Reviews of L'Oranger Neroli
by L'Occitane

For all the praise that has been heaped upon this L’Occitane release, I really thought I couldn’t go wrong. Well, next time, I’ll know better because Neroli just didn’t work for me at all. After several attempts at wearing it, I failed to get the longevity that everyone else reported. In addition, the overall composition smelt musty and very old-fashioned on my skin.

I tried to love this stuff but to no avail – it just simply doesn't appeal to me and somehow feels both incomplete and 'hollow'. However, it’s definitely worth investigating this now discontinued release.

[Original submission date: 20 May 2008]

*** This review is of the now discontinued Neroli EDP, not the new incarnation ***

Ignoring the mass confusion regarding the name (L'Occitane has various fragrances with some combination of the L'Oranger/Neroli/L'Oranger Neroli moniker), the dark red/golden brown hue of the Neroli EDP certainly is a forebearer of the pocketful of neroli kryptonite resident within the bottle. From the get go, a dense, syrupy accord of neroli unravels on your skin displaying all the characterisitc floral, citrusy and spicy shades of good quality neroli oil. The focus is more on the spicy aspect, with the nose tingling spices in the heart notes (I detect warm, herbaceous coriander) and a woody note morphing the composition into something else. The "woody note" smells a lot like cedar (unless its a petitgrain adulerant, gasp!), and the base (evident after an hour or two) is a tonka and vanilla finish, a respite some may say, after a 'masala neroli on a fire stick' show of the first half.

Neroli EDP seems to be quite moody. The "neroli" half of it satisfies - it does smell like a top shelf neroli note, with a more ravenous "darker" feel thanks to its spicy character, but the second half consisting of a dominant cedary woody note can feel a bit abrasive and scratchy as if the perfumers ran out of budget after blowing their top on a quality neroli ingredient. Wearing more than 3 sprays in warm weather brings forth this mutant cedar note even more, and it threatens to overwhelm the long lasting neroli top note and the decent softer base. Wear it in cooler weather where the stars align: the exotic neroli note dominates, takes the cedar note under its arm, and joins the smooth base to form a moderately unique and enjoyable neroli fragrance. It may be moody, temperamental and display some flaws here and there, but like a hot, rich girlfriend with bad BO and zit or two, you try to make it work.

Rating: 7.25/10.0

Do you want to fall in love again? Well, let's start with saying that hands down the best Neroli scent if not one of the best scents ever! Nothing comes close. What is Neroli anyway? After doing some research, it's the flower on the orange blossom tree. I once heard that it takes over 100 neroli flowers to create this juice. Whether that's true or not is immaterial. The scent opens with a tremendous green leaf and floral note. Leads you into a lush, fragrant grove somewhere in the countryside in Provence or Tuscany. Never has a fragrance transported me to another place such as this. Rose gardens pale in comparison to the majestic beauty of this. Next, the intoxicating Neroli takes over in the heart. Now this is where it gets confusing. Is Neroli supposed to be this floral? I don't know but I've fallen in love. Truly, an anti-depressant if there ever was one. Joy to the nth degree, smiling like a sunny Saturday afternoon in the summertime. Perfection at the tip of your nose. Lasts for hours on end, senses satiated at last. Walks off in batch of vanilla/tonka but still the neroli/floral lingers like a pleasant memory. It should be noted that it's an EdP, and it lives up to its name, lasting for ages upon ages. And I must add, it is quite possibly the finest scent you will sniff in your lifetime. Be glad you did because this one is utterly and incomprehensively discontinued. Must all beauty be destroyed??? Beg, borrow and steal for this. It's worth it!!!!!

What a shame L'Occitane decided to continue this gem! It was probably the best from their lot and we should all petition to have it reissued.

The liquid has a vivid orange color, almost verging on red - the scent itself is just as thick, dense and intense. The opening is heady, intoxicating; the drydown is smooth, creamy and seductive (I detect some sweetness as well as greenery). My search for the perfect neroli is over, but sadly, now that I have found it I shall have to use my bottle sparingly since it seems unlikely I will be able to find a replacement.

One of the best things I have EVER smelled in my life! Previous reviewers did an excellent job describing this scent...all I can do is repeat every positive comment! Heavenly, dense, exotic, lush...a dream in a bottle! If you like dense orientals, this is a MUST have.

after a while i revisited our local l'occitane shop and decided to sample all the neroli/orange fragrances they had. lately, i've been a sucker for all stuff neroli/orange, although some people hate neroli (say it makes them nauseated) and oranges too (who wants to smell like damn oranges?), i love it; it's positive, uplifting, light yet seductive and deep. my first spriz was their latest addition - ruban d'orange, smells happy, sunny, just like oranges. the second one i sampled was l'eau d'oranger (although the shop assistant told me last fall that this was is discontinued, they still have a considerable number of bottles here in europe, so who knows), this was something in between, neroli and orange, definitely the most 'masculine' of the three. while ruban settled into sweet amber, oranger still retained a somewhat sharp, crisp edge that would not go away, somehow salty and a tad bitter to me (no wonder, it's an 'oranger'). a strictly linear affair, but still, i like it. the third one was the neroli edp, dark, resinuous liquid, immediately after application, it was a blast. i thought, oh boy, is this strong, almost overpowering. but then, it settled and evolved into a very smooth, seductive fragrance, the neroli flower mingled with something sweet (vanilla? tonka bean?), which made it perfect. as previously said, applied judiciously, it's heavenly. the lasting power of all three is good, and as a matter of course, all three are different. i think i'm going to buy all of them ;)

Ever struggled so hard with a fragrance liking and disliking a scent at the same time? L'Oranger Neroli has been my biggest struggle yet. I used to wear an essential oil similar in the past, in fact I dub this Neroli a kind of "hippie-oil" as far as personality is concerned. Every time I passed my local L'Occitane store, I made sure to test it, at least six times over several months. I loved it for the connection it made to my past, it's heady fruity, floral, woodsy and spicy nature, and hated it for the unsuspecting brash...well not brash, but full bore opening. I honestly didn't know what to expect everytime I tested it. The drydown on the otherhand was what hooked me obsessively. I couldn't stop thinking about its beautiful smooth, warm and vanillic base. I finally bought a bottle to end my misery, and I'm actually happy and most of all relieved! It takes a special woman to wear this...it takes a man that's specially aware of his own dark or ponderous nature.

Eau de Parfum? L'Occitane must be seriously mistaken! Longest lasting scent I've ever owned--you can go the whole day and night with this, and has the most sillage only comparable to a 70s/80s chypre scent. Try it, and be amazed!

Heady and seductive and utterly beguiling stuff. As scentemental pointed out in an earlier review (and I paraphrase here) "this is NOT your father's neroli." It is not the fresh scrubbed, rosy cheeked neroli of Creed's Neroli Sauvage, nor the sparkling neroli of Penhaligon's Castile, nor the bright floral of the neroli in Versace Man. No, this is dark and dense (great adjective choice, scentemental!)stuff here -- more appropriate to the bedroom than the boardroom. I could see a man or a woman pulling this off at work or in public, yes, but it's so rich and so bewitching that it's better worn in the boudoir or the bath. LOVE this stuff!

Pure Heaven Love this Heady Scent. Strong yet at the time Genteel. Lovely , just perfect. Maybe a bit sweet for some but to me it is Intoxicating. If you like Jasmine scents or Honeysuckle type scents then this is for you. Totally girlie and sexy. My hubby follows me around like a Love sick Kitten when I have this on. Has what I call GURRRRRR Power..lol!

They are two product under L'Occitane's L'Oranger rubric, L'Oranger *Orange Leaves Eau de Cologne* and L'Oranger *Neroli EDP*. They are two entirely different fragrances. The review that follows is a review of L'Oranger *Neroli EDP*.

L’Occitane *Neroli EDP* is the least L’Occitane of the L’Occitane range, which typically contains pleasant, competently-made, quality fragrances based on a larger than usually percentage of natural ingredients. They’re mostly well-crafted fragrances, but they’re definitely not what you’d call edgy. L’Occitane’s *Neroli EDP*, however, is edgy; it’s very edgy. It begins with a very sensuous, decidedly floral, and feminine neroli note. What is the difference, you might well ask, between a feminine and masculine neroli note? I see the difference as follows: a masculine neroli note is one you find in the “barbershop” renditions of neroli such as Penhaligon’s *Castile*, or Czech & Speake’s *Neroli*. In these two fragrances, the neroli note has the freshness and lightness of orange flower water and a syrupy thick viscous “nosefeel”. It’s always a buoyant, happy, and clarion note, uplifting and refreshing. A feminine neroli note is decidedly more dense, without being syrupy and has an exotic, even otherworldly feel to it. It’s has a thinner and more complex, even prickly, nose-feel than its masculine counterpart; it has a more ether-like, elevated floral component, which is dense and heady and which approximates the heavy, floral, ether-like, headache producing quality of some higher grades of ylang ylang essential oil.

The neroli in L’Occitane’s L'Oranger *Neroli EDP* is edgy in the sense that it pushes one’s olfactory responses to the edge with an oriental-like sharp, bitter, but vibrant exoticness which is accentuated by a very thin, exceedingly dry, non-resinous cedarwood kind of note with which it is interlaced and which persists well into the drydown, as does the neroli note, which still remains discernible in the drydown when its edgy, ether-like qualities abate and are subsumed into a coumarin prominent, quieter, powdery, tonka bean and dry cedar finish. It’s really beautiful and intoxicating in an impressively weighty, sensual way, and it has incredible sillage and longevity. In this sense, it begins to approximate the qualities of parfum. A word of warning at this point: go very easy with this one. More than 2 or 3 sprays and the fragrance will become unbearable on the wearer. As I said earlier, it’s very un-L’Occitane like, and it’s quite spectacular. When you’ve reached this level of art, questions about whether it’s actually a women’s fragrance or a man’s fragrance fail to apply. It’s both, and like all true works of art, it’s universal.