The best men's fragrances for a South African summer

A fragrance that was perfect in July can be unbearable in January. Nothing has changed in the bottle. What has changed is the weather, and heat does two things to a fragrance that are worth understanding before you spend money on one.

What heat actually does

Warm skin evaporates fragrance faster. That means a scent projects more strongly and reaches further, and it also means it burns through its life more quickly. The same two sprays that carried you through a winter's day will announce themselves in a meeting room in December and be gone by two in the afternoon.

Humidity adds a second effect. Damp air holds scent molecules close, so a heavy fragrance can sit around you like a cloud instead of drifting. This is why a sweet, resinous evening scent that behaves beautifully in Johannesburg in June can feel suffocating on the KwaZulu-Natal coast in February.

South Africa gives you both extremes. The Highveld summer is hot, dry and fierce in the afternoon, and cools off sharply at night. Durban and the Lowveld are hot and wet. The Cape is hot, dry and windy, which strips a light fragrance off you faster than anywhere else in the country.

What works in the heat

Citrus and aromatic scents. Lemon, bergamot, grapefruit, mint, lavender, basil. These are the materials that read as cool to the human nose, and they are the backbone of almost every great summer fragrance. Their weakness is that they fade quickly, which matters less when warmth is amplifying everything anyway.

Aquatic and marine notes. The clean, salty, slightly ozonic accord that dominated the nineties, and which has aged better than anyone expected. It is a genuinely comfortable thing to wear in humidity.

Dry woods and vetiver. Cedar, vetiver and dry cypress give you longevity without weight. Vetiver in particular is the summer note for men who find citrus too casual.

Light spice, sparingly. Cardamom, pink pepper and ginger lift a fragrance without warming it.

What to leave for winter

Heavy orientals, thick vanilla and tonka gourmands, dense incense and smoky leather compositions all become much larger in heat. They are not ruined, they are just amplified beyond where most people want to be at a summer braai.

If you love one of them and refuse to give it up, wear it in the evening, wear one spray instead of three, and put it on your chest under a shirt rather than on your neck.

Eight places to start

All of these are eau de parfum, blended at our factory in Johannesburg, at R70 for 30ml, R120 for 50ml and R200 for 100ml. Each one is an original composition inspired by a designer scent that we name openly, so you know what character to expect. Browse the rest in the men's range.

• Chaotic Theory, inspired by Cool Water. The straightforward aquatic: mint, lavender and clean marine air. The safest summer fragrance in the range and the one to buy if you are unsure.
• Black Coffee, inspired by Light Blue Pour Homme. Grapefruit and juniper over dry cedar. Crisp, bright and easy to wear from a morning meeting to a Saturday lunch.
• Nine Seas, inspired by Bleu de Chanel. Fresh citrus over dry woods and a touch of incense. The most formal of the light options, and the one that works in an office.
• Trained to Thrill, inspired by Invictus. Grapefruit and a salty marine accord over woods. Energetic and young, and it survives a hot afternoon better than most.
• Rule Breaker Risk Taker, inspired by Aventus. Smoky pineapple, birch and musk. Not a light fragrance, but the fruit keeps it bright enough for a summer evening.
• My Place or Yours, inspired by Stronger With You. Warm and sweet with chestnut and vanilla, so keep it for cooler summer nights rather than the middle of the day.
• Paint It Black, inspired by Armani Code. Lemon and bergamot over tonka and leather. An evening fragrance for December rather than a daytime one.
• Intense Duke, inspired by Le Male. Mint and lavender over vanilla. Strong, recognisable, and best at one spray in the heat.

If you would rather browse by character than by name, the water family and the aromatic family hold most of the summer options.

How to wear fragrance in the heat

• Use less. Two sprays in summer where you would use three in winter. Heat does the projecting for you.
• Spray lower. Chest and inner elbows rather than the sides of the neck, so the scent rises gently instead of sitting under other people's noses.
• Reapply rather than over-applying. A 30ml bottle costs R70 and fits in a bag. One spray at five in the afternoon beats five sprays at seven in the morning.
• Moisturise first. Hot, dry skin holds fragrance poorly. An unscented moisturiser adds real hours.
• Keep the bottle out of the car. A closed car in a Johannesburg summer will ruin a fragrance in a matter of weeks. Store bottles in a cupboard indoors.

One fragrance or several

The usual advice is to own a summer scent and a winter scent, and it is good advice, but it is easier to follow when a bottle costs R200 rather than R2,000. A light aquatic for daytime and something warmer for evenings will cover almost everything you need, and the pair costs less than a single designer bottle.

If you are not sure where to start, the scent finder takes about a minute, or look up what you already own in the inspired-by directory and work outwards from there.