Weather changes everything

Before I started sampling lots of fragrances, I never realized how seasonal my nose is. 

It's getting warm where I live. Not only am I put off my ambers and anything with vanilla (probably not that surprising), I actually started craving florals and aldehydes, which I never liked before!

Jasmine and ylang ylang smell so much better to me now. I'm perceiving them in a whole new way. 

So strange and fun. 

How do your tastes change with the weather? Are there some notes you perceive better in warm weather?

Weather is everything for my nose. For example, Ganymede Eau de Parfum in late Fall is almost perfect to my nose.

Original Vetiver in the early Spring is outstanding.

A very cold Winter with XXI: Art Deco - Blonde Amber is beautiful.

I absolutely love Green Irish Tweed in the Summer.

Many other examples but I wanted to call out a few by season. Still somewhat cool where Im at and today I have on Reflection 45

I think it really depends on how the perfume is blended and the concentration of each note. For example, La Douceur de Siam Eau de Parfum has frangipani, champaca, yang-ylang which I thought would be perfect for a summer fragrance. But when I experienced the perfume in summer, I was really turned off. It smelled like a heavy, 90`s potpourri. When I tried it in winter, however, it was the most unique flower bouquet plus a sweet rose petal jam. The same with Fleur de Lalita.

Catherine is my absolute favorite jasmine, hands down. But this is the case mostly in spring. Once the temperatures top the 30`s, it`s a nice jasmine that could turn slightly rubbery if you have my kind of pH. Below 30C, though, it`s like I'm floating on a cloud of the creamiest jasmine. I love it so much, I`m already on my second bottle.

Other perfumes I prefer in cooler weather: Red Tobacco, Myrrh & Tonka, Scarlet Poppy. The heavier tobacco, spices and base notes of tonka fit cooler seasons, imho.

@Stardust23 Very interesting. I know Ganymede Eau de Parfum is polarizing, but the notes look intriguing to me! I have tried Reflection Woman Eau de Parfum and it was a bit boring. Maybe it improves at a different time of year.

I tried a couple fragrances I wanted to love, Lyric Woman Eau de Parfum and Crimson Rocks, and both were like potpourri to me. Maybe they'll be better in the winter!

I have read your posts about Catherine and I think it is a little similar to Honour 43 which I have a sample of. The white florals felt so much more restrained in the cooler weather. Now they are more voluptuous and romantic, which I prefer, but I like actually like Honour both ways. I went with a full bottle of Ashore because I liked the salty mineral note more than the greenery in Honour.

And ylang ylang smells like candy to me now, whereas I could barely pick it out before, and the descriptions didn't make any sense.

I do agree with you, in my teen years i wore the same fragrance from day to night and in any season. But since i discovered my love for discovering and understanding how fragrances are composed, i found myself to by way more into fragrances related to a specific moment. Moreover i find myself checking the weather every morning when i dress up to figure my morning fragrance ! and i would say it's also related to how my mood is and i think we all know that season and weather can have a great impact on our emotions ! 

@Ebichuunee I'm curious to know some of your favorites on a rainy day, a sunny day, etc. Day by day, I tend to go by vibes, or my plans...

Oh yes, the weather changes my preferences for fragrances for sure. Fragrances that are very heavy and gourmand I'm able to wear only during the coldest winter and they can made me nauseous when the weather is hot. However I really enjoy them for example around Christmas time. There are certain fresh fragrances that smell too sharp during the cold season but they are absolutely gorgeous when the weather is hot. Also certain florals might feel screechy during the cold season but they absolutely gorgeous for springtime. I have also misjudged several fragrances because it has just been a totally wrong season to test them. My cravings also change a lot during a year so if some fragrance feels bleh today there's still a big chance that I will be absolutely addicted to it after 6 months or so. When I was younger I used to sell or swap all fragrances that didn't feel right anymore - just to buy them back after a while when I realised I was craving them again a lot on some other season. There are certain fragrances that I'm wearing all year round and craving always but mostly my taste is totally seasonal and that's why I'm doing seasonal rotations with my collection.

@Lempi I should join that thread now that I have some nice scents that would work for the warmer weather!

Well, I must say that I really hate winter which may be why I prefer the more bright, less 'warm' scents or scents that are appropiate for all seasons.

So there are only a few that I can only appreciate in summer and not in winter and those are:

Eau des Merveilles Bleue

Eau de Rochas (2015)

Diorella Eau de Toilette

Estee from Estee Lauder (it won't pop up after typing # but it is in the database, you can find it in my collection)

And for the rest: I love everything more in spring and summer (yes: even Mitsouko Eau de Parfum ) | Guerlain" , because I'm more happy then, but in winter Mitsouko comforts me, so I will keep that for winter nonetheless).

Sounds awesome! I'm also planning my summer rotation atm and will complete it probably in mid-May already as the spring has been exceptionally early both in Finland and in Scotland so I'm guessing also summer temperatures will be here earlier than usual. 🤩

Oh yes, I'm 100 % same for sure! 😄 It's hilarious that I live in a country of 6 months winters but loving summer and summer fragrances 😂 Usually in February, when the winter has continued almost 4 months already, I'm starting to be completely fed up with winter fragrances. Fortunately for example most citrus fragrances are amazing and uplifting for the colder season too so I'm wearing them definitely all year round.

I am jealous of you who live in a cooler climate. I struggle in the heat, and I love to be outdoors, so I have to limit my activity to dawn and dusk for 5 months of the year. Other than that I love where I live.

I tested out Ambre Suprême when I went for a walk in the woods this morning, and it performed well in the heat without being overpowering.

For awhile, during and after Covid, my nose was completely off. Up was down and down was up, craving heavy gourmands and spicy vanilla and leathers and dirty musk in the spring and summer, and craving green aquatic watery florals and citrus fruity fresh in the autumn and winter. Finally my cravings are flowing once again with the seasons without me thinking about it and all is right and aligning with the equilibrium of changing seasons haha 

Glad I'm not the only one I'm very happy now because here in Holland we do have early spring ! Just hope this isn't a sign that we will be having a lousy summer like last year and the year before that because then it also started so beautyful with early spring to end up in a, mostly clouded and rainy summer 😏...

@Zoekalisa Wow, I'm glad everything is finally back to normal!

Yeah I can totally understand that. And I guess it's always people tend to love things they don't have 😄 I have always dreamed of living on a tropical island, while people living in a tropical climate dream of snow and northern lights, it's all just so funny when you think about it. 😁 Tbh winter temperatures between -20 and -30 Celsius degrees and metres deep snow limit outside activities a lot too though so it's not nice at all to go outdoors in a cold climate either, at least for a person like me who absolutely hates ice and snow. At the countryside when it's heavily snowing (=most winter days in Finland) you can't even get out of the door without cleaning the snow first 🤣 But I have really liked mid-temperature climate like my husband's home country Scotland where they don't have any extreme temperatures really and the weather is surprisingly similar during the whole year. In Finland we seem to have a lot more changes during the year as it can be super cold during winters but also quite hot during summers.

Hahah sounds like Scotland last year actually 😂 It was hilarious that last summer was one of the coldest in the history of UK but one of the warmest in the history of Finland and it was quite a contrast to me to spend the summer in both countries by turns. Let's hope this summer would be nice and sunny 🥰🙏

Thank you!!! And me too haha #frequencies