Bergamot

What it is

A small sour citrus grown almost entirely in Calabria, pressed from the peel. It is the most used top note in perfumery, and the oil has to be treated to remove bergapten, which burns skin in sunlight.

What it smells like

Sharper and greener than orange, with a floral lift underneath that lemon does not have. It sets the first impression of an enormous number of fragrances and is gone within twenty minutes, which is why so many scents smell like a different thing after half an hour.

Where it sits

Which layer of the pyramid it is listed in, across every fragrance here that carries it. A base note is one you smell for hours; a top note is usually gone within the first.

What it turns up with

How much more often than the catalogue average. 1.0x would be chance, so these are the things that genuinely travel with it rather than the things that are simply common.

When it is worn

Against the average fragrance here. The line marks that average, so a bar past it means this is worn in that season or setting more than most.

Houses that use it most

Counted across the fragrances here, which reflects what we cover as much as what a house makes.

Guerlain (33), Armaf (32), Creed (30), Lancome (27), Xerjoff (23), Yves Saint Laurent (21).