FRAGRANCE
The 24 Best Summer Fragrances for Any Occasion
These uplifting new fragrances play to the warmest season with classic, fresh florals and zesty, citrus notes that instantly lighten your mood. There are cool, breezy, ocean scents that lead your mind straight to the beach, and even a more visual take on perfume that's completely reimagining how we wear fragrance.
The balanced blends of sweet, fresh, and floral are bright enough to get noticed and subtle enough to spritz in the summer heat, earning the display-worthy bottles prime countertop real estate. These refreshingly energized scents bottle up the best smells of the summer, transporting your senses to vacation-like bliss, even if you can't leave the office.
Meet your summer fragrance starting lineup.
We appreciate a creative fragrance name as much as the next perfume lover, but you've got to respect when a brand gets right to the point in its title. Beauty Pie reveals the main notes of Mandarin Leaf, White Cedar & Freesia right on the label, telling you that you can expect an especially fresh scent. Also sprinkled with hints of black tea and vetiver, this eau de parfum has gotten five-star review after five-star review since its launch.
The packaging of Paula's Ibiza is aptly colorful, conveying the truly vibrant fragrance within. Its galbanum could only be described as bright green, while its frangipani and Madagascan mandarin ensure tropical vibes that makes wearing it feel like a summer vacation long after the season has passed.
Lil Fleur's name suggests that this Byredo fragrance is floral — and it is — but just a little (hence "lil"). Its heart of Damascena rose is made infinitely more interesting with notes of saffron, cassis, tangerine, leather, amber, blonde woods, and vanilla. Inspired by youthful emotion and ambition, it perfectly captures the bittersweetness of summer's temporariness.
Although Ralph Lauren categorizes the new Polo Red Eau de Parfum as a men's fragrance, no one can resist the woodsy sage and ginger that make it rich — but not too rich for summer. You can thank red grapefruit, cranberry, and lavender for that year-round wearability.
There are daytime summer fragrances and then there are distinctly nighttime summer fragrances. A Midnight Stroll is undoubtedly the latter. Part of The Alchemist's Garden collection from Gucci, this scent is as much of an achievement in science as it is in the art of perfumery. It's made to be layered and personalized, its incense and smoky cade wood serving as a manipulatable foundation that lingers in the air.
Just when you thought you've smelled every kind of beachy fragrance, Ellis Brooklyn comes along with Salt. A favorite of Allure beauty editor Paige Stables, this eau de parfum captures summer with salty vegan ambergris, but its Tahitian tiare flower is decidedly more tropical beach than Brooklyn beach.
Tuberose, orange blossom, and jasmine sambac immediately indicate that Kilian's Good Girl Gone Bad is sensual as hell. That said, the nature of an eau fraîche gives it a freshness and lightness that makes it so very wearable throughout the summer, especially for stay-at-home date nights.
Lake & Skye modernizes the classic rose fragrance with Canyon Rose. The warmth of its rose petals and geranium are freshened up by the exuberant sweetness of green apple and peach. And yes, that's vanilla you're picking up on your skin. It's so simple, yet so unexpected
