Lemon
43 fragrances with this note
Part of accords: Citrus, Fresh
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- Latin name
- Citrus limon
- Family
- Rue family (Rutaceae)
- Origin
- Sicily (Italy), Argentina, Spain
- Parts used
- fruit peel
- Raw materials
- essential oil
- Extraction
- cold pressing of the peel
- Olfactory group
- citrus
- Position in the pyramid
- top note
- Synthetic substitutes
- citral, limonene
Lemon oil is not the juice but the fragrant oil glands in the yellow peel. They are opened by cold pressing: the peel is squeezed or rasped, the oil comes out together with fine droplets of water and is then separated.
How it smells: bright, tart, sparkling citrus — the most straightforward of all fresh notes. Sicilian lemon is juicy and sweetish, Argentinian sharper and greener. Lemon instantly “switches on the light” in any fragrance.
Citrus oils are the most volatile in perfumery: lemon sounds brightly for the first minutes and then gently gives way to the heart notes. That is why in long-lasting fragrances lemon is often supported by synthetic molecules that hold the freshness longer.
What it pairs with: with bergamot, neroli and rosemary — classic colognes, with mint and ginger — lively summer fragrances, with tea — fresh tea compositions, with jasmine and musk — light sunny ones, with vanilla — a “lemon dessert”.
Good to know: lemon, neroli, bergamot and rosemary were the basis of the early eighteenth-century Kölnisch Wasser, which gave us the very word “cologne” (eau de Cologne).
Fragrances with Lemon
