Bitter Orange

Simple. Soft. Summery. Not TOO sweet. But certainly not "bitter" at all. That said, in my humble estimation, this may be the best fragrance ZARA has on offer, "male" or "female" - most everything else I've smelt from them seems a saccharine hodgepodge of artless swill. I apologise if that comes across as harsh but, I cannot tell a lie. Synthetic smelling for sure. So those searching for a more "impression of genuine" journey from neroli to orange-musk should look elsewhere. But for the price, this will suffice. I keep my bottle in the icebox and enjoy a refreshing spritz of it on these sweltering, sticky summer days, when only simple & plentiful will do, and layer it will other citrus scents or woods for these suffocatingly sultry summer nights. Less refreshing than Florida Water, 4711, or Mugler Cologne, yet more long lasting of course... not nearly as lush nor refined as Penhaligon's Orange Blossom, but a sixth of the price ... less unapologetic, sensual, & intoxicating than Fleur du Mâle, but not (so sadly) discontinued. (I'll not mention the glorious, narcotic, yet not for summer Lutens here, nor the ridiculously overpriced TF of great fame...) On balance it's a bargain. Beautiful packaging. Boring bottle. ★☆☆☆☆

Pretty enough but nothing out of this world. Maybe I'm being unfair as the name misled me - I'd hoped for real bitterness and real orange, so notes of peel, pith, zest and juice, rather than just orange flowers. There's absolutely none of any of that - this is a simple white/citrus flowers scent, pretty and zingy on first application, which goes a bit soapy in a couple of hours, disappears in under 3. Cheap as chips so might be worth buying for a handbag backup, or possibly layering with a more expensive citrus/white flower thing which you need to stretch out a bit. Not bad at all, but not one of Zara's occasional, genuine, 'can't believe it's that good for that little money!' success stories in my view. Not in the same league (not even close) to anything Tom Ford or Serge Lutens or even Hermes so don't bother if you are pinning your hopes on it being a secret, little-known dupe of something more expensive.

So I'm the second guy to add a review for this :o) I was tempted by the comparisons to Tom Ford Neroli Portofino, which I like, so I thought I'd give this a go ! Am I disappointed ? No, not really it's very pleasant & IMO, very 'unisex' fragrance too. As far as it's comparisons to the Tom Ford are concerned .. Well I knew it wouldn't be a dead ringer & I was completely right in thinking that .... I'd say that Ferrari's 'Bright Neroli' comes closer to the Tom Ford & probably performs slightly better than this .. but for it's price I can't really complain ! If anything I'd say it has more in common with Muelhens classic '4711 cologne', but performs a little better and definitely lasts longer as a skin fragrance. All in all a very nice unisex, slightly synthetic but still pleasant & refreshing powdery citrus Fragrance. Not a bad job at all Zara !

opens up with orange peel smell not bitter at all, quickly dries down into floral smell. longevity is 5 minutes and too feminine.

Chic, tart, not too much like 4711, which is good. Sillage good while it lasts, which is not too long. (2 hrs)

I dont like it. it has too much alcohol