Leave a lasting impression wearing the season’s best fragrances! ESSENCE Beauty and Cover Director Mikki Taylor, one of the foremost authorities on style, reveals the sexiest scents for summer.
Bond No. 9 Astor Place ($145, available at Saks Fifth Avenue) is an intoxicating mix of mandarin, freesia and red poppy buds that simply sizzles.
Ralph Lauren’s Romance Always Yours Elixir de Parfum Spray ($60, fine department stores) charms by uniting such unexpected ingredients as ginger and white violet with enduring notes of creamy musk and oak moss.
“Scent your hair…and more. Your favorite fragrance should be applied, here, there, everywhere!” says Taylor.
Halle by Halle Berry ($17, mass retailers nationwide) incorporates the icon’s favorite notes—mimosa and fig. Together they make for one sparkling scent.
Elizabeth Arden Pretty ($62, fine department stores) offers a captivating bouquet with every spritz of its spirited mélange of blossoms and woods.
Flirt! Flowerific ($35, Kohl’s stores) moves beyond the traditional “garden party” floral with its luminous notes of juicy tangerine, wet blue freesia and hypnotic frangipani flowers.
I Am King by Sean John ($57, Macy’s stores) launched last year and made quite a splash—it just won the coveted Men’s Luxe Fragrance of the Year Award at the 37th Annual Fragrance Foundation FiFi Awards. Its blend of key lime pie, cedar wood, white moss and vetiver is simply sensuous. It’s the gift I will be giving the men on my Father’s Day list this year.
Island Bermuda by Michael Kors ($62, Nordstrom stores) has a playful burst of white tiare blossoms and pink peony coupled with Bermuda’s very sexy passionflower and warm cedar wood.
Ocean Lounge ($52, macys.com), the latest limited-edition fragrance from Escada, is like an exotic fruit dessert. With sweet strawberry, Kakadu plum and Anjou pear nectar, it’s the perfect Miami Beach accessory—all you need to add is the swimsuit.
Burberry The Beat ($56, fine department stores nationwide) is the ultra cool, lighter version of the fashion house’s signature scent. Infused with fruity mandarin and ceylon tea, the scent works day to night with sexy appeal that‘s nonstop.
Coach Body Splash in Peony Splash ($55, coach.com) captures the romantic, powdery scent of the peony. This splash is the perfect spritz for those 80+ degree days when you want nothing next to your skin but something light and lovely.
Pucci’s Sabbia 167’s ($59, sephora.com) fun yet sophisticated scent has a unique mix of Florentine iris and praline. It’s like having a vintage Pucci dress at a fraction of the cost.
Very Irrésistible Givenchy Summer Sorbet ($54, Sephora stores) is a pretty fragrant bouquet of violet, vebena, star anise and rose with a hint of frosted red berries. It’s like donning a pretty summer frock full of flowers and has a girlie sensibility that makes you smile every time you wear it.
“Select fragrances that are light and airy or warm and subtly sensuous; a cloying one is such a distraction,” advises Mikki.
