From the tasty margarita, melon, and chocolate-caramel-apple pleasures of Coney Island to the jasmine, cassis, amber, and musk orgy of Cleopatra, summer has never smelled so good …
Coney Island
The name’s Bond, Bond no.9, that is. Top-notch fragrance design studio, Bond No. 9, releases its new fragrance Coney Island on June 1st, and no, it doesn’t smell like hot dogs. This is the fragrance of Coney Island’s glamorous heyday, and maybe even its new day to come with the slow but sure resuscitation of this summer destination. Mermaids and gentlemen, here’s the party girl and party boy unisex fragrance to cool down on a hot summer’s day: those fruity top notes of margarita mix, melon, and guava laid over cinnamon-chocolate-caramel notes are reminiscent of old-time caramel apples, their luscious tartness smoothed off by a sweet candy bath. Pay a penny to the vendor in the boater hat and take a big bite. Let the juice run down your chin as the ocean breeze lifts your hair off your neck.
Now take a deep breath: those woods in the dry down are the planks in Coney Island’s legendary boardwalk, and the wooden carts of amusement park rides worn smooth with use. So step up ladies ‘n’ gents, in your seersucker suits and white gloves and parasols, and prepare to be wowed by Coney Island’s one million electric lights! … and now a fragrance all its own.
Smell it for yourself: Coney Island, $40-180, at Bond no.9 and Saks Fifth Avenue.
Cleopatra
Legend has it that Cleopatra cruised down the Nile on a golden barge, reclining on a cushioned throne, while perfumed sails billowed in the breeze around her, their scent reaching the Roman envoy before the sight of the ancient world’s greatest female icon. It’s a surprise that a fragrance hasn’t been named after her before, but Tocca’s Cleopatra beats them all to the sangria. Indeed, this eau de parfum, which draws on ancient ingredients, is magnetic like Cleopatra herself. She was ordinary in looks yet possessed of a powerful je ne sais quoi—charisma, “it,” that certain little something.
This certain little something is also invisible, covert, mysterious, yet, attainable. Laced with seductive jasmine, charged with mouth-watering cassis, and finished off with stately amber and musk, it can inspire its own orgy. Wearing it can give you license to make sixty costume changes, wear one of those gold beaded “forehead necklaces,” and feast and frolic for a week à la Liz Taylor when she portrayed this queen of Egypt in the 1960s. Indeed, Cleopatra—the fragrance and the woman—symbolize an awesome feminine potency, which can bring us the power we strive for … and the love that takes us by surprise.
Smell it for yourself: Cleopatra, $68, at Tocca, Saks Fifth Avenue, and Sephora.
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