Hello perfume people and welcome to another session of Mood Scent 4. Each month my fragrant partners and myself team up to share some fragrance love highlighting a specific theme. The Mood Scent 4 team features Portia at A Bottled Rose (Australia), L’Esperessence (Netherlands) and I Scent You A Day (Wales, United Kingdom) and we are your perfume selectors today for fragrances featuring orange in some shape or form. This theme is ripe for the picking and one of my favourite olfactive themes, and am looking forward to seeing what gems the Mood Scent 4 crew feature.

Orange based fragrances can be darkly sultry, or fresh and floral, even nail bitingly sweet. It doesn’t matter what the mood, style or general ambience is, there will always be an orange scent in my rotation. If you have bitter orange trees in your garden then you will know that the scent of the flowers is simply divine. The flowers are a temporary fixture but the anticipation as they bloom is magical. The blossoms have such a sharp, yet exotic scent and they are my favourite memory of France, olfactorily speaking, and have a real sense of place. I’ve spent many moments inhaling the perfume from the tree and it’s one of my most loved odours.

So let’s get to the fragrances …

Orange Sanguine : Atelier Cologne : Ralf Schweiger : 2010

A classic scent from the brand that reinvigorated the cologne market with its Cologne Absolue classification. As far as fragrance openings go you don’t get much juicier than Orange Sanguine. Think freshly peeled oranges with the juice trickling down your fingers, dripping with goo and deliciousness.  It is the sweet scent of blood orange but also the citrus reminiscent of orange peel. It is an incredibly gorgeous start to this fragrance and is definitely the best part for me and I want to respray it frequently.  

The development of the perfume doesn’t  top the opening, as this is a hard act to follow.  There’s a hint of spice that reveals itself and the dry down is very musky with a wash of what feels like a light amber. Orange Sanguine is photo realistic and comes across as refreshing and fragrant, however the sillage and longevity are not that great on me and it becomes a skin scent very quickly. But really who cares just respray and et voilà the juiciness returns.

Rose L’Orange : April Aromatics : Tanja Bochnig : 2012

Rose L’Orange smells like natural neroli and orange and I can appreciate the almost marmalade quality in this fragrance. The opening is very rosy too, so if you enjoy the combination of rose and orange with a sweet and sour facet that smells amazingly natural you should find this a lovely blend. The sweetness comes from the vanilla that starts to get stronger as the scent wears on. Imagine walking through an orange grove with rose bushes placed enticingly close and inhaling the sweet intoxicating air. Another scent to love from April Aromatics.

Dilettante : Hiram Green : Perfumer : Hiram Green : 2016

Hiram Green makes natural perfumes that smell rich and strong in their development. Often naturals can smell a bit flat lined or heavy but Hiram has managed to weave something beautiful with his scents. Dilettante is a more sultry orange scent that starts sunny and warm with sunlight staining the skin. Shots of greens and a honeyed resinous vibe continue that take this scent from day to night. On my skin the scent lasts for hours, so don’t say that natural fragrances have poor longevity again! One small problem – the scent is discontinued, so it will be difficult to find this, but fragrance friends may have some …

Fleurs d’Oranger :  Serge Lutens : Christopher Sheldrake : 2003

Fleurs d’Oranger is one of my go to Lutens perfumes, Christopher Sheldrake has successfully bottled the scent of the blossoms. If the truth be told the perfume is also very much about tuberose too. However it does capture the scent of the trees and I know one sniff of this conjures very specific scent memories of bitter orange blossom trees. Jasmine is also in the perfume, so the royal triumvirate of white flowers is right there. Fleurs d’Oranger has a slightly dirty aspect but that’s up for debate. Some find a cumin note but I struggle to detect it (probably thankfully). All of that aside, this is really just pure  spring magic to me.

Nuxe Huile Prodigeuse :  Nuxe :  1982

Nuxe Huile Prodigeuse  smells like beach, hot sun and flowers. It’s an all over body oil and Nuxe also promote it as something you can use in your hair. Personally I don’t think that’s a good idea for the grease factor but each to their own.

The oil sinks into skin very quickly and has the power of instant revitalisation. Although it conjures the beauty of the summer months, I find it an instant mood boost in the depths of winter. The solar powers of the oil, revive and take me back to the wistful memories of Mediterranean summer seas and skies and that blue sea. The oil has a floral sunscreen scent and I wear the sun block too in the same line and the after sun cream too. All come highly recommended for that beachy, tropical flowers vibe.

So that’s a wrap for this edition of Mood Scent 4. Thank you so much for stopping by and please make sure to read my fellow Mood Scent 4 group writers : Portia at A Bottled Rose, Samantha on I Scent You A Day and Esperanza on L’Esperessence. 

Please let us know your favourite orange focused scents too.

Notes : Images from the brand websites.

Disclosure : Samples gratefully received from April Aromatics and Hiram Green.