Bergamot

Bergamot

Perfumery’s “It” Fragrance Note

If you are looking for a fresh, uplifting kick to your fragrance, make sure it contains bergamot. This citrus fruit offers a much fresher and crisp note than its cousin the common lemon.

Category: citrus

Olfactory description: With a more suave note than lemon, bergamot is a fresh, floral, soft sparkling note with a hint of Earl Grey tea. It is less simplistic and identifiable than regular lemon.

Mood: uplifting and energetic

Looks like: a large orange or lemon. It is, in fact, a grafted fruit tree that is one half lemon, one half orange. The plant produces an inedible fruit with a wonderful citrus scent.

Fragrant rind: perfumers use the fruit zest and rind in their fragrance blends.

Extraction method: cold expression of the fruit rind. The oil of the rind is forced under high pressure to produce a good quality essential oil.

Placement: top note. It is used in both men’s and women’s fragrances in chypre and Oriental scents.

Locale: Italy (Calabria and Sicily), South Africa’s Ivory Coast, Guinea, Brazil

History: In tropical Asia and Morocco, bergamot’s zest was used for its healing properties. Hippocrates and the world’s first doctors used the small fruit as a miraculous remedy – as an antiseptic, antiviral, and antidepressant. Some say the Christopher Columbus rediscovered bergamot on a visit to the Canary Islands.

Fragrances that feature bergamot in their top note:

O de Lancome

Miss Dior Eau de Parfum

Coco Mademoiselle

Thierry Mugler Angel

Classique by Jean-Paul Gaultier