Harridan

Nuit d'Oranger smells like burying your nose in the heart of a flower and sniffing hard, pollen flying in your face and all.

It's a very warm scent that brings to mind a sweltering summer afternoon or a hot summer evening following an even hotter day. The floral notes are heavy and heady, accompanied by honeyed sweetness and odd powderiness that to me creates the impression of flower pollen flying around. The warmth and sweetness are highlighted by a hint of hard to describe spiciness that I can't find in the listed notes. It's absolutely *not* fresh, clean or airy as many others in this line are (say Cedrus or Magnolia Alba). Mate and patchouli are not clearly discernable, instead they serve to add structure to the fragrance, creating a very discreet, unsweetened, dry and woody backdrop for the floral-powdery-vanillic main act.

I find that it performs well in 24-25 degrees Celsius but starts choking me once we hit 30. It's definitely not meant for extreme heat nor extreme humidity and could easily bother people around the wearer. It opens with a huge, startling burst of projection that recedes over time. In about 3 hours what remains is only a little stronger than a skin scent, although it projects slightly better from fabric (pairs well with flowing fabrics if you enjoy having your scent noticed by those around you). As the bottle and the name seem to suggest it works best for summer evening outings, whether casual or elegant.

Personally I find Nuit d'Oranger interesting but not really worth the price. However I don't care for most floral-forward fragrances so don't let my bias stop you from at least trying it out. I wouldn't call it blind-buy safe or a safe gift material, since some folks might find it cloying. My patner for example (coincidentally a person allergic to pollen) was very much not impressed by my high heat wear test.

This whole summer I was craving a sweet beachy fragrance that won't give me a headache and in September I belatedly found the perfect one - Aegean Bronze. To me it reads predominantly as a charming blend of frangipani and soft, non-cloying, airy vanilla. The notes of citrus and freesia are not clearly discernable although I believe they are present and discreetly play a role in giving the perfume it's light and breezy character. Frangipani and sand notes automatically trick my brain into classifying a perfume as "tropical smelling" and "beach scent" although the sand note is not nearly as clear and prominent as in Eau de Soleil Blanc It has a sweet, creamy, almost milky quality to it and I can see how it can remind some people of a milky body lotion. However I wouldn't say this smells like sunscreen at all. It's a close cousin to the sunscreeny genre of coconut-and-tropical-florals perfumes and undoubtedly it's meant to serve a similar purpose but it doesn't actually convey "sunscreen" in the same way Beach Walk does.

Aegean Bronze is a fairly long lasting fragrance that will stick to your clothes for days after you wore them. To be honest I'm not a fan of how it dries down on fabrics since it loses a lot of complexity and leaves behind a sugary cotton candy aroma. The drydown on my skin is a lot more pleasant and balanced and it performs very well in sweaty late summer conditions. The projection is not particularly big since the scent was designed with hot weather in mind. However, if having a noticeable aura is what you're into you can give it a few extra sprays and it's definitely capable of forming a pleasant scent trail that will perceptibly waft around as you move. The price is excellent and you can easily find discounts on Korres products. I obtained a 50 ml bottle for about 21 EUR thanks to a late summer sale.

Most importantly Aegean Bronze is a light, cheerful and sexy fragrance that can noticeably improve one's mood and makes for a great summer companion.