You may not know this about me as I rarely talk about it, but I am obsessed with fragrance. My first job was as the assistant buyer of women’s fragrances for a department store chain in Boston. I did that for almost four years and then I spent 5 years working in fragrance marketing as an assistant brand manager and then a brand manager. This was all before BaubleBar and blogging! But spending 8 years in that industry really made me passionate about it – I learned so much and built up quite a collection of perfumes.
But it’s hard to write about here, as fragrance is such a personal thing and we all gravitate to different things. Also, every fragrance smells different on each person! It’s hard to write about fragrance without you experiencing it and trying it on… I wish I could make my blog scratch and sniff so that you can experience my favorite scents. That’s why I never give fragrance as a gift unless I know EXACTLY what the person on the receiving end loves… or I’m just repurchasing their signature scent for them. Oddly Briony is maybe the one person I could buy fragrance for – we love all the same things and had the best time shopping for perfume when we were in Paris together last year.
In the cooler months I almost exclusively wear Le Labo Santal 33. It is my favorite and it smells like a sexy fireplace. It’s gotten so popular though and I kind of hate smelling like everyone else. Also, once summer strikes I like to mix things up a little bit, favoring something a little bit lighter! I am very lucky to have a massive library of fragrances at home. I am sent quite a bit of perfume for the blog, I buy perfume a lot when I travel (it’s the best memory keeper)… but I do try to narrow it down, frequently passing scents along to friends, etc. Today I wanted to share five lighter fragrances that I’m loving right now!
Summer Fragrances:
Coqui Coqui Orange Blossom
One of my all time favorite scents. (I’ve talked about it before but if you are a regular here you know I love, love, love all things orange blossom.) I stayed at the Coqui Coqui in Tulum 4 years ago (and bought my first bottle of this while I was there) and the whole place smells like it. Orange blossom paradise, right on the beach. Every time I spritz a bit of this on I feel like I am back there. If you are a fellow orange blossom lover, you must try this.
Glossier You
What I’ve been wearing the most lately. It’s hard to describe the scent. It’s really soft and a little bit musky but smells so, so good. It smells very clean but also very warm and sexy. I really love this scent – it’s definitely addicting. I’ll spritz a little on in the morning and reapply throughout the day as I love it so much.
Goop Edition 04
Unlike anything I’ve ever smelled. To me, it smells a little bit like an apple orchard. It’s earthy and fruity all at once. The site describes it as a mix of earth, hay, and apricot and I would say that’s pretty accurate. Fruity and earthy which is a weird but good combination.
Tom Ford Orchid Soleil
The newest addition to my fragrance wardrobe (yes, in the fragrance industry we call it a wardrobe and I still say that) and it’s the perfect evening scent. I LOVE tuberose and this has notes of that (along with pink pepper, bitter orange, vanilla, and of course black orchid). It’s very sexy and sultry… good for a date. Also, I really do just love that rose gold bottle.
Ex Nihilo
It’s a new favorite fragrance line for me. I LOVE all of their scents (I have three of them) and this shouldn’t matter but whatever, it’s an added bonus: their packaging is divine. I save all of the cartons even, as they are just so pretty. Viper Green is such a pretty fragrance. To me it smells like being home on Cape Cod. Fresh cut grass, a little bit of vetiver… it’s bright and green and just smells amazing.
I need to go check out these scents in person! Ex Nihilo’s blend sounds really nice, refreshing and light! 🙂
Charmaine Ng | Architecture & Lifestyle Blog
http://charmainenyw.com
It’s really nice, hope you try it Charmaine! xo
I’m already a fan of the Coco Coco by Coqui Coqui – smells like the best tropical vacation. I may have to give the Orange Blossom a try. BTW- your lobster roll picks on instagram were drool worthy. I grew up in CT and now live in Portland,OR- plenty of wild salmon but short on lobster rolls.
LOVE Coco Coco too! I have both Orange Blossom and Coco Coco – they are amazing!!!
xx
Love my all too many perfumes from all eras but a lot of these you have, I’ve never heard of. I live on the Florida Gulf Coast. Belk is the only large store in the area.
Enjoyed your blog.
Thank you!
I agree that perfume is a great memory keeper when you travel. I remember going to the Caribbean when I was about 13 and my mom let me buy my first perfume in one of the duty free shops and I decided on Miss Dior. I wore it only for special occasions for years in middle school / high school and my friends still say that the scent reminds them of me. I love keeping the empty bottles as decor in my room.
Right now for summer I love the Tocca Stella or Flowerbomb by Viktor & Rolf. My absolute favorite though is Jo Malone. All the her scents are so crisp and I love mixing them.
I’ve been intrigued by the Glossier scent so I think that I might order that next time I have to put in a Glossier order.
Thanks for sharing, Grace!
xo, Taylor
I love that!!! And I love Jo Malone too- Red Roses is one of my faves.
I love this review, I tend to stick to my classic favorites and never branch out, so I loved reading your reviews of so many different fragrances! That’s also interesting about Goop, I have been toying with trying Goop Church Edition 01, but it’s just so expensive, I haven’t been able to pull the trigger.
I noticed that Goop has some cute minis, you could always try one of those and save for special occasions!
what a great idea! thanks for the tip!
of course! hope it works!
I love ANGEL but it does not stay with me. What could I layer it with besides lotion. I love perfumes too, and love to learn about the notes that go into them. Patchouli is a big fave.
Maybe try layering it with oil? Or an ancillary product like their hair mist?
I have the Coqui Coqui Rosas Frescas and love it. I wore Jo Malone’s orange blossom perfume on my wedding day as a nod to the traditional orange blossoms, and love it in the summer. Where did your adorable little pink house in the photos come from? I love it!
I love that one too!
The tiny house came from ABC Home. Wouldn’t even know where to begin to find it on their site, I got it at the store!
I love this post! I quit wearing fragrances when I was pregnant and breastfeeding and now I have such a hard time wearing them! I wonder if the goop fragrance is lighter and might be a better fit for me.
Goop’s fragrances are actually kind of heavy! If you are looking for something light I highly highly recommend Glossier You. I also love Creed Love in White (it’s so fresh and subtle) but it reminds me of my ex!
Great post! I wear two of your rec’s … Coqui Coqui and Ex Nihilo. Just a quick shout out to on of my fav online perfume shops Luckyscent.com where you can sample both of those scents before you buy. Also check out Fleur Narcotique by Ex Nihilo… pretty fresh peachy floral 🙂 PS. so glad you love Viper Green, it doesn’t get a lot of attention and such a great “green” style scent!!
I LOVE Fleur Narcotique! It’s gorgeous. I had to narrow the post down to 5 but I love that one a LOT. xo
Haha, I feel exactly the same way (you’re my fragrance soul sister). I am desperate to visit Coqui Coqui in Tulum because of you (I know you can buy it on Net-a-Porter now, but I sort of want my first bottle to be from there so that I’ll always think of that place when I wear it – like you, scent is SUCH a memory trigger for me!). Need to track down that Goop fragrance somewhere here (hay and apricots? Yes please!), and that Tom Ford sounds amazing (I love his Neroli Portofino and Fleur de Portofino and Soleil Blanc for summer, and wait the Black Orchid hair mist in winter – yum!).
Two you need to sniff: Chanel’s new Biarritz + Deauville perfumes (both orange blossom-based) and Byredo Palermo (basically the summer version of Pulp).
And now I need to go an spray myself in perfume for the 10th time today…
Briony xx
Oh my gosh we have to go!!!!!
Coqui Coqui perfumes are the BEST! The Coco Coco one was my first buy and I was obsessed. I’m going next week and I cant’ wait to stock up.
yay! They really are the BEST!!!! I have Coco Coco and Orange Blossom 🙂
I really enjoyed this post. I’m a fragrance junkie. Would you say Glossier You is in the same Family as Narcisso Rodriguez? I’ve been wearing Bronze Godess lately with Oahu lotion by Bath and Body Works.
I haven’t smelled the narcisso! Sorry!!! x
Do you have a catalog an if so please. Send me. One at the address 4942 clumore dr.
Houston texas 77021.
I think you’re in the wrong place!