Dreams and Orange Blossom

Orange blossom to me is the smell of happiness. High praise indeed for an essence or scent, especially from someone who can look more towards the darkness than the light. Some things in nature are there to just make us smile and I believe orange blossom is one of them; whether it is in food- especially my favourite macaroons as I stuff them, rather indelicately, into my mouth hoping no one is looking- or whether it is in scent. Still I have never found 'my' orange blossom perfume, despite flirting with several.

I was therefore delighted to find out Penhaligon's had a new orange blossom scent- and that it was created by the sublime French master perfumer Bertrand Duchaufour whose work I greatly admire and who created another recent and very successful perfume for Penhaligon's Amaranthine.

Duchaufour seems to be to have that great gift of creating a scent that is real. By that I mean not a synthetic smell that you immediately know to be perfume made in a laboratory but a smell that is so beautiful it imprints on your mind the way the scent of a lake you visited in Italy, a church in Southern France, or a field filled with glorious poppies might.

In his work for Penhaligon's Duchaufour seems to have really connected with florals in a way he hadn't seemed to in his previous work. Perhaps though these uncertain times mean people are looking more to joyful, reassuring smells like the orange blossom- which will forever be associated with wedding days, hopefully the happiest of days.

Penhaligon's Orange blossom is quite lovely, a very fitting addition to the Penhaligon's family of scents. It is part of their anthology series of scents, fragrances that are inspired by those in their archives- their original orange blossom was apparently created in 1976. This new version is at once very modern and timeless. It has a lightness, a lightheartedness, that would appeal to all.

My problem with orange blossom scents has always been I loved them but they felt just a bit too much on me personally- but this doesn't, this feels right. If I were to compare it to other orange blossoms I have liked very much in the bottle or on others but not on myself I would say this was like a perfect summer's day where there was a light breeze, where as others are a lovely summer day where you are just that little bit hot and uncomfortable; it's unashamedly joyful and delightful but it is never too much.

Head Notes
Neroli, Violet leaf, Bergamot, Lemon-cedrat, Cardamom absolute, Pink berries

Heart Notes
Orange absolute, Egyptian jasmine absolute, Tuberose absolute, Rose essence, Peach flower, Orchid

Base Notes
Sandalwood, Virginian cedar, White musk, Vanilla