For some people, wearing the same perfume year round just works. They’ve found their signature fragrance, it’s perfect, and that’s that.
However, there are also those amongst us who like to change our perfumes with the seasons. There are merits to this approach. Different seasons have different moods and associations, and we tend to wear different apparel and do different activities as the seasons change. It can make sense to wear a different fragrance during cozy sweater weather than we would wear to a midsummer garden party. Our perfumes say something about our tastes and preferences, after all, and these can change along with the seasons.
If you’re thinking that you’d like to switch up your perfume with the seasons, here are some things to keep in mind when choosing a scent for each season.
Spring
Spring is a season that’s all about renewal, fecundity, and freshness. As the weather gets warmer, and the air gets more humid with those April showers, you might find that you need to choose a light and energetic scent.
Given that nature is bursting out all around us in the spring, aromas of delicate flowers, cut grass, citrus, and aromatic herbs are good bets for spring. Go for clean fragrances with marked greenness and vegetal notes, and choose light floral scents such as lily-of-the-valley, lilac, hyacinth, freesia, and peony, saving heavier floral musks for hotter summer weather.
Like the first warm day of the year, your spring fragrance should brim with optimism. Winter is over! It didn’t last forever! Spring is here! Whether you prioritize flowers, herbs, or citrus, (or, more likely, a mix of all three), go for something zingy and enticing, something that evokes tender buds bursting through soil, bikes with baskets full of fresh-cut flowers, or your first sip of homemade lemonade. Your spring fragrance should be fresh, crisp, and full of excitement for what’s to come.
Summer
Summer is a celebration of life. The days are long, the sun is intense, and we often try to pack our days with as much fun and/or relaxation as possible. Choose a scent for summer that revels in warmth and vitality and the joy of living well.
Our skin tends to retain moisture in the summer, meaning that scents last longer on it. This means that you won’t want something terribly heavy, as this may become overpowering. That said, summer is a great time for spicy, intoxicating scents like ylang-ylang and vanilla, and rich, powdery florals such as iris, rose, jasmine, violet, and mimosa.
Summer is also a great time for the sun-drenched effects of lemon or bergamot, and the grounding woodiness of sandalwood or cedarwood. Offset the woodiness with something beautifully sensual like geranium or frankincense. For a hint of the beach, look for a whiff of coconut and/or salt.
Just like a perfect summer day, your summer scent should be playful and relaxed, joyful and restorative.
Autumn
In autumn, many of us slow down, take stock, and express gratitude for the gifts of the season. Given the beauty of the changing landscape, autumn is also a great time to celebrate the natural world and all the senses it evokes.
In this spirit, choose a fall perfume that conjures the smell of autumn woods: mosses, sap, fallen leaves, dried grasses, leather, and woodsmoke. For many of us, autumn is also a time of family traditions centering on food, so look for scents that incorporate cinnamon, black pepper, ginger, cloves, cardamom, nutmeg, and citrus notes.
Remember that as the days grow colder, your skin will likely become drier, meaning that scents will not linger for as long. This means that bolder, heavier fragrances will tend to last longer. Whether you go spicy musky, or smoky, (or layer all three, given that it’s layering season), your fall fragrance should make you feel as warm and cozy as your favorite pair of slippers.
Winter
Winter is a time of contemplation, reflection, and reveling in the joy of stillness. Many of us use the colder months to turn inward, catch up on rest, and set goals for the future. But winter is also a time for gathering with loved ones and celebrating another year that has come and gone.
The right winter scent can put you in the perfect mood for snow days, skating parties, holiday fanfare, and cozy nights at home. What’s more, with its colder, drier air, wintertime offers the perfect chance to experiment with bolder, heavier fragrances that might not work in warmer seasons.
Play with rich, warm scents that contain pine, evergreen, sequoia, or cedarwood. If you're a fan of warm drinks, look for fragrances with scents of green or black tea, cocoa, vanilla, or even rum or whiskey. It can also be fun to experiment with hints of wool, leather, or clean flannel, since these are likely the fabrics you will be wearing.
Winter is also an ideal time to continue wearing the warming fragrances of cinnamon and clove that you wore in the fall, maybe throwing in a bit of citrus or peppermint if you want to be extra seasonal.
Whatever your preferred winter fragrance, keep it joyful and celebratory, and, again, don’t be afraid to try something new. It’s a new year, after all.
If you’re looking to test out some new perfumes, stop by Jeromeo’s showroom in Minneapolis’s North Loop today. Or visit our shop online.
Our Smoke and Amber eau de parfums are ideal for fall and winter, and our Moon and Venus eau de parfums are quintessential summer scents. If you prefer roll-on perfumes, our Earth smells like the winter woods, Joy is summer in a bottle, and Sun and 3 Flowers are full of the freshness of spring. All of our fragrances are mixed in-house in small batches, using only the highest-quality all-natural ingredients.
If you prefer mixing your own scents, we carry a full line of PureomEO™ essential oils and carrier oils.
PureomEO™ sources its ingredients from eco-friendly and small-scale farms, distilleries, and producers. PureomEO™ essential oils contain only plant-based ingredients with no animal products, preservatives, synthetics, or artificial ingredients. Each batch of PureomEO™ Essential Oil is 100% pure, and is lab tested and analyzed for quality assurance.
No matter the mood or season you find yourself in, the most important thing when choosing a fragrance is to find something that makes you feel good, inside and out. So much writing about perfumery focuses on the impression your scent will make on others. At Jeromeo, we say forget about that. Find the perfume that you love, and good things will follow.