How to choose the perfect fragrance for summer

Shahnaz Husain *

With the temperature soaring, Choosing the right fragrance can alter your mood, trigger memories and enhance your individuality . When it comes to fragrance, seasonality is an important factor and your perfume needs to compliment your lifestyle depending on the season.

Heat causes a fragrance to evaporate faster and fragrances that are subtle and elevate your mood are perfect for the season . There are basically five types of fragrances – the floral, woody, oriental, gourmand and citrus.

Summer is a time for outdoor adventures, barbeques, cocktail parties and beach activities and choosing the right perfume and wearing it properly are tricky business, especially in summer when skin is so bare.

It is important to choose a fragrance that has a higher concentration of pure perfume in order to ensure the it can brave the heat and humidity as perfume evaporates faster and when the perfume contains more complex notes they can mix in an unpleasant way.

When picking out the perfect summer scent, you should try to pick one that suits your personality as well as prove to be long lasting and effective. Your fashion and beauty regime changes from winter to summer, and you should pick one that suits your personality depending on if you are the party girl, the shy conservative woman, the romantic or the boho babe.

The main problem during summer is how to look, feel and smell fresh and we all try to gear our efforts towards staying cool and fragrant. Perspiration is the real menace during summer. It saps our energy, detracts from the cool feeling and worst of all, it can lead to body odour.

Actually, perspiration is the body’s natural way of cooling itself. The skin contains sweat glands, which are distributed all over the body. The glands excrete sweat, which mixes with surface bacteria and decomposes, creating the problem of body odour.

The waste matter that is secreted with sweat has to be removed by washing, in order to avoid stale odour and feel fresh. The use of deodorants, anti-perspirants, talcum powder and perfumes helps to deal with the problem for a while.

Most deodorants are also anti-perspirants. A spray, rather than the roll-on deodorants may be more suitable in summer, but this is a matter of personal choice. However, be sure to choose a mild deodorant, as strong built-in anti-perspirants can cause skin irritation or sensitive reactions.

It is always better to try them out on a small area first. If the skin tingles or burns for more than a minute, you should not use it. Some people find the use of talcum powders quite adequate.

Although they do not really help hygiene, they do absorb perspiration and maintain freshness for some time. Rose, khus and sandalwood are natural coolants. So, select powders or deodorants containing such ingredients.

Most of the perfumes that we buy are synthetic blends. They may also contain essential oils, which are blended with synthetic ingredients. Perfumes that are created are all about “notes” and is a delicate balancing of different notes.

In other words it is made up of different fragrances, obtained from different sources. The “top note” is the first fragrance you get when you smell the perfume. The “middle note” can be smelt after wearing the perfume for a while, so that it dries on your skin and begins to mix with individual body chemistry.

The “base note” is the fragrance which lingers. To select the right perfume, one needs to know a few facts. Body chemistry is important, as the effect may depend on individual body odour.

That is why it is best to try out the perfume on one’s own skin. The exact fragrance of a perfume is apparent only when it comes in contact with the skin. Just smelling perfumes does not help. In fact, smelling too many different perfumes can confuse the olfactory system.

Climate also plays a part in choosing the right perfume. In hot and humid conditions, it is better to go for light and fresh fragrances, rather than heavy ones. The effect of perfumes intensifies in hot and humid weather.

A heavy perfume can be quite overpowering. In fact, some perfumes can even trigger off a headache in some individuals. In cold and dry weather, a heavier scent can be used. Lemon, rose, lavender or sandalwood are light and refreshing during hot weather.

The time of day also matters. Go for light, lemony fragrances for a summer morning. Colognes and Toilet waters can be used during summer and be added to bath water. You can be generous with the use of colognes, even splashing them on.

Colognes and Eau de Toilette constitute mainly of water, or a mixture of alcohol and water, with only 2 to 5 % perfume. They are lighter and the fragrance evaporates, leaving a light lingering fragrance. But, when it comes to perfumes, use them sparingly.