Even those who do not subscribe to the notion of perfume seasonality know that perfumes behave differently in different climate environments. So, planning a trip to a place that promises to be especially cold, hot, humid or dry, we often think of the appropriate selection of perfumes to take with us.
Saturday Question #116:
What Perfumes Would You Take To A Desert Vacation?
Which of your favorites you know work the best in the hot dry climate? Or which ones you’d like to test in that environment?
My Answer
As I was preparing to our short vacation to Sedona, Arizona, I wasn’t sure what to bring. Somehow my usual set of perfumes that travel with me to Hawaii – also quite hot but humid place – didn’t feel right. And then I thought it would be interesting to bring with me the discovery set of new attars from Amouage: after all, Oman has one of the hottest climates in the world.
I’m in the middle of my trip (and testing of these perfumes). I’ll try to post my impressions from both the vacation and attars next week once I’m back.
How about you?
Undina's Looking Glass 
I love this idea of you wearing the attars in the heat! I’m thinking of something from Dame Perfumery for hot dry climate like Desert Rose, Monsoon, Earth Mother or Sky Father…the company is based out of Arizona and I think the climate inspired these scents.
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I should revisit Dame Perfumery perfumes: I stopped following the brand a while ago, but I know that many perfumistas like it.
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I had that immediate same idea about Dame, seeing as they are a localish to Sedona.
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Yes!! And I just ordered four bottles for friends because some are half off.
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I have travelled in Oman, and brought (and bought) some Amouage perfumes. Journey, Epic and Fate if I recall well. In that dry desert air I could wear ‘heavy hitters’ and hardly smell them at all! I must say, Amouage smells best in Oman.
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I would love to visit Amouage in Oman! It is one of my most favorite brands.
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What an interesting question! I regularly go to Gran Canaria just off the Atlantic coast of Africa. Dry heat with a sea breeze. I’ve also been to Egypt but in the autumn. During the daytime I don’t wear fragrance other than whatever SPF I’m wearing. In an evening we go out for food so I tend to wear something that doesn’t interfere with the smell & taste of that. Simple colognes usually.
I do have one habit I enjoy & cannot break. Duty Free! I always make sure I have the budget for a fragrant purchase on the way home. Depending on the airport the choice can be designer, haute designer through local houses & very occasionally niche(ish). I tend to either plan to buy a replacement or airport only Chanel/Guerlain or something frivolous & summery.
Enjoy your break
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Duty-free is the best place to buy Chanel! It is almost never on sale, and whatever one can get discounted online is most likely a fake.
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Chanel also have some “airport only” fragrances. No5 Eau Premiere was under this limited distribution for a while. It may still be, as I haven’t checked recently.
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Hi there Holiday Undina!
First thing I thought of was Amouage Ubar. I wear it when in India’s Rajasthan.
Love Hermès Epice Marine, Vanille Galant and the garden series for desert heat too.
Vintage Miss Dior also performs spectacularly.
Enjoy your getaway.
Portia xx
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I’ve never thought of Miss Dior as a heat-appropriate perfume, but it’ll be interesting to try.
I forgot how great it is to be on a vacation! :)
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HA! I love that the rekindled memory has brought such a happy exclamation. If you’re still away I hope you continue to enjoy.
Vintage Miss Dior is sublime in the heat.
X
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Great question! I’m not often in that kind of dry heat (I live in the Southeast, so lots of humid heat). I would think that higher concentrations, like extrait de parfum or your attars, would work better as they might not evaporate so quickly. So I would love to try Alaia, in parfum format, in a desert climate. I bet some vintage extraits would also smell great there; and I agree with Brigitte that several Jeffrey Dame scents would be excellent. I really like his Black Flower Mexican Vanilla, and Duality. I suspect that Dawn Spencer Hurwitz might have some good options for that dry heat, too, since she’s located in Boulder CO. Maybe Le Serval, which she based on that African animal and notes related to African flora.
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Oh gosh yes!! Black Flower would be spectacular and I also like the idea of Duality as well as Singularity, which smells like soap in the best possible way.
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Black Flower Mexican Vanilla Should be great in this weather!
I didn’t think about vintage extraits, but you are probably right: those might fit perfectly the dry heat conditions.
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Attars are a brilliant idea! For me, I would probably stick with my usual Chanel No. 19 EDP, Chanel No. 5 EDT and Atelier Cologne Enivrant. I’ve always had high hopes for being able to test samples but invariably I end up not doing it at all or at most 1-2 for a handful of vacations.
Enjoy your mini getaway!
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Is it because you always take the same perfumes for all of your vacations, or do you think that these fit the weather in question?
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I would go with Amouage as well. Don’t often travel to desert climates so I don’t have a lot of experience.
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I don’t think I will be doing a lot more traveling to such climate as well since I don’t enjoy heat. But it was a nice exercise trying to fit my perfume to my expectation from this trip.
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That’s an easy choice, Sables by Annick Goutal.
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Is it because you take this perfume to all vacations, or does it work for you in that climate?
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No, Undina I don’t Sables works great in desert climates like Arizona and New Mexico, which I do travel to on occasion. It’s a perfect compliment to a arid landscape.
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Auphorie Anima Della Rossa, a heavy honeyed rose, that would bloom beautifully in desert heat I think. I would also take my diptyque Insensees Rose de Mai, another big rose. Some spicy fragrances would be great as well, like “If,” my favorite by Frapin, and Frapin 1270.
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I agree that rose fragrances might bloom beautifully in the heat. But I’m not familiar with Auphorie perfumes.
It’s interesting that you think about 1270 as a summer one: for me it’s a fall perfume.
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I lived in a desert climate one summer, in El Paso, Texas, and I loved it. The dry air, the elevation, it was very nice. But the sun as brutal and my skin became very dry even though I was only 23 at the time. I had to use lots of moisturizer and sunscreen every day.
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My skin doesn’t take well to Sun :( So, I’m hiding from it as much as I can.
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I haven’t been to a desert climate for quite a few years now, and I can’t remember which perfumes I brought. If I were planning such a trip I’d definitely have something citrus/herbal for daytime, Lancôme O D’azur might fit the bill. Night time I’d have BWFs.
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I tried a couple of citrus perfumes: they would disappear before I left the house. But maybe those were just not suitable for that heat perfumes: too bad I didn’t have enough time to experiment.
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Ooh, Sedona! Had a fantastic week there in ’99, staying in a timeshare place with fountains and gardens – Los Abrigados I think, by the Tlaquepaque craft village? I envy you being there as would love to go back to the area one day. Anyway, to the matter in hand…possibly Lys du Desert by Tauer. Or LADDM, if that is not too obvious a choice (and the wrong continent).
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We visited Tlaquepaque, and it was quite nice – as far as these types of places go.
Sedona was very beautiful, though I wished it would have been not as hot.
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This is such an interesting question for me. I spent way too much time in the Empty Quarter in the Arabian Peninsula. On the south and southeast edge of the Empty Quarter you will find Oman. And in Oman the capital is Muscat. In Muscat is a perfume shop that claims its heritage in the Empty Quarter. That perfume shop is Amouage. Visit the House of Amouage online http://www.amouage.com
That should help decide which perfume to take into the desert.
Why was I there? See this one minute You Tube video: Qasr al Sarab. That desert landscape has been the muse of many and the death of more.
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