Hit Me With You Best (Citrus) Shot,
and A Video Blast from the Past
Last week I received an email from someone seeking some citrus fragrance choices. I’m afraid citrus isn’t particularly my favorite genre, and could come up with only weak suggestions for the writer who otherwise gravitates towards slightly darker scents. I picked vintage Lanvin Vetyver, Helmut Lang’s eponymous scent, and Creed’s Cuir de Russie for it’s lime zestiness. I KNOW there’s better suggestions to be made!
So please take a moment if you will, and list some of your own personal favorite citrus scents. The emailer will most certainly be glad to learn them.
I’m looking for something new to wear. When I looked at your favs,
the first listed was Indecence. Which I often wear myself, so I
thought I’d drop a line. I wear Commes des Garcons incense as well
as, in the past, L’artisan Dzing!. Otherwise my collection is
pretty limited. I wanted to strike out in some different direction.
I’m not particularly fond of florals and thought I may try to go
citrus for a minute. Any thoughts? Thanks!-Orange You Glad I Didn’t Say Banana?
On another topic, I found this fun little trip through time to the 1960s on perfume from A/V Geeks. There’s some great footage of flower harvesting in Grasse, advice on choosing a perfume that seems almost quaint but rather sensible nowadays in our “rush, rush, buy, buy” culture, and nifty insight into the societal midset of the times. The film runs roughly 13 minutes in length.
Eau d’Hadrien. The best citrus there is. :-)
Marina
10 Jul 06 at 3:49 pm
Lovely, thanks Marina.
Scentzilla!
10 Jul 06 at 5:04 pm
Citrus Queen at your service…
Tart Citrus: Yuzu Rouge (tho not really tart enough for me)
Lemon: Guerlain Eau de Fleurs de Cedrat
Limes: Floris Summer Limes
Annick Goutal Mandragore smells like grapefruit and bergamot on me
Caron Reglisse: stunning citrus and anise, no skanky Caron base
Orange: L’Artisan or SL Fleurs d’Oranger, SMN Zagara, S-Perfume Sloth (orange and … industrial linoleum?)
marchlion
10 Jul 06 at 5:40 pm
PS Citrus-y colognes:
Guerlain Vitalisant
Dior Cologne Blanche
marchlion
10 Jul 06 at 5:45 pm
PPS. I promise I’ll stop. I love citrus in fragrance, but many folks don’t. Orange tends to fade quickly, and often shows up with a soapy note. The lemons/limes are always great on me, but I get the notion that they can go off in a cat-pee direction on the less fortunate.
marchlion
10 Jul 06 at 5:47 pm
Heh, March saves the day with a virtual avalanche of ideas! Great lists, honestly. And your mention of Fleurs d’Oranger suddenly makes me remember Czech and Speake’s simple but lovely Neroli. The cologne suggestions are good, too, since sometimes we all need a little musk in our lives. (Which I was trying to get with my Lang rec, but it’s not as easy to find anymore.)
Scentzilla!
10 Jul 06 at 6:18 pm
Although I love citrus notes, I am not a reknown citrus scent user. The ones that did capture my attention and I enjoyed wearing are:
* Citron Citron (Miller Harris) - astringent lime/lemon/bitter orange citrus, spiked with cardamom and coriander, mint and basil and underlined by a smooth and dry cedar and musk.
* Oyedo (Diptyque) - a cheerful and sweet citrus, with yuzu as a main note. It’s a deeply hued citrus, grapefruit-like but much richer and complex.
* O de Lancome (Lancome, of course) - lemon leaf as a central theme with a backdrop of chypre. A classic.
* Eau Sauvage (Dior) - another chyprish citrus. Even more so a classic.
* Le Parfum de Therese - a cheerful, complex chypre with very bright and fruity citrus presence - lemon, melon and sour plum and a shining jasmine. Light chypre base and a hint of spice. This is even more than a classic. It’s just perfect.
* 4711 - it’s a classic, and very cheap and easy to find. It’s very light and you can almost literally drink it… Mostly neroli, petitgrain, lemon, bitter orange, and a hint of rosemary. Musky base but very light.
Talking from the heart of a citrus-dweller, I think you will enjoy every single one of these (well, maybe not all, but for sure most), so at least give them a try…
Ayala
10 Jul 06 at 10:42 pm
Good Morning!
How about good, old-fashioned Roger et Gallet’s Imperiale Extra-Vielle ? If you like your citrus with a green, herbaceous note, try L’Artisan’s L’eau de L’Arisan-a little basil and violet leaf with your verbena? Dior’s Eau Sauvage? Piney freshness with citrus, as in Penhaligon’s Blenheim Bouquet?…there are many twists to this one- I hope this helps.
chayaruchama
11 Jul 06 at 3:55 am
Great recs already, so will just add Carthusia Mediterraneo and, if you don’t mind something on the more masculine side, MPG Eau Pour Le Jeune Homme.
Robin
11 Jul 06 at 7:56 am
Hermes’ Jardin Sur Le Nil is my newest lemming.
chloe f. puff
11 Jul 06 at 8:10 am
What a fun movie! I was laughing out loud at several points, but overall it is definitely very different from the current way of selling perfume.
Victoria
11 Jul 06 at 8:12 am
Thanks to all of you, those are fantastic suggestions, and I really appreciate you taking the time to write brief descriptions of your faves, as well. I think the emailer will really enjoy discovering them. THANK YOU!
Victoria, heh, yeah. I especially cracked up at the party scenes. I kept expecting some sort of perfumey key party to break out, heh.
Scentzilla!
11 Jul 06 at 2:32 pm
I’m late here but:
Lemon - Citrus Vervain - Elizabeth W.
Lime - Lime Sugar - Arrogance Mix
Grapefruit - CSP O’Pomelo Sud Pacifique
Blood Oranges - Keiko Mecheri Sanguine
Victoria O
11 Jul 06 at 4:09 pm
Ach, not too late at all. Thanks V!
Scentzilla!
11 Jul 06 at 5:10 pm