Citrus scents can be such cheerful, uncomplicated fragrances, and they can brighten up a gloomy day with their connotations of sunshine, cleanliness, and good health. I particularly like to layer citrus-fragranced shower gels and lotions under my favorite summer perfumes, to boost their bright-and-crisp qualities.

However, the available range of lemon-, lime-, and orange-scented products is occasionally disappointing — especially at the higher end of the price spectrum, for some reason. One example is Strange Invisible Perfumes Wild Orange Invisible Body Lotion. I’m assuming it’s intended to be layered under Strange Invisible Perfumes’ citrus-accented perfume oils, such as L’Invisible or Fair Verona. It’s a nice enough medium-weight lotion, packaged in a bottle that suggests a fancy hair mousse. It’s all-natural, with aloe vera and olive oil for moisture. It smells like, well, sweet orange oil. But for this price, I was expecting to be amazed, and I just wasn’t. ($40 for 8 fl. oz.; for buying information see the listing for Strange Invisible Perfumes under Perfume Houses.)

NARS is best known as a creator of trend-setting color cosmetics, so I was surprised to learn that the company also sells a line of body products. Its Ginger Grapefruit Body Lotion promises a fragrance that “fuses the vibrant essence of grapefruit and cassis with the romantic floral touches of sweet peony and violet flower.” This sounds like something I’d love…

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