Mood Scent 4 Zesty Citrus!
It is Mood Scent 4 time again! Our monthly blogging project where Portia (on A Bottled Rose) , Samantha (I Scent You A Day), Megan (Megan In Sainte Maxime) and I write about a different subject linking perfume to mood or occasion. This time we picked zesty citrus in perfumes: lemon, Japanese yuzu, mandarine, grapefruit. oranges, limes, you name it. They can all be very invigorating and uplifting which is one of the reasons I love them in perfume. They can be energizing on grey rainy days and refreshing on hot days. For this post I chose fragrances I own and enjoy wearing regularly, starting with Untiled L’Eau.
Marghiela Untitled L’Eau by Daniela Roche-Andrier (2011)
Untitled L’Eau is a refreshing unusual bitter cologne style scent and a flanker of the popular Marghiela Untitled. The use of buchu and lentisque (also called mastic) make this fragrance different from other scents in this category adding a modern touch. Buchu is a flowering plant originally from the Western Cape in South Africa. While Lentisque (also called mastic) is traditionally grown on the Greek island Chios. It is a precious resin obtained from the mastic tree and used in the Greek liqueur Mastika and Greek ice cream. Buchu and refreshing spearmint are used in Untitled L’Eau instead of the traditional herbal rosemary and lavender which make this fragrance more contemporary. After a few hours L’Eau leaves a combination of clean shaving cream and bitter herbs on the skin.
Untitled L’Eau feels like immersing yourself in an herbal cold bath on a very warm summer day, the sun is shining through a lightweight sheer white curtain in a 19th century Parisian apartment with high ceilings, the ancient bath tub has been filled with fragrant herbs, sweet mandarin and lemon. Mint leaves the skin tingling and refreshed in the July summer heat in the city. Untitled L’Eau is my personal favorite on warm summer days in Amsterdam as it is a very refreshing scent and feels like taking a cold shower, in a good way.
Notes include lemon, mandarin, galbanum, buchu, spearmint, orange blossom, lentisque, patchouli, frankincense and musk
April Aromatics Ray Of Light by Tanja Bochnig (2014)
Bright crisp lime and sweet vibrant lemon with bitter leaves of the lemon tree make Ray Of Light a very uplifting fragrance. It is a very encouraging and cheerful fragrance. Wearing Ray of Light feels like hearing a dear friend whispering cheerful words in your ear on those days you need help to get things done or get in a happy mood. Pure joy in a perfume bottle for those moments you could use something cheerful, which I can imagine, many of us could use at the moment.
Notes include lime, lemon, pink grapefruit, orange, bergamot, galbanum, mint, vetiver and tobacco.
Atelier Cologne Pomelo Paradis by Ralf Schwieger (2015)
Pomelo Paradis is an uplifting fragrant scent created by perfumer Ralf Schwieger (from Frederic Malle Lipstick Rose, Aedes de Venustas Iris Nazarena, several Atelier Cologne creations and Gallivants latest release Bukhara) In Pomelo Paradis peppery, radiant, juicy, tart and bitter grapefruit and sweet mandarin enhance the fresh heart of roses. The grapefruit is incredibly realistic with its acidic, bitter sweet and light sweaty touch. The fresh rose bouquet is lightened by a touch of refreshing green mint. Pomelo Paradis is a must try if you like grapefruit centred perfumes and very uplifting on grey rainy days. If you want to enhance the grapefruit in Pomelo Paradis even more, you could layer with Zarko Perfume pink molecule 090·09.
Notes include pink grapefruit, mandarin and black currant, orange blossom, mint and bulgarian rose, vetiver, amber accord and iris.
Atelier Des Ors Blanc Polychrome by Marie Salamagne (2020)
Blanc Polychrome smells like very bright juicy lemons and white recently washed cotton sheets drying on a sunny warm Mediterranean roof terrace. It is incredibly uplifting and summer like making you wish for carefree summers at the beach in Southern France or Spain. Unlike many other perfumes with citrus fruits as its leading stars, the sparkling lemon and sweeter mandarin last several hours on skin. The drydown is a very clean white musk.
Notes include mandarin, lemon, rhubarb, solar accord, petit grain, jasmine petals, fig leaf, lavender, Ambroxan, moss and musk.
Olfactive Studio Still Life by Dora Baghriche-Arnaud (2011)
Still Life is a sparkling, festive and very joyous scent which smells like a small group of young people having a party on an urban New York roof top on a hot sunny summer day. You can hear the buzzing sounds of the city and smell the citrus and boozy sweetened rum from the cocktails with a touch of spicy pepper. Still Life leaves the impression of salty particles on the skin after having a swim in the sea.
Notes include yuzu (Japanese citrus fruit), elemi, pepper (pink, black and Sichuan pepper) star anise, galbanum, dark rum, cedar and ambrox.
These are the 5 zesty citrus perfumes I picked. Have a look on Samantha’s blog I Scent You A Day Megan’s blog Megan in St. Maxime and Portia on A Bottled Rose, to read they choices too! It is always a joy to read their picks and see what they have chosen.
Leave a comment, I love to read your zesty citrus perfumes!
What are your favorite citrus perfumes? Do you prefer lemons, limes or grapefruits in fragrances?
Disclosure: All fragrances or samples mentioned in this article were bought by me personally. Photographs were made by me as well and are an artistic expression. Bottles which are sold now, might be different from the ones shown on the photographs.
Olfactive Studio Still Life in Rio – Going out for Cocktails- 
