Growing up in Phoenix, one scent above all others sang “spring.” Orange blossoms. Their melody is beautiful and lush and the desert air becomes saturated with the intoxicating perfume of these tender white blossoms every spring. If you’ve never been to the Phoenix area, the orange trees are a funny site as the trunks need to be painted white to protect them from the blazing heat of the Arizona summer sun (as well as bugs). The photo just below is all about my childhood memories of Phoenix which always have a backdrop of white tree trunks and orange blossom redolence.
I live in the Northwest now where orange trees do not grow, so neroli is my go-to scent when I crave the playfulness of childhood and the sensuality of wearing a voluptuous fragrance as an adult. Neroli is the oil from the orange blossom and has found its way into many of my perfumes and beauty products. The following is a list of those stand-out items from my collection that feature the exquisite orange blossom.
Skincare
In Fiore’s Pur Face Oil Concentré is a fabulous way to pamper your skin as well as your senses. I use it as a nighttime moisturizer when my skin needs the attention of grapeseed oil, rosehip seed oil, evening primrose oil and vitamin E. These ingredients help balance skin that leans oily and is prone to breakouts. While those healing oils do their work on your skin, cold pressed orange peel oil and Tunisian neroli flower oil get to work on your psyche. Pur is pure neroli heaven. When I have it on my skin, I feel like I am lounging peacefully under the shade of an orange tree teeming with blossoms.
Alchemilla’s Neroli Rehydrating Essence is another facial oil loaded with healing ingredients like jojoba nut oil, hazelnut oil; herbal extracts of ginkgo biloba, chamomile, calendula; and rosehip seed oil. All of which are organic. This too makes for a soothing nighttime treatment as the hypnotic essence of neroli lulls you into sweet dreams.
Kahina Facial Cleanser is a creamy, lightly foaming cleanser that I have been using for almost a year, and still love. The organic floral water and neroli oil create a light citrusy floral scent that is refreshing and relaxing. The gentle foaming action gets my face clean, but does not feel stripped dry thanks to the argan oil, oat amino acids and organic honey in the formula.
At the risk of being redundant (regular readers know how much I love this product) I would be remiss if I did not mention Velvet & Sweet Pea’s Orange Blossom Body Frosting. I come back to V&SP’s frostings again and again because they provide luxurious hydration and fragrant pleasure. Laurie Stern, creator of V&SP, uses jojoba oil in her frostings that have been infused with Tahitian vanilla beans for at least 6 months. This bestows a creaminess to all of them, but especially to her Orange Blossom. The result is a flirty, playful, uplifting fragrance that softens your skin better than any body butter I have tried.
I am placing Intelligent Nutrients Focus Aroma in the “Skincare” section because it has many uses. You can spray it on your skin, face, and hair for light hydration and a gorgeous scent. Aside from neroli, bergamot, jasmine, rose, chamomile, geranium, and ylang ylang complete the essential oil list of Focus. Even though that’s an impressive floral cast, neroli commands the fragrance leaving the others, most notably rose and jasmine, to enhance the orange blossom.
Perfumes
Galatea by Strange Invisible Perfumes embodies the intoxicating nature of neroli. Galatea melds neroli with galbanum which gives it a green clarity, tuberose which provides sensuality and benzoin which graces the mix with a soothing warmth. This is a fascinating and intriguing perfume, one that needs to be a part of my collection sooner than later.
Roxana Villa launched her Chocolate Natural Perfumes this year, and her Fleurs de Orange remains my favorite of the lot. Neroli, blood orange, and orange blossom absolute flourish on the skin while dark chocolate gently envelopes the citrusy floral perfume. Fleurs de Orange is not sweet like candy, but it is a honeyed gourmand that gives a new spin on my favorite springtime scent.
Palas Atena by Ayala Moriel Parfums feels very classic to me. It’s a gorgeous blend, created with a skillful hand. Neroli, along with patchouli, lavender, and amber, are radiant in the opening, each note moving seamlessly into the other. The more I wear Palas Atena, the more attuned I have become to champaca and cinnamon in the heart, but again, the essences work in concert, merging harmoniously. I look to Palas Atena when I want a sophisticated scent that uses neroli’s floral elegance, not as a soliflore, but as a traditionally composed perfume with a vintage feel.
Please visit the following bloggers who are also singing about the scents of spring!
Smelly Blog (with a giveaway! check it out)
thefloraesthetic.com 
T, I love the mix of skincare!
Hope you are doing well.
It’s a little crazy how many products I have that smell of neroli…..I just had to share my faves 🙂
Hugs to you,
T
Trish, It’s like you’re reading my mind recently! All week I’ve been obsessed with the orange blossom water we bought (to use in cocktails and cooking) last weekend…i’ve been using it as a toner, spritzing it in my hair, mixing it in with my masks. I can’t get enough of the delicious springtime scent! Thanks for more recommendations!
Great minds right? LOL
Now I need to get myself a bottle or orange blossom water. I want to cook with it too! Never enough of that beautiful scent.
~T
What a lovely roundup of your neroli collection! There are some I still need to try.
I also wanted to add that the last time I wore Palas Atena, I FINALLY smelled the champaca! After who knows how many times I’ve worn it. All that time I didn’t even realize I was missing it.
Amy,
Same here on the champaca. It wasn’t until the last couple of times that it really came through on me. And now my sample is just about out!!
🙂
~Trish
I was just in Florida at Walter’s mother’s house and her extra lot is an orange/grapefruit/lemon orchard. The first thing we did was talk out to the orchard and stick our noses right into the blossoms that are falling off the trees. It is so intoxicating and heavy in the air. lovely
M,
I would love to stick my face into a blossoming orange tree right now! I’m so glad you had that experience. It is intoxicating!! 🙂
~T
Trish, I was recently in Phoenix, where spring had clearly arrived. Cold back home; orange blossoms and bougainvilla and all sorts of succulents in bloom. Dry breeze at night was very cool, but brought scents that were all about warm weather. Was very interesting for me.
You turn up the most wonderful sounding potions; thanks for sharing them, and your spring-ly perfumes.
Thanks for reading! I miss bougainvillea so much. Those little paper thin flowers were everywhere when I was growing up.
How I miss those neroli-perfumed breezes. I guess the lilacs here are a good consolation 😉
~T
A recent discovery of mine is the new Penhaligon’s Orange Blossom, which is very pretty – like a non-indolic version of SL Fleurs d’Oranger to my nose. I am not familiar with any of the perfumes you mention or the skin care brands, but neroli is a great note for pampering, and they all sound most luxurious. From the SIP line I love Magazine Street and magnolia also seems a good note for spring.
Magazine St is one of my favorites too. The vanilla/patchouli/magnolia combo is unique and gorgeous!
Thanks for reading,
Trish
you seem to like neroli a lot and I really want to like it but I just can’t find a way in- I find it quite harsh and abrasive, it’s interesting yes but I can never wear it- I like it on other people though.
Hmmmm, an extra soft neroli perfume…let me think on it!
That was a fun fact about the orange blossom trees painted white. They can still “breathe”? I have an image of all of Arizona’s flora and fauna painted white.
I know, I always wondered about the “breathing” issue too 🙂
Growing up it was so normal to see the trunks painted white, and it wasn’t until I left and came back that I realized how funny it looks!
~Trish