This sample pack is a fruit bowl of mixed citruses. A most traditional category, reminding us that classical fragrances were at one point in time based upon this style, splashed on abundantly.
Azemour Les Orangers (Parfum d’Empire) is all about the gloriousness of not only the orange fruit, but the magnificent tree - inclusive of stems, leaves, twigs, and wood. Its beautiful burst of citrus fruit is garlanded with green tones as well as earthy ones, built around a chypre complex of spices and moss for impact and realism. Turn to the beach with Falling into the Sea (Imaginary Authors), which draws upon floral and fruit notes to build up a central citrus feature. The result is pure white sand and foamy ocean waves - a gentle solar feeling thanks to lychee, lemon, and grapefruit, with a faint florality.
Note de Yuzu (Heeley) hits the high notes and sustains them, offering a delightfully sour and bitter opening nuanced with piney, earthy, dusty impressions that rapidly softens with a hint of honey-sweet mandarin, whilst a salt note makes the citrus smell like a more intense version of themselves. While the logic of Orange Star (Tauer Perfumes) is that of contrast: offer the brightest and fizziest medley of twinkling orange citrus fruits – a luminous supernova. Such freshness is reined in by a delicious paste that could almost call to mind caramel, smoked with incense to make it all the more impactful.
Fils de Dieu (Etat Libre d’Orange) continues this gourmand theme, offering a ‘culinary’ citrus where lime imparts an exciting tropical energy. A tropical motif is built with a clever accord of lime-spiked coconut rice that evokes a distinctly humid air, cutting this with an intense freshness via ginger and coriander leaves. And to conclude, Bergamask (Orto Parisi) pushes citrus-and-musk to its limits. Ultra-modern in style, the fleeting spicy freshness of bergamot and mandarin is alloyed with a monolithic cocktail of musks, sandalwood synthetics and extremely powerful ambrocenide and javanol – a dry woody-amber molecule that could almost mimic the sharp textural effect of bergamot. The combined result is a metallic sheen which glosses over the composition; reflective, sharp, and above all else, long-lasting freshness.
