Bigarade Concentree by Frédéric Malle, created by Jean-Claude Ellena is one of my favorites, and it was calling to me today. I think you could go through a bottle in a week if you really were only to wear that one and to spray as often as the notes died down. I’m not about to do that, at the cost, so lucky for me other things call just as often.
Other than that, it stays close to the skin. I can still smell it, if I put my nose to my skin.
Bigarade Concentree is an archetype of Eau de Cologne, reduced to its very inner ingredients ( citric notes and sometimes aromatic ones).
It is sure a great one, though! It has a woody base, which I nearly always love.
The Malle fragrances are interesting in that he has used a different nose for each of them and asked each nose to create something uniquely for him. He is not the nose. If you fill out a questionaire, they will suggest fragrances for you. At one time, they would send you samples. I’m not sure if they still do that. Of the three they sent me, two I liked. It is also possible to find decants or to order in the states through Barneys in NYC, for example.
What I like about Bigarade, is that it’s not like wearing an orange popsicle or a creamsicle. It is much more interesting than that. While the orange (bitter orange) is predominant in it (and created especially for JCE by distillation), which also makes it fleeting, the other notes (Cardamom, Pepper, Rose, Hay, and Aldehyde) add so much interest to it and keep it from being cloying.
Those notes I can still smell…and if I want the jazz of the first few minutes, I will go in and spritz again, which I believe I will do.
It must be a Bigarade kind of day.
This one is suitable for both men and women.
If you have it, do you love it? I think I’ll keep this around forever.
I’m thinking of another one, whose name I now forget, (Sanguine by Keiko Mecheri ) which I might layer up in the day…or else I will go to the pineapple feel and wear some Ananas Fizz later…interestingly enough, looking at the notes, it too has bitter orange in it. How about that!
I’ll keep you posted…
Karin
Related Posts- Ayala Moriel Parfums, part 1 Ayala Moriel offers a lovely array of natural fragrances. Each one sounds tempting, if you love fragrance. She encourages you to try her samples so you will know what you really like before you buy a larger size. Since I had been hearing good things about her perfumes, how could......
- Comparing Mandragore to Bigarade Concentree Yesterday I decided to compare these two fragrances to answer Morticia from POL's question. Mandragore by Annick Goutal is characterized as Fresh, woody, elegant; Bergamot - mandrake - black pepper - ginger. I bought the men's version, which is supposed to be identical except for the bottle. It is said......
- 2008 Retrospective This has been a good year for me for fragrances and especially good this past week. Knowing I was going to be where (Las Vegas) I could smell all the Guerlain and Chanel fragrances that can only be seen in limited places, it was number one on my list......
- When only orange will do There are times when I hanker after orange in perfumes. I don't care for orange blossom in most fragrances because white florals usually take a nasty turn on me; it is the sweet orange of the juice that I want to wear for fragrance. Citrus is a top note, a......
- Obsession (fragrance) I have always enjoyed smelling Obsession on other women. I have not enjoyed it on me. For whatever reason, it was either too much or too little -- it was too sweet or just not enough of something, whatever that was, that would make it me. top: mandarin, bergamot and......
- Orange County Choppers American Motorcycles Transportation Collectibles
- Orange Crush Soda Advertising Collectibles
Categories:
5 comments ↓
Is there a rich orange fragrance similar to this Malle Bigarade which isn’t as expensive?
Good question. When I layered up the Keiko M. it was a lot sweeter. I think I liked the Ananas over it better.
I like a lot of the bathedandinfused products and also MMU, both of which are very reasonably priced. Some have real staying power and others you could continue to spray a couple of times during the day. They have a huge selection of scents and even if it wasn’t a direct match, you’d like it and have spent about $10. I prefer their sprays to their oils as far as ‘fumes go. All the various lotions that I’ve tried from MMU are heavily fragranced and feel good. I esp like their foot cream for everywhere. Both companies are good about including samples. MMU takes about 3 weeks to ship from Canada. b&i comes almost before you order it.
Of the ones I have tried, Mandragore or L’occitane’s new one are less sweet and hence closer to the Bigarade. The L’Occitane is less expensive than Mandragore. The shower gel and body lotions are sweeter than the spray. I love both of those forms.
I followed your comment on BdJ to get here - I’m a wild and crazy (new) Bigarade Concentree fan. (Just in case you are interested, I have my own blog and have being doing FMs this week.) I also love Therese from this line. And I agree about that L’Occitane - it’s one of the better products from that line.
[...] It is interesting to me that both Chergui and Bigarade Concentree have hay in them. I seem to like that note. It keeps them fresh and modern, to me. [...]
Leave a Comment