Grapefruit

What it is

Pressed from the peel, and the least stable of the common citruses. The sulphur molecules that make it smell like grapefruit are the same family that make it smell like sweat when they degrade.

What it smells like

Tart and bitter with a fizzy lift, less sweet than orange and less sharp than lemon. It is the citrus most likely to read as fresh rather than as clean, and it turns unpleasant faster than any of the others as a bottle ages.

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.

Armaf (12), Azzaro (9), Paco Rabanne (9), Carolina Herrera (8), Hermes (8), Hugo Boss (8).