These California-inspired perfumes are perfect for summer

California-inspired perfumes from Celine, Louis Vuttion and more are an ode to the multifaceted personalities of the Golden State

California-inspired perfumes
(Image credit: Neil Godwin at Future Studios)

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California has inspired an endless number of songs, films, paintings, and, now more than ever, perfume. 

So inspiring is it to Daniel Patrick Giles that he created an entire perfume brand dedicated to Los Angeles. Called Perfumehead, the brand offers fragrances dedicated to a moment or feeling conjured by the city, from the Chateau Marmont-inspired Room No, to Cosmic Cowboy, which is inspired by Sunset Strip nightlife in the 1970s.

California-inspired perfumes by Louis Vuitton, Celine and Perfumehead

(Image credit: Neil Godwin at Future Studios)

Perfumehead’s hedonism is countered by Louis Vuttion’s Pacific Chill fragrance, which takes its inspiration from the state’s most ubiquitous drink – green juice. Pacific Chill is the fifth fragrance collaboration from Louis Vuttion perfumer Jacques Cavallier Belletrud and LA-based multimedia artist Alex Israel. With a bright ombre-blue bottle and refreshing notes of blackcurrant, lemon and basil, it is practically a detox in a bottle.

Celine’s Eau de Californie, on the other hand, is a more personal ode to the sunshine state. A palo santo scent tinged with powdery orris and tree moss, it was designed by creative director Hedi Slimane as a tribute to the place he called home for ten years. 

Meanwhile, Byredo's Mojave Ghost is, as its name suggests, inspired by the arid beauty of the Mojave desert. Musky ambrette is given a lightness by powdery violet and fresh Jamaican newberry, all rounded out by a base of crisp amber and cedar wood. 

A version of this article appears in the August 2023 issue of Wallpaper* – a guide to creative America. Subscribe to Wallpaper* today

Writer and Wallpaper* Contributing Editor

Mary Cleary is a writer based in London and New York. Previously beauty & grooming editor at Wallpaper*, she is now a contributing editor, alongside writing for various publications on all aspects of culture.