There's a moment every summer when time seems to slow down. Maybe it's the way the afternoon light turns everything amber, or how certain scents can transport you instantly to places you've never been but somehow remember. At ZGO, we live for these moments: when fragrance becomes memory, when a single spray can change the entire temperature of a day.
I was arranging bottles at ZGO when the afternoon sun hit the window just right, turning every glass flacon into a prism. That's when our team started talking about summer scents, about what we reach for when the city finally remembers it's July.
These fragrances, each one chosen by someone who spends their days swimming in scent, who knows the difference between a memory and a marketing pitch. Here are our nine picks for summer, the ones that make us feel something real.
California Dreaming: Comme des Garçons ERL Sunscreen
Leo's eyes light up every time someone asks about this one. "This is more than sunscreen," he'll tell you, already reaching for the tester. "It's the whole damn beach day."
And he's right. ERL Sunscreen is hyperrealism in fragrance form: a love letter to Venice Beach that somehow captures both the glamour and the grit. That first spray hits you with the unmistakable scent of Coppertone, elevated and refined. There's bergamot dancing with solar molecules, creating this effect of hot skin and cold drinks. The coconut is airy and almost translucent, like the memory of coconut rather than the thing itself.
What gets me is how it evolves throughout the day. The sharp, chemical beauty of the opening softens into something unexpectedly tender: heliotrope and peach creating this creamy, dreamy heart that feels like sunset on the pier. The cedarwood base grounds it all, adding a driftwood quality that keeps it from floating away entirely. It’s playful yet sophisticated, and nostalgic while being thoroughly modern. Leo wears it on Fridays, he says, when he wants to feel like the weekend's already started.
Mediterranean Royalty: Roja Parfums Isola Blu
Leo's second selection is pure luxury, and he knows it. "If I could bottle the feeling of being on a yacht I don't own, sailing to an island I can't afford, this would be it."
Isola Blu is Roja Dove at his most generous: a fragrance that takes the classic citrus cologne and elevates it to aristocratic heights. The opening is a masterclass in blending: five different citrus notes that somehow maintain their individual characters while creating something entirely new. Lemon sparkles, bergamot glows, lime adds sharpness, all cushioned by lavender and thyme that smell purple and green respectively. It's breakfast on a terrace overlooking the Mediterranean, every single morning of your best life.
But Isola Blu's true luxury reveals itself in time. The apple note is genius: crisp and green, keeping the composition fresh while adding unexpected depth. Coconut presents itself as something more abstract, creamy, and subtle, rather than a suntan lotion note. The base is where your money goes: real oakmoss (increasingly rare in modern perfumery), ambergris that adds that salty-sweet depth, and cedarwood that smells like yacht decks. It lasts forever, evolving throughout the day yet never losing its essential character of privileged ease. "It's aspirational," Leo admits. "I wear it to become the person I want to be."
Beautiful Trash: Etat Libre d'Orange I'm Trash
AP's first pick made us all skeptical until we smelled it. "The name is the whole point," he insists. "It's about finding beauty where others see waste."
I'm Trash is conceptual perfumery at its finest: using upcycled materials that would normally be discarded to create something genuinely stunning. The apple essence comes from juice production waste, the rose from already-distilled petals, the cedarwood from sawdust. While one might expect it to smell like compost, it surprisingly smells like joy.
What elevates this beyond clever marketing is the actual smell. The rose absolute in the heart is subtle but present, adding depth without going full floral. The modern woody molecules in the base, Akigalawood and Sandalore, keep everything transparent and modern. It wears like a smile, bright and infectious. AP loves the conversations it starts: "People ask what I'm wearing, I tell them it's trash, they think I'm joking, then I get to blow their minds with the sustainability story." It's a feel-good fragrance in every sense: environmentally conscious, emotionally uplifting, and surprisingly sophisticated for something that could have been a gimmick.
Tuscan Garden: Santa Maria Novella Gelsomina
AP's love for Gelsomina started in Florence, standing in the actual Santa Maria Novella pharmacy, surrounded by centuries of history. "I smelled this and just started crying," he remembers. "It was like meeting my grandmother's garden again."
Gelsomina is jasmine at its most honest. It presents the flower as it actually smells on a warm evening, avoiding the indolic, animalic jasmine that perfumers love to challenge us with. The opening sparkles with bergamot and tangerine, while pink pepper adds just enough bite to keep things interesting. This is all prelude to the main event: Sambac jasmine absolute so pure, so perfectly captured, it feels less like perfume and more like plant telepathy.
What sets this apart from other jasmine soliflores is its wearability. The geranium adds a rosy, slightly minty greenness that keeps the jasmine from overwhelming, while ylang-ylang contributes creamy sweetness without going tropical. The cedarwood and musk base is whisper-soft: just enough to anchor the florals to your skin. It's elegant without being old-fashioned and feminine without being girly. AP wears it when he wants to feel connected to something bigger than himself: history, nature, the idea that some beautiful things endure. "It's my temple," he says, and means it.
The Gladiator's Arena: Sora Dora Gladiator
AJ discovered Gladiator during a particularly intense period at work, and now it's become his signature. "Some days you need armor," he says. "This is mine."
Gladiator doesn't apologize for what it is: a powerhouse fragrance that announces your presence before you even speak. That opening is pure confidence: pineapple that's more steel than fruit, peppermint so crisp it could cut glass, grapefruit that sparkles like champagne. It's every successful fragrance of the last decade, distilled and amplified into something that feels both familiar and thrilling. The genius is in the balance. It avoids tipping into overwhelming territory, finding this perfect sweet spot of fresh and fierce.
The dry down reveals why AJ keeps coming back. Egyptian geranium adds unexpected elegance, while the base of patchouli, vetiver, and cedar creates this gorgeous, long-lasting foundation that shifts from boardroom appropriate to date-night mysterious. The coumarin adds a subtle sweetness, like expensive leather warmed by skin. It's the fragrance equivalent of a perfectly tailored suit: it makes you stand taller, speak clearer, feel invincible. "I've closed deals wearing this," AJ laughs. "I've also gotten more compliments than with anything else I own."
Modern Barbershop: Fragrance Du Bois London Spice
AJ's second pick is controversial in our store. "I know it smells like other things," he says. "That's partly why I love it."
London Spice takes the modern masculine playbook: fresh, clean, vaguely aquatic, and executes it flawlessly. The peppermint opening is bold, almost toothpaste-fresh, but quickly mellowed by beautiful bergamot and lemon. The sea notes add that designer fragrance DNA that's become so popular, while lavender keeps one foot in classic barbershop territory. It's familiar, yes, but sometimes familiar is exactly what you want.
The heartbreak is in the performance. For a fragrance from such a luxury house, it disappears frustratingly fast. Two, maybe three hours of good projection before it becomes a whisper. "But those are a really good three hours," AJ argues. The jasmine in the heart adds unexpected softness, while the spicy-woody base of nutmeg, cardamom, and cedar creates genuine sophistication. It's the fragrance equivalent of a crisp white shirt. While it is not groundbreaking, nothing else will do when you need to look effortlessly put-together. AJ reserves it for important meetings, first impressions, and moments when smelling "interesting" matters less than smelling successful.
Ocean's Poetry: Francesca Bianchi The Mariner's Rhyme
Joshua's first pick reveals his romantic side. He discovered his love for Mariner's Rhyme during a trip to the Oregon Coast, and it's been his contemplative summer scent ever since.
This fragrance is far from a typical beach scent. It is the ocean as Coleridge might have imagined it, all drama and depth. The opening is almost shocking: metallic ozonic notes that feel like salt spray mixed with electricity, bergamot and grapefruit providing brightness while lavender adds an unexpected medicinal edge. It's the smell of adventure, of standing at the helm while storm clouds gather. Joshua describes it as "wearing a piece of literature," and honestly, that's exactly what it feels like.
But here's where Francesca Bianchi's genius shows: just when you think you understand the story, it shifts. The iris that emerges from the waves is mineral and modern, steering clear of a powdery and vintage character, like wet stones under moonlight. Incense and ambergris in the base create this incredible transformation from tempest to calm, from day to night. The oakmoss grounds everything with an earthy, almost ancient quality. It's challenging in the best way, the kind of fragrance that makes people lean in closer, trying to understand what makes you smell like beautiful melancholy.
Sicilian Afternoon: Pierre Guillaume Helioflora
Joshua's second choice couldn't be more different from his first, which perfectly captures his range. "Sometimes you need poetry," he says. "Sometimes you just need joy."
Helioflora is liquid sunshine, inspired by Sicilian granita: that perfect balance of ice and fruit and summer sweetness. The opening is pure happiness: rhubarb's tart bite playing against apricot's velvety sweetness, with basil adding this unexpected green sparkle that keeps everything from becoming saccharine. It's the olfactory equivalent of that first spoonful of sorbet on a hot day: refreshing, surprising, gone too soon.
The magic is in its simplicity. While other fragrances are busy telling complex stories, Helioflora just wants to make you smile. The buddleia in the heart adds a honeyed, almost bubblegum quality that shouldn't work but absolutely does. Red sandalwood in the base keeps it from floating away entirely, adding just enough depth to prevent it from feeling like a body spray. Joshua wears it to the farmers market, on picnic dates, whenever he wants to feel uncomplicated happiness. "It's my antidepressant in a bottle," he jokes, but there's truth there. Some fragrances challenge you; this one just loves you.
Gentle Escape: Diptyque Ilio
Joshua's final pick is the most short-lived one out of our selections on this post, and he's made peace with that. "A fragrance doesn’t need to last forever," he says. "It’s here for a good time, not a long time."
Ilio is Diptyque at their most poetic: a watercolor sketch of a Mediterranean morning. The prickly pear note is genius, neither cactus nor pear but something entirely its own, watery and green and slightly sweet. It mingles with bergamot to create this beautiful, soft-focus opening that feels like looking at the ocean through morning mist. The iris that emerges is clean and powdery yet modern, more like expensive face cream than vintage makeup.
The tragedy and the beauty of Ilio is its performance. Two hours, maybe three if you're lucky, and it's gone. But what a two hours. The jasmine adds just enough floral sweetness to keep things from being too stark, while the overall effect is one of perfect, minimal elegance. Joshua treats it like meditation: morning applications that set the tone for his day, reapplied as needed when he wants to reset. "The point isn't longevity," he argues. "It's intention. Every time I spray it, I'm choosing to be present." At Diptyque prices, that's an expensive philosophy, but for Joshua, the ritual is worth more than the juice.
Tropical Paradise: Creed Virgin Island Water
My own pick might be predictable, but I don't care. Virgin Island Water is summer vacation in a bottle, and I'll never apologize for loving it.
The opening hits like diving into crystal-clear Caribbean water: lime so bright it's almost neon, coconut that's creamy rather than suntan-lotion sweet, and that genius touch of rum that adds depth without making it gourmand. It's the smell of privilege, honestly: private beaches and drinks with umbrellas and skin that's never known a cubicle's fluorescent lights. Here's the thing: wearing it makes you feel like you deserve all that, even if you're just running errands in the fog.
What keeps me coming back is how it wears. The sugar cane note emerges as it warms on skin, adding this beautiful sweetness that plays against the citrus. The white musk base is clean and skin-like, making the whole thing feel less like perfume and more like an idealized version of yourself: you, but on vacation, forever. Yes, it's basic. Yes, everyone at Coachella wears it. Yet sometimes the popular choice is popular for a reason. When summer feels too far away, when the fog won't lift, when I need to believe that somewhere, right now, the water is warm and the drinks are cold. This is what I reach for.
For the Curious Nose
These ten fragrances represent ten different philosophies of summer. From the photorealist beach day to the poetic ocean storm, from upcycled joy to timeless elegance. Each one was chosen by someone who lives and breathes fragrance, who understands that what we wear is about feeling something real; it is more than just smelling good.
Ready to find your summer story? Visit these fragrances at ZGO Perfumery.
We're a gathering place for everyone who believes that the right scent can change both your day and your entire season.
Fragrance Notes
Comme des Garçons ERL Sunscreen
Top Notes: Bergamot, Solar Accord
Heart Notes: Lily of the Valley, Heliotrope, Peach
Base Notes: Musk, Cedarwood, Coconut Accord
Roja Parfums Isola Blu
Top Notes: Lemon, Bergamot, Lime, Lavender, Thyme
Heart Notes: Apple, Blackcurrant, Coconut, Orange Blossom, Jasmin de Grasse, Lily, Champaca
Base Notes: Cut Grass, Maté, Galbanum, Pink Pepper, Aniseed, Patchouli, Oakmoss, Cedarwood, Juniper Berry, Vanilla, Tonka Bean, Amber, Orris, Birch, Leather, Ambergris, Musk
Sora Dora Gladiator
Top Notes: Pineapple, Grapefruit, Essence of Italian Bergamot
Heart Notes: Essence of Bitter Orange, Essence of Italian Lemon, Essence of Egyptian Geranium, Essence of Peppermint
Base Notes: Green Apple, White Flowers, Coumarin, Essence of Indonesian Patchouli, Essence of Virginia Cedar, Haiti Vetiver Essence, Bois Fusants
Fragrance Du Bois London Spice
Top Notes: Peppermint, Bergamot, Spearmint
Heart Notes: Lavender, Jasmine, White Flowers, Marine Notes
Base Notes: Patchouli, Cedarwood, Nutmeg, Cardamom
Etat Libre d'Orange I'm Trash
Main Notes: Apple Essence Upcycling, Rose Absolute Upcycling, Cedarwood Atlas Upcycling, Bitter Orange, Gariguette Strawberry
Santa Maria Novella Gelsomina
Top Notes: Bergamot, Tangerine, Pink Pepper
Heart Notes: Sambac Jasmine, Geranium, Ylang-Ylang
Base Notes: Cedarwood, Musk
Francesca Bianchi The Mariner's Rhyme
Top Notes: Bergamot, Grapefruit, Ozonic Notes, Lavender, Elemi
Heart Notes: Orange Flower, Iris
Base Notes: Ambergris, Oakmoss, Musk, Patchouli, Incense
Pierre Guillaume Helioflora
Top Notes: Rhubarb, Apricot, Basil
Heart Notes: Buddleia (Butterfly Tree)
Base Notes: Red Sandalwood
Diptyque Ilio
Main Notes: Prickly Pear, Bergamot, Iris, Jasmine
Creed Virgin Island Water
Top Notes: Lime, Coconut, Tropical Fruits
Heart Notes: Coconut Milk, Jasmine, White Flowers
Base Notes: Tonka Bean, White Musk, Patchouli