Orange Blossom

What it is

The flower of the bitter orange tree, extracted with solvents. The same tree gives neroli from steam distillation and petitgrain from the leaves, and all three smell different.

What it smells like

Sweet, honeyed and slightly green, warmer and heavier than neroli. It carries a soapy quality that reads as clean to some people and as old fashioned to others, and it is the backbone of most orange-flower colognes.

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.

Jean Paul Gaultier (18), Yves Saint Laurent (17), Lancome (16), Viktor&Rolf (13), Valentino (12), Givenchy (11).