Sun

This doesn't last for SHIT but my god does it make me happy... smells like orange juice being freshly squeezed right in front of you, the fruit plucked off the tree mere minutes ago. Lasts about 2 hours max on the skin but really you need to reapply every hour or so to enjoy those juicy top notes, and I think that's just the trade-off you have to make for such a "pure" citrus scent unfortunately. The ones with lasting power will have heavy-hitting mid and base notes (neroli, tonka bean, amber, etc) which ultimately detract from/muddy the olfactory experience - I imagine it's the reason why most of those Demeter fragrances don't last either. It's Lush's cheapest offering but I can't deny that it's expensive for how long it actually lasts... with all that said, I'm a fool who'll keep paying that price until I find a worthy replacement -- the term gets thrown around more often than I blink in a day but I truly think Sun is a photorealistic orange fragrance! I've tried A LOT of citrus perfumes in the decade or so since this hit the shelves and it's still the reigning champ in my eyes.

If someone asked me what an ripe orange smells like, this would be it! This isn’t orange candy, orange cake or orange blossom. It’s the smell of peeling a fresh orange and then bringing your fingers to your nose afterwards. Juicy, bitter and incredibly realistic. It captures the oils from the peel perfectly, that sharp burst that sprays into the air when you break the skin of the fruit. Nothing more, nothing less. I love it! It’s the perfect summer scent. A fragrance for sunshine, coffee with friends, and slow walks through the city. My only complaint, and it is a big one, is the longevity. Like a real orange, the experience is beautiful but fleeting. Perhaps, the scent of an actual orange lasts longer! I have to take the perfume with me, because it doesn’t last any longer than an hour.

So I made a wonderful discovery today... you want a longer lasting version of this? Le Labo The Matcha is your guy. The "bitter orange" note is SOOOO similar to Sun and lasts on my skin for several hours! There are trade-offs though, of course: the price being one (it's extremely expensive, no way of getting around that), but also it's woodier than Sun, and has a prominent fig note (one that is a little fruity but primarily more green, woody and creamy), but that orange note stands strong nonetheless. Of course you could just buy a 100ml of Sun and reapply multiple times, it'd work out cheaper still, but it's massively inconvenient to carry around a big bottle of perfume, and The Matcha lasts about 8 hours on me. Get a sample and see how it works for you!

This smells exactly like the label artwork: an orange lollipop that melted in the sun. Sounds a bit gross but its a really nice, fun, summery fragrance. Its quite a linear scent -just orange and mimosas on me, no hint of sandalwood - but that's what I love about it. Its perfect for days when I want a simple, straight-to-the-point scent (I find that simple scents are helpful when I'm stressed out and thinking of too many things. It helps clear my thoughts) plus, its great for layering! Sun is a great scent to layer on to Lush's Furze. Together they smell like my childhood summers :) My one complaint is the sillage: it stays very close to the skin!

I love citrus scents, but I often give scathing reviews of some terribly overpriced niche fragrances that only offer a ten-minute citric blast, and then dissappear forever, leaving you broke AND scentless. On the other hand, I am more than happy to praise Lush Sun for what it is - an extremely realistic orange & tangerine pairing. Citrus notes in general are known to be fleeting, however given Sun's affordable price and (almost) all-natural ingredients, it performs quite decently. I mostly use it for layering, but it also works quite nicely on its own.