Best BPALs for SUMMER - is it hot, sweltering, sticky outside?

[Jupita]

GC summer favorites:

 

Rosalind: a hint of berry (like Body Shop's old Dewberry scent) smothered in sun-warmed, recently mown grass.

 

The Zieba Tree: the orange and lemon blossoms give it a citrus-y feel, and the musks and everything else make it shimmer as though you're looking at things through the swirling heat coming off of pavement on a steamy day

 

Vixen: the patchouli, orange blossom and ginger combo smells almost sweaty and super sexy

 

Shanghai: on my skin, there don't seem to be any base notes in this one - it's all bright tea and lemon verbena

 

Tweedledee: citrus candy. nuf said!

 

This makes me happy, since I've ordered an imp of this, and I'm really looking for summer scents) and wasn't sure about this one)

[copagirl]

I'm loving Coral Snake, and Jester right now! I still wear my heavier scents most of the time, though.

[Delirium1009]

A few scents that are just about exclusively warmer-weather-only for me are Selkie, Green Tree Viper, and Hermia. Selkie is a nice salty ocean/floral scent, while GTV is just refreshing and cool. Hermia is spicy, but I think it's so much better suited to warm weather than cold.

[tragedy]

My favorite summers are ....

 

Akuma, Blood Lotus, Carnivale, Catherine, Delerium, Desdemona, Ellegua, Imp, Numb, Obatala, The Deep Ones, and Water of Notre Dame

 

 

But I still wear the heavy ones

*Sniffs November on wrist*

[joseybird]

Oh, and Snow White! It really does smell like a coconut Froze-Fruit No wonder it's a classic--perfect for both Winter AND Summer

[donnatron]

I always laugh when I look back at these lists because I try to rotate through my collection so wearing these ones "a lot" translates to maybe four times in a three week period? That actually might be pretty good by BPAL hoarder standards. Anyway, the summer list:

 

51: I dunno. I wore it the other day and the weird sharp note in it has worn off and it's a lot more of a cool, salty melon/freesia. So gorgeous and sweet.

Nuclear Winter: Because sometimes I want something extremely cooling and fresh without a hint of sweetness.

Opuhi: The vanilla blossom makes it sweet and sultry, the ginger blossom jsut makes it to die for.

Ashlultum: Like... if Dorian had a pink, frilly, girly twin sister? The astringent tea makes this a bit refreshing and the coconut a bit tropical.

Scherezade: And now for something completely different... this is just so languid and sensual and a little heavy, yes, but also just sings in the summer heat.

 

Maybe I need to print these lists off and put them next to my dresser so I can see it when I'm deciding what to wear in the morning.

[Evilynn]

Shanghai, Gennivre, A Blade of Grass, Schoolhouse, 51, Szepasszony, Roadhouse, Rapunzel, Garden Path with Chickens, Fairy Wine and Lady Una all go into high rotation for me during the summer months. The first 9 because they're green (ok, Szepasszony is more white ) and fresh and excellent for daywear, and the last two are good scents for warm evenings.

[sixthsentinel]

Coyote! I get so sensitive to scents in the summer, so many of them make me feel sick for some reason, but not Coyote.

[Lyrical]

Coyote! I get so sensitive to scents in the summer, so many of them make me feel sick for some reason, but not Coyote.

I find that in hot weather (just like after a shower) my skin becomes much more sensitive and the majority of BPAL oils burn and leave bright red patches. Some are worse than others, of course, but just when I most want to wear cool, citrussy scents like Holiday Moon, I find I can't! Can anyone suggest some fresh, summery scents that are gentle to hot, sweaty skin?

[Bluestocking]

I have to admit that I still sometimes wear heavier scents in the summer, just because I love them, but I do find myself gravitating to certain scents, now that the weather is warmer. Embalming Fluid, Croquet, Titania, Prunella, Shadow Witch Orchid, Phantom Queen, Obatala, The Host of the Air, Velvet Tiki, Hermia and The Unicorn are all getting repeated wear, and I'm using my Aphrodites pretty regularly, too. (That'd be Dia, Symmakhia, Epistrophia and Pothon Meter.) Citrus, light fruity florals and coconut are where it's at in summer, at least for me.

 

Also... I know this is weird, but Lady Macbeth totally smells like summertime to me, with all the berries and grassy thyme in there. I smell it and think of checkered picnic tablecloths, instead of murderous Scottish noblewomen.

 

 

[tartchef]

I really am not a huge fan of hot weather, and the high pressure systems that move through this part of the country tend to set off my migraines After Memorial Day, I wear light, green/fruit/tea scents almost exclusively... The Asian-influenced scents seem to work especially well. In rotation already this year:

 

Kumiho

Hungry Ghost Moon

Tanuki

Earth Rat

Daiyu

Pontia

Cheshire Cat

Lady Una

Green Party

Velvet Cthulhu

Manners Among Men & Women...

Tamamo-no-Mae

 

 

[femmefatale]

These are some of my warmer weather scents:

 

Goblin

Elegba

Ashlultum

Yorick

Death Adder

Hunger

Caliban

Tiki King

Creepy

Cottonmouth

Grog

Ile de la Tortue

Himerus

Jazz Funeral

Jezirat Al Tennyn

Khrysee

Manilla

Lick It Like You Mean It

Tokyo STomp

Ol' Roswell Cemetery

White Rose

Port Royal

Snow Glass Apples

Shango

The Star (tarot)

Thalassa

Tiki Queen

Water Pheonix

Brown Jenkins

Kingsport

That! The Terror Over There!

Banana Peel in a Graveyard

Christine

Dragon's Tears

Death Cap

Edited May 27, 2009 by Femme_Fatale

[angelmecha]

I'm still scrambling to find my rotation of Perfect Summer Scents, but right now it's a pretty diverse collection.

 

I'm on the Coyote boat also. It's a warm scent, but it reminds me of New Mexico where I grew up-- soft, dry desert warmth.

Other favorites so far:

Gluhwein (surprising to me, since it's pretty heavy and it seems like the wine would give me a headache.. but no, I crave it!)

Red Lantern (A mix of heavy and light... uplifting coconut and tobacco with grounded, heavy, creamy caramel! Perfect!)

Australian Copperhead (Fruity and light and sparkling...)

 

I've got a ton of scents I'm rotating through right now, but I'm definitely seeing the difference between winter/fall scents and summer ones. The old stand bys just don't do it in the warmer weather! That means it'll be even nicer next year when I get to break them out again for the cold!

[Mountaingrrl00]

I'm loving the cool spearmintiness of Winter Holiday Stress Relief Elixir 07 in the heat.

[Magnolia69]

I love Kumiho and Lady Lilith for warm weather. Basically anything with a tea or citrus note. *nom*

 

[chaismolokom]

Does anyone have recommendations for scents that work well with the heat? I do love the refreshing scents in the summer, but sometimes I just want to give in to the weather and wear something sultry.

[odalisque]

I like honey scents in warm weather. I mean, I like honey scents all the time, but honey-scented skin on a hot evening is pretty much how I would define "sultry".

 

Or a warm evening in dim light and someone to get nuzzly with? Morocco all. the. way.

 

I don't wear mint, I don't wear aquatics at all (they're massively failtastic on me), and I don't usually like citrus, berries or florals in starring roles, so my warm-weather scents are pretty much Eisheth Zenunim, Lady Una and Hetairae.

Edited July 12, 2009 by odalisque

[tajana]

Does anyone have recommendations for scents that work well with the heat? I do love the refreshing scents in the summer, but sometimes I just want to give in to the weather and wear something sultry.

I usually go for something to counteract the heat (Hungry Ghost Moon, Aizen-Myoo, Ultraviolet), but for something that works "with the heat", I immediately thought of Hell's Belle: "Sweet, smoky and sensually wicked. A thick, steamy scent, truly sinister in its voluptuous sexuality. The perfume of a demon's favored consort, or of the devil herself. Oleander with wet, sweet mandarin, lush magnolia, a rush of deep musk and a touch of spice." The mandarin gives it a fresh top-note, but the combination of sweet magnolia, musk and spice make it a touch heady and very sultry... just like the lab description would lead you to believe.

[chaismolokom]

Thanks for the suggestions! Honey blends sound delicious in summer heat - I'm pretty sure I have some Lady Una and Hetairae, so I'll definitely have to dig those out. Ooh, maybe Bengal, too! Hell's Belle should be perfect when I go back home next week. Corrupted southern belles are so much more Virginia than Pennsylvania!

[ifinena]

Velvet Nudie. I'm surprised how much I've come to like it and reach for it. It's lemony (I swear I get lemon from it, don't know why) but it dries down to a very nice, soft, musky scent. Clean without being detergent-clean.

[jewelbug]

Ok, I'm a year-round whatever-perfume wearer, which is to say that I don't have "seasonal" scents, so much--I have no shame and will wear a pumpkin scent in July...That said, there are quite a few oils that bring out those summer feelings for me. Here are some that I can remember right now (a lot of em have coconut!):

 

Antonino

Dia

White Rose

Enraged Bunny Musk

Ex Lux Fuit

F5

Giant Vulva

Xiuchetetcl (sp??)

Jazz Funeral

Litha

La Fee Verte

Opuhi

Fae

Tiki King

Manila

Obtala

Intrigue

Leo 07

Brown Jenkins

Silk Road

Spooky

Strawberry Moon '09

Summer Summoning Spectacular

 

Hehe, I thought of a lot!!

[Ishianti]

It's still freezing over here, but I'm starting to go through my collection and wonder what I'll be wearing when it's warm and I'll be outside more. I've been into very sweet scents, lots of honey and florals, so I'm kinda worried about attracting bees and other insects!

 

What sort of scents would you all recommend instead? I'm sadly not very good with heavier musks, vetiver, and pine goes insane with my chemistry.

[skyelyric]

What sort of scents would you all recommend instead? I'm sadly not very good with heavier musks, vetiver, and pine goes insane with my chemistry.

 

 

I know I share your musk woes, so our chemistry might be similar. For summery scents I love Embalming Fluid (this is the only white musk that doesn't go funky on me, there's little enough there that it just adds a hint of sweetness) which is citrusy tea, and Kumiho which is tea and ginger, smells very cool and clean to me.

 

If you want something a little sweeter, but still light, maybe try Baobhan Sith. It's got a light citrusy scent but it's sweetened up really nicely with the apple blossom.

[hkhm]

dirty is one of my favorite gc summer scents. it's just so light and fresh and clean.

[sarajane]

Shanghai is lovely in the summer.