Orange Blossom and Neroli Recs

[Torrilin]

A friend of mine is a perfumer and has been working on distinguishing orange blossom and neroli. Here's her review of her last trial of the two in essential oil form.

 

I suspect the reason a lot of people react to orange blossom and neroli scents as if they contained citrus *peel* is because they do seem to contain some (tho by no means all) of the components that citrus peel does. I react rather badly to neroli and orange blossom (piercing headache, it's up there with iris for trying to kill me), and if I peel a lot of oranges and am not careful to keep them away from my face and wash my hands carefully afterwards, I end up with a headache. To me tho, orange blossom/neroli has a sharp, piercing element always, and never softens or sweetens or powders itself. I've not sniffed enough, but orange blossom is often described as being akin to jasmine because it's indolic, and neroli is oft described as akin to pettigrain because it's can be very "green" smelling.

 

(for obvious reasons, I can't help with good orange blossom and neroli blends... I keep 'em as far from me as possible)

 

Kalli

[Taniwha]

Wow, Torrilin, that's interesting to me for two reasons. The review is very enlightening (although I fear my nose would *never* make those distinctions), and I also just yesterday got some Althaea soap samples. I hadn't checked out her website yet - what timing! They smell lovely.

[DARKBEAUTY28]

I'm looking for a "creamy", floral neroli. Preferably a BPAL where the neroli is the strongest note. Any more recs since the last reply in this thread?

[loladae]

Love's Torments I think.

Edited June 2, 2008 by loladae

[icing]

Zarita’s a beautiful , creamy orange blossom on me… Vice sometimes is too.

Edited June 2, 2008 by icing

[oakmoss]

Get L'Ecole des Filles, if you can find some -- it's one of the nicest neroli/orange blossom scents I've tried.

[AEris]

I'm stealing all of these recs, by the way....

 

Succubus smells like green, sharp neroli in the imp, but it is one of the most morphy BPALs ever - it immediately changes into a lovely soft floral as soon as it hits my skin. It's absolutely lovely, a must-try for a neroli/orange blossom seeker!!

 

Succubus is one of my favorite GCs, I really don't wear it often enough. Now I want to get home for some slathery goodness!

[Melenass]

I love Neroli/orange blossom scent. My favorite scent neroli Bpal is Orpheus, creamy and bright.

 

Orpheus (The Salon: Exhibit I): Pale musk, green mandarin, neroli, benzoin, citrus peel, blue lavender, narcissus, stephanotis, crushed green stems, willow branch and cedar.

[forspecial_plate]

When I wore Ra (and also when my 1 imp leaked all over the place), it had a lot of orange blossom or neroli.

[Persephone76]

Can anyone recommend their favorite Orange Blossom (not orange) scent? Preferably a "lighter" scent. I've got a friend I'm enabling to BPAL and she loooves orange blossom but it's not a fave of mine.

 

I can obviously search by note, but I was looking for people to recommend their faves.

[ivyandpeony]

Orange blossom is a note that I don't like if I just sniff it as a single note - whether I like a blend with it is always completely up in the air until I try it. But I have been smitten with Jezebel (honey, roses, orange blossom and sandalwood) since I first tried it 4+ years ago.

 

Hunger is a dark and sexy scent - I usually associate orange blossom with lighter, airier florals, so your friend might like trying something different (it's vanilla, black narcissus and orange blossom). Tweedledee's a fun scent, bright & spicy tea with orange blossom (kumquat, white pepper, white tea and orange blossom).

[donnatron]

If she likes patchouli, it blends marvelously with orange blossom.

 

Masquerade (Patchouli, ambergris, carnation and orange blossom) is predominantly orange blossom when fresh and it's beautiful. It's a bit sweet and spicy from the ambergris and carnation, the patchouli adds some earthy grounding and the orange blossom is lovely and fresh. It smells very orange to my nose and is one of my BPAL favourites, let alone orange blossom favourites.

Vixen (The innocence of orange blossom tainted by the beguiling scents of ginger and patchouli): This one is a lot more earthy and spiced from the patchouli but it's a popular blend and is quite lovely. It's more of a dirty and sultry Masquerade.

 

If she likes her scents a bit lighter:

 

Les Bijoux (Skin musk and honey, blood-red rose, orange blossom, white peach, red apple, frankincense and myrrh): A sexy, close-to-the-skin scent. The honey/skin musk combo sweetens everything considerably and I find that the orange blossom and frankincense seem to dominate.

Catherine (orange blossom, rosemary and rose): A bit of a softer floral/herbal combo. The rosemary is really interesting and unusual in this.

Katharina (white musk with a trickle of bright, sharp apricot and orange blossom): Light and clean with a bit of fruity sweetness.

Arcana (Frankincense, rosemary, lavender, neroli, and verbena): Fresh, light and herbal.

 

And if she likes just plain unusual orange blossom:

 

Vice (A deep chocolate scent, with black cherry and orange blossom): Very foody and sweet. Made a bit more palatable as a perfume by the orange blossom.

Dracul (Black musk, tobacco, fir, balsam of peru, cumin, bitter clove, crushed mint, and orange blossom): Very dark and heavy. The orange blossom is definitely a top note.

Titus Andronicus: (Dark musk and black amber with frankincense, red sandalwood, neroli and bergamot): I find this one kind of like a really idealized incense blend. It's smells almost exactly like a Persian rug store near my office.

The Caterpillar (Heavy incense notes waft lazily through a mix of carnation, jasmine, bergamot, and neroli over a lush bed of dark mosses, iris blossom, deep patchouli and indolent vetiver): I'm just kind of throwing this one out here because I wear it all the time but I rarely notice the neroli. It might be a good way to expand her scent repetoire if she just wants to start out with neroli notes.

[AEris]

I would recommend Succubus, one-and-only.

 

It starts out with a sharp, bitter orange-peel note (that's the neroli), but after a few seconds on the skin it magically transforms into a completely different scent. It's a soft, sweet, fresh, beautiful orange blossom. One of my nostalgic BPAL favorites!

[caitilarkin]

I would recommend Succubus, one-and-only.

 

It starts out with a sharp, bitter orange-peel note (that's the neroli), but after a few seconds on the skin it magically transforms into a completely different scent. It's a soft, sweet, fresh, beautiful orange blossom. One of my nostalgic BPAL favorites!

 

Another vote for Succubus here! It was one of the first BPALs I tried (just a couple of months ago) and it's a great enabling scent--very light and sweet.

[Miss Lynx]

Vixen is my favourite orange blossom scent, by far. The patchouli is just present enough to ground it a bit and keep it from being overly sweet, and the ginger gives it a nice kick. It's one of my permanent top ten scents.

[Reedsong]

L'École des Filles is the most marvelous, delightful, heady orange blossom scent BPAL has produced to date. The combination of the flower with ambergris is delicious, and to my nose, the blend seems to purify and amplify the natural beauty of orange blossom - it's stronger, truer, more somehow than, say, a bottle of orange flower water.

 

Seraglio is also very lovely, and the scent I wore often before L'École was released.

Edited November 16, 2008 by Reedsong

[reina]

loved seraglio, although to me it's more orange peel, marzipan with candied peel on the top. then the rose kicks in and it becomes soapy. YMMV.

Xiuhtecuhtli (aka "how do you spell this?") is one of my faves, it's the first BPAL I've tried and it works equally well on girls and guys. it starts off heavy on a citrus-resin thing and fades to a creamy floral. yum.

Would love to try Jezebel, sounds like a creamy thing.

Anyways, there you have it.

[mspixieears]

Jezebel has an orange blossom note along with rose and honey...

 

Also, the Lovers and Santa Eularia Des Riu have strong orange blossom notes, though they are mixed with lots of other notes...

 

The younger Jezebel is very strong on orange blossom, but as it gets older it gets more powdery.

 

When I first tried Catherine, the orange blossom wasn't so strong but I tried another imp (newer one?) and it was definitely strong on it. Interesting.

[Chrysantza]

One of the scents from this year's Novel Ideas for Secret Amusements - Bean Man and Bean Woman Prepare To Attack the Vagina - is very orange-blossom on me. It also has wonderful wonderful skin musk.

 

I love orange blossom, neroli not so much as it is too green/sharp for me.

[ModderRhu]

Beanman and Beanwoman Prepare to Attack the Vagina is VERY VERY orange blossomy. And suntan lotiony. But in a nice way!

[cuervosueno]

Vixen is my fave of the orange blossom scents by BPAL. I like both orange blossom and neroli and tend to talk about them as if they are the same, as they are from the same plant, and I think, if I understand it correctly, the only difference is in how they are obtained. (Yes, I just looked it up, and here is what I got from Wikepedia: "For instance, orange blossoms from Citrus aurantium that have undergone solvent extraction produces "orange blossom absolute" but that which have been steam distilled is known as "neroli oil". I only put this here, because I've been long confused by the difference, and thought other people might be too).

 

anyway, vixen is my fave. I just retried Ravenous (red patchouli and orange blossom), and it is a nice neroli too, but since it is similar to Vixen (and to my other fave Neroli blend, Arcana's The Sweet Trade), I decided I didn't need it. I find it softer than Vixen.

 

For me, neither Catherine or Arcana is a particularly "orange blossom" scent as both are heavier on other notes on me.

[parrot_suspect]

The new GC Paramatman is definitely heavy on the orange blossom -- while slightly softened by sandalwood. It's lovely.

[ravenzwart]

Im looking for an oil that has a good orangeblossom note

 

something like prada's infusion d'fleur d oranger

maybe a bit sweeter too

 

 

Wich oil comes close?

[Little Bird]

Im looking for an oil that has a good orangeblossom note

 

something like prada's infusion d'fleur d oranger

maybe a bit sweeter too

 

 

Wich oil comes close?

 

Bpal scents have a very different feel when compared to department store perfumes. Fleur d'Oranger, if I remember, went soapy on me and had a heavy, perfumey floral feel.

With bpal, if you're looking for a clean & floral scent, I'd recommend Dirty. For orange blossoms, I'd recommend:

*Hunger. With black narcissus, vanilla, and orange blossom, this is a heavier, sweeter, more perfumey sort of floral with great throw and staying power.

*Tweedledee. Kumquat, white pepper, white tea and orange blossom make this is a juicier, fresher, sweet smelling orange scent with that clean blossom edge.

 

Lolita, Katharina, & Jezebel also had rather strong orange blossom notes, in my opinion.

[ravenzwart]

thank you :-) i just ordered sacredwhore of babylon, how is that one with the orange blossom?

 

hunger and tweedeldee are planned in my next order

Edited October 23, 2010 by lucifera