There are many choices for the perfumer when it comes to citrus. To names a few, there's orange, lemon, lime, yuzu, grapefruit, pomelo, bergamot, or this months featured raw material: cedrat heart! Discover why it is important to have such a broad range of citrus in the perfumers pallet. Enjoy a delicious dessert inspired fragrance with this months perfume: Reggio.
Zesty Inspiration
The perfume for this months subscription box, Reggio, was inspired by a simple craving for some Keylime pie. For those of you who have been deprived of this delightful dessert, let me just say, it's like a cheese cake meets the tropics. This dessert provides a beautiful bouquet of flavors like zesty lime, vanilla, and spices. While formulating Reggio, I aimed for a perfume that would embody this delicious treat, while staying fresh and not too cloying and sweet. For this reason it was especially important to keep the citrus zesty and green like a lime and not sweet like and orange. You may wonder why I would not simply use lime oil?
I did! But, I could not use too much for some safety reasons..... lets talk about bergaptenes.
Bergaptenes
While many citrus oils may smell divine, they do not feel divine if you put them on your skin and go out into the sun. Many citrus oils contain bergaptene, a form of furanocoumarin that interacts with UV rays to produce chemical burns and skin discoloration. For some materials, such as bergamot oil, the bergaptene can be easily removed without disrupting the odor profile to dramatically. Unfortunately, this is not as easy for materials like lime oil expressed, which is why my lime themed citrus accord in Reggio is heavily supported by Cedrat Heart. This citrus oil can be safely used at a higher percent than an expressed lime oil and it is excellent for achieving a similar bright zesty note.
Cedrat Heart
The cedrat, also known as the citron, looks like a big rough lemon with an extra thick rind. This fruit was one of the original citrus from which other citrus were derived through natural hybrid speciation or artificial hybridization. The cedrat has commonly bean used in a variety of form
factors ranging from food to perfume. So what is a cedrat heart?
In perfumery, the term heart is used somewhat arbitrarily to describe a material that has been enriched in whatever the perfumer deems the desirable components. In the cedrat heart, for example, one of the compounds that has been enriched is citral, which smells like sweet lemon candy. When compared to other citrus essential oils, the cedrat heart is more zesty and pithy with a sugary lemon candy undertone. In this case it was paired with some lime oil expressed and bergaptene-free-bergamot to make a well rounded impression of a freshly grated lime.
Reggio Notes
Notes: Zesty Lime, Toasted Coconut, Vanilla, Cardamom, Sun Tan Lotion, Sweet Musk.
Reggio enters with bright juicy citrus and sugary sweet vanilla. It quickly transitions into a more zesty, salty toasted coconut and musk notes. The dry-down is creamy and solar.
Compare the (+) and (-)
When comparing the (+) and (-) perfume you are likely to find that the (+) version has a more lingering sweet lemon note. This is likely due to the 15% ctiral that occurs in the cedrat heart. The (-) version is likely to seem somewhat thin without the sweet lemon character in the middle notes. The creamy coconut and musk component might seem more strong. As the two fragrances dry-down they will seem more similar because the cedrat heart is a top and middle note, but lasts less than an hour.
So now that you have trained your nose to identify cedrat heart and its effect(s) in perfumery, what do you think? Do you prefer the (+) or (-) perfume?
Feel free to share any questions or comments you have! I would love to hear your thoughts! As always, thank you for subscribing. I work very hard to make this subscription as fun, engaging, and educational as possible, but I am always seeking suggestions for improvement.
If you like what this perfume has to offer, I do suggest sniffing the perfumes listed below:
Virgin Island Water Creed
Saint Julep Imaginary Authors
Unknown Pleasures Kerosene