Lemon

Lemon is the most honest material in my palette. It hides nothing. A composition that opens with lemon is telling you, in the first second, exactly how clean it intends to be.

What lemon is

Lemon oil is expressed from the peel of Citrus limon. Ours is obtained by the sfumatrice method, in which the peel is gently flexed and pressed so that the oil glands release their contents. No heat is involved. The oil is then treated to remove furocoumarins, which makes it kind to skin in sunlight without dulling its brightness.

Where our lemon comes from

Our lemon oil is produced in Condofuri, on the Ionian coast of Reggio Calabria, the same sun and sea that raise our bergamot. Calabria and Sicily grow the most aromatic lemons in Europe, and the reason is the light. Long, dry summers concentrate the oil in the peel, and the winter harvest keeps the citral high, which is the molecule that reads as pure lemon to the nose. A lemon grown in a wetter, cooler place gives a rind that smells more like a lemon flavoured candle than the fruit itself. The Calabrian oil smells like the moment the zest breaks under your thumb.

How lemon smells

Clean, sharp, zesty citrus. It is the purest note of freshness I own, with none of the sweetness of orange or the softness of bergamot. On skin it flashes and fades within minutes, leaving the air a little clearer for whatever comes next.

Lemon in our chapters

• IHayalThe Crown · in the opening

  In Hayal it is the first light of the crown, cutting through the spices so the opening feels awake rather than heavy.

• IIParadis de BleuThe Leaves · in the opening

  In Paradis de Bleu it sits among the herbs and berries of the opening, the sharp line that keeps the green from becoming soft.

• IIINéroli de NuitThe Blossom · in the opening

  In Néroli de Nuit it joins bergamot and mandarin in a citrus chord that sets up the blossoms of the heart.

A note from the atelier

I use lemon in small, decisive strokes. Too much and a fragrance smells like cleaning, too little and you never notice it was there. The right amount is felt as clarity, not as lemon.

Questions about lemon