How do "seasonal" scents work in (eternal) summer?

[Kiraze]

I have been reading lots of reviews and have came across often to mention that some scent is too heavy or spicy or seasonal to be used during summer

 

As i am still newbie for BPAL and live in tropics where there are no seasons I wonder how different scents act in hot and humid climate and if some specific types suit this kind of climate best?

 

I myself am also still searching my own scent style and like to be experimental but overall I am autumn kind of person who adores spicy, earthy, woody scents as well as sparkling tropical coctails. For me scents are always reflection of some "mind landscape" so I would like to hear recommendations/experiences do e.g. autumn forest scents or icy winter scents work in totally different real-life environment

[EdenIris]

This is very subjective; you may find that you like traditionally heavy or wintry scents in the hot, humid weather. I live in Northern California, where it is sort of perpetually autumn, and I don't bother trying to code my scents to the weather. Experiment!

 

One thing you might consider if you do find that the woody, earthy scents are too strong for your climate is to dilute them with a carrier oil and make a body spray.

[forspecial_plate]

I think it's just a matter of taste. A lot of people in hot weather like to wear icy or cool, refreshing scents. I personally like a whole range of scents in hot weather (or any weather, really). I like to wear spicy autumnal scents all year long. And I like 'heavier' scents with red musk and whatnot in the hot weather, too. In fact, I think those scents last longer when I'm sweating a lot. I don't think there are any rules (and if there were I would be likely to break them!). : )

 

I can understand why people don't like heavier scents in stifling, hot weather. Sometimes if it's too hot, I prefer not to wear scents at all. But in that case I spend most of my time in air conditioning anyway so it doesn't really matter.

[ivyandpeony]

I think it's subjective too, and that you should wear what you love and what works with your skin chemistry. BPAL scents tend to stick a lot closer to you than commercial perfumes so I think they're much less likely to stun other people with their throw in hot weather. With resinous, spicy, &/or heavy scents, you might find that you are applying less in hot weather than in cold - although in your case, Kiraze, since it's hot all the time, there may be no difference!

 

And with every category of scents, there's a scale of intensity. There are some resinous, spicy, &/or autumnal scents that are much lighter than others. Witchblade is the lightest red musk scent I've tried and I really love it. Silk Road is also a summer favorite of mine when it just seems too hot for something like Snake Oil (we have really hot and humid summers where I live - days can be in the 90s and humidity can be in the 90-ish percentiles). I also have layered spicy scents like Bengal with Sudha Segara or Kumiho to lighten them up on my skin.

 

A lot of BPAL fans love to wear the icy winter perfumes in hot weather, so you will be in good company there. I don't have a lot of recommendations for you there because ice, snow, and mint notes are rarely compatible with my skin - and many of those are limited edition, and I don't like to send even a relative newbie tramping off to the swaps forums first thing Some GCs that have a cool feel are Absinthe, Shattered, Lightning... wish I had more recs for you.

 

There may have been rules about daytime/nighttime perfumes and seasonally appropriate perfumes back in the days when your shoes were supposed to match your handbag, you were supposed to wear a hat to church, never wear white before Easter or after Labor Day, etc. but I don't think too many of us observe any of those rules either. There's a thread discussing the general concept of "perfume rules" in BPAL chatter if you want to read through it or participate there as well.

[meaganola]

I also think that a lot of things have to do with associations. For a lot of people, it's not so much that something is wrong in hot weather but more that, for example, someone wore something heavy to a music festival and got sick (food poisoning, heat/sun stroke, just got pissed off at the crowds, etc.), and the scent hasn't been *ruined* for them, but now they can only handle it when the weather is cool so they have a bit more of a distance from the Weekend of Porta-Potties from Hell. Or they wore it on a cooler day, had an awesome experience, and now wear it when they want to recreate that feeling, and the weather has to be *just right* (this happens to me a *lot*, most memorably with Falling Leaf Moon). I also have problems with hot weather in general (I've had them my entire life, as did my mom, her sisters, and their mom, so it's definitely a family thing), so I have to be careful about what I wear during heat waves so it doesn't set off a headache or similar nastiness. I've had many scents ruined by headaches even without hot weather. If you don't have these problems, you can probably ignore all of my "this is not for hot weather" rules and make up your own.

[oakmoss]

Try looking in the Wanderlust section for scents that are evocative of warmer climates, and just surrender to the hot spicy goodness. For example:

 

Baghdad: Amber, saffron and bergamot with mandarin, nutmeg, Bulgar rose, musk and sandalwood.

Bengal: A sultry and unruly blend that emulates the ambient scent of the markets in ancient Bengal: skin musk with honey, peppers, clove, cinnamon bark and ginger.

Morocco: The intoxicating perfume of exotic incenses wafting on warm desert breezes. Arabian spices wind through a blend of warm musk, carnation, red sandalwood and cassia.

 

Sri Lanka: Indian sandalwood and cedar, and the dry incense smoke of olibanum, gum mastic, patchouli and myrrh.

 

I've found that if you stick with the "dry" spicy or resiny scents, they work in hot weather too. It's when they get buttery or foody that they seem overpowering to me.