Top note · Citrus & fresh

Mandarin

Citrus reticulata

Mandarin is sweet, juicy and softly floral, with a gentle green edge. Discover the sunny citrus that opens colognes and fruity florals.

What does mandarin smell like in perfume?

Mandarin smells sweet, juicy and soft, like the fine spray from the peel as you open a ripe mandarin. It is one of the gentlest citrus notes in perfumery: less sharp than lemon or grapefruit, with a faint floral sweetness that makes it feel warm.

What Is Mandarin Essential Oil?

Mandarin oil is cold-pressed from the peel of Citrus reticulata, mainly in Italy, Brazil and China. Like other citrus oils it is rich in limonene and γ-terpinene, but it also contains methyl N-methylanthranilate, which gives mandarin the soft, faintly floral sweetness that sets it apart from orange.

Mandarin Scent Profile

Here is how strongly each facet of mandarin comes through, from our own smelling-strip notes.

How Perfumers Use Mandarin in Perfume

Perfumers use mandarin to bring sweetness and roundness to a citrus accord, softening sharper notes such as lemon and grapefruit. It opens colognes, fruity florals and gourmands, where its juicy warmth leads into creamy or spicy hearts. Like every citrus top note it fades quickly, so it is usually paired with petitgrain, neroli or soft woods that carry the freshness further.

Green mandarin vs red mandarin

Mandarin oil changes with the ripeness of the fruit. Green mandarin, pressed from fruit picked early, smells sharp, zesty and leafy. Red mandarin, from fully ripe fruit, is sweeter, juicier and rounder, and yellow mandarin sits between the two. Green mandarin gives a brighter, sparkling start, which is why we use it to open Neroli Nuance, A Capella Ray, Mocha Muscari and Whistle Moon.

Growing and harvesting mandarin

Mandarin oil comes mainly from Italy, Brazil and China. The same trees give different oils through the season: green mandarin is pressed from unripe fruit in autumn, yellow from fruit turning colour, and red from fully ripe fruit in winter. The peel holds only a little oil, so a great deal of fruit goes into every bottle of mandarin oil.

The molecules behind mandarin’s scent

Most of mandarin oil is limonene, which gives the bright citrus lift shared by all peel oils. γ-Terpinene adds a fresh, slightly herbal edge. What makes mandarin smell like mandarin rather than orange is a tiny amount of methyl N-methylanthranilate: on its own it is musty-sweet and faintly grape-like, and it gives mandarin its soft, almost floral sweetness.

Natural or synthetic mandarin?

A “mandarin” note in a mainstream perfume is often built in the lab from limonene, aldehydes and synthetic methyl N-methylanthranilate. Natural mandarin oil smells fuller and juicier, with more of the peel’s green bitterness, though like any natural citrus it fades sooner.

Mandarin in history and tradition

Mandarins have been grown in China for thousands of years, and at Chinese New Year they are still given in pairs as a sign of good fortune. The English name is usually linked to the mandarins, the officials of imperial China, though the exact connection is uncertain. The fruit reached Europe in the early 19th century, and Sicily and Calabria in southern Italy became known for their mandarin oil.

How to smell mandarin yourself

Scratch the skin of a clementine or mandarin with your nail and smell it next to an orange. The mandarin is softer, sweeter and slightly floral. In early autumn, try a small green mandarin if you can find one: sharper, greener and closer to green mandarin oil.

Smell Mandarin in Prosody London Perfumes

For mandarin at its most expressive, try Neroli Nuance. Green mandarin opens the scent with blood orange and neroli, creating a bright, summery citrus-floral. You will also find mandarin in A Capella Ray, Mocha Muscari, Paper Flower Fan, Pizzicato Bliss and Whistle Moon.

What Blends Well With Mandarin?

Questions About Mandarin

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