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What is Neroli in Perfumery?

What is neroli in perfumery?

The bitter orange tree
The bitter orange tree

Neroli is on one of those ingredients in fragrance that we’ve all heard of but can never quite remember where it comes from or how it smells. You’ll find it in a wide range of fragrances for both women and men, at all price points.

“Neroli is an essential oil produced from the blossom of the bitter orange tree.”

The bitter orange tree
The bitter orange tree

This ingredient has a bright, honeyed, citrusy and green aroma with a slight green and metallic facet.

Orange Bigarade, also known as the Bitter Orange tree that flourishes along the southern coast of Italy, Tunisia and Morocco is a wonder in the world of perfumery. It produces a handful of different types of extracts used in perfumery all depending on the parts harvested and how the aroma is extracted. The small orange fruit produce a bitter orange essence. The leaves & twigs deliver a petitgrain essence. While the small white blooms offer several extracts: orange blossom absolute, orange blossom water and the famous neroli essence. Since neroli is citrusy and light, it pairs nicely with herbaceous notes. Orange blossom is warmer and sweeter in character.

The bitter orange tree
The bitter orange tree

Here’s the difference between neroli and orange blossom. The scent of neroli is extracted from the flowers using steam distillation. The aroma of orange blossom is obtained through enflourage or solvent extraction. The different methods of extraction produce essential oils that smell quite different. The blossoms are typically gathered by hand in late April through May.

So where did the name ‘neroli’ come from? By the late 17th century, Anne Marie Orsini, duchess of Bracciano and princess of Nerola, Italy, introduced the essence of bitter orange tree as a fashionable fragrance by using it to perfume her gloves and her bath. Since then, the term ‘neroli’ has been used to describe this essence.

Bvlgari Allegra Magnifying Neroli Essence

Bvlgari’s celebration of neroli

Roman luxury brand Bvlgari pays homage to neroli with a special Allegra Magnifying Neroli Essence composed by master perfumer Jacques Cavallier. This perfumed essence is designed to be sprayed over any fragrance in your collection to give it an added burst of neroli. Even better, it is structured to be worn on its own with added orange flower and petitgrain.

“Fresh like a cologne, powerful like the orange flower of which it is the essential oil, neroli is an essence that translates the sunny happiness of the Mediterranean,” explains the perfumer.

bitter orange trees
bitter orange trees

Bvlgari Allegra Magnifying Neroli Essence is available in Canada at Holt Renfrew.


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  • Jody Farr
    August 3, 2024 at 9:19 am

    Thank you for sharing this!! Love how it brings us to the Mediterranean and just transforms you!! So nice!!!

  • September Dee
    August 1, 2024 at 10:16 am

    One of my favourite notes.