of your perfume.  Fragrance notes include the top notes; which you smell immediately after applying the perfume. Middle or heart notes begin to be dominant after 20 to 30 minutes of the application after the initial top notes fade. The base notes are what linger on longer (up to 8 hrs.) after the top and heart notes begin to dissolve. 

Whilst both notes are important, you want to focus on the base notes because these will linger on the longest on your skin. So, typically, for a summer perfume, the base notes should not be too strong. Each note is given its scent profiles which are what builds the overall body, character, or accord of the perfume. Common top notes include scents such as lemon, orange, lavender, and bergamot.

The heart notes boast scents such as jasmine, ylang-ylang, or cardamom; which offer the truest nature of the perfume. The base notes support the lighter notes and commonly boast scents such as vanilla, amber or musk. But this is not to say that every perfume boasts the same scent choices. Combined, these notes are what provide the perfume accords such as woody, oriental, and oceanic, just to mention a few.

Fragrance Concentration

Perfume also comes in different types based on their fragrance oil concentration. These include perfume (15-30%), Eau de perfume (10-15%), Eau de toilette (8-15%), Eau de cologne (5-8%) and Eau de Fraiche/fragrance water (3-5%). Whilst you can choose any type you want, it is recommended to go for a lighter variation of your fragrance, eau de toilette, during summer.

Unlike the popular assumption that Eau de perfume is better than Eau de toilette. Their only difference is the strength or concentration of the fragrance oils rather than the quality. Eau de Fraiche on the other end will last you within an hour or two; making them great if you want to refresh at the gym or beach.

Picking the Right Perfume for Summer

The next step is to know how to pick the right perfume for the summer season. The best way to do so is by first knowing the scent profiles. When choosing a perfume, you will come across the fragrance notes which make up the body of the perfume. 

As mentioned above, the notes are known as the base, middle, and top notes, and together; they classify the overall scent type of perfume. When choosing a perfume for the summer season, you want to opt for the lighter-bodied scents such as oceanic, lightly floral, fruity, and citrus notes.  You want to avoid heavy scents such as oriental, woody, and spicy.

Imagine the summer season – the atmosphere is happy, relaxed, and of course, warm. So when you are trying out perfumes, think of fragrance notes such as peach, patchouli, mandarine, berries, watermelon, and even sea salt, that will help emulate the summer feeling. A good example of true summer perfumes includes the Davidoff Cool Water, Miu Miu Twist, Viktor & Rolf Flowerbomb, and Mon Guerlain Bloom of Rose.

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