The Best Summer Perfume to Try Based on the Cult Classic You Love the Most

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(Image credit: Who What Wear)

As a beauty lover, I wish I could say I loved all of my editorial beats (hair, makeup, skincare, nails, wellness, etc.) equally. Alas, I do not. I could wax poetic about my favorite skincare and makeup products for far longer than anyone would ever want to pay attention to, but other topics like hair or fragrance feel trickier.

For example, I have an unapologetically straightforward and boring hair product routine and styling repertoire, and I've just never been a huge perfume lover. Perfume is a personal part of one's beauty routine, and historically, I've found recommending fragrances (let alone trying to describe them) to be extremely difficult and, at times, a tad forced. However, in my opinion, the past couple of years have been uncharacteristically wonderful in terms of obsession-forming perfume launches. As someone who used to turn my nose up at most new fragrances I'd sniff, I've been stunned by the number of fresh scents to strike my fancy recently. The turn of the season is also a prolific opportunity to identify a new favorite scent, and this spring and summer have been no different.

I'm sharing 10 of the best summer perfumes in anticipation of the season so you can find a new favorite. As I've been spritzing and testing away the past few weeks, the sparkly summer selects below have provided a comforting mood boost. And because I know choosing a new perfume can be incredibly difficult (like finding a needle in a haystack), I'm comparing these perfumes with some of the best cult favorites from seasons past. Hopefully, this will provide some context as far as notes, fragrance family, and the like. Keep scrolling! The 10 best perfumes for summer (and the popular formulas they're similar to) await your perusal below. 

If you love: Skylar Isle Eau de Toilette

Try: Skylar Salt Air Eau de Toilette

If you love: Prada Candy Eau de Parfum

Try: Sol de Janeiro Sol Cheirosa '62 Eau de Parfum

If you love: Kilian Good Girl Gone Bad Eau de Parfum

Try: Kilian Good Girl Gone Bad Eau Fraîche

If you love: Viktor&Rolf Flowerbomb Eau de Parfum

Try: Viktor&Rolf Flowerbomb Dew Eau de Parfum

If you love: Diptyque Fleur de Peau Eau de Parfum

Try: Diptyque Eau Capitale Eau de Parfum

If you love: Yves Saint Laurent Libre Eau de Parfum

Try: Yves Saint Laurent Mon Paris Intensement Eau de Parfum

If you love: D.S. & Durga Italian Citrus Eau de Parfum

Try: D.S. & Durga Crystal Pistil Eau de Parfum

If you love: Acqua di Parma Fico di Amalfi Eau de Parfum

Try: Acqua di Parma Yuzu Eau de Parfum

If you love: Armani Beauty Sì Eau de Parfum

Try: Armani Beauty Sì Passione Intense Eau de Parfum

If you love: Ex Nihilo Venenum Kiss Eau de Parfum

Try: Ex Nihilo Explicite Eau de Parfum

This article was originally published at an earlier date and has been updated. 

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Beauty Director

Erin has been writing a mix of beauty and wellness content for Who What Wear for over four years. Prior to that, she spent two and half years writing for Byrdie. She now calls Santa Monica home but grew up in Minnetonka, Minnesota, and studied writing, rhetoric, and communication at University of Wisconsin, La Crosse. She studied abroad in Galway, Ireland, and spent a summer in L.A. interning with the Byrdie and Who What Wear family. After graduating from UW, she spent one year in San Francisco, where she worked as a writer for Pottery Barn Kids and PBteen before moving down to L.A. to begin her career as a beauty editor. She considers her day-to-day beauty aesthetic very low-maintenance and relies on staples like clear brow serum (from Kimiko!), Lawless's Lip Plumping Mask in Cherry Vanilla, and an eyelash curler. For special occasions or days when she's taking more meetings or has an event, she'll wear anything and everything from Charlotte Tilbury (the foundations are game-changing), some shimmer on her lids (Stila and Róen do it best), and a few coats of the best mascara-type product on earth, Surratt's Noir Lash Tint.