Mandarin Orange

What it is

Pressed from the peel of the fruit, and one of the gentler citruses. Green mandarin is the same fruit picked unripe and smells markedly sharper.

What it smells like

Sweet and soft, closer to the smell of peeling one than to the juice, with a slight powderiness underneath. It is the citrus most often used where lemon would be too cutting, and it suits fragrances aimed at feeling comfortable rather than crisp.

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.

Prada (12), Calvin Klein (11), Givenchy (11), Mugler (11), Burberry (10), Lancome (10).