Let me paint a picture. It's Tuesday afternoon in the office. Mid-July. No air conditioning, no cracked window and someone is wearing a perfume so overpowering it entered the room before them and will leave long after. Obnoxious, cloying or just plain loud, there's little worse than a fragrance that takes over the wearer. It might be an unpopular opinion, depending on the scents you like, but it's one I'll shout from the rooftops nonetheless. Instead (and especially for enclosed environments), allow me to introduce you to the lighter side of scent. To the types of fragrances that mimic the clean, the soft, the airy and the featherlight. Some are huge successes, others slightly slept-on; once popular but since faded amongst the thousands of new fragrances released over the years.
Josh Carter, co-founder of the fine fragrance platform Fiole and fragrance expert trained under Roja Dove, says not to rely on a perfume's virality when picking. "Perfume is an art form like any other and virality is not always indicative of long-term success. Many hyped products disappear quickly, proving that even though it's sparked conversation, it hasn't necessarily connected with people." Facts. Here are the light perfumes I would reach for in a heartbeat, all tried and tested by yours truly – a fragrance-obsessed beauty editor.
Shop the Best Light Perfumes, According to a Beauty Editor:
1. Acne Studios by Frédéric Malle Eau De Parfum
A newcomer, the Acne Studios x Frederic Malle collaboration smells like powdery fresh laundry muddled with a sweet, perfectly ripe peach. Uplifting and light, it'll cut through the most stifling of heatwaves.
2. Ffern Spring 24 Eau De Parfum
Somerset-based independent perfume maker Ffern releases four fragrances a year, coinciding with the seasons. This year's Spring scent is zesty and zingy, blending ginger root, grapefruit rind, basil and vetiver with rhubarb. It's herbaceous and tart, an antidote to the sickly, syrupy sweet fragrances. As the weather warms up, it's become my go-to, largely for the way it makes me feel elegant and bright and suits any occasion.
3. Maison Francis Kurkdjian 724 Eau De Parfum
Getting engaged in March brought one question to my mind: what perfume (or eau de toilette, cologne or extrait) would I wear on my wedding day? I'll tell you, this Maison Francis Kurkidjan scent is a frontrunner at the moment. It's airy and soft, crisp without smelling brittle or sharp and settles into the skin beautifully. Aldehydes (organic chemical compounds often used in clean-smelling scents) and Calabrian bergamot are made smoother with jasmine, orange and sandalwood.
4. Byredo Gypsy Water Eau De Parfum
A gentle fragrance that whispers rather than shouts, Gypsy Water is one of Byredo's most popular scents. Lightly spiced thanks to notes of pepper, incense and amber, it's made smoother with vanilla and sandalwood, sweeter with lemon and more interesting with pine needles and juniper. A heady mix, it's clean and refreshing, reminiscent of a long draw of tonic water mixed with cucumber when the sun's beating down.
5. Tommy Girl Eau De Toilette
I'll agree that Tommy Girl is something of a throwback fragrance. Released in 1996, it's light, clean and citrus-laden, brimming with sparkling aquatic notes. For me, it's always been the Rachel Green, white t-shirt and jeans, ultimate cool 90s girl scent. It punches well, well above its price point and remains a staple in my perfume wardrobe.
6. Jo Malone English Pear & Freesia Cologne
Think of a freshly washed pear – sweet and succulent with a little firm crispness. That's what this Jo Malone cologne reminds me of. It's juicy and cooling, bursting with sensuality and floral sweetness thanks to the freesia, melon, rhubarb and amber. It's not a sexy scent but a gloriously pretty one; light on first spray, settling into a lush, flowers-in-summer-rain dry down hours later.
7. Maya Njie Les Fleurs Eau De Parfum
If floral perfumes make you think of petticoats and chintz chairs, allow this one to change your mind. A younger, more energetic floral scent, it's jammy without veering into the thickness that fig and magnolia can sometimes encourage. Instead, it's freshly cut flowers carried home from the market; full of cool water with an organic burst of sweetness that makes you want to bury your nose into the stems.
8. Philosophy Amazing Grace Eau De Toilette
There's just something about Philosophy's Amazing Grace. It's comforting without being overpowering or overbearing, clean without smelling sharp and wonderfully, gloriously powdery. It's a simple scent, don't expect any bolshy top notes, only airy, vintage florals.
9. Maison Margiela Replica Lazy Sunday Morning Eau De Toilette
If you've ever wanted to smoosh your face into a pile of freshly laundered sheets, this eau de toilette is for you. Created to emulate the feeling of a languorous Sunday morning spent in bed, it's clean and relaxed with none of the zippy citrus that other light perfumes champion. Instead, it's a skin-scent made feminine with a subtle floral undertone.
10. Glossier You Eau De Parfum
No edit of light perfumes would be complete without the astronomically successful Glossier You. Like most perfumes, it smells slightly different on everyone, mostly due to how it plays with the other fragranced items you use (like body lotion, deodorant and shampoo) but one thread remains throughout the rave reviews: it smells like your skin but better, which is Glossier's entire MO. Warm, soft, radiant and floral, it encapsulates the blissed-out way you feel after an Everything Shower.
11. Jones Road Shower
Cotton, wild blossom and sea spray intermingle in Bobbi Brown's debut fragrance for Jones Road. It smells, unsurprisingly, like the feeling of being thoroughly, wonderfully scrubbed clean – light and unburdened.
