Summer in a Bottle - Perfume Articles

Excerpts from a fragrance editorial, Summer's So Close We Can Smell It, in Glamour Magazine, May 2012 issue.

Shut your eyes and think of summer. Are you dreaming of a beach day? Fresh-cut flowers? A night under the stars? Yeah, there's a perfume for that! Find yours here.

If you live for the beach

Pick a fragrance with pink pepper, coconut, mint, orange flower, pina colada, or pineapple.

Michael Kors Island Very Bali $65 -- floral woody

Calvin Klein Eternity Summer $58 -- fruity floral

Giorgio Armani Acqua di Gioia $40 -- marine floral

Estee Lauder Bronze Goddess Capri $57 -- citrus floral

Thierry Mugler Angel Aqua Chic $85 -- floral oriental

If you love the woods

Craving a camping trip? Look for notes of moss, pine, cedarwood, or sandalwood.

Curve Appeal $48 -- oriental gourmand

Ralph Lauren The Big Pony Collection 2 $70 -- fruity floral oriental

Yves Saint Laurent Y $105 -- floral chypre

Burberry Body $50 -- floral woody amber

Dior J'adore $65 -- fruity floral

If you're all about flowers

Try a combination of freshly cut green grass, florals, and watery elements.

Givenchy Very Irresistible Electric Rose $71 -- green floral

Viktor & Rolf Flowerbomb $105 -- floral

Marc Jacobs Oh, Lola! $68 -- fruity floral

Prada Infusion d'Iris Absolue $117 -- floral oriental

Lancome Tresor Midnight Rose $75 -- fruity floral

Mood boost in a bottle? Yes, Please

It isn't just your imagination that you're a happier camper in the summer. A 2011 survey of more than 509 million Twitter messages found that people are generally in more positive moods as days get longer -- a bonus of spring that peaks in June. And though scientists have yet to create a perfume antidepressant to shake off our winter blues, a whiff of summery smells can actually make you happier, thanks to your brain's limbic system, an area where scent is processed and recollections are formed.

"Scent is about memory," confirms Stephen Warrenburg, Ph.D., a research fellow at International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF), "so if something that smells beachy reminds you of a happy time, you'll find it uplifting." Try a fragrance with "summer" notes, like the ones here. If the weather is very hot, IFF senior perfumer Jean Marc Chaillan says, "instead of parfum, go for an eau de cologne or eau de toilette."

(Siegel, Holly. "Summer's So Close We Can Smell It." Glamour May 2012: 282)

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