Le Bigaradier and its fragrant gifts theme
You can order all perfumes featured in this theme as a pack of samples.
In this theme
Explore the gifts from "Le bigaradier" also known as Citrus Aurantium or the bitter orange tree - the source of neroli, orange blossom, petitgrain and bigarade in perfumery. All these materials come from the same plant.
Neroli oil is the product of steam distillation of the flowers. Orange blossom absolute also comes from flowers but via a much more gentle volatile chemicals extraction. Even though both materials come from the same part of the plant they smell very different. Neroli has a bitter green floral profile, whereas orange blossom is a honeyed heady floral story.
Petitgrain is the product of steam distillation of the twigs and leaves. The bigarade oil comes from cold mechanical extraction of the fruit.
For this edit we selected perfumes that perfectly illustrate these wonderful gifts from Citrus Aurantium and which ill take you on a fragrant journey through the Le Bigaradier kingdom.
A perfume which features every possible material you can get from Citrus Aurantium: bigarade, neroli, orange blossom and petitgrain. Lacura is a complex story of fruity, citrus, green and honeyed floral nuances as well as the soft woody vibes of various aromas that flow in the leaves, blossom and wood of the bitter orange tree.
It’s easy to overlook neroli in this perfume as this material is in the background behind another delicious note: rhubarb. The latter is so bright, yummy and happy that the greener quieter neroli flows unnoticed for some time until the fruity opening subsides.
One of the best neroli themed perfumes out there. Neroli oil is steam distilled from the flowers of Citrus Aurantium and has a sharp green floral and citrusy odor. In Pure Azure every beautiful nuance of the neroli aroma has been highlighted or shaded with some material. Jasmine supports the floral nuance, fig tree leaves boost the greenness and vanilla and tonka add the Mediterranean sunshine to make the formula brighter and warmer.
Centuries ago orange blossom butter was used in fine leather production in Spain (for its beautiful aroma and to make leather stretchy). That fact stayed with us in the ‘peau d’Espagne’ perfume style: rich decadent leather with a lot of honeyed and somewhat bitter orange blossom in its character. PG03 Cuir Venenum (‘poisoned leather’ in French - say hello to Catherine Medici) has a lot of this ‘peau d’Espangne’ style and naturally you can pick up a lot of orange blossom in its aromatic profile.
In this perfume story petitgrain with its dual shady woody and sunny zesty nature represents a memory of holidays in the Mediterranean. Someone comes back to Paris in autumn, dons a cashmere sweater, but the skin underneath still holds the vague memory of sun lotion and sea salt. Petitgrain is a perfect material which naturally has this cool-warm contrast in its aroma.
A new release but very relevant to the theme being explored in this edit. Leon has a lot of petitgrain. In this perfume you can easily pick up its gently floral and dry woody, quite complex citrus profile. Leon is a fine collection of Mediterranean citruses and petitgrain is in the background of the composition. Also it holds the architecture together as a darker woodier nuance supporting sunny but undisciplined cedrat and bergamot.
