Afternoon Swim, citrus in blue
Afternoon Swim smells simple, yet it actually contains a touch of naturals here and there to give gradients and textures to the citruses. Citruses made more than 50% of the composition, joining force between bergamot, mandarin, and orange. The cologne backbone is evident here. Although it is elaborated flawlessly and twisted nicely to give a modern feeling.
Afternoon swim is splashing freshness
The beginning of this exhilarating journey starts with a basket full of lemon and bergamot. It is very refreshing to the senses. Bergamot’s natural fruity tonalities balance out the tangy facet of lemon and give a juicy and round, more refined sparkle. Seconds after this invigorating opening, the sweet orange joins the circle, offering more richness and roundness to the citrus silhouette. Mandarin, bearing its watery, dewy, transparent, and orange blossom facet, provides a slight twist to the whole cologne compositions. Along with bergamot, the combination points us to the next astounding sensorial experience that Afternoon Swim offers: a glass of fresh iced tea.
Afternoon swim smells like a bright summer on the beach
The tea realm is very exhilarating and stimulating. Truly a reminder of a summer afternoon by the beach, with a glass of iced tea on the hand. A hint of violet leaves’ greenness magnifies the watery citrus notes, defining the natural scent of citruses’ peel. Imagine the sensation of squeezing the fruit with the skin still attached. The smell is so diffusive, crisp, clean, pure, and sparkling.
Like a fresh iced tea with tonic, ginger’s spicy and bright aromatic facets create the effervescent effect. It adds a fizzing freshness to the citruses mix, striking brightness to the lemon and bergamot. Although the sweetness of ginger multiplies the juiciness of orange and mandarines. At the same time, this combination gives a sour yet sweet green apple effect, very faintly, but works fantastic in building the iced-tea facet.
Underneath, ginger’s warm body exhibits a balsamic effect, slightly floral. It nicely blends into the cologne’s heart, connecting with the white flower, like a fragrant breeze on the beach. I get a very faint jasmine’s black tea facet here. This floral facet is subtle yet compelling, instantly gives a beautiful lift to the fragrance’s tea structure.
Afternoon Swim conveys both juicy citruses and salty water
Afternoon Swim develops on the skin into a salty and musky scent, like how the skin smell after a dive in the ocean. This effect is given by a great dose of ambergris-like substances, smelling like musks, amber, and slightly bearing a balsamic-floral facet. A touch of dry wood texturized the musks, reflecting wet sand on the beach on a sunny summer day.
Afternoon Swim, Louis Vuitton’s interpretation of cologne
I love smelling cologne for its energizing impact. The original eau de cologne is very delightful with its classic citrus and aromatic freshness. My favorite classic eau de cologne is Eau de Cologne Imperiale from Guerlain, created in 1860 by Pierre Francois Pascal Guerlain.
Almost every fragrance house has at least one cologne in their portfolio, and most of them are beautiful. Each house has their own interpretations, and many twist it nicely into different olfactive directions. For example, my favorite citrus fragrance of all times is Eau des Sens, a more modern cologne created by Olivier Pescheux for the Parisian fragrance house, Diptyque, in 2016. It beautifully tells the philosophy of bitter orange trees.
I smelled Louis Vuitton’s cologne collections last summer (2019). There are three colognes in three different colored bottles: Cactus Garden (green), Sun Song (yellow), and Afternoon Swim (blue). All in eau de parfum concentrations. They are stunning.
The one that caught my attention the most is the blue Afternoon Swim. I instantly fell in love with it because it provokes happy and comforting feelings. The scent truly transports me to a pleasant afternoon by the beach. My skin is still wet from a quick dip in the seawater. I then sit on my beach chair, enjoying my orange fruit, sipping a fresh iced tea mix with ginger ale. Although sunny, the weather is nice. The wind breezes now and then. While reading my romance novel, I slowly fall asleep…
Nevertheless, Cactus Garden and Sun Song are inspirational too. Each of them transports me to different places, thanks to their diverse olfactive profiles. I will write about them later.
The nose behind
Afternoon Swim is another marvelous creation of Jacques Cavallier Belletrud, master perfumer. We have no doubt in his ability to create wonderful fresh citrus and marine scent. His masterpieces, such as Aqua di Gio (Giorgio Armani) and L’Eau d’Issey (Issey Miyake), prove that he is indeed a genius in this field.
M. Jacques Cavallier was appointed as Louis Vuitton’s in-house perfumer in 2012 and has exclusively developed fragrances for the house ever since. His first fragrance collections were launched in 2016, 70 years after Louis Vuitton’s last perfume launch. However, having M. Jacques Cavallier on the house shows Louis Vuitton’s commitment to actively grow their fragrance business.
This year, Louis Vuitton has launched one fragrance in their cologne collection, called California Dream. It is so exciting; I can’t wait to write my thoughts about it. I do not forget Cactus Garden and Sun Song, though. Soon on the blog!
Cheers,
Gia
