rainy day summer scents

Call me a freak, but I much prefer this drizzly gray weather to the harsh sun that will soon beat down unrelenting until September. In turn, I happily skip over saccharine summer fragrances packed with cucumber, white flowers, coconut, and the increasingly prevalent sterile patchouli.

Whether it’s a “summer” day like today or hot and humid without a cloud in the sky, I prefer to wrap myself in scents reminiscent of the soggy seasons and dark places far from sunburns and Coppertone.

Guerlain’s Apres L’Ondee is one of the best - it’s like bathing in warm summer rain water splashed from melancholy bouquets of violets and irises, then wrapping in a warm, powdery cashmere sweater. Unfortunately, it’s hard to find (even on Guerlain’s own website; I content myself with samples from theperfumedcourt.com), but Prada Infusion d’Iris falls in the same vein. I could see Thumbelina comforting herself with this dewy, earthy scent while living with the field mouse in his underground den. It’s like smelling sun-warmed iris from ground level, surrounded with cool leaves and soil with beams of light gently piercing through the overgrowth. Best of all, it’s available at Sephora.

Photos courtesy of Sephora