Mandarino

I love the description from the Lubin site: “COOL ORANGE LEMONADE Alongside a field of jasmine, some children have set up a stall selling lemonade. Their “Mandarino” is made from the juice of a handful of slightly bitter kumquats, and a few sweet mandarins, mixed with some cool orangeade. Their laughter is carried on a fresh and carefree summer breeze.” I was boxing up some perfume to send to a friend, and was looking for samples to include in the box. I found I had a sample of this, I hadn’t smelled it before, and sprayed it on my arm, thought it was pleasant, and I added it to the box to ship out. Of course, I was to find that the dry down on my skin was beyond beautiful. On my way to the post office I was smelling this gorgeous scent, and I truly thought about opening the box, just ripping off the tape, even messing up the label, to take the sample out! But I didn’t, and I hope my friend likes it. Now, It has been 6 hours, and I’m still smelling it’s citrus, jasmine, sandalwood loveliness. I was going to take a shower, but I don’t want to wash it away. I’m definitely going to buy another sample.

Im just trying this out for spring and summer. Too soon to tell but already I like the warm mandarin with some jasmine intensity and the bitter undertone (kumquat probably). It smells like a good summer cocktail - not a light spritzy one for the heat of day- but one with some depth and warmth and a little dried sweat after the sun goes down and you might want a sweater. Orange bitters. A summer Old Fashioned. So far, so good!

Juicy mandarin jasmines... This is like a garden! the juicy jasmines are mingled with the mandarin quite well and formed a body cream, luxurious body cream with a touch kimquat, bitter oranges and sandalwood. Grand beauty mix with that orange woody creamy blend. Beautiful.

This is lovely. The citrus is a bitter “prickle” on spraying, then a dry, soft musk blooms underneath. The jasmine and freesia is very feminine. I found the house’s description of this a little strange, it’s quite a grown-up scent to me.

I'm kinda testing this blind, getting samples from the lovely reps for the brand at an event. While they had the whole brand on display, this is one that stood out to me to test at home. Obviously it is orange, but as I think I am developing a thing for orange fragrances, how does it stack up? For contrast I tested it with wearing Eau de Mandarine Ambrée by Hermès. Mandarino opens up and remains aromatically orange. While the mandarin note is clearly present with an almost bitters side to it, there's also a slightly spicy and mixed aromatic body in tandem with the citrus. Whereas the Hermes is resin-amber oily with more of a orange twist. Both have a very similar mid-body feel, with base and tops making each more district, but they are not categorically or significantly different. The Lubin has a musky side to it that seems to carry the fragrance longer throughout the day, but the orange is mostly, but not entirely gone. At the same time, there's a leftover scent that reminds me of stagnent wax, which is off-putting. I can only suggest it is something in the other notes creating this sensation. I think I'd like this more if that dead wax element never existed and the aromatic side was more pronounced and layered with clearer layers and notes. The opening and first hour it shines a bit more. Relatively unisex, but the aromatic opening suggests leaning slightly masculine.