Orange blossom is one of my favorite perfume notes. Here are three I tried recently that were not included in earlier posts (see Italian Orange Blossom fragrances and Back to Orange Blossoms):
Bourbon French Orange Blossom: Bourbon French is a 160 year old perfumery located in the French Quarter in New Orleans…
Continuing with the orange blossom perfume discussion that started with Santa Maria Novella Acqua di Colonia on Sunday (with apologies for the brief interruption caused by Barbara Bui), here is a round-up of some other orange blossom scents I have tried. I started to include Serge Lutens Fleurs d’Oranger, which had several mentions in the comments to Monday’s orange blossom post, but in the end I left it out. It is a much more complex perfume than the others listed here, and refused to be summed up in a few easy sentences. I will give it more space on another day.
Côté Bastide Fleurs d’Oranger: This is a basic but pretty orange blossom, with just a touch of green and possibly some light citrus notes…
After trying Santa Maria Novella Acqua di Colonia yesterday, I thought I would start today by spraying on as many orange blossom perfumes as I could dig out of my jumble of samples & bottles. There were more than I thought, so I am limiting myself to the Italians. I can’t wait for summer — it is so much easier to try a whole mess of fragrances at once when you can go sleeveless and apply right up the arms to the shoulder. Paper test strips just aren’t as much fun.
One of my favorite Italian orange blossom scents is i Profumi di Firenze Zagara. It starts rather sharp and very heavy on the bergamot, but calms to a lovely orange blossom with citrus notes and just the right amount of sweetness. It is very sparkling, cheerful and summery, and has good lasting power…
Santa Maria Novella’s Acqua di Colonia is also known as “The Queen’s Cologne”, and was reputedly created for Catherine de Medici. Some sites list it simply as “Santa Maria Novella”. The (vague) notes are: bergamot, citrus, white flowers and spices.
The top notes are very sharp, and heavy on the bergamot. It settles into a nice citrus-floral with lots of orange blossom. It is not at all sweet, but it is less bitter (and less herbal) than Acqua di Parma Colonia. It is a bright scent, and has a sparkling quality, with just a tiny spicy kick…