Following great tradition started by two wonderful bloggers, Birgit (Olfactoria’s Travels) and Portia (Australian Perfume Junkies), once a week I or one of the guest writers will keep the lights on in this virtual leaving room, but I hope that you, my friends and readers, will engage in conversation not only with me or the other host, but also with each other.
Saturday Question #26:
What Is Your Favorite Fruity Perfume?
Fruity perfumes have not the best reputation. Mature perfumistas usually associate themselves with chypres or orientals, concession might be made to gourmands and maybe florals (especially those big and white), but fruity? The confession is usually framed with: “Normally, I’m not a fan of fruity perfumes, but…” So, my question is: do you have a name to finish that sentence? Are there any fruity perfumes that you enjoy wearing?
Bonus questions: How much fruit do you eat daily? What are your favorites?
My Answer
As if whatever is happening with the pandemic weren’t enough, in different parts of the world more human-made and natural disasters keep unfolding.
Following extremely hot weather, about which I complained in the last week’s Saturday Question, last Sunday we had a night-long dry thunderstorm in our area. It resulted in multiple wildfires all around SF Bay Area. My town is safe, but the air quality goes from moderate to unhealthy and back dependent on the wind. And we all feel (and smell!) it. The fires devastate large areas, significant number of people have been evacuated, and firefighters, while doing their best, still cannot contain most of the fires.
But since I cannot do anything to change the situation, I choose to talk about things that do not really matter on a big scale, but without them brightening my life everything that’s happening would have been even more intolerable – perfumes, fruit and Rusty.
As someone who is admittedly a floral perfume fan, I’m just one step away from embracing my penchant for fruit in perfumery. There are several perfumes with prominent fruity notes that I enjoy wearing, but since my favorite fruit is mango, for my answer today I’ll go with Neela Vermeire Creations Bombay Bling!, a bottle of which I got in Paris (when we were still traveling abroad).
Speaking of mango… Having missed most of this summer seasonal fruit (farmers markets were closed first and then or heavily restricted, while selection in stores was subpar and 50%-100% more expensive than a year before), I really look forward to getting my favorite Keitt (not to be mixed with Kent) mangoes in the next 2-4 weeks. Meanwhile, my daily ration includes a plum or nectarine and an apple or two. I like fruit and would have eaten more if I weren’t trying to limit my food intake (I just can’t call it a diet – but I’m trying to do something).
What Is Your Favorite Fruity Perfume?
Undina's Looking Glass 
I suppose because of its pairing with iris, and use in chypres, I like peach and plum. I love to eat both, especially plums as they can be sourced locally, and are fresher as a consequence.
I think, though, that my favourite fruit is watermelon, and I imagine it being disgusting in perfume, even if I do love the melon in Le Parfum de Therese.
The most fruity of my perfumes would probably be Ouris, a sweet iris with plum, peach and cassis. Another pretty fruit is the pineapple in Colony. So these two would probably fit the best, as fruity.
But Femme, Mitsouko, attrape-cœur, dolce vita, parure, promesse a l’aube, Le temps d’aimer, quadrille. I think this list with peach and plum perfumes I love is never-ending.
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Classy as ever Asali.
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While I like eating peaches, I usually don’t like them in perfumes. And I can’t think of a single perfume in which I would like melon – though, in food it is quite appealing, including their scent.
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If I didn’t think, then I would say that I don’t like fruity perfumes, but really I do – it’s probably just the current ultra fruity and sweet ones I don’t care for. So if I put my mind to it I realise that old school fruity is something I have worn, eg Champagne/Yvresse, Mitsouko, Parfum de Therese (in fact most that have a hint of peach), and the original iteration L’Artisan Mure et Musc.
Ermmmmm …. Rusty is looking very suspicious of that bottle, and I wonder if his foot is poised ready to kick it?
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Rusty was in quite playful mood when I was taking those pictures, so he was scratching and kicking everything around.
Many classic perfumes seem to have peach note – no wonder I don’t like them :)
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Rusty looks so serious all the time, even when he’s being playful. I wouldn’t want to play poker with him. 😹
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I must say that, surprisingly, Rusty isn’t interested in playing with playing cards: these are among rare things he completely disregards when he sees us playing. Of course, maybe he has a longer con in mind… :)
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My first thought was Diorella but might be considered as cheating because it’s a fruity chypre. I like the idea of fruity perfumes but they are often so sweet in practice. I used to love the old Kenzo fruity floral fragrances like Le Monde Est Beau. These days it would something more cologne- like such as O de Lancome and Eau de Mandarine Ambree.
Did you ever like Pulp from Byredo or am I imagining that?
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I like Diorella too! But I think you’re right, it probably counts as more of a chypre than a fruity fragrance. This is a challenging question for me! Do citrus fragrances count as “fruity”?
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Whoops. I think you’ve got a point, I don’t think citrus perfumes are what Undina meant with this question. I guess I’d have to go with the pick of day too then, Bombay Bling!
Diorella is one of the first perfumes I fell for when tumbling down the rabbit hole. The older version is still a favourite. I must try it’s cousin, Le Parfum de Therese, again some time.
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Not less classy, dear Tara :-D Do try lPdT again, if you like Diorella, you really should like Therese too. Ah, those oldfashioned leather chypres, to die for…
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Yes I must. I remember I loved my sample when it was first released.
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I LOVE wearing Pulp when I in Hawaii… (sigh) Maybe I should get a bottle in lieu of going there? :)
If I were to read Diorella’s notes today before smelling it, I would have assumed I wouldn’t like it: melon and peach in perfumes usually don’t work for me. It shows how much those lists matter ;)
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Yes to getting a bottle of Pulp in lieu of going there!
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I am not a fan of fruity perfumes, but ones that I enjoy are:
Arielle Shoshana Saturday
Neela Vermeire Creations Bombay Bling
Byredo Pulp
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Great list!
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I like the initial blast of Saturday, but then the rest doesn’t appeal to me. I thought I’d try it on my Hawaii vacation, but now who knows when I’d be able to do it…
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I love a realistic peach note in perfumes as well as raspberry and black currant notes if well done. Flower of Immortality by Kilian has a lovely fresh peach note in the opening that I really love. My fave Parfum de Rosine “Glam Rose” has a nice raspberry note that is well done. Pear can also be nice if not too sweet. Guerlain’s Aqua Allegoria Pera Granita is a favorite as well as Patricia Nicolai’s Angelys Pear. I enjoy Bombay Bling also. It’s fun and fresh in summer.
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Black currant is one of my favorite perfume notes. I also like raspberry and pear. Peach – not so much in perfumes, but love to eat them.
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Hmm, one with fig probably? I did like Pulp myself, and Ashoka, and most fig scents indeed. Then although it was a bit of a heavy hitter, Mary Greenwell’s Plum was quite special. And Bombay Bling is also very nice!
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My favorites are also fig perfumes, although I always thought of them as their own thing and not as “fruity” for some reason. I have Annick Goutal Ninfeo Mio and a version of Leo from Olfactory NYC with the fig-cedarwood accord ramped up. Haven’t had the chance to try any of Neela Vermeire’s creations yet but they do sound good.
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When I was posing the question, I wasn’t thinking about figs! Probably because I don’t think of figs as a fruit. I didn’t know what it was (I checked: it says they are inverted flowers). But regardless, I like figs in perfume.
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I won’t be very original because I have to agree with your choice of NVC Bombay Bling. I’m not overally a fruity perfume fan but Bombay Bling is lovely, especially in the humid & hot day
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Who needs originality when it comes to great perfumes?! The more of us like and buy those perfumes, the higher chance they won’t be discontinued ;)
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Hmmm, maybe Guerlain Nuit d’Amour, which smells fruity to me. And plum, in Feminité du Bois and Mon Parfum Chéri?
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Mon Parfum Chéri is definitely fruity. I should have bought that beautiful dark red bottle before it got sold out. But since perfume didn’t work for me, so I waited for too long for it to get cheaper.
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I also am a floral person first and foremost. For a fruity perfume, it’s Fath de Fath ’93. Just lovely.
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I don’t think I’ve ever heard that name before. And even pictures of a bottle doesn’t ring a bell, which isn’t surprising knowing the turbulent history of this brand (though, if to think about it, being sold and revived isn’t worse than just disappear, as it happens to many brands).
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I had a decant of this, that I also finished. It’s not bad at all
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I really like The Different Company’s Sublime Balks, which is tart fruit and patchouli. And Mon Parfum Cheri, of course, and Folavril. So I guess some combination of mango, or tart fruit would be my favourite.
As for eating fruit: I like mangos, especially the smaller Maxican ones. We don’t get a huge amount of choice here for fruit-often frozen fruits are in better shape than fresh, which is a sad state of affairs. How much fruit do I eat daily? probably four servings, and I try to keep in mind a serving can be quite a small amount, usually a quarter of one cup. So if it’s a huge apple I’ll slice it up at work and share. It always amazes me: If I buy fruit for work, and leave it all whole, no-one eats it. But If I wash it all and slice it all, and serve it on a platter, everyone dives in. Why, I wonder?
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Carole – so true on cut up fruit. I can’t get my son to grab an apple but if I cut it up- gone immediately. The fact that he’s perfectly capable of cutting it himself seems irrelevant. I’m doing a keto diet right now and really miss having several servings of fruit!
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In our office – when we still were going to work in the office – it didn’t matter: food would disappear regardless of the serving approach :)
I tried Sublime Balkiss many years ago and liked it, but not enough to pay full price back then. I wonder, if it’s still the same: I saw that they changed the packaging, which is usually a bad sign.
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Fruity isn’t my favorite genre but I do enjoy a few – Nicolaï Eau de Corail and Heretic Dirty Mango for mango notes; Philosykos for fig; and when I really want a dose of peach I dig out the first perfume I remember buying for myself – Exclamation by Coty. I also have a bottle of Quel Amour by Goutal which has some serious tart red fruits… have to be in the mood for that one!
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Now I want not only to eat mango but to try those mango perfumes as well! I think I’m hungry :)
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I’ve really struggled with this! I hardly have any fragrances I would categorize as “fruity”. I do have some nice citrusy fragrances but I don’t think that’s what Undina intends with this question. So I’ve settled on two: Hermes’ Un Jardin Sur le Nil, with its green mango and grapefruit notes; and Lili Bermuda’s “Coral”, which has a strong top note of clementine and fruity-smelling floral notes. I don’t think of it as “citrusy” because it doesn’t have the tartness of lemon or bergamot.
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True, I didn’t mean citruses, even though they are fruit (not that I wouldn’t have taken citrus-y choices as a response).
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Hi Undina,
I love this question. It really got me thinking.
There is a lot of fruity perfume in my collection. Everything from all the citrus, plum, peach, berries, mango, fig and onwards. I love the stewed fruit, the fairy floss fruit, photorealistic fruit, dreams of fruit and space fruit, even some of that super over ripe fruit that’s starting to ferment.
Bombay Bling is one of Jin’s signatures. He wears it beautifully.
Favourite is a hard concept but the one i wear most is Liberté by Cacharel. It’s a seared and sizzling fairy floss orange and clean patchouli. You’ll all probably hate it and revoke my perfumista card for adoring it but I can’t get enough and am about to finish my second 75ml bottle in two or three wears. Yes, I have back ups.
Portia xx
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Update. Finished that bottle today. I think this and Shalimar are the only perfumes I’ve finished two large bottles of in the last 10 years, Niki de Saint Phalle I’ve finished a few of the 30ml but it’s not the same.
Portia xx
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I’m sure each of us has favorites that won’t get a 5-star review from “authorities” :) In the end, it doesn’t matter – as long as we enjoy them (and do not completely gas those around us :) ).
I’m not familiar with Liberté by Cacharel: somehow it slipped by, even though back then I was already interested in perfumes.
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Next time I send you a pack remind me Undina and I’ll put some in. You’ll be like, “?????!? What the…..”
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:)
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I adore Bombay Bling and I love Arielle Shoshana’s passion fruit perfume. That initial blast of passion fruit makes me smile every time!
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I really like the opening if Saturday. If it could last for a little bit longer, I would have loved to wear it.
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Tom Ford Lost Cherry would be my pick for a favorite fruity perfume with its jammy black cherry top! 🍒
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Unexpectedly, I liked this perfume. I might get a travel spray of it eventually… But probably I’ll go for the Rose Prick first :)
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I forgot about another fruity note that I love, black currant or cassis as it is sometimes called. Viktoria Minya’s Hedonist Cassis is a really beautiful fragrance that I highly recommend. I also enjoy The Vagabond Prince Enchanted Forest, which is another gorgeous black currant fragrance, more realistic than the Minya. The juxtaposition of cedar and black currant in Enchanted Forest is so gorgeous. I’ve never been to Russia or the Ukraine so I don’t know what this type of forest smells like, but I can definitely imagine it smelling Enchanted Forest.
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I like Enchanted Forest and would love to get it in my collection, but it’s so … special that I don’t see myself wearing it too often, which makes a 100 ml bottle completely unreasonable (and one would think that people who are that close to perfume enthusiasts would understand that). So, for now I have to go with a decant or two.
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