When only orange will do

I got to thinking about the favorite summer fragrances I recently posted and realized I have a number of sweet orange fragrances which I have talked about in the past. I decided to update my list. Edited to include Atelier Orange Sanguine.

I am wearing these everyday, starting with one as I feel like it, then layering up to another. It's the right time of year!

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 fleeting concept, quick to disappear, leaving the other notes to anchor the fragrance. But when it lingers, it is enjoyable. It is a precursor to spring and refreshing in the summer.

When orange juice is in season and fresh from the grove, squeezed in such a way to eliminate all bitterness from the skin or pulp, it is sunshine in a glass. This is the fragrance I want. I have bought cream and lotion from the grove. They are delightfully fragrant, but not long lasting. And it tends to smell more like an orange creamsicle than just orange. The only edp they sell is orange blossom, which I do not wear.

Some of my favorites in this category are:

Atelier Orange Sanguine
Not as fleeting as some. It is slightly bitter in the dry down. Surprisingly the base notes are not heavy or sweet in this one.

Notes:
• Top notes: blood orange, bitter orange
• Heart notes: jasmine, geranium from South Africa
• Base notes: amber woods, tonka beans, sandalwood

L'Occitane Ruban d'Orange Eau de Toilette, new for the holidays in 2006, is rich in the natural essential oils of citrus fruits from the Mediterranean. The spray edt is not particularly sweet and could easily be worn by a man. I especially love the the Shower Gel which is enriched with softening pulp concentrate and the Soft Skin Milk. Both of these are sweeter than the edt. You can find these either at a L'Occitane store or through their website. I like the lotion.

I Love Love Cheap and Chic by Moschino is a sweet orange scent with notes of Grapefruit, Orange, Lemon, Redcurrant, Tea Rose, Lily of the Valley, Cinnamon Leaves, Musk, Cedar, Tonka Wood. The only notes I smell are the citrus, mostly orange. It is light and effervescent.

Couture by Moschino is a headier citrus scent. It has notes of Bergamot, Mandarin, Pepper, Peonies, Jasmine Pomegranate Flower, Poppy Seed, Vanilla, Cedarwood. The Bergamot and Mandarin waft through the fragrance, but are less predominant than they are in I Love Love.

Sonoma Scent Studio is another company that I love. Laurie's fragrances are lovely. Her Constant Comment scent smells like Constant Comment tea, but is sweetly orange throughout, while anchored with the cinnamon. I hope she offers it again.

Mandragore By Annick Goutal is lush and fresh, woody and elegant with notes of Bergamot, mandrake (which makes it quite unique), black pepper, and ginger. It's one of my favorites and lasts well. This is the same for men and women. The only difference is the bottle.

While in a drug store in Innsbruck, I found fragrances by Accord Parfait. They are quite inexpensive. I bought 3 of them. One is a chypre: The Noir and Bergamote. It is quite lovely, but is more black tea than bergamot, as the bergamot leaves the fragrance. This is another one that could easily be worn by a man.

The Body Shop has an energizing Bergamot Body Mist. It is lovely to add to others to give them a boost, but extremely fleeting.

Bigarade Concentree by Frederic Malle, created by Jean-Claude Ellena has notes of Bitter Orange, Cardamom, Pepper, Rose, Hay, Aldehyde. It is a lovely fragrance, but not very long lasting.

I just used it over Mary Kay TimeWise Body™ Hand and Décolleté Cream and it is still going strong 45 mins later. Super staying power with this as the base.

Victoria Secret's Very Sexy Now is full of blood orange ... plus notes of pineapple juice, hazelnut leaf, purple freesia, peony, nutmeg, sandalwood, grapefruit wood, tonka bean, and vanilla. Unfortunately it was a limited edition, so I don't know how easy it will be to find. I still love it! I did not care for the body oil in this. It had lovely sparkle, but was very oily. The fragrance dissipated too quickly in the oil form. There are a number of similar reincarnations.

Fendi Theorema smells like chocolate oranges with notes of jasmine, amber,vanilla, musk, oakmoss, sandalwood.

Maitre Parfumeur et Gantier Sanguine Muskissime has notes of Morrocan blood oranges, bergamot and tangerine with musk. On me, the musk is predominant and spoils it for me.

Do you like orange? what do you wear in it?

Karin

Originally posted 2010-04-06 10:20:25.

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