Orange Blossom Perfume – Guide to Best Orange Blossom Perfume

Orange blossom perfume – Noooow we are talking! 
Talking about Orange blossom perfume is like My Birthday and Christmas all rolled up into one.  

Orange blossom, when done right, is joyous, like a ray of sunshine that is almost too bright.  It has that slightly rich orange citrus feel on top of a beautiful white flower. It shouldn’t turn soapy.  I like either dense, chewy orange blossom that’s funked up in some almost profane way or ethereal lilting orange blossom.  In other words – a tramp or a saint.

I do feel a need to divulge my practical biases.   I am not anti-mainstream or low-end perfume – I love things that are dirt cheap and great.  When I’m hunting down the things I love the most, because of the quality and budget allowed for a lot of mainstream perfumes, it is difficult to find things interesting enough to talk about beyond –  yeah, smells okay.  Writers can bear anything but boring themselves in their writing.  If there’s nothing I can find to say about a perfume, I just skip it.  I do have some major loves in the mainstream and low-end perfume area, so I absolutely believe they are there and it’s possible, which makes it even more of a disappointment that so few get close to being great.  That doesn’t mean that all niche perfumes are great.  They can be as big of a yawn, and they disappoint me even more because I expected better of them.  

It’s the Perfume version of  “You’re not living up to your potential.”

The Kills “Cheap and Cheerful fully express my boring perfume irritation with the lyrics –

“I’m bored of cheap and cheerful. I want expensive sadness.  Hospital bills, parole, Open doors to madness.    I want you to be Crazy cause you’re boring, Baby, when you’re straight.”

 

Cheap and Cheerfully Damn Hot

Narciso Rodriguez for Her (EDT)  is orange blossom swimming in musky sex.  Perky orange blossom brightness floats in lust and desire.  The orange blossom didn’t have to be great in Narciso Rodriguez; it just had to be present. The great news, you can pick up this gorgeous Nagel/Kurkdjian creation for $50 or less.  You’ll thank me later if you haven’t tried this.  I would tell you to just go all in and get the musc oil, but IFRA sent that to the Perfume Graveyard.  March covered Narciso Rodriguez, and she noted Luca Turin’s comments that basically it seems boringly unoriginal, but put it on a woman and let her walk by, and you will change your mind.  

I would have sworn that somewhere in my past was a review of Gucci EDP (2002 – the brown juice in the heavy square bottle), and I’ve found it nowhere.  Notes of heliotrope, orange blossom, orris, vanilla, citrus, cumin, musk and thyme.  This siren crawls out of the bottle dragging cumin after it, all kinked up with thyme and a velvety vanilla underbelly. Suspended over that bed of smut is orange blossom, the brightness gets an intermittent snuff job from the heliotrope.   Discordant on the open, it keeps that weird tension far into the journey. I think Gucci EDP is one of the sexiest perfumes made.  It’s skanky, but not vulgarly trashy.  It handles orange blossom in such naughty, naughty ways, it takes my breath away.  Gucci tore a piece  page from the Caron Narcisse Noir Playbook when they abandoned any pretense of orange blossom being innocent. 

orange blossom - dark like caron narcisse noirGucci leads us to the Not always Cheap (it is in EDT!) and Cheerfully Damn Hot Caron Narcisse Noir.  For this piece, I used vintage extrait, but Caron Narcisse Noir is fabulous in all iterations.  The most sensual and intense iteration is when it’s a little older and a little less innocent – Cougar Narcisse Noir vs. Sex Kitten Narcisse Noir.  It is mostly a narcissus perfume, but because this tramp drags the orange blossoms around through the dark mud of crazy, it deserves a place of honor with Orange blossom perfumes.  You can catch whiffs of Orange Blossom frolicking through the night on the far side of propriety and the near side of insanity – cheerfully unhinged.  I’ve seen reviews noting fear upon opening the bottle and getting the first whiff of demented orange blossom/narcissus. It made me laugh when I smelled it the first time.  Caron Narcisse Noir doesn’t waste a second trying to look innocent, sane or normal, and I find the lack of pretense refreshing.

If you haven’t done it yourself, you can’t possibly imagine the effect of havine Gucci EDP, Caron Narcisse Noir extrait and Narciso Rodriguez EDT floating up off your arms in tandem. It’s an experiment I would have never, ever done but for this. I think I have the vapors and need to lie down. 

Intoxicating and slightly maddening.  

In the spirit of cheerful unhinging, might as well just lock the doors and finish this off with…  

Jean Desprez Bal a Versailles is feral orange blossom – a leopard in heat covered in orange blossom that doesn’t want to eat you, at least not until after you die from sexual exhaustion. Then it will eat you.  Listen, I’m not entirely crazy, I didn’t put the parfum on – I used the vintage EDT.

This experiment is required for every newly minted perfumista who wants to earn her   

skank wings.

From the orange blossom trampy guttersnipes to the 

Big Bright Rays of Orange Blossom Sunshine

We are moving out of the affordable into the niche ranges, but these are those in that range that are bright sunshiny and ethereal.  Jo Malone Orange Blossom is exactly that – bright, uncomplicated, slightly citrus and orange. Of the straight-up orange blossom scents, it’s quite perfect.  The new 2012 Houbigant Orangers en Fleurs is stunning, and it is not simple – cheerful with some green, buttered tuberose and a charming little nutmeg note.  Seriously, this is a great rendition of orange blossom – taking an angle that’s not weird, but lends interest.  

Hermes 24, Faubourg picks up its orange blossom/amber accord, wraps it in Chanel couture, throws it in a great apartment on Park Avenue with a closet full of Birkin bags, accompanied by a couple of overbred dogs costing upwards of 5k… um, apiece!  24, Faubourg is moneyed orange blossom, but this is money that didn’t forget it grew up in Da Bronx.  

L’Artisan Fleur d’Orangeur is was luminous. I mean, I know I’ve had that bottle with the 3 mls in the bottom since 2005, but did it really go bad?  :: cries ::

It used to be amazing, and I’m sure some people still have some that hasn’t turned yet.  I am bereft, I thought I’d always have a little of this.  (next morning)  Oh, wait! Hallelujah!  I found a decant of the 2007 version!  Ah, bliss, it is exquisitely bright and beautiful – I need sunglasses to wear it.

Dior Grand Bal is a white floral accord,, but it has a bright, sunny elegant orange blossom.  You are walking on a crisp Fall day, a gentle wind blows, and feminine falls from the trees like leaves – that’s feminine coming out of Dior Grand Bal.  Santa Maria Novella is straight-up slightly soapy orange blossom, sharp on the open.  Pretty enough, not deeply interesting, but if you just want something to make you feel happy that you can splash on every hour or two and not think about, this is your go-to orange blossom.  

As we ratchet up price tags a bit, don’t weep? they get prettier?

orange blossom parfumerie generale louanges profane - Pierre GuillameThierry Mugler Dis – Moi, Miroir is a sweet orange blossom mixed with lily.  It surprises me that I really kind of like this, more so after the initial open that’s a little cotton candy toothachey.  This is a hard one to hate. You may not find it that interesting, but on the Orange Blossom That I’d be Happy to Wear Scale, it hits an 8.  

Parfumerie Generale Louanges Profane is so freaking pretty with such a gorgeous creator, Pierre Guillaume. Perfume notes list neroli.  It feels like orange blossom, so it gets tossed in.  

Pierre and I broke up during his vanilla cereal phase, and it appears I should have been paying closer attention, I missed this somehow.  Added bonus!  It has hawthorn in it. No wonder I like it. 

Oh, all of you just wait until we get to hawthorn.  

Hawthorn lends an, um, morbidity to a composition, and I suspect it’s difficult to get the level of decay exactly right. Step too far into the graveyard, you’ve got perfumed road kill.  Not enough, it just makes it weird. without a reason

 Guerlain Mon Precieux Nectar is orange blossom, jasmine and heliotrope swirled into that pluxe Guerlain vanilla base.  There is nothing complicated or exhausting about wearing this; it is just pretty, incandescent, plush orange blossom.  

That leads us straight to the doors of one of my top three orange blossom perfumes ever –

L’Artisan Seville a l’Aube. Orange blossom and lavender, this thing lilts for 30 minutes, and then drydown is exquisite.  When I say that, I mean it with my whole heart.  Sometimes, late at night, when I’m in the middle of a nightmare about having to choose just one perfume for life, I think that Seville could be the one, it might make me happy forever.  Then I wake up and toss that bit of perfume fidelity nonsense back into the mists of sleep where it belongs. Only one perfume, piffle. When I wear it, I get tons of compliments – and not just from myself. What, you don’t walk around telling yourself how great you smell? You should!

I believe every Bride would be well-served to finally ditch the Vera Wang and Ralph Lauren Romance and wear this instead on their Wedding Day.   If you’re a bride, just do what I say – you’ll thank me for it later.   Unless you’re not 100% on the groom. In that case, go with the Vera Wang.  You don’t want to spoil your pleasure in wearing Seville in the event of an ugly divorce. What!? You have to be practical about these things.

L’Artisan la Chasse aux Papillons could/should have been a pick here, but I went with just one L’Artisan since Chasse is more of an orange blossom/lime blossom/linden blossom blend – gorgeous, worthy, but sacrifices must be made.

Dawn Spencer Hurwitz Fleurs d’Oranger opens a skosh soapy with a nice vanilla base.  It’s not as optimistically bright as a lot of the orange blossoms I love, but it’s interesting and a nice way to go for a more natural take on orange blossom.  Andy Tauer Orange Star is a complex, veering off into strange orange blossom, but I’m staying with the bright, sunny beautiful orange blossoms by putting it here because it is beautiful. Opening with the orange fruit and the flowers, and growing a little gnarly as cistus and amber pluck a few blooms off.  This has the lasting power of a “helpful” mother-in-law. 

Orange Blo$$om Ballers 

Arquiste Infanta en Flor is leather, cistus and immortelle swirling among the orange blossom. I’ve puzzled greatly over where this orange blossom should go. It’s leather, but not carnally animalic.  It’s expensive, but sorta on the cusp.  It’s beautiful, but the leather keeps it from being heartbreakingly beautiful.  I’m hoping a stroke of insight will assist me before I have to hit publish. Nope, got nothing, so it’s landing in this category by default.

Caron Narcisse Blanc is the Americanized version of Caron Narcisse Noir.  If you like some aspects of Narcisse Noir, but you recoil every time you smell it, try Narcisse Blanc.  It’s sunnier, a little more friendly – okay, a lot more friendly, like a pet gerbil is more friendly than a wild viper.  Maison Francis Kurkdjian Apom Pour Femme is going in, and I’m just putting in a reference to the less expensive Francis Kurkdjian creation  – Jean Paul Gaultier Fleur du Male.  Both are worthy, depends on your price point.  

orange blossom - kilian sweet redemption the endStrange Invisible Perfumes Fire and Cream pairs orange blossom with hay.  I mean, if you’re wondering what to get Patty for Her Birthday, just think a truckload of orange blossom and hay. This also works if you are going natural perfume. It’s a beautifully done orange blossom with some unique kicky quirks.  

Profumum Acqua e Zucchero earned a spot in the vanilla perfume post and in this one.  It twines about the orange blossom, making it sugar-crusted orange blossom. Charming.

By Kilian Sweet Redemption has people that don’t like it!  Okay.  I’ll try and wrap my head around it. No, really, I get it. The End of the L’Oeuvre Noire series is made of orange blossom, vanilla and incense.  This one almost got a spot in the vanilla perfume post. There are long moments in this perfume’s drydown that make my lip curl – discordancy set against the “should be” lovely orange blossom and vanilla. Powering through the difficult parts like a good perfumista should, some days I wind up loving it, and some days I am pegging over to loathing.  What tips me back to love –  it is interesting, and that’s a hard thing to do to the ever-cheerful orange blossom.   Montale Highness Orange Blossom is really pretty and linear, which is what it’s meant to be.  A good place to try some orange blossom without a lot of extra fluffing-up.

Tarted-up Orange Blossom

Vero Profumo Rubj always takes my breath in the EDP – it is so audaciously skanky, laced with cumin.  I’ve reviewed the parfum in the past, and it’s not cumin – well behaved civet and indole skank instead, and the extrait feels nowhere near as dirty as the EDP.  March reviewed the EDP 

“now the drama centers around cumin.  And when I say ‘centers around cumin,’ I mean Rubj EdP showcases cumin the same way the dancing hippos in Fantasia tend to take up a little space on the stage.  The new Rubj is definitely for hardcore cumin freaks, and most likely hell for everyone else.”

Exactly.  It would have never occurred to me to pair the lilting, sunny, innocent orange blossom with this level of armpitty cumin, but the effect is brilliant.  Oh, just power through it and outlast the cumin, for God’s sake, you’ll survive.  Angela at Now Smell This called it a “ravished ballerina.  Victoria at Bois de Jasmin said “Rubj is underpinned by such a fleshy animalic note that it makes Serge Lutens Musc Koublai Khan seem straight-laced.”  I think it is a pillaged orange blossom straight out of one of those “The Rose and the Saber” bodice rippers.  That is a great thing.  

Speaking of orange blossom and cumin – if someone had bet me that we had never done a proper review of Serge Lutens Fleurs d’Oranger on the Posse before, I would have taken that bet and doubled it. Googling around for that cumin-laced wonder on our site yielded –

Zip

Lots of references, lots of mentions, made it into Top 10 lists, but no real review. Serge Lutens Fleurs d’Oranger is fleshy, dense orange blossom, cumin’ed to within an inch of its moral limits just on the open. Hang with it, that cumin plumps the orange blossom up, the armpitty aspects cool off pretty quickly, and it becomes a spectacular, lush, sensuous orange blossom.  

As we wind up this orange blossom extravaganza – I can’t believe I’m even thinking this – I’m just a little sick of orange blossom.

We save the best for last.  There can be only one.  In orange blossom there is.  Of course, it is also no more.  Shalini. Created by Maurice Roucel, they seem to have only made a certain number of bottles, and those bottles are gone.  From an interview with Maurice Roucel on CaFleureBon, he notes the differences between making Shalini and Hermes 24, Faubourg: 

Michelyn – “Which fragrance took the longest to create? The shortest time?

Maurice Roucel – “Hermes 24 Faubourg took five years and Shalini fifteen minutes. This was due to the conviction of the respective creative directors, and to their briefs.”

Shalini is orange blossom taking flight after an initial onslaught of an amazingly well-behaved tuberose. There’s some quibbling in the few reviews I could find over what is the dominant note.  For me, it is the neroli/orange blossom that is dominant, though I certainly feel the tuberose lurking in the only shadow Shalini casts – slightly green.  What is magical about it is that you think it disappears quickly after you put it on – but it’s not gone.  It wasn’t until my sister put some on — Wait, when I say “put some on,” she grabbed the sprayer I had put it in and spritzed it all over herself.  I yelled at her, she ignored me.  Every time she would walk by me that day, there was a floating, lilting reminder that she had probably sprayed out about $100 worth of Shalini on a whim.  Shalini has the most gorgeous sillage I’ve ever encountered.  

I don’t really want to talk about it anymore.  

But I have Seville.  And the new Houbigant.  And Gucci EDP.  The world is full of some great orange blossom perfumes, I’ll probably get over it. 

Posse says – 

Musette – Not a huge fan, as it tends to make me anxious and the soapy notes get on my nerves.  But Denyse’s Seville au l’Aube grabbed my heart and squeezed it TIGHT!  It has none of the soapy and all of the sensuality of a blossom amongst emerging fruit.   I can wear this all day without feeling anxious and I so enjoy its sultry beauty. The other massive OB love is this little beauty that Masha introduced me to:  Noora, by Swiss Arabian.  It does tend to inflame an already anxious moment but if I’m feeling calm that day, it’s a beautiful, bright orange blossom with a hint of warmth.    Best of all?  I bought this little beauty for $12 on Amazon.  It really is a beauty! 

Tom –  Uncle Serge’s Fleurs d’Oranger. because of the touch of cumin that gives all that white floral innocence a touch of carnality. Second up is smell bent Monaco Dependent because its so very green and so very happy.

Ann – Ava Luxe Neroli Blossom (takes me right back to the citrus groves of my elementary-school childhood), Le Labo Tubereuse 40, for as we know, despite the name, there’s a whole honkin’ lot of Orange Blossom in there, and last, but not least, Jo Malone Orange Blossom. And although I’m sure everyone’s already raved about it, who could forget the wonderful L’Artisan Seville a’Laube?  

Portia LUSH Orange Blossom,,Estee Lauder Brasil Dream, Hermes Eau d’Orange Vert, Narciso Rodriguez for Her, Arquiste Infanta en Flor, Caron Narcisse Noir, DIOR Grand Bal, Tom Ford Neroli Portafino, Sweet Redemption by Kilian, Seville a l’Aube L’Artisan Parfumeur 

Okay, your turn. I keep reading people telling me orange blossom hates them, and I keep thinking   – orange blossom hate someone?!? Can that be? Yeah, Narcisse Noir has a bad little spiteful hating habit, but the others? Love orange blossom?  Hate it? What did I miss?  Where did I get it wrong? 

Orange blossom samples for this review and for the giveaway were provided from my personal collection and Surrender to Chance

  • solanace says:

    I love orange blossom. My favorites are vintage Jean Patou Sublime (where it comes along other things) and Serge Lutens Fleurs d’Oranger. Crazy to try Séville à l’Aube, I’m pretty sure I’m gonna like it!

  • Louise says:

    Orange Blossom and citrus essence is the only thing I wear. Serge Lutens is my fave. Some of the others, like the Caron I just don’t smell enough OB but I am older and just don’t think my nose works as well as it used to. I hope I am not too late for the drawing. Thanks for the review.

  • Dubaiscents says:

    I am really behind on my blog reading so, I hope I am not too late for the draw. If you asked me if I liked orange blossom I would say, no way, but there are so many on this list that I do love so, apparently I do love it and I didn’t know it 🙂

  • I’ve been resisting them (orange blossoms) for a long time, thinking they are “not me”. But I did fall hard for Séville l’Aube recently and after that, what can I say, it’s a slippery slope… I have had the very good fortune to be able to try vintage Narcisse Noir – OMG!!! And I’ve also clicked with by Kilians Sweet Redemption, and Rubj, that make me think of a pair of giant pale Rubinesque thighs, consistency of whipped cream. Yum to that!

  • sunsetsong says:

    Thanks for the guide to Orange Blossom! It is one of my favourite notes and you reference many that I haven’t tried. I would like to recommend Lancome’s O de L’Orangerie for the cheap and hot section. It is great! Do try if you haven’t already.

  • E. Gozen says:

    I have a sample of Narcisse Noir that asking to be re-sniffed as it looks like I missed the Orange Blossoms the first time around. I am very interested in trying out the new Houbigant Oranges en Fleurs and am waiting for it to show up at my local Nordstroms. Orange Blossoms are such a “friendly” scent !

  • Janet Jones says:

    What I want…I really really want….is anything that smells like Coty Wild Orange Blossom, seeing as I simply cannot find it ANYWHERE in the world anymore!! Please include me in the drawing!!

  • Katrin H says:

    I love the note of orange blossom, and my experience is that when I wear a perfume in which it has a presence, it puts others around me in a good mood.

  • Twitchly says:

    Oh, that limited edition L’Artisan Fleur d’Oranger. I sniffed it once, and it was absolutely glorious. Why oh why don’t they bring it back? Pure sunshine. I haven’t yet sniffed their Seville a l’Aube but am looking forward to it. For now, I’ll just spritz my Jo Malone and smile.

    Thanks for the great list, most of which I haven’t yet tried. Something to look forward to!

  • TaffyJ says:

    This wonderful essay created an earworm for me:

    “(do doo do doo do doo)….
    Hey, look a-yonder comin’
    Comin’ down that railroad track
    It’s the Orange Blossom Special
    Bringin’ my baby back…”

    Johnny Cash, “Orange Blossom Special”

    Love a man in black. Also, LOVE many of these of OB’s, especially two classified in the armpit section: Serge Lutens Fleurs d’Oranger and Vero Profumo Rubj. (which creates another good earworm for me…sigh)

  • Christine W says:

    Got my sample of the new Houbigant today: it’s gorgeous but it’s also a very familiar smell (which means it must be very close to something else in my collection). Maybe it’s my Fleurs d’Oranger (Lutens). At first I thought FdO’s indolic note was way too potent (and to me smelled more like sewerage than cumin) but after a couple of wearings I hardly notice any ‘skank’.

    Another fave OB scent is the original JP Gaultier: deep, sexy, ambery orange blossoms.

    A few years ago I had a 25ml bottle of the L’Artisan Fleurs d’Oranger but passed it on to a friend who said she liked it (kicking myself now, tho!).

    I’m hanging out to try the new Seville scent, especially now I’m about to start Denyse’s book.

    Thanks for a great article. Please include me in the draw 🙂
    MsV

  • Kismet says:

    I love orange blossom and neroli–there is something so uplifting about it! Sweet Suzy Q has been sharing her favorites with me–lately a generous sample of Seville a l’Aube, which I luuuurve! Also Atelier Cologne Grand Neroli and I adore Bal a Versailles, although like others, I would never have pegged it as an orange blossom.

    Going to put some on right now……

  • elizabeth says:

    This post makes me feel so greedy! I want to try every last one of these (perhaps especially the 2005 L’Artisan, though finding even a drop seems nearly impossible). I wore Uncle Serge’s Fleur d’Oranger on my wedding day, and am currently wearing Seville a l’Aube every single day (and can’t imagine a day when I won’t want to–“that smoldering drydown” indeed!). Right now it’s in my hair, mixing with my current conditioner– güd’s Orange Blossom (from the people behind Burt’s Bees) and smelling gorgeous. Clearly, I am orange-blossom obsessed! Perhaps a move to Florida is in order. Even better: Seville.

  • JulieT says:

    I am just discovering the joy of orange blossom~ I would LOVE to win this!! Thank you so much for the opportunity!

  • RVB says:

    I love Tauer’s Orange star-it’s basically orange everything from beginning to end with fantastic longevity.I’m loving the new Seville perfume as well

  • Jean says:

    Too many “orange blossom” scents are too soapy for my taste. But I love love love tuberose like you wouldn’t believe! And so many tuberoses have orange blossom, and I do like them there!

  • Terry Maloney says:

    Wow, 211 responses already! I don’t have a chance to win! Well, maybe a little bit of a chance. I don’t know much about orange blossom in fragrances, except that Narcisco Rodriguez for her is one of my most favorite! Thanks for the opportunity!

  • Someotherspring says:

    I really fell for Ford’s Neroli-but his entire body of fragrant work confirms, fore at last that HE IS THE DEVIL. Joe Malone’s Orange Blossom is quite serviceable, on me at least. Does what it says on the tin, and without complication, drama, or any “Ew, SHE was in the room’ ubersillage-a great office fragrance. Can’t say the same for Lush’s Orange Blossom-too buttery on me in the solid form, though I do like the edt a little more. Overall, too heavy, buttery and sweet, I don’t wanna smell like candy corn!. Can’t wait to try the Seville-you sold me on it!

  • Anney says:

    Small voice from far away …. hello, hello – it’s Anney here, from the virtual perfume desert of Melbourne Australia… living (smelling) the world vicariously through your words Patty!

    Best I get to sampling the fragrances of the world is either at airport beauty stores, or in my mind after reading your descriptions. I didn’t realise that I was attracted to Orange Blossom so much – but your descriptions of 24 Faubourg and Narcisco Rodriguez For Her take me back to trying them and then finding Bal a Versailles and feeling torn – which large bottle to purchase at the airport duty free ….. but then I discovered Perfume Posse and now I can have them all!

  • Masha says:

    Yeah, I am shocked anyone would anything but love orange blossom. You would have to hate flowers and springtime and sunshine. I for one have noticed that even those who never got onto the Serge Lutens bandwagon with all their hearts still find a place in them for the old Fleurs d’Oranger. True story.

  • Denise says:

    My first attempt at perfume was a cheap version of orange because I loved the thought of having a beautiful spicy floral scent on me. But the scent I chose fit my non-existent budge at the time and, well, it made me smell like a candy factory. So I thought I didn’t like orange-based scents. Now that I’ve tried a few that are worthy of the moniker as perfume, boy was I wrong in my evaluation. My first thoughts were right, and my first experience was just what can happen with cheap perfume.

  • Jeanine Ballenger says:

    Must read through all the comments later, but I LOVE citrus of any sort. Let’s see, I love Santa Maria Zagara, Acqui di Parma Amalfi Coast, and James Heeley Oranges & Lemons Say the Bells of St. Clements. These are my top 3 at the moment.

  • Tomate Farcie says:

    Call me crazy but I really like Yves Rocher soliifore, Fleur d’Oranger which is by the way Annick Menardo. it’s light great for warm weather and great for layering. An added plus you don’t have to sell your first born to buy it (unless you want to).

  • Robin says:

    Just thinking of all of these combinations makes me want more! Is there any combination of fig and orange blossom? For some reason, that makes me think of spring break 1996…nice!

  • Denise Concetta says:

    Thank you, Patty, for another great, informative read about fragrance!
    Orange Blossom has always been my favorite scent, especially after studying aromatherapy as a teenager and learning of its uplifting properties. It just makes me so happy to wear!
    I love Jo Malone’s, Serge Lutens Fleurs d’Oranger, Dawn Hurwitz’s or straight up pure Neroli oil. Really want to try all the ones you mention! Right now!:)
    I so hope you’ll consider picking me! Always wanted to win one of your giveaways! Thanks!

  • Bettye says:

    Love orange blossoms but their scent somehow seems deliciously summer-y to me. Francis Kurkdjian’s APOM pour Femme strikes my nose as a cozier, fall/winter take…. But honestly I just don’t get a ton of orange blossom from it! Love it, though! Thanks for the great post.

  • ggperfume says:

    No perfume can live up to the heavenly aroma of an actual orange grove in bloom. Since I don’t live near one nowadays, I get my fix by sniffing citrus trees in neighboring yards or at plant nurseries. (By the way, the whole citrus family seems to have the same scent to their blossoms, and so does the unrelated Pittosporum tobira, oddly enough).

    That said, I hope I win the sample set! These all sound like fascinating compositions; I’m surprised that I know so few of them. . .

  • Maria says:

    Fleur d’ oranger does it for me . There are tooooo many orange trees where I live and every spring there is an overwhelming scent everywhere!! Seville is on my to try list!! Thanks for the draw!!

  • Diane says:

    Love orange blossom, but you’re right, not when it turns soapy. Jo Malone’s body cream is wonderful and a nice base for other perfumes. Hated Fire & Cream on me (Magazine St is my fave of theirs) Found that neroli in Morocco was different than most here – not sure why. Looking forward to trying some from your list. Thanks!

  • Susan M says:

    I love neroli. And not being educated in perfumery, I did not know that neroli and orange blossom were not the same. Thanks for the excellent discussion of orange blossom — I can’t wait to study it. I gotta say, though, that I could have done without the Gloria Swanson photo 🙂

  • I love orange blossom! I have already used up my decant of Seville a l’Aube. Must. Have. More. What better time than fall & winter to really appreciate the sunny goodness of orange blossom?

  • Shelly says:

    Dear Patty,
    Thank you for the awesome little treatise on the use of orange blossoms in perfumery, it’s really interesting and has been bookmarked for future reading pleasure!
    I’ve adored the scent of orange blossoms for as long as I can remember. When I was little we had a false orange blossom bush in our yard that bloomed every spring, way up in the Allegheny mountains of Pennsylvania. The scent was heavenly, and especially so as it bloomed with the lilacs, roses, cherry, and apple blossoms that we were also blessed with. Gee, I wonder how I came to be a fragrance fanatic??
    I’ve yet to find a perfume that equals my memories, but it’s great fun trying! I would love to win one of the sets of the many orange blossom fragrances that have been created over the years.

  • stellaglo says:

    I could have sworn i had posted on this thread already but no sign of it….perhaps i was too busy seeking out the briefly mentioned Noora by Swiss Arabian to have said anything new (something else…what! google! run!)
    i too love elie saab for the office. i adore the new L’artisan, have but never wear the serge (it’s so much!) will have to try mandarine mandarin in the winter).
    still obsessing about Noora…….

  • Joanne says:

    I can’t imagine NOT liking orange blossom–it’s so darn friendly and there are days that it can perk a person right up! Driving by orange groves in full blossom is such a nice experience. Thank you for the great list; there were a number of scents you mentioned that I’m going to have to try!

  • Kristen Geyer says:

    Caron NN…just wearing it feels …well, almost too much but still not enough!

  • efemmeral says:

    i have been haunted by orange blossoms all week – they have just started blooming for the spring here in Australia. I’ll be walking in my neighborhood and then the sheer beauty of scent stops me in my tracks. thanks for this timely post!!!

  • Alica says:

    I love love love 24 Faubourg! Sophistication and elegance in one. Thx for this opportunity.

  • Dana says:

    Did nobody mention Nuit Noire as a great skanky orange blossom?

    For straight-up OB, L’Artisan’s Fleur d’Oranger is my gold standard. My cheap and cheerful substitute is Pacifica’s Nerola Orange Blossom.

    Thanks for the great guide – Orange blossom is one of my favorite notes, and I have so many other perfumes to try now!

  • Lily says:

    I hardly recognize orange blossom except I know I like it. I like Un Lys which is ostensibly a lily scent but has orange blossom overdose. Narciso Rodriguez for Her Intense also, and looking forward to trying Seville a l’Aube. Thanks for the draw.

  • Ninara Poll says:

    Orange blossom scares me. *hides*

    NP

  • I own the Gucci by Gucci EDP and I didn’t think of it at all as an orange blossom. More like the ur-sweet-modern-patchouli. But now I’ll wear it again and see. Thanks for the reminder.

    My fave orange blossom? Well, Orange Star is definitely up there. 🙂 🙂

  • helenviolette says:

    I am increasingly a fan of orange blossom- and have a few in my repertoire…I would much like to add Rubj and Seville a’L, and of course try as many of these that I can. I smelled the new Houbigant the other day and it was damned pretty, I must say.

  • Marilie says:

    Now that’s a great list of orange blossoms! I am a fan of Kilian’s Sweet Redemption and even prefer it over Seville à l’Aube. That one is good, really, I like it. A lot. But it is too bright for me. Maybe it’s only about PR things but I’d always choose Jim Morisson over the Spanish romance and I think the perfumes reflect that (for me, that is).
    Other favourites are MFKs APOM pour femme (my gateway ob), NR For Her EdT, L’Heure Bleue (it’s mostly orange blossom on me), Esprit d’Oscar (same) and my new love Sahlini La Femme. The last one is a gorgeous blend of ob, jasmine and amber-sandalwood. I don’t know if it’s available in the US, probably not. But if you have the chance you should try it!
    Thanks for the draw, I’d love to sample the new Houbigant and the older Carons!

  • Dr Lemur says:

    Orange blossom notes always seem to fade fast. Are there any long lasting one that are not on the list?

  • Amer says:

    Fleur du Male hates me! It tries to stifle me every time I go near it. I didn’t think this was possible for an orange blossom, normally airy and graceful as a fairy, but this one is the evil witch I tell you. Hate hate hate!

  • Tai says:

    If this post has accomplished anything it’s that it’s made me realize how woefully unfamiliar I am with orange blossom. I love big, tarty white flowers: jasmine, tuberose, gardenia. But this note has escaped me. Mayb I’ve ignored it because my first interaction with a dedicated O.B. scent was that sad soap bomb, Prada Infusion de Fleur d’Oranger. What a turn-off. But now I see things like Narcisse Noir and Fire and Cream and Accqua e Zuccharo and I lust in my heart. Off I go to break open my piggy bank..

    Oh yeah, the weather obviously knew you would be writing about orange blossom scents and decided to try and inspire you by covering Denver in fluffy white stuff. #weatherfail

  • Debra Weaver says:

    When the Goddess Hera married Zeus she was given orange blossoms by Gaea. I love the mythology of the orange blossom.

  • Kathryn says:

    There are quite a few orange blossoms I totally adore. I have a bottle of vintage Narcisse Noir edt that just knocks me out. It’s such potent stuff that I’ve never dared try the extrait. But in Rubj, it’s the extrait that has won my heart. The cumin in the edp is too much for me, as is the cumin in Luten’s Fleur d’Oranger. Sweet Redemption is most definitely on my buy list. So far I haven’t found anything in it that jars me . But when I passed a sample on to a friend, sure that she would love it, she really didn’t. L’Artisan’s limited edition Fleur d’Orangers are the orange blossoms that got away. I am still kicking myself for not buying bottles when I had the chance, but am very grateful to a wonderful Posse swapper for a decant that I treasure.

    The only orange blossom true love that I don’t see on many other lists is the Penhaligon’s Anthology Orange Blossom by Bertrand Duchaufour. It’s straight up orange blossom, no cumin, but a little weightier than the L’Artisan Fleurs. It blends with my skin perfectly and wearing it makes me feel that all is right with the world. It may be my favorite of them all.

  • dremybluz says:

    Andy Tauer’s and Uncle Serge’s versions are my favorite

  • hongkongmom says:

    lured back onto the bandwagon…geez patty…le sigh :-)))

  • Patricia R. says:

    I don’t know why it snowed in Denver last week, but it sounds exciting. On orange blossom, I am after Seville a l’Aube, but have to save for it over some time, hope it won’t be discontinued by then. Btw. does anyone know if it is really a limited edition, or they’re just playing something up, and how long is a limited edition of L’Artisan likely to be on market.
    Plus, has anyone tried Jardins d’Ecrivains George, they have it on beautyhabit, it has neroli and other interesting ingredients like heliotrope, coffee, myrrh.

  • Linn says:

    I actually bought Gucci EdP a few months ago and I love it. I spray my favorite winter scarf and jacket with it, so perfect when being left in clothes for some time and then warmed up by the body heat on a chilly day. Waiting for a Bal a Versailles sample in the mail, the skank description on STC instantly made me want it. Hope it arrives before the weekend so I can bathe myself in it on my time off! I’m studying the the moment and I usually make mental treats for myself; “if I read 30 pages more I can sample another perfume”. Very effective!

  • Kandice says:

    Patty,

    I was so excited to hear that you’re doing incense for the holidays. I thought nothing could be better. But then I found this! Orange blossom is one of my other favorite scents, and I’m happy to find reviews on so many that I haven’t tried. I’ve been wanting to try Seville a L’Aube since I first heard about it. And as mentioned in another comment, I love Sweet Redemption By Kilian and don’t understand how anyone could dislike it. Please, please enter me in the draw! I would be so happy to win this – it might be even better than winning the incense draw I’m sure you have coming!

    Thanks for the great reviews!

  • LindaB says:

    I find Orange Blossom VERY sexy and this post has me wanting to try more. I love the Serge Lutens and own a bottle of the Bal a Versailles. Pacifica makes Nerola Orange Blossom that I turned to many times this summer. My sample of Chaisse de Papillons left me unexcited but I am willing to give it another shot. Been dying to try the Hermes but it always seems to fall off my radar.

    Thanks for a great post and hope I win the draw! 🙂

  • nozknoz says:

    Seville a l’Aube is the most beautiful perfume that I’ve sniffed in a long time.

    I also like the L’AP 2007 Fleur d’Oranger, and orange blossom is an important part of PG Cuir Venenum.

  • Thalia says:

    24 Faubourg goes really shrill and heady on me — is that the orange blossom? I’ve always suspected it might be, and it has kept me from trying many others. Which means this sample set would really educate the heck out of me! I do love NR EDT; it’s just so lusciously musky and bodyish.

  • Ingeborg says:

    I just love orange blossom and the Seville a l’Aube is a new favourite. I have soon drained the decant from a split, the scent really behaves well even in colder weather (we are waiting for the first nights with frost). Still, I can see there are many more scents to try, so please enter me in the draw. Orange blossom does not turn soapy on me, I think.

  • rosiegreen says:

    I love the scent of orange blossom from the tree, but I don’t always like it in perfumes. My favorite clean orange blossom is John Varvatos Artisan,its very cheerful and easy to wear. Patty I am really enjoying all the posts on different perfumes but I am starting to be knawed to death by lemmings. Thanks for the draw.

  • Elaine says:

    Just tried Seville yesterday. It was beautiful!

  • Farouche says:

    Am loving my full bottle of Seville a l’Aube. Thanks for the draw!

  • Flora says:

    Ya know, looking at this list, I wonder if maybe orange blossom isn’t my favorite perfume note after all! I would love to try any of these that I have not yet smelled, and they are legion. If I hear one more person say how fabtastic the Seville is, however, I may need to forego paying rent next month so I can get some! I hope it’s not TOO limited an edition….

    My favorie cheap & cheerful Orange Blossom product is the sadly discontinued (at least in the U.S.) OB stuff from Le Couvent des Minimes. It used to be at Bath & Body Works, and I had just about everything in the line. I did find the best product, the amazing body cream, for sale at adiscounter, so now I have it again. It’s sweet and a just a touch vanillic, and oh so rich!

    • Patty says:

      I know, everyone yapping on and on about Seville really is just fueling any lemmings. I’m betting they will add it to the regular lineup, they should! If not, I’ll be heartbroken.

      Discontinued? Why does that happen?!?!

  • Christy C says:

    Rubj edp is my favorite! However, I don’t smell any orange blossom in it–I know, weird. Sooo sad my decant ran out.

    • Patty says:

      Really? You know, it’s blended so well with everything else, it doesn’t stand out like OB typically does.

      • Christy C says:

        Yep, I smell passion fruit and cumin, but no orange blossom at all in Rubj edp. Doesn’t matter, I absolutely adore it–one of my top 3 favorites! For perfumes where I *can* smell the orange blossom, I’m a huge fan of L’Artisan Seville a l’Aube (the beeswax note is wonderful!) and I love the OB and cumin in SL Fleurs d’Oranger.

  • kirsten duffin says:

    Commenting from phone so pls excuse any autocorrect typos! I think I need to upgrade my explorer or get rid of McAfee. Something is screwing up your website terribly. 🙁 so, ob perfumes, another note I love. These lists have got me sampling crazy again, and I just bought noora unsniffed thanks to you! 😀 I have a sample of Seville a l’aube coming soon and can’t wait. If it is as beautiful as you say, maybe dh and I could renew our vows just so I could get the wedding day perfume right this time. 14 years and still going strong despite the chanel allure. (*cringes*)

    • Patty says:

      Oh, explorer hates everything! I refuse to use it anymore because everything is just so wrong on it.

      Noora is Anita’s fault. 🙂 I have no responsibility for that, but it’s cheap.

      I think that’s a great idea, renewing your vows with Seville. That’s the one I’d pick, hands down. Then put on something really trampy for the second honeymoon.

  • Elisa says:

    I love the smell of a real orange tree. My current favorite OB perfumes are Sweet Redemption and the limited edition (no longer in production) Frederic Fekkai perfume, which was really high quality!

  • EasilyEnabled says:

    Seville does it for me. After reading several reviews, I purchased the fb. It has been my one and only blind purchase and I couldn’t be happier with the scent. If I get up in the middle of the night, I spray myself again- this is my sleeping scent. Thnks Patty for your review of this marvelous fragrance. It never occured to me that I might not like the scent after reading your post. Please enter me in the drawing and have fun sniffing!

    • Suzy Q says:

      Easily, boy are you daring! I couldn’t have taken the plunge without having smelled it first. I am addicted to this stuff. You get up and reapply in the middle of the night?! I love it!…and I don’t think that’s weird at all 😉

    • Patty says:

      OMG, you do? I think I did that the first few days when I finally had a full bottle and coule apply with abandon, just walked through the house and spritzed away.

      See? I was right! Now we wait and hear from the 4,953 people who bought some other thing I loved and they despised it. 🙂

  • Maureen says:

    I loved this post. I love orange blossom, but have not tried a lot of the ones on your list. I did try that Lush Orange Blosson thing once, and OMG, it is WAY TOO MUCH at first, thought I hated it, but about 2 hours later it was OK…but I don’t thiink I could stand those 2 hours to actually want to own it. Loved sexy Gucci EDP. Zeta was a little sweet on me. Thanks for the generous draw….Fingers crossed.

    • Patty says:

      Whew, I’m so glad someone else found the Lush anything intense. I’m thinking it’s my chemistry or a mental block.

      You are so welcome!

  • Joaquim says:

    Rubj!! Not only one of my favorites orange blossom, one of my all time favorites too!
    I can’t buy a full bottle right now and my samples are near empty, bad news for my wallet.

    Thank you for the draw and for all this amazing guides!

  • Lisa D says:

    Now you’ve got me thinking that I’m wafting b.o. when I wear my sample of Rubj, which I lovelovelove. It’s so much about the orange blossom for me, that I don’t think twice about the cumin. SL Fleurs d’Oranger is also quite lovely. But, in the end, I like my orange blossom best in Morrocan Rice Pudding.

    • Patty says:

      Oh, no, that couldn’t possibly be true! Cumin I think just smells that way up close and on the open, then it has a great smell as it warms up!

      Orange blossom in Moroccan Rice Pudding? How do I get ahold of such a lovely treat. I’m drooling on my keyboard!

  • sherobin says:

    Orange blossom has most consistently been my favorite note, so I was dying to try Seville a L’aube. Dying, because it wasn’t just orange blossom, but honey, beeswax, lavender, frankincense…all this and Monsieur D! Sounded like my dream perfume. Well, you know how this ends… It was very sweet, very benzoin-y. Beautiful opening, though. I don’t mind being in the minority on this. What I guess I really wanted was SIP Fire and Cream, only with bigger orange blossom and some honey. So now I’m enjoying my tiny sample of Fire and Cream ever so much more than before.

    Still, my fave orange blossom scent is Penhaligon’s Orange Blossom. This is beginning to approach signature scent status with me. I have yet to try most from your list. Thanks for the draw!

    • Patty says:

      Oh, that’s so sad! SIp Fire and Cream is really pretty, and I think it fits anyone who just can’t do that super-sweet OB open, it’s a completely different take on it.

      I have to go find this Penhaligon’s, y’all are making me crazy by talking about it so much!

  • smy says:

    Orange blossom is one of my favorite fragrances, and I can’t believe I haven’t tried many on the list! Serge’s Fleurs d’Oranger was the first niche bottle of perfume I bought and I still love it! I also love Jo Malone’s orange blossom – reminds me of summers in Asia when I was a kid visiting grandparents. Love this post!

    • Patty says:

      I can’t believe you guys are telling me about a bunch I haven’t tried that now are on my new list!

      JM Orange Blossom is one of the most affordable, best OBs out there. But the way they keep moving up their price point, that Houbigant may start to challenge it. It’s much more accessible as a pretty straight-through Orange Blossom, and I far prefer it. Seville is over in another category. 🙂

  • Daniel W. Z. says:

    Serge Luten’s Fleurs d’Oranger has a vanilla dry-down, some rose note also

  • NeenaJ says:

    While not big on white florals, I think I will add the L’Artisan and Serge to my “must sniff” lists. Thanks for the draw!

  • Claudia says:

    Have a decant of Rubj and love it. Been wearing Bal a Versailles since 1981. Would like to try distilling a batch of orange blossoms-fun!!

    • Patty says:

      Oh, that would be fun! I often think about trying some distillation to see how that would go, but then I run out of time. If you ever do it. I’d love to have some!

  • Nancysg says:

    I want to try the Tauer Orange Star again. Maybe the second try will send me over the top.

    • Patty says:

      yeah, I’m still not sure on that one. I think it’s the longevity that’s a problem. I don’t really like my perfumes to hang around too long!

  • Teri says:

    Orange blossom scents always bring on that ‘approach avoidance’ behavior we all learned about in Intro to Psychology. Some work beautifully on me while others are ghastly. Not just bad, but actually ghastly-scrub-it-off-me-now-toxic-stench. So I approach my oranges gingerly.

    I seem to do well with all the naughty-skanky ones you mentioned – Rubj is a deep and true love, as is Narcisse Noir. Bal a Versailles works more often than not. Haven’t tried the Gucci in years, but I’m thinking I should since the others do well. And the NR I’d kind of forgotten, but think I should revisit as I remember liking it.

    I do love 24 Faubourg, too. It is my aspirational perfume when I want to fool folks into thinking I’m a little more sophisticated, a little more suave, and a little more successful that I can rightly lay claim to.

  • jirish says:

    I think I love the funky animalic orange blossoms the best, because while I have a large decant of Seville, and love it, what’s really luring my wallet is the naughty Rubj and the strange Orange Star.

    • Patty says:

      Both of those are amazing. Rubj in the EDP or the extrait? I’m always curious which one everyone chooses because they are so different, yet the same. It’s like a skank-o-meter that tells you something, but I’m never sure what.

      Am I weird that I love both?

  • Style Spy says:

    I need to do a lot more orange blossom exploration, so I could really use these samples. I do wear Fleurs d’Oranger, although we do a lot of negotiating as I wear it. Seville a l’Aube made my brain do what a light bulb does in an electricity surge: BRIGHT flash and then POP! it shut down. So lovely.

    • Patty says:

      Negotiating the cumin?

      Yeah, that’s Seville – over the top orange, and then that smoldering drydown. it really is an almost perfect or perfect fragrance for me.

  • kathleen says:

    Oh, I forgot the beauty of Aqua Allegoria Nerolia. This is certainly worth a mention

  • Musette says:

    Just doing a quick ‘comment’ check – a couple of people had issues this morning. Carry on…nothing to see here 😉

    xoxo

  • kathleen says:

    How about a big ’80s one? Boucheron. I’ve just come across some vintage parfum and I’m happily revisiting.

  • Kathy says:

    Ooh…and I forgot one – ELDO Divin’Enfant. Sweet orange blossom with marshmallow and a pinch of leather.

  • Kathy says:

    I like many, but not all, orange blossom fragrances. A couple of my favorites are MFK APOM, and Memoire Liquide Soleil Liquide.

    • Patty says:

      Is that one of the MLs that they are still making? They confused me a lot after coming out with like 60 fragrances, then they pulled most of them down to like 4 or 5. Irritation, so I’ve been ignoring them. But I bet that is gorgeous!

  • Anna in Edinburgh says:

    Goodness me, the Posse peeps are working hard on their Perfume Note Guides. I can’t imagine trying to review so many variations on a theme – my nose would go on strike!

    So very many Orange Blossom scents I’ve yet to experience … please enter me in the draw. Thanks.

    • Patty says:

      Oh, I tell you, it’s a labor of love when I am deep into the 50th rose/jasmine/whatever perfume in three days.

      I wouldn’t recommend anyone do that. Most of the fragrances I’m familiar with, and I spritz them if I need a refresher – and I like to have one because sometimes my opinion changes over the years – but it’s still brutal. The vanilla one was the most reeking, but the amber one that’s going to be coming has me dreading my social obligations. I’m afraid I’ll never not smell like amber again!

  • Dionne says:

    I’ve only begun dipping my toe in to the OB waters, but right now two fragrances that come to mind that you haven’t mentioned are SSS’s Jour Ensolleilé (a very heady OB/Tubey composition) and 7 Virtues Afghanistan Orange Blossom, which stays on the cheery, virginal side.

    As far as Seville something l’Aube – why is it so hard to remember that name? – I tried it for the first time just this week, and the jury’s still out on that for me. Holy skin chemistry Batman, it went sweet on me! Still, what an amazing drydown, and now I want to explore the note more.

    • mals86 says:

      Gosh. Forgot Jour Ensoleille… probably because it doesn’t register as OB to me. More Honey/White floral. And that bugger is really raunchy, too.

    • Patty says:

      I don’t know the 7 virtues brand at all, must hunt down. Lisa has all the SSS fragrances at her house, so I never seem to have any of those to try, I should have her send me some. It sounds beautiful!

      I’ve got the Seville name so I can spell it, but if someone asked me to pronounce it beyond Seville, I’d be such a dork. yeah, the open is sweet on me, but abotu 15-20 minutes in, when the lavender starts kicking, that’s when it goes to pure love for me.

      • Andrea says:

        7 Virtues sells in Canada, last I checked, but they were kind enough to send me cotton balls spritzed with fragrance; vetiver, orange blossom, and rose (I think it was rose)… Their company’s mission is wonderful.

  • Lorinda says:

    I love the new Houbigant! It is my fav so far and I have tried several one of the list. I still have some my sweater from a spray fro my decant – 3 days ago! The Lutens Fleur of the citrus turn soap on me, as well as many of the others. Thank you for a great list!

    • Patty says:

      So agree, that Houbigant I had almost no expectations for, and when I spritzed it, I just did a OOOOOOOHYESSSSSS sorta thing.

      Just beautiful.

  • mals86 says:

    Orange blossom has a Very Bad Habit of going all soapy on me, which I find really unpleasant in perfume. (Weird, isn’t it? I’d use a nice scented soap very happily, but I don’t want the soap part to linger. A lot of people love a nice French-milled-soapy fragrance, though.) That Noora that Anita liked? Pure Ivory soap lather on my skin. Bleargh.

    I tend to do best with OB if it’s mixed with other white florals. To be honest, the OB pops right out of Fracas for me, 3D and double-D-cup, and my teenage standby KL Chloe, which I don’t wear anymore but could identify on someone standing 200 yards away, is a kitchen-sinky sort of floral, heavy with OB and tuberose. I really liked the SL Fd’O, but there’s a ton of tuberose in it too (bonus: it made my husband follow me around the house saying things like, “YOU smell NIIIIIICE. C’mere. That’s flowery, isn’t it? C’mere and let me smell you again… Mmmmmmmmm). I didn’t even pick up on any cumin in it, though I hear from a couple of people that SL has slightly refo-ed it and toned down the cumin, and I know my sample was pretty recent.

    Narcisse Noir, in modern EdT, is completely un-weird on me: pretty-pretty, soapy-clean, OB-jasmine mix, hardly a whiff of Narcisse at all, and certainly no Noir. A blonde cheerleader sort of fragrance, and not the Dallas Cowboys kind of cheerleader… I’m thinking more of the ones at my sons’ middle school, all wholesome and cute and bouncy ponytails, still wearing A-cups. (Unless, of course, my sample was actually mislabeled Narcisse Blanc? Hmm, now I wonder.)

    I fell really really hard for Sweet Redemption, though. An OB without even a hint of soap? With myrrh and vanilla? Ohhhhhh baby yeeeesssss. It’s probably the most gourmandy thiing I own (well, okay, it’s a travel bottle). Yum.

    I think Seville a l’Aube is brilliant too, and I adore the Virtual Twenty-Foot-Tall Orange Tree in it. I do less well with the drydown, which is a little musty for my taste, but if I could have that orange tree – which does last a good three hours or so – without the damp church (I admit it, I typically have trouble with the earthiness of your typical Duchaufour, including Nuit de Tubereuse), I would be a very happy girl.

    • Patty says:

      Ah, the lovely soapiness. Yuck, that sounds just awful! I agree, though. I love soap, love the smell, I don’t really want that in my perfume.

      Wow, you’re the second person that said the OB is so prominent in Fracas. I find Fracas almost unbearable so I’m pretty sure I’m not getting any orange blossom.

      I’m not sure if they’ve toned down the cumin in FdO. I thought it was incredibly cuminy the first time I smelled it, but recently I think not so much. My cumin tolerance is way higher than it used to be, though. Minor amounts barely register, and I learned to love cumin. So who knows?

      narciss blanc only comes in the pure parfum, not in an EDT, I don’t believe. I almost never wear NN in the EDT, just not weird enough for me, though I like it!

      do you like the Arquiste? I thought it was a really interesting take on OB, and I’m still categorizing it in my head, and it’s not really cooperating. That’s what I like about a fragrance, when it won’t let me drop it neatly into a box. 🙂

  • farawayspices says:

    I’ve wanted to try Seville a L’Aube and read the book for so long….and this blog post make me want to try them all!

  • CM says:

    Orange Blossom! How do I love thee? Let me count the ways…
    I love you L’AP Seville a l’Aube
    even though I can never spell your name without looking at my bottle.
    Arquiste Infant en Flor are you but my Holy Grail?
    Me thinks Perhaps yes!
    Oh but for simplicity and solo-flora (can I make up words? yes, yes I can!)
    it is only Bourbon French Orange Blossom
    Lest not forget the fresh and clean L’Artisan L’Ete en Douce!
    Yes! I wear you when fragrance is forbidden… know one knows my fragrant secret.
    So many more Orange Blossoms left to try…
    So many more Orange Blossoms left to love!

    • Patty says:

      Love it! Now I’m going to be humming that to my own little tune in my head today. 🙂

      That Arquiste is still perplexing me. I think I need to just go all in and spray with abandon to figure it out exactly.

  • Laura Conrad says:

    I have a sample of Seville a l’aube, and it’s beautiful but I’m thinking of putting it in the “good but not me” drawer. (Mitsouko and Shalimar are both there, although I often wear Jicky.) So I’d like to try some other orange blossoms.

    But Seville a l’aube as a wedding perfume sounds really right, especially if it’s the kind of wedding with a wreath of orange blossoms over the veil.

    • Patty says:

      Wouldn’t that be beautiful? My niece is getting married next year,and I’ve already been suggesting either the Seville or the Houbigant for her. I’m going to do a consultation with her and her friend that’s also getting married to help them pick the exact right perfumes for their wedding and honeymoon and all the other events around their wedding!

  • Jessi b says:

    Ahhhhh. So refreshing.

  • Cyn says:

    I could hardly sit still reading this! I want to go out and buy every orange fragrance I can find. I love, love, love your writing style. You have inspired me to dig a little deeper in Orange.

    • Patty says:

      Oh, thanks, Cyn! Enjoy that Orange blossom exploration! I hope you either find something to love or at least know it’s a note that’s not for you. 🙂

  • Lynne Marie says:

    Wow. Another great, exhaustive fragrance note post – you are amazing! Actually, you are a demon- doing serious damage to my perfume budget as my list of “must sample” gets larger and larger. Unlike the post on vanilla, I was shocked this time by how many scents I have not smelled – clearly, I have not been giving orange blossom it’s due. Seville a L’Aube though, took serious hold of me and plunged me deep into girly love. Certain perfumes just make me want to don a ballgown, grab a fur stole and go make romance happen – Seville does that in spades. Simply gorgeous.

    • Patty says:

      Exhaustive is the key word! 🙂 Sorry about that. I’ve just told all of my stories on the blog over the last 7 years, and that’s how I communicate about fragrance, so this seemed like a good change for a while! I’m really having a lot of fun with it.

      Seville, I’m not sure what combination did it in there, but Denyse and Bertrand got that so right.

      Agree, I feel like I need a Dior ballgown or at least a ridiculous amount or tulle in a skirt when I wear it.

  • Ann C. says:

    Great post! I discovered my love of orange blossom the first time I tried APOM Pour Femme. Now my also list includes Seville a l’Aube, Jo Malone Orange Blossom, and Andy Tauer’s Zeta. I just ordered a decant of Hermes 24 Faubourg from StC. It sounds like I need to try the Houbigant, and several others, as well.

    • Patty says:

      Houbigant is a must, seriously. It’s not groundbreaking or anything, but who cares? It is just gorgeous when you are in the mood to wear something that’s flat-out pretty.

  • Jeff Berbert says:

    I think the Jo Malone will always be my favorite, although this past spring/summer I became a big fan of Gaultier’s La Cologne Fleur du Male (with caraway added to the orange blossom), and Tauer’s Zeta, wherein orange and linden blossom merge most beautifully.

    • Patty says:

      Love the Jm and the FdM and Zeta. But I’m a total linden blossom slut. I bought a linden tree that I’m just waiting impatiently to get bigger so it can flood me with that smell in the spring. I think next year could be the one!

  • I love OB, with few exceptions, as mentioned, the love-hate relationship with Sweet Redemption constantly threatening to go mothball, as all white florals have a propensity to do, and an aversion to too much civet or whatever is spoiling Rubj for me.

    I also like Ego Facto Poo Poo Pidoo, which is also hard to categorize–creamy, powdery orange blossom, and Boucheron deserves an honorable mention for an OB which smells rich like 24 Faubourg, but is one of the least expensive perfumes on the list.

    • Patty says:

      Boucheron the original in the blue bottle? I haven’t smelled that in a long time. I had fallen in love with Jaipur Saphir as my first Boucheron, and I didn’t relaly explore some of the others. JS is just heaven and of course they discontinued it.

      Never tried any of the Ego Facto scents, but if that’s OB, then I’m going to hunt it down!

  • Magdalena says:

    Thank you for the fantastic article, orange blossom is one of my favorite notes. I looove Narciso Rodriguez for Her ETD. I’m somewhat at two minds about By Kilian Sweet Redemption still, since it’s been only a short while that I have been testing it (but obviously it ain’t a love at first sniff). I’ll gladly use some of your suggestions and search for more, since I’m relatively new to the beyond-drugstore perfume world. 🙂

    • Patty says:

      It’s a fun exploration, isn’t it? Overwhelming sometimes. I remember venturing in and thinking, wow, finally stuff that doesn’t smell the same! now the niche world is pretty crowded, but they are still putting out some beautiful stuff and pushed some of the mainstream perfume lines to be innovative, which is a great thing.

  • Zazie says:

    I would love to try narcisse noir (and also narcisse blanc, while I’m at it)…My favorite orange blossom perfumes would be seville à l’aube and sweet redemption, but I haven’t found “the one” yet.
    Maybe because I am so familiar with the actual scent of the flowers that OB soliflores fall short in their realistic essays, and I haven’t found yet THE symphonic OB composition yet.
    Oh wait- I have: Fracas. Which of course is as much about OB as it is about tuberose, even though everyone seems to forget it (and apparently, smell it)!!!
    And I love love Fracas.

    • Patty says:

      You know, every time I smell NN and NB side by side, they just confuse me – so different!

      How lucky that you get to smell OB so much. I would love that, I might even give up my OB perfumes.

      I’m not a Fracas girl. I know, that’s so awful to say for a white floral girl. I don’t hate it, it’s just not really me. Sorry!

  • may says:

    The only orange blossom perfume I’ve tried is JPG Classique. Didn’t like it at first but it grew on me 😀

  • Hester says:

    Huh! I adore, adore, adore Narciso Rodriguez, and have always just thought of it as a vague-floral MUSK. So that’s orange blossom? Ok! I very much enjoy my Bal a Versailles EDT, too – wouldn’t have ever described it as an orange blossom perfume. So I have some love for orange blossom, clearly though unconsciously. But people, tell me, who among you has smelled Lush’s Orange Blossom? It is ATROCIOUS! It tries to sear away my nose hair, I swear!

    • Hester says:

      Oh wait, I see it has been mentioned here, once as ‘death by orange blossom’. But so tell me, is Lush’s version sort of an archetypal orange blossom? Then I definitely ALWAYS want my orange blossom very well blended!

    • Patty says:

      Yup, orange blossom! I read it too and though WTF? then once you pay attention, it sure is there. There are other floral notes, and the orange blossom isn’t a great one, but it doesn’t matter in this case!

      Don’t tell anyone, I can’t do LUSH perfumes. Just can’t. I know Luca loves their stuff, but it’s always just tooo much.

  • Irina says:

    I loved my sample of Seville a l’Aube and appreciated SL’s “Fleurs d’Oranger”
    I hadn’t had the chance of trying many of the fragrances mentioned and would love to
    Thanks for the draw

  • dinazad says:

    Seville à l’Aube is indeed beauty itself. The one I wear for its beauty alone.
    An office orange blossom would be Elie Saab, which I think is quite well-made.
    And in the deep, cold winter the one and only Lutens Mandarin Mandarine, the one that smells like your own bring-along orange grove (I suppose it’s actually mandarin blossom, but who cares?). In summer it smells like a compost heap, though…..

    • Patty says:

      I had Elie Saab on my list, and I do like that one. I’m not sure how it got left off? I think I may have been near the end of the list and got, um, tired. 🙂

  • NancyAnnK says:

    I’m an orange blossom freak. Love a good number of the scents listed above. Caron Narcisse Noir — oh my.

  • Jorid Sleire says:

    I love orange blossom fragrances! Serge Lutens Fleurs d’Oranger and L’Artisan Seville are my favourites.

  • Jennifer says:

    I don’t have a huge amount of experience with orange blossom, but I’ve smelled and liked 24 Fauborg, Narcisse Noir, Neroli Portofino, and Atelier Cologne’s neroli one, the name of which I can’t remember at the moment.. Neroli something.. I tried Chanel 22, but it was really soapy to me.

    I’ve been reading so many glowing comments about Seville a L’aube, and I’m finally getting a sample! Yay! I’m really excited about this one.

    Also.. I would like to be entered in the draw. 🙂

  • sunnlitt says:

    I love the scent of orange blossoms and other citrus blossoms. But, the fragrances can be a bit soapy to me.
    So, thank you for the list–I’ll be trying some of these on my skin, and thanks for the drawing.

    • Patty says:

      I hope you find something that’s not soapy for you. Ew, I love soap, I don’t want my perfume to smell like it.

  • Debra says:

    Wow, reading this article has made me realise I have never owned any perfume with orange blossom notes – and I feel like I have missed out on something wonderful! It is springtime in New Zealand, the perfect season to try some orange blossom I think!

  • monster says:

    I love my orange blossom to deliver on the white floral promise of breezy, blossomy lightness. Among my favorites are Fragonard’s Fleurs d’Oranger, Jo malone’s Orange Blossom, and current favorite La Chasse aux Papillon.

  • Gwyneth says:

    Orange blossom is utterly beautiful. I have several OB-centric fragrances that I like very much:
    Laura Tonatto’s Fiori d’Arancia, Laura Mercier’s Neroli, Fragonard’s Fleurs d’Oranger.

    I have an ‘older’ bottle of Lutens’ Fleurs d’Oranger – it is rich, lush and a little ‘naughty’ and I enjoy wearing it.

    I would LOVE to share a bottle of Seville au l’Aube and/or the Houbigant Orangers.
    Hello? Anyone want to share a bottle – 2 or 3 ways? (Can I ask here?) (If not, sorry…..)

    • Gwyneth says:

      I was so distracted, thinking of Orange Blossoms, that I forgot to mention one of my favorite Orange Blossom-centric fragrances which is Etat Libre d’Orange Divin Enfant.

      Divin Enfant is a lovely soft Orange Blossom set atop a confection of rose petals, marshmallow, coffee and tobacco. I think the juxtaposition of the “innocent” notes along with the “not-so-innocent” ones is brilliant!

      Oh….and did I mention I would love to share a bottle of Seville au l’Aube?
      AND/OR I’d love to share a bottle of Houbigant Orangers? (we could share a bottle in 1/2 or 1/3s. Anybody interested???)

      • Patty says:

        OH, yeah, the Etat! I totally meant to mention that one, it is beautiful, but I couldn’t find any of it around here, I must have used it all up or something.

    • Patty says:

      Oh, I’ve never tried those! is the older Serge different? I’ve had some around for so long, I don’t know that I’ve noted if there has been a change.

      I set up a better forum, if you click on the top there going to the Swap thing. If you want to do a bottle split, post it there. I’ll try and remember to do a post about that. This forum system seem to be stable, the last one I tried wasn’t. But give it a shot!

  • Lala says:

    I loved your choices and the witty article, especially the hawthorn teaser. Bring it on!

    • Patty says:

      Ah, hawthorn. I need to get some hawthorn absolute first, just so I can describe it adequately as y’all are astonished with how it works in perfume after that awful start!

  • Michelle J says:

    The majority of my perfume collection is orange blossom based, so this guide makes me exceedingly happy. You described Gucci EDP to perfection. I’ve had to mature into it.
    I once had a tiny decant of L’Artisian Fleurs, and I treasured it until the absolute last drop. I now have an official goal to try ALL of these.

    • Patty says:

      I LOVE Gucci EDP, always have. It really had absolutely everything a perfume should have. I know they will probably ditch it one day, and I keep thinking I should stock up with about 40 bottles just in case. 🙂

      That L’Artisan was gorgeous, no? I’m not sure why they didn’t keep doing it? Must not have done that well for the cost. The Narcisse was amazing too – all narcissey hay.

  • DinaC says:

    I smelled a real orange blossom on the tree a few years ago, and it was so beautiful, I thought I would swoon. So tender, delicate, and sweet without any of the heady, cloying headache-inducing baggage that white flower perfumes seem to carry with them. As for scents, I have and love NR for Her edt. I’ve also sampled La Chasse several times and consider that a great spring scent. Have also tried Bal de Versailles, but I don’t remember what vintage or strength it was. This is a great list. I’ll have to buy some samples and try them out. Thanks for entering me in the drawing. 🙂

    • Patty says:

      Oh, Dina, I don’t think I’ve ever smelled the real thing. I really need to time that so I’m somewhere near one at the right time. I love the note in perfume, I can only imagine how much better it is in person.

  • 50_Roses says:

    I haven’t tried a lot of orange blossoms, but I do have a rollerball of Joya Ames Soeurs. Orange blossom seems to make me sleepy, so I usually put it on at bedtime, especially if I anticipate having trouble getting to sleep. I love to drift off in a haze of perfume.

    • Patty says:

      Really? I’ts not super-indolic like jasmine, but it is a white floral, so it may have some of that same narcotic effect!

      • 50_Roses says:

        I don’t think it has to do with indoles, as jasmine does not have the same effect on me. Too much jasmine can give me a headache, but it does not make me sleepy. I have only particularly noticed it with orange blossom and linden (Tauer Zeta is another only-at-bedtime scent for me). I’m really not complaining–it is nice to have a non-drug sleep aid at my disposal.

  • Cheryl G. says:

    Oh to have been your sister that day!

    • Patty says:

      Yeah, I said that too!! I think my words to her when I turned around were something like – What the &*^($ are you doing?!?! Then, then! Even knowing how rare and expensive it was, the day of my son’s high school graduation, she was out staying with me, and I didn’t see her do it, but all day long I kept smelling this amazing smell. Then it dawned on me, I looked at her – “You have on Shalini?!?” And she laughed. Laughed.

  • Amy says:

    Well, I can apparently do some orange blossom, since I have and enjoy wearing Narciso Rodriguez for Her and La Chasse aux Papillons (though For Her is primarily rose, to my nose, and LCaP tuberose), but 24, Faubourg makes me want to scratch my nose off and while I can’t remember any others off the top of my head I know I’ve been forced to flee from other perfumes due to orange blossom. But there’s still SO many orange blossom perfumes I’ve yet to smell, and one of my long-term projects is to find a really orange blossom-centric perfume that doesn’t pull soapy on me. This guide is very helpful!

    • Patty says:

      My sister can’t get near 24, Faubourg. It could be the amber maybe? That tends to go bad on her. I think 24 has amber?

      I hope you find something great! The SMN will go soapy for sure. Guaranteed. OB doesn’t usually skew soapy on me, but that one went there. Didn’t stay, but pretty sure it would be bad for anyone that skewed that way.

  • LCT says:

    I’ve been conserving my sample of Jo Malone OB until I have a chance to smell a few others before I commit to it. It would be such good timing to win this…just saying 🙂

  • Darryl says:

    My orange blossom picks seem decidedly pedestrian in comparison to the gems on this list, but never mind. Mugler Cologne and LUSH Orange Blossom get quite a bit of play on my skin, particularly in the summer. The former is supposedly more on the petitgrain/neroli end of the spectrum, but I still haven’t quite worked out what the difference is between those and plain ol’ blossom, and all I know is when I’m wearing Cologne, I’m all, “ooh, orange blossom!”, so I’m trusting my nose. The LUSH is orange blossom with no bells and whistles…which, frankly, is how I generally prefer my OB. I don’t want heavy stuff interfering with, or distracting from, orange blossom’s inherent sweetness and light. I also have a place in my heart for Gaultier’s Fleur du Male, which couches orange blossom in a downy soft, barbershop-retro fougére. It’s about as masculine as I imagine orange blossom can go, and I dig it.

    • Patty says:

      You know, I had the Mugler sitting out as a possibility, and for some reason I left it off, probably thinking it was on the neroli end of things. Neroli is more tart and less expensive, I believe, at least the raw materials.

      Lush stuff scares me. 🙂 I know, I know, I’m still having flashbacks to a really long evening held hostage in London by the B Never too Busy to Be Beautiful people and forced to smell perfume. It sounds like that one has some fans!

      Fleur du Male is really a great scent. I forgot how good until i smelled it again – really brilliant.

  • Eldarwen22 says:

    The only orange blossom perfume that I have tried is Bal A Versailles. I have it in vintage EDP and extract form. The current EDT form is sadly lacking in awesomeness.

  • Audrey H. says:

    I love orange blossom scents. I dug around and found a neglected NR edt spray, I dont think I have used it in maybe a year. Gonna sniff out the orange blossom in it. What a great list, hope to sniff all of these.

    • Patty says:

      And it is in there. Just really musky. NR was a pretty great creation, and its perennial popularity – I ignore all those flankers – with so many people bears that out.

  • sonomavelvet says:

    I’m enjoying your perfume guides so much. I just sat down to read this one and was so surprised that I had come to the end of it already. Time flies when you’re reading about orange blossom I guess.

    • Patty says:

      Oh, thank you! I do have to admit, they are so much work, knowing that anyone is finding them useful or entertaining helps.

      This one did seem shorter, didn’t it? I’m not sure why. I don’t think it actually was, just the vanilla one was sooooooo long. I thought it would never end.

  • Caela says:

    Thank you for this post! I absolutely adore orange blossom, and this gives me plenty to try as I get more serious about perfume. Lutens’ Fleurs d’Oranger has basically been my signature scent this past year- I wear other perfumes when I’m in the mood for something particular, but Fd’O doesn’t require a particular mood, it’s always perfect.

    • Patty says:

      FdO is so gorgeous. The cumin note used to throw me on the open, but then I got okay with it, and it adds so much to it after that first 15 minutes.

  • Janet in California says:

    Sweet Redemption and Narciso Rodriguez are my go to orange blossom. Lovely!

    Shalini sounds glorious. If I had a baby girl I would name her Shalini. 🙂

    • Patty says:

      I think I would too! Maybe if I ever get a granddaughter – which I’m deserving of after raising all boys – i can talk someone into naming her that.

  • Marie says:

    Amazing coincidence, this post today, because I’ve been on the fence all day about ordering a bottle of Seville a l’Aube – I have a discount code from parfum1 – you’ve convinced me to pull the trigger on the order! I’m now going to drain what’s left of my sample…

    • Patty says:

      Get it! I’m still worried about that limited edition status that was attached to it. I”m thinking they’ll make more, but? I dunno Now I’m thinking I better go grab an extra bottle or two before I wind up regretting it. i should ask Denyse, I wonder if she knows.

  • cheesegan says:

    I’m not familiar with many orange blossom perfumes. I need to re-sniff Bal a Versailles, I didn’t think of it as orange, but it’s such a bruiser of a scent, it’s hard to pick out the individual fingers on the fist.

    • Patty says:

      I was sorta stunned that it was orange blossom too. once I knew that, I get it, though the narcisse is all around it, darkening it like the Eye of Sauron. 🙂

  • Suzy Q says:

    Unfortunately, o.b. often smells to me like b.o. But… then… I smelled Seville a l’Aube. Like so many of you I’ve gone crazy for it!!! It’s the crack cocaine of o.b. Every stage of its evolution is swoon worthy.

    I love these Guides you’ve been posting. I’m discovering there are still a lot of perfumes I haven’t tried yet. Please do amber next 🙂

    • Patty says:

      Seville Crack. 🙂

      You know, I thought I had smelled a bunch of stuff, but the comments on each of these are giving me a fetchingly long list of things I haven’t smelled. It’s hell on my budget!

      Amber is next. But not next week because we are at Sniffa, and they won’t let me wear 50 ambers in that teeny place we are staying in. But the week after? i will be covered in amber. I put on one last night, just to gird myself. I do like amber, but the amber-centric perfumes are sooooo fierce, I’m not sure how I’ll get through them all without scrubbing my skin off with umpteen showers a day!

  • Jackie says:

    What a lovely post, it quite makes me want to try orange blossom again.
    I always seem to run away from sweet florals, although I think neroli is traditionally in eau de colognes too?
    Tom Ford Neroli hates me, am sorry to say, but have hardly tried any of the others mentioned.

    Seville a Laube sounds more up my alley. Must. Get . Sample.

    • Patty says:

      Neroli is used much more in cologne, it has more tartness than orange blossom traditionally.

      Seville really is gorgeous. So is that Houbigant, just a different angle on things.

  • Mary says:

    Very fun post! The very first bottle of perfume I can remember receiving as a gift was a tiny little blue “Souvenir of Florida” bottle of Orange Blossom perfume, from my grandmother. I loved that little bottle and saved it for years. Now my favorite orange blossom fragrance for the last 28 years has been Nocturnes, my Caron Nocturnes. I have tried Baghari, gave away the Narciso, and love some others with the note– but Nocturnes stil surprises and engages me, even after all this time. Even if it brings back memories of that lady gaga-ish bad romance I was in when I first started wearing it.There is something deep and poignant to the base notes under the orange blossom, I can’t really describe it. Ticked me off that it got dissed so bad in that horrible little book, but wth, to each their own. It certainly doesn’t strike me as vapidly pretty, or whatever the exact words were– but maybe my lack of charm offsets it?! Who knows? Would love to smell the others on your list, though. Thanks again, and please enter me for the draw!

    • Patty says:

      Oh, now you are sending me off hunting for Nocturnes! I know I have some laying around somewhere.

      Really, just ignore what someone else thinks. Reading an opinion – mine or anyone else’s – is just that, how someone else feels about a perfume on them. If it’s something you love and it smells great on you, just go with that. I love some stuff that other people think is utter dreck or boring or whatever.

      I’m a fan of vapidly pretty. Sometimes that’s exactly what a perfume should be – pretty, easy to wear, and it makes you feel beautiful and special. It’s really enough.

  • Anita Lane says:

    Reading this makes me realize that although I’ve sniffed a lot of perfumes and thought I knew orange blossom – well, now I’m not sure (cue Judy Collins Both Sides Now, or is it Clouds?) Anyway. I’d love to be entered in the draw, just because I’ve never smelled most of the perfumes mentioned and now I want to. Thanks!

    • Patty says:

      Ha! don’t you hate it when that happens? I was surprised at how many orange blossoms there were in here. I expected this week to be muuuuuuch shorter than it was!

  • Ariel says:

    Thank you, thank you, thank you for this post. I have been intoxicated by Seville au l’Aube (my first foray into orange blossom), and all thoughts of innocence have disappeared. Now, I am sooo getting my hands on all those tramps and tarts (Gucci and Rubj, I am talking to you).

    • Patty says:

      Gucci, ah, seriously, it’s been a love of min for 10 years, I remember it was a brand new release when I first bought it. my only regret, they never made it in an extrait or parfum strength. That would have been hot, hot, hot.

      Rubj EDP, seriously, if you’re not sure about cumin, go easy on it. It is a cumin monster – more so than anything else I’ve found cumin in except some of my soups.

  • Poodle says:

    I love orange blossom but sometimes it’s just too much. There’s something comforting and nostalgic about it to me. I am trying to find just the right one for me. This list gives me a few more I need to try.

    • Patty says:

      Orange blossom isn’t shy, is it? I wonder if I had grown up around oranges if I’d feel differently? But it fits my personality, so probably not. I’m pathologically optimistic, it’s one of my best and worst traits. So pretty sure orange blossom is my kindred spirit. 🙂

      • cerise says:

        I didn’t see Serge Lutens Fleurs de Citronnier on the list, and it’s my current “gotta have it” orange blossom fragrance. It’s sweet, but there’s something a little musky lurking underneath that makes me keep smelling my wrist. I see a bottle of this in my very near future. I am also dying to try L’Artisan Seville L’Aube, since I think I would also love this. As far as Bal A Versailles, when I’m feeling blue, or tired, or just want a sure thing to spray on that I know will give me a lift, it’s Bal all the way, and has been for over 4 decades!!! I’ve got it in every permutation, but of course, the vintage parfum de toilette is still the best. Bal never fails me.

        • Patty says:

          Hmm, I think I thought of that s more of a blend with lemon blossom and neroli and petit grain. But completely agree, it is so gorgeous and of my very favorite springtime scents.

          • cerise says:

            I forgot to mention that I want very much to be entered in the drawing. I’ve just ordered the Serge Lutens fleurs d’citronnier, and I’m smelling the last of my tiny sample on my wrist. I will have absolutely no reservations about wearing this on a cold winter’s day — it smells like bottled sunshine to me. Love it more every time I smell it!!

  • Em says:

    I wore Serge’s for my sister’s wedding, and drained a small Jo Malone, but I have been unceasing in my search for an even truer orange blossom. Closest I’ve gotten is Tom Ford’s Neroli, weirdly.

    • Patty says:

      Yeah, I waffled on whether to include Neroli. It’s so close, and some neroli is closer to orange blossom, but this post would have doubled in size if I’d included all the neroli too.

      Tom’s Neroli is one of his scents that I like quite a lot. I forget to wear it because I have some other citrusy scents I like more, but it doesn’t suck at all!

  • Lavanya says:

    I have recently realized how much I love orange blossom. I love it (the actual flower) more than jasmine but less than tuberose and if it were a musical note- it would fall between those two smells…

    I hear ya on Sweet Redemption- when I first smelled it I was disappointed precisely because of the orange and vanilla pairing but after multiple wearings I LOVE it and is probably my most worn orange blossom (though I am really also addicted to Seville L’aube which just melts into my skin in a very ‘signature scent way’, although smells harsh on my clothes). I really like Fire and Cream too and Arunima seemed similar too. JM Orange Blossom was one of my first niche buys but I never took it very seriously and mostly layered it with Pom Noir for a little more character. But it is very lovely inspite of or maybe because of its simplicity. Oh and Shalini is sooo pretty- I used to have a sample..

    • Patty says:

      I think orange blossom is difficult to hate, but I totally get that it may go all wrong on people and just turn to soap or worse. I’m so glad it works on me!

      Tuberose and orange blossom together are just magical. If someone would just take those two notes, throw in some hawthorn and a skosh or incense, I could probably be happy. That could also be a huge mess.

      Seville does that to me – it just melts into my skin and wafts so delicately. Really a gorgeous thing. Shalini, I’m trying to figure out how in the world to find more in the world.

  • pyramus says:

    I am really not a giant orange-blossom fan and I hated Gaultier’s Fleur du Mâle, but Fahrenheit 32 is pretty amazing, cold and warm at the same time: I have a full bottle, even though I hardly ever wear it.

    Serge Lutens Fleurs d’Oranger and Gorilla Perfumes (Lush) Orange Blossom are just totally death by orange-flower, for those who like that sort of thing.

    • Patty says:

      Agree on Fleur du Male. Apom is a more expensive version of it. Fahrenheit is orange blossom centric? Must go back and check!

      I can’t do Lush anything. I know the Lush lovers are hating that I don’t do Lush, but whatever they use, I just can’t do it.

      • pyramus says:

        Did you try Imogen Rose? Really a lovely, lovely rose soliflore. And Vanillary is pretty good in tiny quantities.

        Or maybe you just can’t do Lush. I can’t do Fruits et Passion: every single goddamn scent has the same base and it’s horrible stuff. I can barely stand to walk past the shop in the mall.

        • Patty says:

          Can’t do lush at all. not sure why. I don’t hate them, I just bleah. I know they have a huge number of fans, so they won’t miss me. 🙂

      • pyramus says:

        Oh, and Fahrenheit isn’t orange-blossom (it’s hawthorn, or used to be), but Fahrenheit 32, the one in the frosty white bottle, is.

        • Patty says:

          Yes, that’s it! I knew Fahrenheit had hawthorn. I don’t think I’ve checked out the 32, but I bet there must be a sample around here of it!