Do You Think We're Seeing a Christmas-in-July Trend with Perfumes?

After reading a both funny and sad article on marketers attempting to push the Christmas-in-July agenda with such immortal lines as "Given the dreary economic climate, we thought we could bring customers a little more cheer in the middle of summer," said QVC Chief Executive Mike George", I had to wonder: have we seen this happen with perfumes?...

The answer curiously enough is not a categorical "no". In fact, two releases to-watch-for this summer, Guerlain 02 Paris-New York in the cities series and Serge Lutens Fille en Aiguilles might be construed as early wintery, christmasy perfumes launched during the summertime with their emphases on pine notes and even a "Christmas pudding" accord for New York which is supposed to feel irresistibly New Yorkan.

Next come fragrances released this summer that have deep, incensey notes like Africanimal by MAC, Queen by Queen Latifah already spotted on counters, and Wazamba by Parfum d'Empire.

Finally, there has been a real, unambiguous trend of oud-centered perfumes, a rich, velvety material that could be seen as the new cashmere in fragrances. Don't you already feel like cozying up? Suddenly Midnight Oud by Juliette Has a gun and Epic by Amouage are starting to look like Christmas decorations for your fir tree.

Between aiming for warm comforting notes early and thinking Christmas in July-August, it's not as explicit with perfumes as with sales billboards and advertising pitches. But the fact remains that perfume makers do gear up early for the fall/winter season with the first fall fragrances coming out in the summer.

With the weather getting confused and cool at times, it might also be not just a recession thing going on but a climate-change zeitgeist adaptation. That is, if we are strict about our seasonal perfume wardrobe preferences..

From a consumer's perspective, the winter-in-summer fragrance current can be experienced as a further level of pressure: taste the new summer releases and think about fall too. I have barely relinquished the charm of spring fragrances and now in August I am starting to feel ready to enjoy for some beach fragrances.

As I always say, you don't need to watch the weather forecast to know what perfume to wear because perfume-wearing is just as much about mood and occasion and fashion as it is about the change of seasons.

But if you want to shop early for the winter holidays 09, you certainly can this summer albeit with nary a sale in sight.

Quote from 'Twas 147 Shopping Days Before Christmas...
Pictures from hhgreg.com and moviegoods.com