Blood Oranges

Paper sprayed last week with Jo Malone Orange Bitters (JMOB). Blind buy of Shay & Blue Blood Oranges (SBBO). Sample of Atelier California Clementine (ACC). Each opened with blast of oranges, with JMOB a little more soft, while other two smell like fresh squeezed citrus. JMOB opening not as fresh/orangey blast as others, but did not change much over time, and the fact that the paper still has a trace scent is pretty good. But it ends up kind of powdery ...good but more feminine to me. ACC citrus blast opening was gone in minutes, then I became scent blind. But on further inspection, has settled into a nice appealing, not sharp/tart, scent. This is what I would imagine an orange, well clementine, scent should be. No nonsense clementine only. SBBO orange blast also did not last long, but settles into a more leather scent, with orange on top. Definitely masculine. Has strongest end note/projection of the three so I think will last longer. Unfamiliar noses might think strong citrus scents are "cleanser-like"...but SBBO will not be mistaken for that at all. If you want soft/feminine orange = JMOB...also pricey If you want straight orange (well, clementine) = ACC...also pricey If you want masculine orange = SBBO...best value Scent wise, I think I like ACC best, but for scent/price/value, I like SBBO.

Just absolutely straight-ahead orange juice and zest. I don't get any musk or amber or leather whatsoever, although maybe they are just there working hard in the background to extendi those short-lived citrus smells. My impression is simply of delicious, refreshing, uncomplicated and beautifully succulent natural orange. I was looking for something in the same ballpark as Hermes Concentre d'Orange Verte, but the Shay & Blue is almost as different from that as something so orangey could be. It's much wetter, less complex and less powdery than the Hermes; also much more acid to the Hermes' sweetness. I love them both, but not living in a hot climate (see below) find the Hermes more useful; on really really hot and humid days I might want to wear S&B more as it's a little fresher. It doesn't project much after 4hrs or last much beyond 6 so I too would recommend the smaller bottle for refreshing in the day, unless you plan to decant and get through it pretty quickly (the price per ml on the larger bottle is loads lower.) A terrific scent for spring and summer but I'm not sure how motivated I would feel to use it - or indeed how it would perform - on a cool or cold day.

If you love the photorealistic orange note but find it dissipates too quickly, I recommend getting the body wash and body lotion and layering. It’s basically pure blood orange note and SO so juicy. I actually tried this first as the body wash because I was wary of the leather note. Leather and suede notes tend to make me nauseous for some reason, and make a fragrance lean more masculine than I like. I really didn’t get the leather note at all in the body wash version, and pure citrus is always a good body wash type scent. The personal fragrance does have more complexity and depth than the body wash, but that’s not saying much. I definitely do get the leather note, and it’s mild and subtle enough that it doesn’t make me nauseous. It gives the fragrance a warmer tone, but is nowhere near as impressive as the opening blood orange note. If you like this but are disappointed in performance for the price point, definitely check out the body wash and lotion. I can’t promise you that they’ll have better longevity, but they’ll certainly save you money.

I have a love hate relationship with Blood Oranges. Love in that I absolutely adore it and hate in that it has the longevity of goldfish-memory on my skin. I literally get no sillage from this whatsoever and it fades into a skin scent on me (and one you basically have to work to even smell on the skin) within five minutes. I think to get other people to notice this I would need to spray it on them and not me! I initially thought I had maybe got a bad bottle but I am on my second bottle now so it is definitely a poor performer longevity-wise. As against all that, the scent itself is stunning. I get the burst of citrus but with a very sexy and insistent undertone of burning rubber or tarmac. It reminds me of holidays in France in the height of summer and I love it.

This is a hidden gem for me. I bought a 10 mL bottle along with some others from S&B just to try it and it ended up being my favourite. It doesn't have huge sillage but it's noticeable. Longevity was good for me, including the orange note. The orange is realistic but is kept from being too sweet by the suede in the background. I find this to be a clean, unisex smell which works well for the office but would be OK for a summer evening or weekend. Edit: I like to layer this with Escentric Molecule 1 (iso-E super) - I'm not normally into layering but it accentuates the clean feel and helps with longevity as iso-E super is also a fixing agent.