This week’s latest launches will inspire you to celebrate midsummer. With Prada Water Splash and Dolce & Gabbana Light Blue Sun, chances of a sunny outlook are high. Azzaro brings us a warm front of floral vanilla and Guerlain provides a beguiling breeze of Shalimar Souffle d’Oranger. Probability of perfume shopping? 100%
AZZARO
WANTED GIRL
A positive constellation of superstar perfumers (from IFF) came together for this. Dominique Ropion, Loc Dong, Jean-Christophe Hérault and Fanny Bal offer us an overdose of fresh, acidic pomegranate, orange blossom, ginger flower and ginger essence, before giving this summer floriental a gourmand twist from delectably sweet dulce de lecce. Haitian vetiver is warmed by vanilla and tonka bean powder for a sun-drenched scent whose warmth certainly doesn’t fade as dusk falls.
From £46 for 30ml eau de parfum
feelunique.com
BOUCHERON
PATCHOULI D’ANGKOR
Here’s proof that patchouli can throw off its deep, dark and sometimes dark past to be reinvented as something sheer, summery and fresh. Here, patchouli has some unexpected bedfellows – pear, Bourbon pepper, jasmine and white musk – as well as more expected notes of bergamot in the top, guaiac wood in the soft base, offering further proof of perfumer Nathalie Lorson’s talent for reinventing notes, the better to delight and surprise our noses.
£175 for 125ml eau de parfum
Harrods.com
DOLCE & GABBANA
LIGHT BLUE SUN
Light Blue Sun ‘is an invitation to Capri,’ we’re told. Truly we don’t need asking twice to dive right into the island’s azure waters, evoked via mouthwatering top notes of Italian lemon, Granny Smith apple, coconut water and a breezy ozonic accord. Light Blue’s original jasmine and rose heart now pulses with nectarous wafts of exotic frangipani. As the sun sets, prepare for an encounter with cedarwood, white musks, Bourbon vanilla and amber.
£57 for 50ml eau de toilette
johnlewis.com
GUERLAIN
SHALIMAR SOUFFLE D’ORANGER
Another splendid offering from the hands of Thierry Wasser. This airy reincarnation of Shalimar conjures the luscious gardens of the Taj Mahal with notes of tangerine, orange blossom and heady jasmine. A green, almost vegetal, petitgrain makes way for the soft nuances of neroli, before spoonfuls of silken vanilla are folded into creamy sandalwood. A juice as delicious as the beautifully adorned flacon it sits in, with its so-so-summery splashes of colour.
£79 for 100ml eau de parfum
selfridges.com
PRADA
L’HOMME WATER SPLASH EDITION
This limited edition spin on Prada L’Homme is 100% cool, inside and out, encased in a Saffiano paper label adorned with a print taken from Prada’s fashion collections. In yet another show of brilliance by Daniela Andrier, the citrus overture of neroli and bergamot is subtly spiced by cardamom, notes of ginger warming the cool iris heart. Fresh at first, Water Splash’s true character shows itself in its end-game, via cedarwood, sandalwood, smoochy amber.
£67 for 150ml eau de toilette
johnlewis.com
