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Diptyque Ilio is one of the best summer perfumes available at Liberty

A Scent to Remember: the Best Perfumes for Summer

Don’t just photograph your summer, commit it to scent memory. Liberty shares the fragrances that perfectly capture the spirit of the season
By: Shannon Peter

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A Scent to Remember: The Best Perfumes for Summer

A Scent to Remember: The Best Perfumes for Summer

Don’t just photograph your summer, commit it to scent memory. Liberty shares the fragrances that perfectly capture the spirit of the season

By: Shannon Peter

Whether it’s the smell of your favourite childhood treat, the fragrant fumes of a scented candle, or the summer perfume of a passerby, there’s a reason why fleeting whiffs of certain smells can instantly transport you (figuratively, at least) to another time, place or mood. Scent is the only one of our five senses with a direct line to the areas of our brain associated with memory and emotion. All it takes is for a familiar smell to enter the nostrils, and clever receptors will shoot messages around the limbic system, digging up memories of the last time you smelled it.

So here’s an idea: why not hack the system? Why not capture a summer to remember with a summer scent to remember it by?

That means cherry-picking one of the best summer perfumes going – something bright, energetic and moreish – and wearing it every day between now and the end of September. For every beach day, garden party, wedding and festival the season has in store. Then, in years to come, you’ll be able to return to the bottle, and like the olfactory equivalent of a photograph, every future sniff will serve as a smile-inducing reminder of what a brilliant summer that was.

Ready to make some memories? Below, discover our edit of the best summer perfumes to scent the season ahead.

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For a Jet-Setting Summer

Escentric Molecules Molecule 01 + Mandarin, £115

Size: 100ml | Concentration: Eau de Toilette | Scent Family: Fresh

Going somewhere? Slip a bottle of this in your suitcase. A zestier take on the cult Molecule 01 scent, the fragrance is built on a base of the brand’s Iso E Super molecule – yes, the one that smells different one everyone – and comes spiked with a heavy dose of mandarin. It’s bright and inviting at first sniff, but soon mellows into something altogether more soothing and familiar.

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For a Hot Girl Summer

Byredo De Los Santos, £200

Size: 100ml | Concentration: Eau de Parfum | Scent Family: Amber

With notes of amber, sage, plum and iris root, there is a certain earthiness to Byredo’s De Los Santos, but topped with a cloud of musk, it feels ethereal. It's the kind of summer perfume that only smells better, the longer you leave it on.

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For a Summer by the Sea

Veronique Gabai Sur La Plage, £250

Size: 85ml | Concentration: Eau de Parfum | Scent Family: Floral

Picture the scene: you’re snoozing on the sand after a long day in the sun, skin still salty from your hourly ocean dips, slathered in layer upon layer of sun cream. Veronique Gabai's Sur la Plage perfectly captures that blissful moment. Notes of salt water come topped with orange blossom, magnolia and jasmine. It’s the best bits of the beach in a bottle.

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For a Romantic Summer

Loewe Agua Ella, £79

Size: 50ml | Concentration: Eau de Toilette | Scent Family: Citrus

Hoping for a little summer romance? Start with Loewe's Agua Ella. With light, feminine notes of water lily, passion fruit, rose petals, musk and lemon, expect love at first spritz.

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For a Sophisticated Summer

Le Labo The Matcha 26, £220

Size: 100ml | Concentration: Eau de Parfum | Scent Family: Woody

An elevated scent for those with elevated tastes, The Matcha 26 is like a big slurp of iced matcha, just in fragrance form. The creaminess of the matcha accord comes tempered by fig, vetiver, cedar woods and a splash of bitter orange. Delicious.

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For a Spritual Summer

Vyrao Witchy Woo, £135

Size: 50ml | Concentration: Eau de Parfum | Scent Family: Woody

If you're hoping to enjoy a summer of good vibes and high vibrations, perhaps Vyrao's Witchy Woo can manifest it for you. A bewitchingly deep and earthy scent, it blends notes of orris, rose, nutmeg, cinnamon and musk in a bid to make you feel your most powerful, creative self.

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For a Long, Hot Summer

Diptyque Ilio, £125

Size: 100ml | Concentration: Eau de Toilette | Scent Family: Fresh

Like sunshine, bottled, Diptyque's Ilio is bound to send out a message to the weather gods. Inspired by the Mediterranean, the scent itself is both fruity and floral, with notes of prickly pear, jasmine, bergamot and iris. May the glorious weather continue.

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For a Colourful Summer

D.S. & Durga Steamed Rainbow, £229

Size: 100ml | Concentration: Eau de Parfum | Scent Family: Fresh

While we hope to see few rainbows this season, there's nothing wrong with channelling their colourful energy, something that this fragrance does best. It's MO: blending ingredients of every colour of the rainbow, like violet, almond flower and mandarin. It's bright and joyful, everything you want your summer to be.

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For a Tropical Summer

Vilhelm Parfumerie Mango Skin, £185

Size: 100ml | Concentration: Eau de Parfum | Scent Family: Fresh

Escape to exotic climes by way of Vilhelm Parfumerie's Mango Skin. Yes, it's full of the fresh ripeness of a juicy mango, but that comes dotted with sharper blackcurrant and black pepper notes, as well as jasmine, patchouli, vanilla and pink sugar. It's transportive in the very best kind of way.

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For a Celebratory Summer

Editions de Parfums Frédéric Malle Outrageous, £215

Size: 100ml | Concentration: Eau de Parfum | Scent Family: Fresh

If you have months of dancing in festival tents ahead of you, might we suggest you do it doused in this Frédéric Malle scent? With notes of lime, green apple, grapefruit, mint and cinnamon, it's bright and vivacious, just the thing to get you in the party mood.

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