July 2013: On Holiday

Last month, we were all about the journey. This month? The destination.

The July 2013 Olfactif collection, "On Holiday," is a joyous celebration of summer vacation—of laziness on the beach, of reuniting with nature, of reveling with friends until the morning hours because you can sleep in anyway. Switch the phone to silent, turn on the email auto-responder at work, and forget about the soul-crushing commute. Without the stresses of daily life, we can become our most basic selves, fully guided by our senses. What do we feel like doing in this very moment? Reading. Sleeping. Daydreaming. Nothing. That's what we'll do. There is no must on holiday.

The three perfumes we've chosen to accompany us are mini-holidays themselves—olfactory portals to worlds where worries temporarily dissolve. So find a small slice of time to put up your feet, open your collection, and be transported far from where you really are.

Lying on the beach— Perfect Coconut Milk by Sarah Horowitz Parfums

This summer delight is bursting with juicy coconut and tropical flowers that call to mind days spent digging for shells and building sandcastles. The creamy gardenia whispering at the edges elevates this scent from childhood memory to polished adult perfume, and the warm, musky dry-down makes Perfect Coconut Milk as warm and inviting as the sun itself. Sarah's creation is a California summer in a bottle. Notes include coconut, almond, orange blossom, gardenia, tonka bean, vanilla, and Egyptian musk.

Reuniting with nature— White Classic Edition by Undergreen

Undergreen White Classic Edition is a gorgeous, sheer, sparkling, chic floral—and it's also 100% natural. Created in Grasse alongside the world's finest fragrances, White and the rest of the Undergreen line represent a rethinking of niche, using master perfumers and the best natural ingredients to create sophisticated, nuanced, all-natural perfumes that are sold in the most exclusive boutiques in the world. White is a perfume of dazzling range with a bouquet of white flowers as its centerpiece. Cooling coconut and mint cut through the summer heat, and a warm, woody base grounds this all-natural composition with surprising depth. When it's summer in the city, forget that oppressive little black dress; this is the little white dress (or shirt—yes, White is for the gentlemen, too) that will keep you cool —very cool. White includes a 100% natural blend of organically derived aldehydes, white mint, coconut, orange blossom, jasmine, ylang-ylang, orris butter, amyris wood, and tuberose absolute.

Dancing until dawn— Bombay Bling by Neela Vermeire Créations

Bombay Bling is as rich and layered as the modern-day India that inspired it, and the initial rush of green mango, lychee, tropical flowers, and spices explodes out of the bottle like the opening number in a Bollywood musical. The tobacco note is ever-present, lending a masculine voice to counter the female lead, and the dry-down into a rich, sweet, woody base is truly mouth-watering. The list of notes reads like an olfactory fantasy, and a little body heat breathes new life into this scent as it warms up and dances off the skin. Bombay Bling is what you wear out on a hot summer night—not least because its astounding lasting power means it will still be going strong when the sun comes up. Notes include mango, lychee, blackcurrant, cardamom, cumin, cistus, rose accord, Turkish rose, jasmine sambac absolute, ylang-ylang, tuberose, frangipani, gardenia, patchouli, tobacco, white woods, sandalwood, cedar, and vanilla.

We hope you enjoy the July 2013 collection. And when you head out on your real summer break, don't forget your perfumes! Since we upgraded to our deluxe-sized 2.25 ml sprays, we've heard from many of you that your monthly samples make the perfect travel companions.