Close your eyes and step back in time for a moment: it's 2001 and you've just sprayed Dolce & Gabbana's Light Blue Eau de Toilette (opens in new tab) on your pulsating points. The lemon, apple, and cedar notes fill your soul with the spirit of a Sicilian summer. You are energized. You feel energized. You feel alive. These are the very sentiments perfumer Olivier Cresp envisioned when he developed a fragrance based on jasmine and white rose more than 20 years ago. The idea was to capture the essence of the southern Italian summer with a campaign that expressed the playful passion of the iconic light blue couple, David Gandy and Bianca Balti. He succeeded in doing just that.

Almost 22 years later, Cresp introduced his 11th Light Blue fragrance, Light Blue Italian Love Pour Femme. The latest fragrance features notes of Calabrian lemon and crisp Granny Smith apple, with jasmine and pure white rose adding softness. Base notes are creamy sandalwood with facets of cedarwood, amber, musk, and coconut.

"When I make a fragrance like Italian Love, I don't make it [for a specific person]. It's for anyone, anytime. It's for people who love a great fragrance."

This new iteration is a welcome twist on an old favorite, and retains a wildly familiar scent that speaks to my younger self, who fell in love with the original Light Blue. That familiarity is in the citrus. Cresp also drew inspiration from the lemon groves near the sea in Italy. He wanted something "fresh, juicy, and alluring."

Italian Love reminded him of the summer evenings of his childhood at the first whiff. The lemon scent put me in the mood of a carefree teenager relaxing by the sea, with nothing but energy and time to devour my grandmother's lemon pound cake. But when the base notes of cedarwood and sandalwood hit me, they added a subtle sexiness to my nostalgic moment. All at once I felt confident, strong, and passionate. [Citrus reminds us of happy summer days. Tall iced drinks with lemon slices, orange popsicles, and citrus sorbets are all part of that nostalgia," Nick Gilbert, perfume expert and creative director of the fragrance consultancy Olfiction says. Cedarwood and cedar-like materials often give the sensation of warm skin." Combined with citrus notes, they can give a summery, beachy look."

"I've been working with Olfiction for a while now," says Gilbert, "and I've been working with them for a while now.

I plan to wear Italian Love for the rest of the season and look forward to escaping from the present moment, leaving a trail of alluring citrus and white musk in the breeze. And, as Cresp so eloquently put it, allow it to delight me and bring me joy. Again, he nailed it.