Question:
This summer in Australia has been very hot & humid. Every fragrance I own is very difficult to wear on these types of days. I'm currently creating a new fragrance wardrobe from scratch & would love to have at least one summery fragrance in my collection.
The problem is I don't wear fresh/clean smelling fragrances well. I love them on other people but just haven't found any that work with my chemistry.
eg. Eternity Purple Orchid - smells like chemicals, the window cleaner variety
Clean - smells like overpowering, over-ripe & almost rotting lemons
Paradise - a horrible musty note over-rides those beautiful green tropical notes that I've smelt on a couple of people who wear this fragrance
Burberry for Women - all I smell is strong cedarwood it overpowers all the other notes
Burberry Weekend - goes sickly, sickly, sickly sweet (imagine cloyingly sweet & triple it)
I don't mind fruity or sweet (in moderation) but would hate to smell like a bowl of fruit salad! I love florals but usually wear them in combo with other fragrance families.
I seem to wear rose, violet, ylang ylang, lavender, vanilla, patchouli, incense, aniseed, most musks & sandalwood well. Oh, apricot can be very nice depending on the combo of notes. Spices are a bit more hit & miss with me but when they work they smell amazing.
I'm totally stumped & any suggestions would be much appreciated!

Answer:
Dear moonlight, I used to live in Sydney and I know exactly what you are talking about in regards of the weather over there.
There are a few personal favourites which I have worn a lot when I was residing there.
Kenzo Flower - wild hawthorn, bulgarian rose, parma violet, cassia, hedione, white musk and vanilla
Kenzo Parfum D'ete is a green, floral fragrance. Hyacinth, freesia, narcissus, peony, rose and jasmine are combined with musk and amber. (This is fresher and greener than Kenzo Flower)
Byblos by Byblos - violet, grapefruit, honeysuckle, and spicy notes of pepper and musk. This is a sharp floral. Not sure if this is available in Australia. This has an amazing sillage and quite long lasting.
Annick Goutal's Folavril - A mango, jasmine, Boronia flower, and spicy tomato leaf blend. I got my first bottle from David Jones City Store. I am not sure if they still carry it.
Hope this helps, good luck!

Answer:
i really enjoy my Etro Anice in the heat and humidity of summer.
anise, bergamot, rosewood, jasmine, fennel, caraway, iris, vanilla, musk, amber
keep it in chilled in the 'fridge and it's super-refreshing!

Answer:
I know exactly how you feel - I live in North Queensland and the weather impacts your perfume choices like nothing else.
One that I think you should try is Carolina Herrera 212. It's clean and fresh but not made for a teenage girl.
It's actually funny that you posted this because I bought a bottle of jlo Miami Glow today, I was inspired by the disgustingly hot muggy weather we're having up here. Like you, I don't like to smell like a fruit salad (that's exactly the description I use too) but Miami Glow has a really lovely drydown which is quite floral. I would recommend it, embarassing as that is

Answer:
Have you tried Ange ou Demon? Its not really my kind of thing, but having tried it and also smelled it on someone who's chemistry worked really well with it, I think it might work for you. It has a strong mandarin note that makes it seem summery (to me) but at the same time it has those woody and floral notes that you're after, giving it a bit more depth than the usual fruity fresh fragrances.

Answer:
In the very hottest muggiest weather I like Diorella or Eau d'Hadrien. I also love Jean Nate. They're all citrussy. Diorella blooms particularly nicely in the warmth, imo - not just lemony but jasmine & basil & vetiver. Very nice scent. Men's version is Eau Sauvage, also nice and women can wear it, but I prefer Diorella.

Answer:
I think perfume can be nauseating in hot weather but I like to wear The Body Shop tea rose even though some people think it's too strong. It works for me.
Other choices are: The Body Shop lemon tea and fuzzy peach. Oils are kinder to my skin in the heat than alcohol based scents.
Also check out L'Occitane. They have some nice florals that are extremely light and easy to wear in the heat.

Answer:
the weather here turned hot andhumid today and I am wearing de Coq. It is cologne so it doesn't last long, but it is light and refreshing and my husband sail "what is that good smell?" Here is what some of the basenoters have said:
Eau du Coq is a light refreshing cologne. The bergamot and citrus notes are fairly dominant – my boyfriend very accurately says it smells like Earl Grey tea! Comparing it with Eau Imperiale, its much "rounder" thanks to the tonka (which I prefer). I especially like it layered with Guerlain florals from the Aqua Allegoria series.
by hanna8577 , 11 January 2007, Sweden
Another beautiful and superb Eau from guerlain. It has survived over a hundred years because of its simple, elegant excellent quality. It has the classic combination of bright, light, dry, crisp top/middle notes of lemon, bergamot, a little lavender and rosemary over a gentle and very subtle tonka.
Uplifting, airy and always appropriate.

Answer:
I don't wear "fresh" scents well either. They seem either too high-pitched or sour.
For a time I liked Fresh Cucumber Baie, but the green galbanum note finally wore me down. Then I sampled a number of tea fragrances, settling with Carthusia IO which is sweetened with fig. Just yesterday I sampled Annick Goutal's Mandragore. On me it's predominantly a mild, sweet, classy spearmint. It's sillage, however, is zero. Another similar fragrance is Nanadebary Green. Many ladies like Gres Cabotine.
I'm awaiting a sample of Sage Machado's self-named Sage: Top notes cucumber, white sage; middle notes wild sweet pea; base notes green musk, Egyptian musk, tonka bean.
If any/all of these products are hard to come by in Australia, post your situation here, and somebody will help you figure out how to get what you want.
Our monthly discussions based on a scent theme (known as first-Saturdary-of-the-month "Sniff 'n' Speak") will be addressing fresh/floral/citrus/green/aquatic scents in upcoming months, so watch for those threads and please join in with your findings.
January--Oriental
February--Animalic (civet-, castoreum- or leather-influenced scents)
March--Chypre
April--Floral
May--Fruity
June--Citrus
July--Green
August--Fresh or aquatic
September--Fougere or men's fragrances
October--Ambery
November--Spicy
December--Gourmand

Answer:
Try New West for Her by Aramis - sand, watermelon & a very slight tartness - I live in Miami & it gets pretty humid here too, I wore this at a picnic last weekend and it worked perfectly