The Scents of Summer: Bond No. 9 and Other Hamptons Fragrances

This season there are plenty of alluring fragrances to get you ready to hit the beach, Bobby Van’s, or wherever else your Hampton day may take you. Here’s a look at some of the most notable.

With a store in Sag Harbor and a slew of East End-inspired scents, Bond No. 9 has just launched Central Park South ($190–260). Given CPS’ proximity to the park, it’s little surprise that the new eau de parfum is a fresh floral. It starts out with tangy grapefruit, black currant, before jasmine, ylang ylang, lily of the valley and has woody notes including sandalwood and cedar bark kick in. Another notable floral is Jimmy Choo’s latest fragrance outing, Flash ($55–98). Housed in a luxe chandelier inspired bottle, this white floral’s notes include tangerine, strawberry, jasmine, white lily, heliotrope, pink pepper and white wood notes. For a fragrance that hits woody musk notes and bright citrus accords along with a variety of floral notes, Jour D’Hermes ($108–149) makes for an ideal scent.  Created by famed in-house Hermes perfumer Jean-Claude Ellena, it’s one of the easiest to wear fragrances to launch in a long while.

Meanwhile, the aptly named Hampton Sun’s Privet Bloom Eau de Parfum ($22–65) is a blend of lemon verbena, dune rose, sea grass, jasmine, blue plum and privet blossom. Feminine and fresh, it’s a scent that could easily work for everyday wear. A more aggressive scent can be found by picking up the latest from Dolce & Gabbana. Called Desire ($93–112), it mixes alluring musky and caramel notes with florals like Lily of the Valley, tuberose and jasmine along with lychee, to make a scent that’s at once seductive and feminine. Another multi-layered, rich fragrance to recently launch is the debut scent from designer Reem Acra. Called Reem Acra Eau de Parfum ($90–125), the luxury brand’s offering is a mix of woody amber, bergamot, orange blossom, jasmine, Lily of the Valley and peony.

Never one to shy away from the alluringly aggressive, Tom Ford launched Sahara Noir ($150) earlier this year. Inspired by the luxury of the Middle East, top notes are bitter orange, calamus and cypress. Middle notes are incense, cinnamon, papyrus, Egyptian jasmine and Moroccan rose and base notes include labdanum, benzoin, vanilla, cedar, amber, agarwood and Egyptian balsam. Like Ford, Gucci is known for their intense scents and their latest, Gucci Guilty Black Pour Femme ($75–95), is no different. The oriental floral includes pink pepper, raspberry, peach, lilac, violet, patchouli and amber notes.

If it’s something lighter you’re after, Bottega Veneta released a more muted version of their original scent. The newbie, called Bottega Veneta Eau Legere ($90–115), includes bergamot, pepper jasmine and gardenia notes, while Hampton Botanicals has Vishnu ($275), an East Hampton Gourmet exclusive, is formulated with floral, citrus, and woodsy notes.

L’Occitane launched a collection of four scents, La Collection de Grasse ($75), each inspired by the South of France. Clean and straightforward, the collection includes: Jasmine & Bergamote, Vanilla & Narcisse, Magnolia & Mure and The Vert & Bigarade olfactory combinations. While these scents haven’t been designed for layering, they are light enough that one could easily mix and match among the four scents. One scent that has, however, been designed for layering is Jo Malone’s Osmanthus Blossom ($60–110). Osmanthus tea has a long history in Chinese culture for being purifying and detoxifying, so it’s fitting that this is a light, clean white floral. It can be worn on its own or paired with other Jo Malone scents like Blacberry & Bay and Nectarine Blossom & Honey.

The more adventurous can reach for Lanvin’s Me scent ($55–98), which is formulated with, among other notes, blueberry and licorice to complement rose, tuberose, and sandalwood, each picked by designer Alber Elbaz. Prada Candy L’Eau ($88) is another out-of-the-box yet approachable find. Inspired by sweet treats fragrance notes include sweet pea, citrus and caramel.

On the male front, the most notable launch comes from Montblanc. Montblanc Legend Special Edition ($68) launched just a few weeks as a new interpretation of Montblanc Legend. Notes include preserved ginger, spearmint oil, lime, bergamot, essential oil of lavender, white cedar, Pomarose, sandalwood and tonka bean, all of which when taken together make for a refined, but masculine scent.