Jacline LaFlèche

The approach of summer brings with it a armload of colorful perfumes. Soft and citrusy, flirty and sweet scents that can be worn right on the skin to delight the senses. Elegant and whimsical, the bottles and the names are instantly entrancing. Everyone will find her own elixir to encapsulate the feeling of the moment.

Women who are devoted to one single perfume are perhaps unaware that there are summer scents and winter scents. You wouldn't wear a heady perfume with a pair of shorts, nor a light floral eau de toilette with a fur coat. There has to be balance. While the heady perfume may prove bewitching in winter, it may be overwhelming to the man who breathes it in when it's 80° in the shade. The same applies to overly musky or sweet scents.

Choose a perfume that matches the season: light. Opt for green florals like Elizabeth Arden's Green Tea or Cabotine de Grès, or perfumes with fresh citrusy aromas like Ô from Lancôme, or Ô Oui! A breath of pure air with a fruit sorbet flavor, napped with a vodka frappée...

A number of perfume makers guide you in your choice: Burberry Summer, Kenzo parfum d'été, and Scénario d'été by Yves Saint-Laurent.

Others already evoke vacation time: Fragonard's Belle de soleil.

It's recommended that you don't apply perfume directly onto your skin before and during sun exposure. Spray it onto your clothing and hair. Perfume, acting as a photosensitizer, can create brown spots that will remain like the passage of time: indefinitely.

Personally, I love Guerlain's floral scents. Every summer, perfumer Jean-Paul Guerlain writes a new chapter of his olfactory world chronicles. This year, Thierry Wasser has designed the latest vintage with Aqua Allegoria Flora Nymphea.