This year the company where I work decided to change the way we’re naming our regular releases from the previously numeric values (e.g., 2.718 or 3.14) to season names. It was March, and in most parts of the US it was still cold. So, a co-worker from Texas (where it was much warmer than elsewhere) who was responsible for collecting slides from everybody and putting together a presentation of the first “named” release – Spring 2021 – for other departments was quite enthusiastic, and his cover slide was slightly playful:
The presentation for the US-based teams went well. But then the APAC team insisted on having a separate session for them claiming that a recording wasn’t enough. It was very inconvenient for most presenters who live in the US, so the manager “volunteered” for that presentation a co-worker from Europe – as a more time-zone-wise-appropriate choice, especially since he was responsible for the feature that was expected to have the most questions. So, he listened to the recorded presentation we all did together, got the slides and confidently opened the presentation: Spring is here!
“Well… We all are in Australia…” interjected someone from the group.
* * *
Had you asked me (or the co-worker who did the presentation) what season it was in Australia, we would have told you “autumn” – everyone knows that, right? But we know that Spring is warm, and Spring is green, having lived our whole lives in the northern hemisphere, instinctively, without pausing we think that March is Spring.
But I wouldn’t start theorizing about being self-centered or any type of bias. I think it is deeper. I remember how a couple of years ago, as Christmas was approaching, I thought that I felt sorry for Australians whose Christmas comes at the pick of summer: since traditionally this holiday is associated with winter and cold and snow – aren’t they missing on the true Christmas spirit?… And then I stopped myself: what am I talking about? How about us, in California? It is never cold here, it never snows – and still, it doesn’t prevent people here including me and my friends (who are not even Christian) from celebrating or feeling festive.
Same as we don’t have winter, we don’t really have Spring: weather doesn’t change much in March or April compared to, let’s say, a warm day in January or February. And still, every March my perfume wardrobe changes: I don’t want to wear my favorite ambers – instead, I crave green perfumes.
If you check Fragrantica, you’ll see how many different perfumes are classified as “green.” This Spring I went through my collection and chose seven to wear as my Green Week project.
* * *
I do not wear Penhaligon’s Lily of the Valley too often, but every Spring it comes out for at least a day or two because it’s a perfect Spring perfume and a good representation of the flower.
One would argue that Chanel No 19 is seasonless. I wear it year-round, especially the EdP and extrait, but the EdT for me is a Spring perfume.
I’ve owned DSH Perfumes Vert Pour Madame for years but somehow I never wrote about it other than a couple of mentions. It is an amazing perfume! I rarely fall for indie perfumes. But Vert Pour Madame won me over many years ago, and every time I wear it, I think that Dawn got it just perfectly. I think of it as classic Miss Dior but greener.
Yves Rocher Nature has been with me for several decades. I told its story many years ago, and I still wear it every Spring.
Puredistance Antonia is a green-eyed beauty that I loved from the first time I tried it 10 years ago. I enjoy its sharp greenness and perfectly blended floral bouquet. When I finish the current bottle that I won many years ago in the brand’s competition, I will buy the newer packaging – a wonderful green bottle.
I’m not sure if Hiram Green’s Arbolé Arbolé is considered green perfume, but in my mind it is. Arbole Arbole one of just three all-natural perfumes in my collection, which says a lot. It is so unusual. It is herbal, somewhat medicinal, slightly sweet. I wouldn’t be able to wear it too often, but I’m glad I have it in my life, and I enjoy wearing it in Spring.
I bought a small decant of Amouage Myths Woman in a Facebook split because it wasn’t much more expensive compared to a sample. It was absolutely not what I expected, and the first time I tried it I even disliked it. But as I tested it more in a while, not remembering either my expectations or the previous reservations, I liked it more and more each time. Myths is quite cheerful, which isn’t a characteristic I would think of first when considering Amouage perfumes. It is green and floral and aromatic. Though I wouldn’t say that they smell similarly, I think that Myths has some “weirdness” to it that reminds me of Arbole Arbole. Warmer months (but not hot!) suit much better for wearing Myths – at least for me. I think I’m now at the point where I’m considering a FB purchase (deeply discounted, of course).
For more green perfumes, see Narth’s guest post from last May.
Images: my own
Undina's Looking Glass 
I have grown to appreciate green perfumes over time and now i generally love them. I enjoy wesring them each Spring and my perfume choices are incredibly seasonal (No.19 edt comes out in March for me too).
I often think how much I’d miss the seasons if i lived sonewhere warner but as yoy show, you can still have that mindset, whatever the weather. More warmth coukd well be a major compensation :)
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I absolutely love our weather! But I do miss a day or two of snow and a couple of weeks of true Spring and Fall.
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The joys of working in a truly global company! 😉 Kind of reminds me of times when I picked up an imported chocolate or some other treat in a store in the US and thought, or told the staff, “This is expired!” only to realize or be reminded that the date is formatted as day/month/year.
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Oh, year, dates. And the first day of the week. And addresses…
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I’m definitely not a green scent person, but I do like Myths and bought a deeply discounted bottle. I also love Arbolé but it doesn’t smell green to me, despite the colour. Probably my only other truly green scent is PdE Corsica Furiosa, intended to smell like the maquis of Corsica. I love Chamade and SL Bas de Soie but I’m not sure they qualify as green – definitely spring florals though.
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I read someone saying that Chamade was green, but I don’t smell it as such. And definitely not Bas de Soie. It might be that I think of Arbole as green because of its color. But it doesn’t really matter, does it? As long as we like it.
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I can really identify with the first part of your post, as I spent most of last year in Australia, as you know. Before that I had only been there in summer, so it was a different experience to live through all the seasons, and shiver through a winter while I knew my Texas family was basking in the heat. I have had many Christmases in Australia where it’s meat on the barbie, salads, and shrimp, as opposed to the heavier dishes we enjoy here. It is all good, and I just enjoy the style, wherever I am.
I love green perfumes and you have named my two favorites, Puredistance Anotonia and DSH Vert Pour Madame! We don’t always like the same perfumes, but I guess we agree on greens! By the way, I also enjoy DSH Giverny In Bloom if you haven’t tried it.
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I haven’t tried that Giverny In Bloom – maybe the next time I’m getting something from the brand.
We don’t agree on all perfumes but we have enough common ground.
As to the weather, we know that it might be quite cold in Texas as well, as the last winter showed.
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Beautiful green bottles!!
Favorite greens from the past the original Gap Grass from 1994 and Eau de Lierre… thunked both. Currently enjoying O de Lancolm which my nose interprets as green.
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O de Lancolm looks green as well – so, I officially declare it green! :)
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I love green scents, as you know! I have some but not all of the ones on your list, so I’ll look forward especially to reading your thoughts on the ones I don’t know. One of my top “greens” is Papillon’s Dryad; my post about it is here: https://scentsandsensibilities.co/2018/11/11/scent-sample-sunday-dryad/. I also love Chanel’s Cristalle — post is here: https://scentsandsensibilities.co/2021/05/13/may-melange-marathon-cristalle/. I enjoy Tom Ford’s Vert series, Vert de Fleur and Vert Boheme more than the other two. Also currently enjoying my sample of Eris’ Green Spell.
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So funny I always think of Cristalle as a citrus which is why I didn’t think of it…but I love it too
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I like the Vert series! But I don’t have any bottles just decants, so I didn’t include it into my week.
Dryad had so many fans, but it wasn’t good on me. I should probably revisit it one day. And I’m very interested in trying Green Spell.
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I had to chuckle at your story about not considering that it is not spring in the southern hemisphere. We really do take our worldview for granted a lot of the time.
I agree with your thoughts on even if the weather is not seasonably accurate where I live, I still want to wear scents that remind me of what the actual season “should” be. It is a nice change to be back in New England where we have four distinct seasons vs the UAE’s hot and hotter. I love to get my green scents out for spring although, the season never seems to last as long as it should before it is time to move onto summer scents. Mito and Onda by Vero Profumo are both classic green scents and anything with narcissus is usually nice and “green” to me (including Myths).
P.S. it was nice to recognize that decant bottle of Myths in the pic. Glad it is getting good use! :-)
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Very good use! So good that I’ll need a bottle soon :)
Mito is an ultimate green scent! I missed it while I could buy it, and now I’m afraid it’s gone forever :(
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As a European living in the southern hemisphere I love thinking in both modes and enjoy the differences. Somethings do bother me though for example does Starbucks really need to sell pumpkin lattes in October when its summer temperatures ? I love some more adapted ideas too ie llamas instead of reindeer, that would be a lot of fun!
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I’m sorry for my ignorance, but I always thought that they did it for Halloween – you do have some type of a Halloween celebration where you live, don’t you?
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OOOHHHH! I love green scents too.
Dawn Spencer Hurwitz has a very special way with green and I have a couple of them. My most favourite is Giverny in Bloom. So perfectly poised but a stunning blast of arctic greenery straight from the florists fridge. Amazing.
So many I adore.
One day we should do a side by side couple of posts about wearing the same note in different hemispheres at the same time Undina.
Portia xx
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We definitely should!
You’re the second person to mention Giverny in Bloom. I should get to try it.
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I am not a green perfume person, though when I made my own Perfume Studio creation years and years ago, I ended up with one and called it Charleston. I felt sure in retrospect that the lady hosting the session had a lot of the green mix left and was pushing it on people. ;)
Oh, I do like Gucci Envy, come to think of it? Does that count?
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I remember Gucci Envy: it has such a beautiful green color that of course it can be considered green!
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Love your greens, Undina, especially Chanel No 19.
Talking of seasons, we’re in winter here in Johannesburg, which often means 20 degrees during the day and 5 degrees at night. We’re fortunate to have great light during the day.
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Thank you, R.!
Your winter sounds like ours. I think we’re very lucky. I don’t like cold and do not need more than a couple of days of “real winter” (cold + snow) somewhere in mountains, preferably around New Year.
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