Four Things: Fresh Scents for Spring Days

I love perfumes and find it such an interesting area of beauty, the process of creating classic fragrances is so complex and skilled. There is something so subtle and magical about the way a scent can instantly transport you to a certain moment in time, or evoke a certain feeling (I can't be the only one who is instantly transported back to their teenage years every time I smell an Impulse body spray, or a strong whiff of Lynx!!). When the weather turns brighter around this time of year, I always want to wear a fragrance that is as fresh and clean as a spring breeze. These are four of my favourites:

1. Hermes Eau Des Merveilles
This is my absolute number one fragrance and I will love it forever and ever. I spent ages (I mean YEARS) searching for a signature fragrance and I finally found this one about 5 years ago. It is often described as smelling salty, which seems a bit weird at first because you don't think of slat having a smell, but it is like a fresh sea breeze. I can't think of a better way to describe this fragrance, it isn't fruity or floral, it is just clean and fresh and bracing, and unlike any other perfume I have ever come across.

2. Jo Malone Lime Basil and Mandarin Cologne
This is a fragrance I have been stealing from my Mum for ages, and today she gave me the rest of her bottle (my Mum is someone who buys a lot of new perfumes and beauty products and them moves on from lots of them quite quickly, so there are often bits and pieces going spare, hooray!). I love colognes for every day, they are lighter and fresher than perfumes as a rule, and also, happily, cheaper. An eau de cologne usually has a fresh, clean fragrance, and the are nice to splash on after your shower. This one isn't as straighforwardly citrussy as the name might suggest, the basil aspect of the scent gives is a peppery-ness as well which makes it smell more complex. I think eau de colognes are not meant to last as well as the stronger eau de toilettes and eau de parfums but I find this one lasts really well. I believe this is one of Jo Malone's most popular fragrances and deservedly so, I can't imagine anyone not liking this fresh, clean, modern classic.

3. Acqua Di Parma Colonia
Another cologne, and this time a real classic, created in 1916. This is a unisex fragrance, as most colognes are, and has lots of citrus and herbal green notes. I think part of the appeal of this fragrance, aside from it smelling wonderful, is the idea of classic Italian sophistication and old-fashioned, proper grooming - it is amazing the powerful world of imagination that a great perfume can create.

4. Clarins Eau Dynamisante
A few years ago - probably before I discovered Eau Des Merveilles - I used to wear Eau Dynamisante all the time, it was definitely my daily perfume. Clarins classify this as one of their Treatment Fragrances, and describe it as a "mood-lifting essence... an instant antidote to exhaustion or stress". I think that sense, any good perfume is a treatment, in the sense that it can affect your mood and set a tone. It is another fresh cologne-type scent to splash on in the morning before you dress, and I always found it energising and invigorating, a definite morning fragrance.

I hope maybe this post will inspire you to try out some of these fragrances, and maybe get a fresh new scent for the spring. What are your favourite fresh clean fragrances?