Citrus: Notes on Notes

/ AustralianPerfumeJunkies

Hello APJ, Welcome to our small scale collaboration project. Old Herbaceous (OH) of Serenity Now Scents and Sensibilities and I will be doing a monthly post on different perfume notes. We are not perfumers but aficionados of fragrance. So lots of our information will come with links for further reading or text references. We are learning as you are learning, or refreshing.

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Citrus: Notes on Notes

This month Old Herbaceous picked the note, Citrus. It’s funny that we chose citrus this month. I’ve long thought of citrus notes as Hesperidic notes after reading it in my early perfume reading mania. I love the way the word feels in my mouth when saying it. Recently my mate Nick Gilbert posted in his Insta Stories that it was basically a wanky obscurification . When writing to say how I loved it he asked if it was “refreshing and zesty in my mouth”. So, I have been schooled but learned nothing and will continue to use hesperidic because I love it. Hesperidic comes from the Greek myth of the nymphs of evening and golden light of sunsets that lived in a garden in the far west. The garden held the fruits of immortality and all was guarded by a dragon. Said to be the daughters of Hesperis and gods as diverse as Atlas, Erebus, Phorcys or others, there were usually three but as many as seven. It’s also a very short jump to read this into the Old Testament’s Garden of Eden.

Citrus: Notes on Notes

What is Citrus?  From TheSpruceEats: Citrus is a category of fruit that has a thick rind and pulpy center. The flesh of a citrus fruit is divided into segments, and those segments are filled with juices.
From Wikipedia: Citrus is a genus of flowering trees and shrubs in the rue family, Rutaceae… Citrus plants are native to subtropical and tropical regions of Asia, Island Southeast Asia, Near Oceania, and northeastern Australia. Domestication of citrus species involved much hybridization and introgression, leaving much uncertainty about when and where domestication first happened.  A genomic, phylogenic, and biogeographical analysis by Wu et al. (2018) has shown that the center of origin of the genus Citrus is likely the southeast foothills of the Himalayas, in a region stretching from eastern Assam, northern Myanmar, to western Yunnan. It diverged from a common ancestor with Poncirus trifoliata. A change in climate conditions during the Late Miocene (11.63 to 5.33 mya) resulted in a sudden speciation event.
To our knowledge all citrus plants came from this one change, which is why a grove of different citrus plants will often cross pollinate and produce divergent fruit.
From ScienceDirect: Citrus is one of the most popular fruit commodities in the world because of its refreshing flavor and nutritional values. With efficient harvesting and processing technologies, the citrus industry has developed in more than 140 countries across the world, with an annual production of more than 146 million tons.

How does Citrus smell? Today I’m going to centre my thoughts on the citrus fruit, leaving out wood, flowers, leaves and root. Already the category is so diverse so I’m going to keep it as simple as possible.
From TheSpruceEats: The rind is full of oils, which is where the aromatics and extracts for citrus come from… Citrus fruits do some heavy hauling for three of the five main flavors: bitter, sweet, and sour.
Sylvaine Delcourt has a brilliant page of citrus and their scent profiles and usages. It’s well worth a read and reread.

How is Citrus used in perfumery? Citrus is ubiquitous. Most perfumes have some sort of citrus in the top notes. Its bright, happy, sharp tang is a perfect wake up call to the olfactory system. Usually as a top note their life is fleeting and refreshing.  My first real knowledge of citrus as a refreshing scent came with 4711, Mum used to have moist towelettes infused with it. It has, since the advent of niche and masstige been tricked out into ever longer lasting pieces of the perfume puzzle.
Ayurvedic medicine, spas and many natural healers have attributed health benefits, both physical and mental, to citrus fragrances. There is scientific study to back a lot of it up. I personally feel a spirit lift from citrus in candles, shower gels and fragrance. Something as simple as zesting any of the citrus groups does it as well.

Citrus: Notes on Notes

In which perfumes will you find Citrus?

 Cacharel Liberté

Sizzling hot citrus. Here we have Orange, Bitter Orange, Mandarin Orange, Amalfi Lemon, and Bergamot all piled into a confectionary of ethyl maltol and noughties patchouli (2007). There are a bunch of flowers named but I don’t smell them at all over the powerhouse of citrus candy. So weird that I even like this but Liberté is one of my all time favourites. Maybe I’m the only one, it was on shelves for a year, two at most and then it sold out in the discounters almost immediately. Yes, I have a stockpile.

Ô de Lancôme

Bright, sparkling citrus of Lemon, Bergamot and Mandarin Orange. Lip puckeringly juicy and cut through with a green herbaceousness that only adds to the refreshment value. I’m always surprised looking at the notes that no mint or galbanum are shown. Whatever the greenery is it is also aided and given extra gorgeous chypre depth with oakmoss. The top is very cologne feeling and the base is a vintage testament to its 1969 birth year. For many this is the gold standard citrus opening.

Please go check out Serenity Now Scents and Sensibilities and see what OH has to add to the Notes on Notes about Citrus.

What are your favourite fragrances with Citrus listed as a note?
Portia xx

26 thoughts on “Citrus: Notes on Notes”

  1. If I said hesperidic with my accent would you make fun of me? 🙂 But in all seriousness I’m a huge citrus fan and love many which feature it as a note including but not limited to 4711, I de Lancolme, Cristalle, eau DHadrien, Omnia Crystalline, Pacifica Brazilian Mango Grapefruit, Pacifica Bali Lime Papaya, Pacifica Avalon Juniper, Pacifica Malibu Lemon Blossom, the original Loves Fresh Lemon , Prescriptives Calyx, LT Piver A La Rein Des Fleurs, Atelier Cologne Orange Sanguine, Phebo Nectarina da Andalusia, Jo Malone Basil Lime Mandarin…. I’ll stop there but will surely think of many more.

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  2. Give me any citrus/green/chypre & I do mean any & I’m a happy bunny.
    Cristalle EdT
    Jacomo Silences
    O de Lancome
    Aromatic Elixir
    4711
    L’Occitane Verbena
    Agua de Colonia Alvarez Gomez
    Agua de Colonia Nenuco
    Dior Eau Sauvage
    Diorella
    AA Pamplelune
    Acqua de Palma Colonia
    Any & all trad EdC
    Avgolemono
    Greek lemon spuds
    Lemon drizzle cake

    I also eat lemons & limes like oranges. Grapefruit too til I started statins

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  3. Great details here! The citrus fragrances I chose to mention this month are Carthusia’s A’mmare, Lili Bermuda’s Bermudiana, and Miller Harris’ Tangerine Vert, plus Replica Filter Glow. I love your list!

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  5. I like citrus in perfumes!
    In addition to those that I mentioned in my comment for the OH’s post, I like JM Orange Bitters, Yuja and Jul et Mad Aqua Sextius.

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