Bitter Orange

What it is

The fruit of the same tree that gives neroli and petitgrain. Too sour to eat, which is why it became marmalade.

What it smells like

Sour and peel-like, closer to rind than to juice, with a dry bitterness underneath. It is used where sweet orange would be too simple and reads as more grown up for it.

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.

Le Labo (7), Guerlain (3), Prada (3), Dior (2), Gianni Versace (2), Giorgio Armani (2).