Although it’s the last of the tennis, there’s the rest of summer to make the most of – so we’re celebrating with scents that evoke the excitement of a popped cork, glasses of chilled bubbles shared with friends, picnics with Pimms, making the most of sitting in our gardens (or escaping to the nearest green space) whenever we can, and eating our own bodyweight in strawberries.
It’s been a bit of a mixed bag of a summer, weather-wise, and with everyone seemingly as exhausted as dehydrated bumble bees who need to be spoon-feed sugar syrup and placed gently within a hollyhock to recuperate, it’s surely time to wear something which lifts our spirits, adds a certain zing to our day, and allows us to appreciate the here and now?
Psst! Don’t forget you have until midnight on Sunday 16th July to enter our Wimbledon Legends prize draw, to win a huge bundle of Montblanc fragrance prizes!]
Meanwhile, with with 70 days of official summer left in the northern hemisphere, why not try these happy-making scents for size…?
Memoize London Vita
Piquant pepper, cool cardamom and a sizzle of saffron enliven the juicy fruits that drench the heart of this summer-tastic scent. A hazy drift of incense tickles sun-warmed strawberries lapped by creamy milk, and the woody dry-down billows engagingly for hours. Bliss!
£177 for 100ml eau de parfum in our shop
Paco Rabanne Invictus Victory Elixir Parfum Intense
Urging us to push our limits and celebrate victories (even if that means putting your shoes on the right feet currently, we feel!) a sublime blend of Provençal lavandin’s sliced through with green cardamom, while Indonesian patchouli envelops addictive tonka and vanilla.
£71 for 50ml eau de parfum boots.com
Maison Margiela When the Rain Stops
There’s at least one moment during Wimbledon (or the BBQ you’ve been planning for ages) when, inevitably, the heavens open, but at least we can revel in the scent of ‘petrichor’ so beautifully evoked here via dewy Isparta roses and mossy, rain-washed, lung-clearing air.
£55 for 30ml eau de toilette theperfumeshop.com
MALIN + GOETZ Strawberry
Banish thoughts of sickly sweet versions of a strawberry scent, this is ‘deconstructed’ and reimagined – a freshly picked garden strawberry with stalk attached, shafts of pink pepper and bergamot given a floral flourish by orris root, jasmine petals and soft musks.
£78 for 50ml eau de parfum malinandgoetz.co.uk
VYRAO I AM VERDANT
Sprouting acres of mown grass and green verges with every spritz, cyclamen joyously bursts through the undergrowth, swags of moss-bedecked ivy draping the powdery comfort of iris, and bergamot bolstering the brightness of orange flower absolute. Smiles, bottled.
£135 for 50ml eau de parfum selfridges.com
(Try a sample in the Vyrao High Five Set for £79)
Written by Suzy Nightingale