Well, babes, it's finally summer, the season of long days, lush abundance, juicy notes, and, if you're anything like me, tiny little tops that have your titties out. Just kidding, it's always time to have a titty top, but that's not what we're talking about today. We're talking about fragrance.
Now, summer scents are not something I'm typically gravitating towards. I tend to like a dark, mysterious, cozy, warm, boozy fragrance; however, there are a number of really compelling fresh fragrances, figs, citruses, white florals, and everything in between that I think are great, and this summer of 2026 is no exception.
Below is my list of all my favorites at all different price ranges. Happy smelling, babes.
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En Plein Air Jouissance / Jouissance
We're starting the summer with something sensual—a flame that's sure to be short, fleeting but deeply impactful, and this is the fragrance that perfectly encapsulates that. This entire line is inspired by female erotica, which I really appreciate because it's truly sexy perfume through the lens of female sexuality. This specific fragrance is inspired by a somewhat naive art critic on her way to an orgy. It's this warm, sensual skin scent with an air of sophistication—the kind of sexual confidence that comes after years of doing the work and being comfortable in your skin. It feels so authentically sexual in such a feminine way.
Notes include bergamot, lemon, grapefruit, white flowers, rain, and musk. I get a musky, white floral note, but then the bergamot brings a bit of sharpness, a freshness that keeps it from going too dainty or overly demure. Instead, it's soft but also a little bit aggressively unapologetic. This fragrance wears close to the skin, which I don't think is an issue—it's really something quite special that feels intimate, decadent, and catered to you. I tried the discovery set from the entire line on a fragrance crawl at Stéle last year, and I absolutely love it. Sample here!
Dreams and Nightmares / L'Epoque Parfums
I love the stories that fragrance can tell, and Dreams and Nightmares certainly does just that. Inspired by something that's beautiful and unsettling, a moment when you realize desire and fear often arrive together. If you've read any of my writing….you know that's my kink! This is a very unsettling sensual fragrance that leaves you wanting to explore more. For me, it's that feeling when you're drawn to someone you know is complicated—equal parts 'I want to know everything about you' and 'this might wreck me,' and you're walking toward them anyway.
Notes include pink pepper, cardamom, eucalyptus, patchouli, petrichor, wet earth, moss, amber woods, and bergamot. I get quite a lot of cardamom up front, but that eventually fades into a very mossy, earthy scent—a good mix of fresh, green fragrance with an earthy, slightly woody quality. I think this could transition really well from spring to summer or summer into fall. It's quite versatile in that way, and I'm excited to continue exploring. I'm purchasing a sample before I commit to a full bottle, as is customary with me, because it just feels so jarring and I really want this complex fragrance in my collection. Sample here!
Rococo Pie / Sara Baker
Rococo Pie is perhaps the most decadent fragrance on this list. It is just so sweet, but not in a juvenile kind of way. I think it is a lot more mature than that. I constantly found myself reaching for the decant of this I purchased because I just wanted to live in it. If you are looking for a fragrance that's a little bit vanilla-y, a little bit sweet, a little bit fruity, this is a really good option for that, because I know that not all vanillas are created equally for summer. I think that this would make a very nice summer vanilla-adjacent scent. It's more cream than anything.
Notes include peach pie, tangerine zest, coconut, walnut, jasmine, cream notes, amber, sandalwood, and musk. I get this creamy peach vibe from it that just feels indulgent. The projection is really nice—I got several compliments on this—and I think it has about five hours of wear time. Sample here!
Fourteen Carrots / Heretic
Alright, if the summer solstice were in a bottle, it would be Fourteen Carrots. It's dark and witchy. It feels like dancing around a garden at dusk and just being thankful for the harvest of beautiful gifts that you are about to receive. It's more musky citrus than anything—not the kind of fragrance that screams SUMMER in the way you might expect. If you want something a little less on the nose, well babe, this is the one.
The notes are carrot, oud, and clove. I find the carrot to be this very lively fresh note that helps round out the warmth of the oud and clove. I love a lot of Heretic fragrances, and I do think that they have a wear time of four to five hours for me on average. Transparently, sometimes I wish it was a little bit better, but I do really appreciate what the brand symbolizes. It's like this alternative kind of dirty, freaky fragrance, and this is no exception. If you're a little witchy, this might be for you. No individual samples, but it is part of this discovery set.
London 1983 / Henry Rose
Simple fragrances are really underrated. Sometimes you just want to feel airy, casual, not weighed down by anything, and London 1983 is great for that. It's straightforward in its freshness—nothing over the top—and I love it for those low-key days where you still want to smell nice without trying too hard. Running errands, wearing to bed, or needing something office-appropriate that won't overpower? This works. I also really like the price point of a lot of Henry Rose fragrances.
Notes include fig, black pepper, water lily, jasmine, musk, blonde woods, and vetiver bourbon. It starts a little watery, a little figgy, and then on the drydown those blonde woods come through. Henry Rose fragrances typically aren't heavy-hitting on projection and have varying wear times—I got about three to four hours out of this one before it faded. It makes a really nice layering fragrance, but it's also solid if you just want to dabble a little bit. No individual sample but it is part of this discovery set.
East River Run / Bañomaria
I got to smell this brand for the first time at Fumed here in Chicago in March, and I was instantly blown away. There is something so chic and sophisticated about East River Run. When I smell it, I feel like everything is figured out—like all of the best parts of life are converging into one. Every beauty you could imagine, from flowers to tapestries to woodwork to views, just all in one place.
Notes include orange, green, mandarin, grapefruit, lily of the valley, jasmine, rose, pear, musk, white amber, driftwood, and salt. I got lily of the valley first and pretty predominantly, and then it started to shift—a little greener, a little more citrusy. That salt note is really quite interesting. I think this could make a beautiful transition from spring to summer. It's probably meant as a spring fragrance, but there's this newness to it that reminds me of summer. Sample here.
Avgoustos / Korres
Now, what is a fragrance moment without a nod to my Greek roots? Listen, this fragrance perfectly encapsulates the end of summer in Greece, which is no surprise because it's named after the month of August. I think nobody does summer fragrances better than Korres—they are so versatile, so wearable, and they make you feel something. This one makes me feel like I've truly escaped. I feel very calm wearing it, which I really appreciate. This is the kind of scent you want to wear when you're wandering around a small village and you're getting ready for an evening with perhaps the most beautiful Greek salad of your life. You're coming from the beach, you're laughing with friends, you're enjoying everything that's beautiful in life—that's what this fragrance is to me.
Notes include mandarin, lavender, bergamot, fig, lemon tree leaves, orange blossom, amber, musk, and cedarwood. On me, I get this citrusy, woody scent that's not overly musky. The orange blossom makes it interesting—it feels like your skin but more elevated. It's pretty versatile and unoffensive, so you can wear it for just about any moment. Korres also has a ton of other fragrances that I really love, and they have a discovery set that I highly recommend checking out.
The Sun Card / Marissa Zappas
Maybe you need to feel a little bit tropical in the summer. If you want something that perfectly captures being at a pool, being served drinks, enjoying the sun (hopefully with a little sunscreen), and reading a really good magazine or book—this is the fragrance for that. Notes include heliotrope, sweet orange, spices, hay, orange flower, amber, and frangipani, which is kind of like a plumeria, a white flower. There's something about this fragrance that just feels very over-the-top. It's all about joy and vitality, much like the sun card—clarity, success, living in the light.
The orange flower and sweet orange keep it citrusy and bright, but then the amber brings it to something much more familiar and grounded. When I say tropical, it's not like piña coladas by the pool. It's more like this very sophisticated pool. Projection is not bad—I definitely got some questions on this when I was sampling it—and I think it has about five hours of wear time. It's also very buildable should you want that. Sample here.
Corail Oscuro / Diptyque
Listen, this fragrance has been on my full bottle list for a while because it's that good. Diptyque really stepped outside of their comfort zone with this one—it's way more compelling than most of their lineup. It's definitely a coastal scent: aquatic, green, a little bit spicy, and just different. It feels very mystical, like the dangers of what lurks below the surface, but also the allure of wanting to see what's down there. It's for when you want something out of the ordinary.
Notes include sandalwood, mandarin, bergamot, green notes, and salt. I like this as both a day and evening fragrance—it's versatile enough to work either way. The projection and longevity are solid, which is what I've come to expect from Diptyque. Sample here.
Rosemary Mint / Edgewater Candle
Sometimes you need to smell like a garden, and this is the perfect fragrance for that. Listen, it's straight up rosemary. It feels like that moment when you're gardening and you can run your fingers across your herbs and get that freshness of all of them in one sniff. I absolutely love this for summer—it's a fun, uncomplicated scent for errands.
It does a lot of heavy lifting for $24. It's one of the best oils out there, with great projection, great longevity, and it honestly just delivers exactly what it promises.
Acqua Gardenia / Bianco Profumo
Alright, let's end things on a nostalgic note. This is something that feels like you're over at your friend's house in the 90s. It's that summer just started, school is just out kind of fragrance—really exciting, really joyful, and very sharp. If you want something that feels very 80s, very 90s, perhaps like you're living in an episode of Dynasty, this would be the perfume for that. I recently attended a workshop with the brand and really enjoyed getting to learn more about their creative process. Their fragrances are really focused on the founders childhood, which I find endearing.
Notes include Sicilian lemon, cucumber water, jasmine, gardenia, sandalwood, resin, benzoin, and musk. I get a true white floral scent with very prominent gardenia, and then this muskiness comes in later on the drydown, maybe a couple hours in. The longevity is decent, and it has a nice nostalgic quality that I really appreciate. Sample here.
Discovery Set Pick / Oribe Fragrance Discovery Set
I'm a girl that loves discovering scent, and Oribe has a really nice discovery set. They only have three fragrances: Valley of Flowers, which is very floral as you might imagine; Côte d'Azur, which is definitely a little more inspired by their haircare line, but it's very much a jasmine sandalwood scent that feels like a long, crisp summer day; and Desertland, which is very warm and healing. It's got cedarwood and hay, and it just feels very nourishing. It almost reminds me of Ojai, California, so you can't go wrong with anything from Oribe in terms of fragrances.
So there you have it—my summer fragrance lineup for 2026. Whether you're looking for something sensual and close to the skin, something bright and citrusy, or something a little witchy and unexpected, I hope there's something here that speaks to you. Summer is short, fleeting, and honestly kind of magical, so you might as well smell good while you're living it. Happy exploring, babes.
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