Beauty

This is the summer fragrance of 2026 (and it smells like a gin and tonic)

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If there is one scent that I truly wish for everyone, it is Molecule 01. I have seriously never heard anyone say they don't like it. So unique, so different.

This was launched in 2006 and grew into a rightful cult classic over twenty years. The scent consists of just one ingredient: one aroma molecule, Iso E Super. And that was truly revolutionary at the time. Molecule 01 smells slightly different on everyone because Iso E Super blends with your own skin chemistry.

Funny detail: many people think the scent disappears after a few minutes. But that's not the case at all. Your own nose just gets used to it quickly. Fortunately, other people can still smell it. In fact, that's why you often get asked what perfume you are wearing.

Cologne One by Escentric Molecules

And now Escentric Molecules has a new scent: Cologne One. The new Cologne One by Escentric Molecules smells like… a gin and tonic. Joe Joe.

Cologne One is the summer scent of 2026

Because if there is one thing Escentric Molecules is good at, it is making perfumes that don't scream for attention, but make people ask you all day what you are wearing. This new scent is called Cologne One.

Many summer perfumes are mostly sweet or floral, but Cologne One does exactly the opposite. The scent opens wonderfully fresh, almost as if you are getting an ice-cold gin and tonic in front of you on a sunny terrace. You smell, among other things, juniper, lime, bergamot, mandarin, ginger, and cucumber.

Fresh, clean, and minimalist

So, as we are used to from Escentric Molecules, this scent is also strikingly minimalist. Instead of all those ingredients, it’s all about freshness here. Delightfully fresh, with citrus among others.

So, not a heavy cloud of perfume, but rather a clean, minimalist light scent that remains subtly present all day long.

Perfumer Geza Schoen describes it as the scent of the first sip of gin and tonic on a warm summer day.

Cologne One is an eau de cologne but with a long-lasting fresh scent. And it is specially developed for warm summer days. Luckily, we are getting more of those in the Netherlands.

A perfume that seems made for warm days

Even the packaging breathes summer. Water, sunlight, and sparkling bubbles inspired the design.

So are you not looking for a heavy evening scent this summer, but rather a perfume that smells like sun, freshly washed skin, and an ice-cold gin and tonic on the terrace? Then Cologne One by Escentric Molecules could very well become your summer perfume of 2026.

Escentric Molecules is available at, among others, the Bijenkorf & Skins