Beauty
15 Fragrances To End Late Summer On A Fruity, Sexy, Sticky Note
Because it still is summer, after all.
The last few weeks of August always bring about the same discourse: Is it actually the end of summer, or really just the end of the blazing-hot months we’ve endured since Memorial Day? Summer technically isn’t over until Sep. 21, so until then, we’re riding the high of our favorite olfactory season. This isn’t the end of summer, it’s the dog days, when temperatures might dip into hoodie weather at night and early-fall purchases might happen, but rest assured: It still smells like summer to us.
The scents we reach for at this time of year have a nostalgic back-to-school quality to them (read: the mall spritzes we reached for in high school) while still delivering on fruity, sexy notes that play well with day and night plans. These fragrances are meant to linger, mix with sweat and the smell of a bonfire, and stay adhered to your favorite light jacket or over-shirt you’re starting to mix into your outfit equations. Below, we’ve rounded up our favorite summer hits that have strong replay value for early September outings and still feel like a Zara Larsson song personified.
The Paradoxe we know and love got a fruity, milky update for summer as endorsed by Zendaya. Expect a strong, lasting scent that won’t give up after just a few hours, and with the surprising addition of orange blossom, it hits multiple notes that intrigue with every new application.
The best bang for your pleasantly smelling buck this summer is Gap’s new perfume line, which hits on every note and personality you could want. Harmony is our pick for its instant uplifting vibe and simply irresistible apricot-and-amber moment.
Our favorite seductive nighttime scent got a summery update with the help of a striking strawberry note. The unexpected fruitiness pairs so well with the coffee-forward fragrance we know and love, and makes it a 24-hour option.
Smells like every summer that’s ever happened in the best way possible. See also: like a warm hug after being on the beach all day, in that moment before getting home while in the car with loved ones.
We didn’t really understand how “creamy” worked as a scent note until we sniffed this and felt the enveloping, warm notes of creamy chantilly mixed with orange blossom. The sandalwood roots it all in a familiar feeling, but let the top notes take you away to a late-summer English countryside.
The Gaultier fragrance bottles are works of art in their own right, but if that isn’t enough, the newest edition of their Divine scent gets a striking raspberry gourmand update that feels like a daily decadence.
Named after the infamous Sunset Strip hang, this fragrance’s notes read like something that wouldn’t add up to a crisp, fruity moment, but let the dozen or more individual ingredients carry you away to the sweet summertime of ‘70s Los Angeles.
The fragrance that turned Gracie Abrams into a full-fledged Chanel short-film star delivers on the sexy sweetness you know and love about Coco Mademoiselle, but turned up to 11 with the addition of sickly amber that’ll leave any room following your trail.
We didn’t not choose this scent because it’s the same name as this year’s excellent Kim Petras album, but it also captures that late-August feeling of cruising with the windows down and letting the scents of any beach locale flow in. The florals strike, the fruit lingers, and the musk grounds it all in that sweaty, clingy aura we crave at this exact time of year.
A gourmand that hits on peach, jasmine, and vanilla without making you nauseous? Sign us up. Bonus points for the adorable bottle, which also fits handily into any small bag.
If the smoldering, horny energy of Spanish singer Guitarricadelafuente could be a scent, it would be this leathery, fruity, and slightly woody fragrance from the Spanish olfactory experts at Loewe.
Just when you think you have this one figured out, she surprises and delights with musky mezcal and seductive passionfruit. It’s fruity, bodacious, and smells like a late night turning into an early morning.
The “extrait” means this bottle will go a very long way, and with its clean, unfussy notes that recall a citrus farm or your favorite nostalgic getaway spot, you’ll have this with you everywhere you go.
If Marseille isn’t in your travel plans this summer, this poolside day in a bottle will do.
If you squeezed a Nobu lychee martini into a bottle, it would smell like this. It has lotus-like qualities of enchanment and seduction, so buyer beware.
