Orange Blossom

Mood Scent 4 Orange Blossom, Fruit and Branches

It’s is time for our monthly Mood Scent 4 post! Where Portia (on A Bottled Rose), Samantha  (I Scent You A Day), Megan (Megan In Sainte Maxime) and I write about a different subject relating to perfume. This time we concentrate on the bitter orange tree also known as Seville orange tree or it’s official Latin name: citrus aurantium var. amara (or bigaradia). It might be due to my Spanish heritage but I love everything from the bitter orange tree, Neroli, Orange Blossom and Petit Grain, which I will discuss in this post and three of my favourites perfumes.

First some background about the different parts of the bitter orange tree which are used in perfumery; the twigs/branches and leaves, orange blossom and peel. The bitter orange fruit can not be eaten as it is too bitter but the peel is used to make Seville marmelade. The tree was brought to Spain by the Arabs in the 8/9th century. 

Cold-pressing the orange fruit peel produces bigarade, which is the essential oil of the bitter orange, distilling the twigs and leaves gives petit grain (bigarade, this method is also used for other citrus fruits like mandarin and lemon) and the orange blossoms result in neroli using steam distillation while the same flowers result in precious orange blossom absolute by using solvent extraction.

To make things even more diffuse, there is another kind of very bitter orange tree on the Caribbean island Curaçao which is used to make the liqueur Blue Curaçao. This tree is called laraha (in Latin C. aurantium var. currassuviencis). 

Some perfumes are a tribute to the whole bitter orange tree like Neroli Intense from Patricia de Nicolai and Ramon Monegal Entre Naranjos. I will discuss both in this post.

Parfums de Nicolai Intense Eau de Parfum

Neroli Intense is a tribute from French perfumer Patricia de Nicolai to the whole bitter orange tree. With its refreshing green crisp leaves reminiscent of a recently steam ironed white cotton shirt, blossoming orange flowers dripping of honey and sweet candied mandarin, each part of the bitter orange tree is captured in a refined and elegant Eau de Parfum. The tart green orange tree leaves stay around for a few hours, showing Patricia de Nicolais talent and craftsmanship as a perfumer. This longevity is a true delight for those of us who are always disappointed by its usual short presence in fragrances.

Ramon Monegal Entre Naranjos

In Entre Naranjos (meaning Among Orange Trees in Spanish) Spanish perfumer Ramon Monegal created an even crispier tribute to the bitter orange tree by adding a large amount of petit grain from the leaves of the bitter orange tree creating a colognesque scent.

Tradionally neroli, petit grain, flowers (roses) and herbs (rosemary or lavender), spices and some woody notes are used in cologne. But Ramon Monegal uses refreshing spearmint instead of rosemary and a touch of clove reminiscent of the classic Spanish cologne Alvarez Gomez from 1912. This way adding a modern and Spanish touch to the fragrance.

Entre Naranjos wears luxurious due to the anchoring woody cedarwood, patchouli and amber accord providing more depth and longevity to the fragrance. Luckily you can still smell Entre Naranjos after a few hours unlike a typical cologne.

In Andalusian (in Southern Spain) cities like Seville, Cordoba and Malaga bitter Orange trees decorate the old centres, scenting it’s narrrow streets and squares. Entre Naranjos brings to mind walking in the centre of Malaga with its small blossoming orange trees and passing a handsome elegantly dressed Spanish man scenting of recently used shaving cream and an expensive cologne. 

Serge Lutens Fleurs d’Oranger 

Fleurs d’Oranger is probably one of my most worn orange blossom fragrances. Although it means orange flower, Fleurs d’Oranger smells of lush white orange blossoms and tuberose. These flowers smell as bold the glitz and glam of the 1980s with its oversized shoulder pads and wavy long hair. Not freshly picked dewy petals in the morning but flowers in full bloom at the end of the day leaving the impression of blossoming flowers dripping of thick honey.

Fleurs d’Oranger smells like golden luminous sunshine shining on the pavement of an avenue near the Mediterranean Sea at the end of a late summers day.

These are the three bitter orange (neroli, orange blossom and petit grain) fragrances 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! I love to read their picks and see what they chose. Sometimes we choose the same fragrances which is great as we don’t know the scents we will pick.

Do you like orange blossom, neroli or petit grain in perfumes? Which ones are your favorites ?

More posts of bitter orange fragrances I wrote include: Penhaligon’s Castile A scent of Azahar ,  Parfums d{Empire Azemour ,  Editions Frederic Malle Cologne Bigarade . 

Disclosure: All fragrances mentioned in this article were bought by me. I won Neroli Intense in a contest at the Perfume Lounge. Bottles which are sold now, could be different from the ones on the photograph. The Serge Lutens bottle is from January 2009. I haven’t tried other Fleurs d’Oranger formulations but can imagine more recent formulations being different.

All the photographs were made by me and an artistic expression.

 

Mood Scent 4 : Virtual Holiday Perfumes

It is Mood Scent 4 time again! Where we share our views on the same subject linking perfume to mood or occasion. This time Portia (guest blogging on A Bottled Rose), Sam  (I Scent You A Day) Megan (Megan In Sainte Maxime) and I chose to write about taking a virtual holiday with perfume as for the moment most of us, will not be travelling very far and enjoy our staycation.

We have all been affected by the virus in different ways. Some are not able to go out. Others see themselves without income, work or faced with health challenges. Work at home without being able to relax. Teach their children at home while still having to work at home. Not being able to visit their loved ones or elderly parents and the list goes on. For me personally, frivolous as it may sound, it has been challenging not to be able to go to Spain on holiday and not knowing when this will be possible. I made a roomspray reminiscent of scents of Southern Spain. Using this spray has bought me a lot of joy. 

As it is not always possible to make your own fragrance I have chosen 4 “virtual” holiday scents for you to enjoy. You will be taking a little mini break to a lush Mediterranean garden, damp Portland Forrest in the US, dry herbal Kibbutz near Jerusalem and Spanish Orange Tree Orchard. All wonderful olfactory escapes. 

Travel To A Mediterranean Garden With Hermes Un Jardin En Mediterranée

Notes include mandarin, orange, bergamot, lemon, fig woods and leaves, orange blossom, white oleander, cedar, cypress, juniper and musk.

Inspired by a Tunisian garden, perfumer Jean-Claude Ellena invites us to experience different plants, trees, fruits and flowers in a blossoming Mediterranean garden. Un Jardin En Mediterranée offers ready to eat ripe figs, crisp green fig leaves, uplifting orange blossoms, refreshing lemon, white oleander, woody notes of cypress and cedar.  When visiting a botanical garden in Southern Spain several years ago I came to understand this fragrance completely as it had many of these plants and flowers to be admired. The photograph above was made in this botanical garden under a fig tree.

Travel To A Rainy Forest In Portland With Envoyage Perfumes Rainmaker

Notes include: rose leaf, silver pine, citrus, incense, patchouli, iris, rhododendron  (see photograph above) cedarwood, fir, redwood needles, petrichor (scent after the rain) Accord, oak moss and amber accord

Rainmaker inspires us to visit a green damp mossy forest in Portland with wet earth and uplifting incense like the one sold in Indian shops on the background. This is the happy acquaintance of visiting a new town with a surprising bohemian culture. Perfumer Shelley Waddington was inspired to create Rainmaker when she moved from sunny California to the rainy and colder climate of Portland, Oregon on the Pacific North West Coast of the US.

Travel To An Israeli Kibbutz With Anat Fritz Tzora

Notes include: cassis, clary sage, bergamot, pepper, magnolia, osmanthus, jasmine, cedarwood, vetiver, patchouly, musk and moss

Tzora Eau de Parfum was inspired by a kibbutz 20 kilometres from Jerusalem where Berlin Based designer Anat Fritz used to go during Summertime. Tzora was created by German perfumer Geza Schoen. Smelling Tzora is like taking a walk in sandy hills where it hardly ever rains with very dry herbs and trees on a magical evening filled with Golden sunlight. The day was very hot which you can still feel, golden rays of sunlight linger through the leaves of the few left trees. A light soft breeze allows you to smell the clary sage and other dry herbs. Uplifting pepper makes the fragrance more interesting and contemporary. 

Travel To A Spanish Orchard of Orange Trees With Ramon Monegal Entre Naranjos

Notes include orange flower, orange, petitgrain lemon, neroli, amber accord and patchouli.

Entre Naranjos ( Which translates as Surrounded by Orange trees) is a very fresh, happy fragrance inspired by the blossoms, wood, leaves and twigs on the orange tree. Reminiscent of cologne, which can be found easily at Spanish supermarkets, Entre Naranjos wears luxurious due to the woody notes and amber accord providing more depth and longevity. You can still smell Entre Naranjos after a few hours unlike a cologne. 

These are my 4  picks of  Virtual Holiday Perfumes. Have a look on Sam’s blog I Scent You A Day, Megan’s  Megan in St. Maxime  and Portia on A Bottled Rose to read their picks and see how they are doing during this exceptional period. 

I hope you and your loved ones are able to stay healthy, calm, centred and positive during this period we are all experiencing.

Do you use perfume to take a little holiday break with perfume? Which one do you use?

Disclosure: all photographs were made by Esperessence.