Sitting somewhere between a summer perfume and a skin scent, this is what GLAMOUR’s associate beauty director is spritzing right now…

I’m sitting in my flat smelling of damp dog after being caught in an April rain shower. But mentally I’m in St Tropez, my skin bronzed and slick as a wet seal after a liberal application of after-sun. A sniff of Celine’s newest perfume was all it took to transport me there.

Normally I like to sit with a new scent for a while so, whenever a blotter is thrust under my nose in a department store, I tend to default to a gummy, non-committal smile before lumbering awkwardly in the opposite direction of the beauty hall. But at the launch of the Celine pop-up in Selfridges’ Corner Shop, things went down a little differently.

Perhaps knowing Un Été Français, the latest addition to Celine’s Haute Perfumerie line, drew on memories of teenage holidays in the South of France (Un Été Français literally translates to ‘A French Summer’), I was expecting something bright and salt tinged – or spicy, even, to mimic the crackling heat of a sunset.

Instead, all the hairs on my arm stood up as I inhaled the unexpected combination of splashy neroli and bittersweet petit-grain, soothed by coconut-scented clouds of gorse and powdery vanilla. Celine had turned the idea of a traditional beachy scent on its head by artfully omitting the smell of sugary cocktails or tropical-scented suncream.

And just like that, Un Été Français became an instant favourite.

What does Celine Un Été Français smell like?

I’ve worn Celine’s after-dark perfume Reptile religiously since it launched six years ago, its notes of tree moss, musk, pepper and leather overtly sexy as they slither over my skin on a night out. Un Été Français is the polar opposite.

It smells warm, humid and faintly aquatic, for sure. But Un Été Français is not so much a scent as a feeling. Imagine you’re back from the beach and getting ready for dinner out with friends. It’s an amber veil of old-school French after-sun soaking into damp skin. It’s the last rays of golden sunlight dancing on the curve of a bare, tanned shoulder.

All Celine perfumes are neatly divided into daytime and nighttime. Un Été Français falls into the first category but I’d argue that I smell all the better for wearing it at night, too, as its quietly seductive scent stands out from the usual floral and musk crowd in a bar.

But what I love most is that Un Été Français bottles the feeling of golden hour after a perfect summer’s day rather than the literal smell of sugary cocktails or tropical suncream. It’s just nostalgic enough to feel comforting, and joyful enough to make your want to spritz it on every hour.

ÉTÉ CELINE at The Corner Shop in Selfridges is on until 16 May 2025.