All Invited! ♥ ♥ ♥ Sniff 'n' Speak Saturday, June 6, 2009 ★★★ CITRUS

[Quarry]

For newcomers, here's the lowdown on this monthly online event:

Every member, any gender, novice or veteran sniffer, is invited to apply a fragrance related to the theme of the month (listed below) and share your thoughts on the first Saturday of the month. This isn't a mandatory assignment; it's just for fun. Because not everyone logs in on weekends, you're encouraged to continue to add comments within this themed thread on subsequent days. If you don't join us for this month's discussion, please look ahead at the tentative lineup and join in at a later date.

JANUARY ~ Oriental
(warmth, flowers, spices, woods & vanilla)
FEBRUARY ~ Animalic
(civet-, castoreum-, leather-, or musk-influenced scents)
MARCH ~ Chypre
(used to be defined by oakmoss presence, but ...?)
APRIL ~ Floral
(single solifore or full bouquet of flowers)
MAY~ Fruity
(single sweet fruits or a bowl of fruity-florals)
JUNE ~ Citrus
(hesperidic: bergamot, lemon, orange, grapefruit, tangerine, etc.)
JULY ~ Green
(fresh leaves & grasses)
AUGUST ~ Fresh or aquatic
(cool, dewy notes and seaside scents)
SEPTEMBER ~ Opposite-Gender Fragrance -or- Fougere
("fern like;" lavender + woods + coumarin + geranium + oakmoss)
OCTOBER ~ Ambery
(dark, light or blond amber as feature note)
NOVEMBER ~ Spicy
(warm notes associated with cooking)
DECEMBER ~ Gourmand
(fragrances with a foody note, but not usually fruity--save for May)

Looking for suggestions?
See previous SnS discussions:
Jan. 2007~Oriental • Feb. 2007~Animalic • March 2007~Chypre • April 2007~ Floral • May 2007~Fruity • June 2007~ Citrus • Sept. 2007~Fougere • Oct. 2007~ Amber • Nov. 2007~Spicy • Dec. 2007~ Gourmand • Jan. 2008~Oriental • Feb. 2008~Animalic • March 2008~Chypre • April 2008~Floral • May 2008~Fruity • June 2008~Citrus • July 2008~Green • Aug. 2008~Fresh/Aquatic • Sept. 2008~Opposite Gender or Fougere • Oct. 2008 ~ Amber • Nov. 2008 ~ Spicy • Dec. 2008 ~ Gourmand • Jan. 2009 ~ Oriental • Feb. 2009 ~ Animalic • March 2009 ~ Chypre • April 2009 ~ Floral • May 2009 ~ Fruity

For the months of July and August 2007, regular BN was offline and supporters had access to an abbreviated site. We discussed aquatics and greens, but those posts are no longer accessible.

[Lessa]

Since I won't be around this Saturday, my choice will be AA Pamplelune, my favorite citrus. Looking forward to seeing everyone's choices!

[mikeperez23]

Ah, my wardrobe is chock full of choices.

Maybe I'll break into my first wearing for the season of Agrumi Amari di Sicilia by Bois 1920?

[Quarry]

If anyone's hankering for some of the Goutals, I just learned about trios of citrus-laced minis available at Perfumania. Cute, original AG bottles, all for only $32.

[sakecat22]

Oh man .... citrus.....gotta make a choice....

Not even fond of the genre..... hope I get my brain together before Saturday to figure out
a) what citruses I have in my collection
b) which one to wear/tolerate

BTW Quarry. LURVE the new avatar!!!

[Taolady]

Oh Joy!! WHERE do you find these things??!! (I was thinking of the avatar, but the Goutals may prove irresistible to this person who has birthday dollars burning a hole in her pocket....) The avatar makes me think of Divatologist's naughty signature... "sitting on a mountain top with no panties on...come smell me"...!!!)

May join Lessa in my newly acquired Pamplelune...or Eau or Elixir or Eau AND Elixir de Merveilles?? That mysteriously gorgeous powdery grapefruit in a pink purse decant that somebody sent me and has no name and is MAH-velous?

Think I'll lurk and get ideas from you more knowledgeable ones......am hankering for bergamot...

[ineespenes]

I'm not really a citrus girl,but I think Habit Rouge will count? That will be my scent of choice for tomorrow.

[Novis2007]

My citrus is 4711 which I applied now in the morning. I like it very much every time I wear it but I seldom do. It's a nice morning scent and it's rather warm on my skin. I can feel some herbs, the citrus fades away rather quickly but there is a nice herbal and floral smell after that with a hint of citrus. I also applied on a handkerchief to see what happens. I don't know yet. 4711 isn't a scent for a whole day if you don't apply many, many times, but it's very nice for cheering me up in the morning and then it doesn't matter that it fades away very quickly because my scent of the day will be another one after shower. My bottle is a splash as in the photo and I apply as I saw my grandfather do with his Aqua Vera when i was a child: I pour some 4711 in the palm of my hand, but I apply on my arm, my grandfather dabbed his face after shaving.
]

[soirdelune]

In the spirit of things, I shall douse myelf in Carthusier's Mediterraneo today. A sort of candied lemon-peel scent. My only gripe is that, after a week of glorious and very warm weather, it is grey, raining and COLD today! Sadly, my scent is falling pretty flat as a result. Too bad, as I do love something hesperidic on a sunny summer's day.

[Wordbird]

Well hey, lookit that! Just as I was about to scratch around on my desk to see what on eaerth to war today, I spot this thread. Yahoo!
I think I will be showering with my Pampelune shower gel (how posh am I? But never use it as bubble bath or you will release the dreaded BO note in spades). Then, ooooh, shall I stick with Pampelune or change things up with Jasper Conran Woman (a very underated citrus that can be picked up as cheap as chips)?
I think I will stick with Pampelune, as I don't wear it as often as I should for something I like this much.
Hoorah! Grapefruits and armpits today!

[tott]

I love citrus, but they don't last long usually... My most citrusy fragrance is Chanel Pour Monsieur Concentrée, so this it will be for citrus day!

The sun is shining after several cold and rainy days, so it's perfect timing for citrus!

[ineespenes]

For S'n'S I'm in Habit Rouge . It was created in 1965. The notes according to Osmoz are:

T: Lemon,Mandarin,Bergamot,rosewood
M. Cinnamon,Patchouli,Cedar,Carnation
B: Vanilla,Amber,Leather, Benzoin.

The dominating notes on me are Lemon and Bergamot in the topnotes. After a while the cedar and patchouli kicks in.Basenotes are mostly benzoin and Amber. These notes give the scent a smoother and warmer impression.

[tdem1961]

I'm wearing Eau de Sisley 3. A bright, fresh opening, the citrus tang enhanced by the zing of ginger. The heart is the sweet apricot-floral combo of osmanthus. Among the basenotes are supposed to be vetiver, patchouli and vanilla, none exactly prominent. Rather, the finish is more of a soft, indistinct powderiness. Maybe I can get a whiff of vetiver, if I concentrate hard enough.

I've worn this several times before today and it was delightful every time. In fact I had it in my wishlist but today's wearing, albeit enjoyable, has changed my mind. Overall it's fun to try, but nothing rapturous or earthshaking. For what it is, especially given its price ($165 for 100 ml), I just can't justify a purchase.

Notes: citrus, bergamot, mandarin, grapefruit, lemon, red ginger, osmanthus, patchouli, vetiver, benzoin, vanilla, musk

[pofox]

Since I wear Jicky so often I thought I'd wear something else today.

So, despite the very cold and windy weather here, I'm wearing some of Farina Gegenuber's original Eau de Cologne. It has a very sharp and green opening on me, certainly enough to wake you up.
It soon dies right back to a pleasant skin scent. Not very long lived, but it's low priced and I have some in an atomiser to enjoy later too.

[Taolady]

Decided to begin Sniff'n'Speak in Brooklyn...an un-sniffed impulse buy based solely on s(c)entimentalism. (The late wonderful DH was a Brooklyn boy....the notes sounded fun ["Grapefruit, Cardamom, Cypress-wood, Geranium Leaves, Juniper Berries, Cedarwood, Leather and Guaiacwood"]...LUV the bottle.....) but it's not really remarkable and the grapefruit fades fast...leaving a sprightly impression of geraniums, gin and piney woods. Not bad...but not citrus.

So, on to my Burfday Present and current obsession

(Can you make it out? That's AA Pamplelune)
Realdeal grapefruit. Gonna shower with Love's Fresh Lemon gel first. May get into some oranges when and if Pamplelune fades....the Merveilles, maybe...

Novis...4711 was a brilliant choice! You made me want to invest!! I used to wear 4711 all the time...especially in the summer... used up my last bottle and hadn't thought of it since. It was an old bottle and I have heard rumours that the formula's changed recently. Almost afraid to try....

[Somerville Metro Man]

Citrus is definitely one of the harder categories for me as I have quite a few and I am fond of them all. Since I completely forgot last month's SnS I feel like I have to do a make-up so I'm going to wear two very different versions from my citrus arsenal over the next two days. Today I'm going with a classic Italian blend by two of my favorite perfumers.

Acqua di Parma Colonia Assoluta

I am an avid reader of horror fiction and two of my favorites are Stephen King and Peter Straub. In 1984 I was giddy with excitement when I heard they were going to write a book together, "The Talisman". I didn't stop to consider that their styles were pretty different and the things I liked about one when added to the other might not work as well as it could. Flash-forward nineteen years to 2003 and I hear Bertrand Duchaufour and Jean-Claude Ellena are collaborating on creating Acqua di Parma Colonia Assoluta. Giddy with joy, again, but then I stopped to think how was Ellena's minimalistic approach going to mesh with Duchaufour's ability to plumb the depth of certain notes and accords? I spent a lot of time while I was reading "The Talisman" thinking this passage was written by one of the authors and that passage was written by the other. I was guessing I was going to feel the same way about Colonia Assoluta, and I do. The top seems all Ellena and the heart and base seem Duchaufour. The top that I ascribe to Ellena starts with an orange citrus blast which is then supported by a creamy, lemony cardamom and the light zip of pepper. This has the fingerprints of Ellena all over it. Each note holds its place and combines for a simple elegance. If this was Ellena's scent to finish, on his own, I would expect some simpler accord leading to a sheer base. Instead this is where I think M. Duchaufour's style comes to the forefront as the transition away from the top starts with a bold floral accord of jasmine and ylang ylang. It is beautiful but it doesn't flow as easily as it should from the top. It almost seems like I've layered a new scent on. The floral gives way to a Duchaufour signature woody base of clean cedar bolstered with a hint of incense and amber. As much as the top is classic Ellena the base is classic Duchaufour. Colonia Assoluta is a good scent and it leaves me in very much the same place I was when I closed the book after finishing "The Talisman". I enjoyed everything I just experienced but I wonder if just one of the creators was involved was there magic to be found here?


I'll be exploring that thought tomorrow as I review Frederic Malle Bigarade Concentree.

[Quarry]

(Here's a wink at you, "Brooklyn," wherever you exist now in the universe. You married the Tao, you lucky boy.) To answer your avatar query, dear lady, I use Google images search. You taught me the art of appreciation for Smileys, which I now pander to excess.

I have a number of fave citrus-influenced scents:
La Rose du Petit Prince ~ A citrus splash, gently veering away from tartness by use of rosey notes. Puts a "happy" on my face and my credit card.
Mandragore ~ Smart and sturdy, citrus-herbal-woody.
CdG Lily ~ Lemon-lime lily-of-the-valley.

But the OMG winner in the perfume category for me has to be:
BIGARADE CONCENTREE ~ Makes me weak in one knee when I apply it -- which I do too rarely because I have a decant from ChestnutCat (thanks and where are you?), and for some reason decant bottles turn invisible when I look in my frag cabinet.
Bravo, J-C Ellena, for navigating past sweet, sour and tart, arriving at the simple essence of the citrus tree, peel, seed. Company description: Bitter orange, rose, hay, cedar.
However, my ultimate favorite ... the scent left by Bath & Body Works Kitchen Lemon hand soap. LOVE IT = lemon-floral.

[*dora*]

I am wearing Escale a Portofino.

This is both bright and soft.
Refined and easy to wear. A perfect eau de cologne.

But I think 4 sprays were not enough , it is so gentle...

[arwen_elf]

Today I am wearing Iskander by Parfums d'Empire
With notes of citron, mandarine, grapefruit, orange blossom, tarragon, coriander, oakmoss, musk, and amber.

[lilybelle]

Omnia Amethyste by Bulgari2007
Created by Alberto Morillas
Notes of green sap, pink grapefruit, iris, rose, heliotrope and solar woods

Talk about doing a 180! I used to dislike most grapefruity fragrances, but I’m craving grapefruit frags the past couple of days. Asha (Happy Birthday again, dear Asha!) sent me this sample of Omnia Amethyste a long time ago. I tried it, sorta liked it, then put the sample away. Today I'm enjoying it. The sharp grapefruit is somewhat acetone'ish, but that's not irking me quite as much as it usually does. After the grapefruit, a bit of floral sweetness, the pepper, and the nice heliotrope. I also like the heliotrope with the mandarin in Aqua Allegoria's Angelique-Lilas, which is similar in type to this fragrance. At the very end Amethyste is soft and slightly musky, pleasant, but also short lived. It’s warmish today, however, and I’ve been cooking so the fragrance has probably steamed off me sooner than it would have otherwise.

[Therese]

Diorella. Yum.

[Zibeline]

Cacharel Liberte

[TwoRoads]

I forgot that today is SnS Citrus Saturday.

Luckily, I wore Terre d'Hermes which is a fresh woody scent with prominent citrus (grapefruit and orange) notes.

Gabrielle Rose joined us this morning in AdP Colonia and is now going old-school with Jean Naté.

[shadesofbleu]

I'm wearing Hermes Eau de Pamplemousse Rose for today's SnS. It is a very sheer grapefruit scent with just a whiff of rosewater to sweeten it a little. It is very soft and delicate and just lovely for the short time it lasts.

Notes include: grapefruit, orange, rhubofix and vetiver.

[mikeperez23]

This morning I did wear Agrumi Amari di Sicilia by Bois 1920 and this afternoon I'm sporting Arancia di Capri by Acqua di Parma.

The Bois 1920 is a fantastic, well-blended, luxurious smelling tart citrus - not cologne-like (as it might sound) but rather juicy and masculine. It doesn't smell simple but it is simple (does that make sense?). The grapefruit is not very typical smelling, it starts out the scent but then easily transitions to all of the other citrus accords. Extremely uplifting. The longevity is, as usual, very short. I could have doused myself with it, but Ray and I went to breakfast together this morning and I didn't want to overpower our meal so I went easy. Ray cooperated with me and let me spray him with one of my brand new scents, O Pour Homme by Lancome. He liked it, but he preferred the Bois 1920 I was wearing.

Arancia di Capri is THE BEST TANGERINE PEEL smell I've ever encountered in perfumery. The real deal ladies and gents. Enuff' said.

[rogalal]

I've spent most of the last week testing miscellaneous samples from Parfumerie Generale. I saved Harmatan Noir for today because of the lemon notes mentioned in reviews...

Honestly, this one is weird.

First, it's VERY VERY light. I used up almost my whole vial just to get it strong enough to be able to smell what was going on. From a real bottle, this would take at least 10-15 sprays just to smell it.

The top was mostly salt and some sort of ozone. There was a bit of green and some lemon and mint, all very light. It basically smelled like the air in some tropical locale after a warm rain has just cooled down a hot morning, looking from a veranda out over trees and bushes with a glass of lemonade with a sprig of mint in it sitting nearby. Nice, but again, very very faint.

After about an hour, a really beautiful, dead-on hazelnut accord came in and drowned out the lemon and mint. It mixed well with the salt, seeming quite edible.

Later, i got a pinch of cumin and paprika, which kind of grossed out the hazelnut accord. Later, I got the dried fruit mentioned in the reviews.

Many hours later, the cumin and salt are pretty much all that's left, smelling like sweaty skin, with just a lingering touch of the dried fruits. There's also a sense of paint fumes coming from the ozone.

All but the first couple of hours of this is a perfect example of the style of niche perfumerie that I consider interesting-but-it-doesn't-really-smell-good. True, it started great, but the rest has been a bit weird.

In the end, I guess that's why he made it so light - the sweaty, muggy salt would have been truly awful with more strength, and the hazelnut with cumin would probably have come off as simultaneously cloying and sweaty, and the lemon/mint would have smelled like bathroom cleaner and toothpaste. So, it actually probably works as perfectly as it can as pure art at super-diluted strength.

Anyway, I can't see buying a bottle of this, but I'm glad I gave it a try...

[Coconut]

According to Osmoz, Aqua Allegoria - Mandarine Basilic consists of the following notes.
Topnotes: Green Tea, Ivy, Clementine, Blood Orange, Orange Blossom
Heartnotes: Mandarin Orange, Basil, Peony, Chamomile
Basenotes: Amber, Sandalwood
This is probably one of my citrus category favourite recently. I have put on 4-5 spritzes for the S'n'S. The opening is notably citrusy and juicy. The smell of orange is overwhelming, it concealed the green tea, ivy, orange blossom which is listed on the notes. The scent of orange lasted a considerable of time, at least 1.5-2 hours before it toned down into a softer citrus / floral scent. The dry down is soothing, which smells like a pale citrus water with a drop of amber wielded together.

[arwen_elf]

In the afternoon I wore Eau de Patou. The notes written on the box are: honeysuckle, nasturtium, ylang-ylang, petitgrain, Sicilian lemons, and Guinean oranges.

This is the first perfume I ever owned and although it is discontinued, I hope I have enough to last me for a long time.

[Gblue]

I wore Hermes- Eau d'Orange Verte last night. I'm not sure which others I own actually count as citrus.

At first it smells like peeling an Orange, for a couple of seconds, and then there is another shortlived Orange juice note. Citronella features prominently in the topnotes, with what smells like Lemon, and a little bit of Lime as well.
The middle is some kind of Mango sorbet, still with hints of the citrus, and the Oakmoss from the base showing through.
Drydown is soft, smoky, green Oakmoss. The unfortunate thing is that it's over so quickly, but that is the nature of an EdC - and it can always be reapplied.

[Hebe]

On the same wavelength as Quarry, I have chosen Malle's Cologne Bigarade. I truly think that if you could make champagne from oranges, it would smell like this. I just love the fizzy rosy hay-y joy of it. I wish it would last a little longer, but maybe a birthday full bottle will fix that. The Bigarade Extreme sadly turns to marmalade on me.

Tao, what a lucky boy you had, to be remembered so lyrically. I'm sure he's still checking up on how you smell and smile every day.

[Quarry]

Originally Posted by Hebe

On the same wavelength as Quarry, I have chosen Malle's Cologne Bigarade. I truly think that if you could make champagne from oranges, it would smell like this. I just love the fizzy rosy hay-y joy of it. I wish it would last a little longer, but maybe a birthday full bottle will fix that. The Bigarade Extreme sadly turns to marmalade on me..

Ohhhh. You're one of those with sugar skin. Did a side-by-side comparison of some L'Artisans a couple years ago with BNer Kotori, who has very pale skin, and scents did, indeed, smell sweeter on her than on me. Luca Turin says this doesn't happen. Humph!

[inscentiable]

Busy day yesterday so I didn't have time to post but I, too, wore Hermes Eau de Pamplemousse Rose. Only I didn't have as much luck as shadesofbleu - on me this just smells...horrible. I was giving it a second go because I don't want to hate it...but, alas, I still did. It smells very caustic on me, like Method brand grapefruit cleaner. I thought I smelled like a convenience store bathroom all day - this stuff would NOT leave me alone!

lol, here's to my first scrubber! If anyone wants my sample, let me know. Two epic strikes and this one's out.

[Somerville Metro Man]

Ms. Quarry told me if I did a make-up assignment, for missing last month's SnS, she wouldn't make me clean erasers.
Here you go, double duty Citrus SnS
As I said at the end of yesterday's review I wonder what would have happened if Ellena or Duchaufour were left alone to design Acqua di Parma Colonia Assoluta. I think in Ellena's case we have the answer to that.

Frederic Malle Bigarade Concentree

I grew up next to an orange grove in S. Florida. Much to the chagrin of the grove owner I would spend many an afternoon up in the branches of his trees eating the, literal, fruit of his labors. Sitting up in the high branches of an orange tree with the tropical sun beating down on me, sweaty from climbing and covered in orange pulp and juice. That carried a unique scent for me that I thought I would never experience again as my orange tree climbing days are behind me. Until I had the good fortune to spray Jean-Claude Ellena's 2002 creation for Frederic Malle, Bigarade Concentree. This was a follow-up to his 2001 scent Cologne Bigarade also for Frederic Malle. Bigarade Concentree uses the same four central notes of bitter orange, rose, hay and cedar as Cologne Bigarade but the balance and intensity in Bigarade Concentree makes it a much superior scent. The top starts with the bitter orange but that bitter accord also carries a green, tree sap kind of quality with it too and it smells like the rinds of oranges ripening in the sun. There is a cumin like sweaty accord present here that is not accounted for in the note list. This has a very similar feel to Hermes Eau D'Hermes and as Ellena is a big fan of that scent I have a feeling it was intentional on his part, his homage to that scent. As that begins to fade the very lightest of roses appear and then this is followed by the dried grass note of hay and the clean lines of cedar which in conjunction smell just like the sun-baked branches of an orange tree. Despite having Concentree in the name this is a very light composition and I can see it being very fleeting on some skin types. Thankfully on my skin it lasts and allows an old man to revisit his orange tree climbing days of his youth without fear of injury.

[lilybelle]

Love the orange tree climbing story, SMM! I've always loved the scent of orange and other citrus rinds, but particularly orange - that scent that is released when your thumbnail pierces the rind and it's sweet, bitter, spicy and - I've always thought - a bit cedar-ish too. So my nostrils quivered a bit when you mentioned cedar in the Bigarade Concentree.

As my p.m. scent I wore Yves Rocher's Rose Absolute to the crawfish boil party (had a load of fun there, which we are paying for this a.m.!). Rose Absolute (as my bottle is labeled for the U.S.) is a lemony/citrussy rose that is truly one of the nicest rose scents I've ever worn. And a full bottle can be had for a bargain basement price. I'm not an expert on rose perfumes, but I think this is a gem. It is long lasting; sweet, floral, fruity, spicy, yet well balanced; modern; friendly & easy to wear. It dries down to a sweet and slightly musky skin scent on me. It's not an old fashioned lace hanky rose, or a rose bomb. It almost seems like a rose-based liqueur to me, with the citrus and a smidge of cinnamon to keep the syrupy sweetness in check. And it wore perfectly on a warm night at a food fest. AND even my husband liked it, and he complains about almost all perfumes.

[Hebe]

Originally Posted by Quarry

Ohhhh. You're one of those with sugar skin. Did a side-by-side comparison of some L'Artisans a couple years ago with BNer Kotori, who has very pale skin, and scents did, indeed, smell sweeter on her than on me. Luca Turin says this doesn't happen. Humph!

I like the idea of sugar skin! Reading SMM's and your review of the Bigarade Concentree made me long to smell it as it should smell, rather than the marmalade that I turn it into.

[Quarry]

Very good, Master Metro Man. You may take your seat. Now, don't let me see those comic books come out of your desk until recess.

[BlackCat]

I didn't get a chance to apply a citrus yesterday, so hopefully I can continue S&S into the rest of the weekend.

Citrus is an under-represented category in my wardrobe (almost non-existent, unless one counts the green tea frags as citrus, which Michael Edwards does). It's a bit weird because one of the few fragrances I liked in the 90s was Calyx. (Hmmm, maybe I have to revisit that one.)

I think the most citrus-y frag I have is Diorella, so I'm happily wearing that. I definitely get a strong hit of lemon off the top, but my favorite part is when the jasmine and other flowers are revealed. There's also something "waxy" about Diorella that I really like as well--I can't find a better way to describe that term, but it's a depth that is really quite lovely.

BTW, very interesting about a connection between "sugar skin" and skin color. I too am pretty fair, and my skin turns things pretty sweet.

[Haunani]

I didn't get a chance to post yesterday. I've been wearing The Different Company's (Divine) Bergamote all weekend. I love this citrus fragrance for its sheerness and warmth. For me, it's truly like the sun in a bottle.


The drydown has a nice light woodsy-ness, but for me this fragrance needs frequent replenishing.