Summer 2022 Perfume Series: 16 Best Citrus Freshies

With summer and hot temps in full swing, I thought it was high time to share my favorite citrus freshies with you guys! A ‘freshie’ is a perfume composed of mostly lighter notes such as citrus fruits and aquatics that feel cooling and refreshing when the weather is hot and/or humid. The words zesty, uplifting, and invigorating come to mind when describing these kinds of fragrances.

You’ll notice a lot of the same notes over and over again in the fragrances listed below. These fresh and citrusy notes are perfect for the summer heat. They help you to feel clean, fresh, refreshed and do not get cloying, as perfumes with heavier notes such as thick amber, gourmand vanilla, and other popular Oriental notes might. Freshies tend to wear light and with having those citrusy notes are not usually super strong projectors or the longest-lasting fragrances but they typically perform best and come alive in hotter weather.

With 16 fragrances, there’s a lot of ground to cover so without further ado, here are my picks for the best citrus freshies:

Bastide Verveine Du Sud

• Top Notes: Italian lemon, grapefruit, peppermint
• Middle Notes: verbena, peony, mint leaf
• Base Notes: crisp amber, blond wood, white musk

Bastide Aix-en-Provence (aka Bastide, for short) is one of my favorite houses for citrus freshies, they have absolutely mastered the genre. In fact, they have so many that are all so good, I’m featuring a whopping FOUR of their fragrances here today! You can learn more about the house and read my full reviews of the line here. I’ve also tried and highly recommend their other fine beauty products, including lotions, body wash, and soaps.

Verveine du Sud (which translates to Southern Verbena) is one of my very favorite fragrances by the house. This refreshing fragrance is a beautiful combo of zesty, citrusy verbena and clean, fresh mint. It has a touch of clean musk and light woods to give it some depth and lasting power. I find it lasts well for an EDT, I always get a few hours of wear before it fades to a skin scent. This fragrance (along with most of the others mentioned here) is perfectly unisex and appropriate for anyone who wants to surround themselves with a fresh, clean, citrusy ambience. I love to wear it on a summer walk and get invigorating whiffs as I swing my arms. This one is a major love for me!

Find it here:

Verveine du Sud 10ml, 100ml (at Bastide)

Byredo Open Sky (Limited Edition Fragrance)

• Top Notes: black pepper, pomelo
• Middle Notes: hemp leaves
• Base Notes: vetiver, palo santo

I can detect all of the listed notes in this refreshing fragrance but the star of the show here is definitely the gorgeous, zingy, grapefruit-esque pomelo. I currently have a grapefruit in my kitchen and every time I walk past it, I get a lovely whiff of it. This perfume is very reminiscent of that exact experience. It’s a clean, fresh fragrance that’s equal parts citrus and aromatic with some light green touches. For anyone concerned about the ‘hemp leaves’ note, this is not a fragrance that reeks of cannabis or anything. I admit I thought there might be a possibility of this smelling like Jim Ignatowski from Taxi (lol) but it actually smells so clean and lovely.

100% unisex, I think this would smell fantastic on anyone. The projection is really good and I get a few hours of stronger fragrance before it fades to more of a skin scent. This is a pricier fragrance and while I feel it is well-crafted and comes in Byredo’s signature packaging that’s worthy of a higher cost, I also know for most people that price is simply out of reach. I highly recommend trying a decant of it, as I did. The decants come in several sizes and I know that the 5ml I got (pictured above) will last me a good long time. Links to all below.

Find it here:

Byredo Open Sky 1ml, 2ml, 5ml decants (at Scent Split)

Byredo Open Sky 100ml (at Byredo)

Commodity Moss

• Top Notes: grapefruit, bergamot
• Middle Notes: petitgrain, orange blossom
• Base Notes: cedarwood, oakmoss

A few months ago, I reviewed Commodity’s Expressive Discovery Kit and discovered this lovely neroli/orange blossom-focused fragrance. Though it is titled ‘Moss,’ I feel like all parts of the orange tree are the real stars here. Though I do also get plenty of impressions of the outdoorsy moss and cedar, which give it a deeper feel.

Projection is typical for a citrus freshie, on the lighter side but definitely noticeable. I get a solid 2 hours of wear before it starts fading. Commodity’s perfumes are available in different concentrations as well: for a more pronounced impression, try the ‘Bold’ version; for a lighter wear, try the ‘Personal’ variation. This enjoyable fragrance is also unisex and would smell great on anyone.

Find it here:

Commodity Moss 10ml travel-spray, 100ml (at Commodity)

Bastide Neroli Lumiere

• Top Notes: lemon, pink grapefruit, cassis
• Middle Notes: orange blossom, neroli, jasmine sambac
• Base Notes: blond woods, crisp amber

This fragrance has an especially tart opening with lots of grapefruit and lemon. It’s sharp and tangy. As it dries down, the lovely neroli, orange blossom, and jasmine join the party and soften and lightly sweeten things up a bit. This is a fresh and clean neroli that really shines on a hot day.

Another pleasant, easy to wear unisex fragrance. I highly recommend layering with their body wash and hand cream to prolong the fresh citrusy feel even longer through your day. Chock full of orange tree goodness, this one should definitely be a part of every neroli lover’s collection!

Find it here:

Neroli Lumiere 10ml travel-spray (at Anthropologie)

Neroli Lumiere 10ml, 100ml (at Bastide)

Dolce & Gabbana Light Blue Forever

• Top Notes: lemon, blood orange, green apple
• Middle Notes: orange blossom, white flowers
• Base Notes: white musk, cedar, cashmeran

This is a favorite of mine from Dolce & Gabbana’s popular Light Blue range. I personally find the original to be a little bland, but this flanker is just perfect. The opening is clean and lemony, with some tart green apple. There is a very clean musk that reads similar to the Cetalox (ambroxan) in Juliette Has a Gun’s Not a Perfume on my skin. This dries down to a neroli-bomb, even though that is not a listed note. But then, of course, orange blossom and neroli are practically the same thing, just extracted differently, so that would explain it.

I get a solid 2 hours of strong projection which is fabulous for a citrus. It lasts about 5 hours total for me, with the last 3 being as a more faded skin scent. There is a men’s version of this fragrance as well, but this one is not ‘girly’ at all and a guy could easily pull it off. Light Blue releases a new summer fragrance every year and this one is from last year so can be found for a great price at FragranceNet, which I’ll link below.

Find it here:

Light Blue Forever 25ml (at Amazon)

Light Blue Forever 25ml, 50ml, 100ml, 100ml tester (at FragranceNet)

Guerlain Aqua Allegoria Bergamote Calabria

• Top Notes: Calabrian bergamot, petitgrain lemon
• Middle Notes: ginger, cardamom, pink pepper
• Base Note: white musks

This leads with (what else?) loads of tart bergamot. I also get lots of ginger and an overall aromatic feel. The ginger, cardamom, and pink pepper give it a spicy little kick. With tons of tart citrus and tons of spices, I would definitely use the word zesty to describe this one!

I remember first testing this fragrance in the winter and barely being able to smell it; you really need to wear this one in the summer heat for it to come alive. On a cooler day, it just disappears. Unisex with a slight masculine lean. With the light performance, typical of ‘freshies,’ this scent is also a great choice for those who like more minimalistic fragrances.

Find it here:

Aqua Allegoria Bergamote Calabria 125ml (at Bergdorf Goodman)

Aqua Allegoria Bergamote Calabria 125ml (at Bloomingdale’s)

Aqua Allegoria Bergamote Calabria 125ml (at Nordstrom)

Bastide 1958

• Top Notes: bergamot, mandarin, petitgrain
• Middle Notes: lavandin (lavender), rosemary, clary sage
• Base Notes: lavandin, orange flower, musk

The initial scent is SUPER HEAVY on the herbs, the lavender and rosemary are really the stars of the opening. As it dries down, however, the citrus notes come out more and really start to shine. It gets a little sweeter as it dries down, too. Settles as a nice, fresh, semi-sweet citrus with an herbal background.

Another unisex fragrance with decent performance. You really can’t go wrong with these Bastide citruses!

Find it here:

1958 10ml, 100ml (at Bastide)

Pinrose Sun Saint

• Top Notes: lime, eucalyptus, mandarin, yuzu
• Middle Notes: sea salt, cashmere musk, violet
• Base Notes: coconut wood, sandalwood

I adore this fun-loving summer scent! It bursts open with a cheerful trio of citrus faves: sparkling lime, sweet mandarin orange, and tart yuzu. There’s a delicious kiss of coconut that matches beautifully with the sea salt and cozy woodsy notes. This is a softer and sweeter fragrance than many on this list, there is no sharpness or acidity to the lime and it is really well-blended with the other notes.

This feminine-leaning scent would layer beautifully with Bath & Body Works’ Coconut Lime Breeze products, including their body lotion. Layering will also help this light scent to both project better and last longer. Read my review of the Pinrose line here.

Find it here:

Sun Saint Petals, package of 8 fragrance towelettes (at Pinrose)

Sun Saint 8ml travel-spray (at Pinrose’s Amazon store)

Sun Saint 30ml (at Pinrose’s Amazon store)

Sun Saint 50ml (at Pinrose’s Amazon store)

Sun Saint scented candle 6oz, 11oz (at Pinrose’s Amazon store)

Acqua di Parma Yuzu

• Top Notes: yuzu, bergamot, Sichuan pepper
• Middle Notes: lotus, mimosa, violet leaves, jasmine
• Base Notes: musk, liquorice (licorice), sandalwood

This bright, pretty, and lightly sweet scent is really beautiful. It leads with a yummy honeyed-citrus feel. There’s almost a brown sugar impression, too. Sweet, powdery mimosa flowers and citrus dominate here. I also enjoy the light licorice note, which comes out in the dry down – it’s so interesting and unexpected. This beautiful scent is yuzu at its finest!

Lightly feminine-leaning with lighter projection and longevity. I have an Acqua di Parma sampler waiting in the wings and plan to write an entire post focusing on this elegant house in the near future, so stay tuned!

Find it here:

Yuzu 100ml (at Bergdorf Goodman)

Yuzu 100ml, 180ml (at Bloomingdale’s)

Yuzu 20ml, 100ml, 180ml (at Nordstrom)

Yuzu body cream 5.1oz (at Bloomingdale’s)

Nest Citrine

• Top Note: lemon blossom
• Middle Notes: lotus flower, freesia, essence of morning dew
• Base Note: precious woods

I just love this gorgeous, uplifting offering from Nest. It opens with a beautiful, lightly sweet lemon blossom. It’s such a soft and pretty citrus impression. As it dries down, I get lots of the freesia and lotus. There’s something a little funky in the dry down, I almost get a ‘burnt rubber’ impression and I’m not sure where that’s coming from. But that does not last long and it settles as a clean, lightly aquatic beauty.

The projection is moderate and the fragrance has pretty good staying power. This feminine-leaning fragrance is bright, cheery, and to me it smells like sunshine captured in a bottle! Read my review of the Nest line here.

Find it here:

Citrine 3ml mini (at Amazon)

Citrine 8ml travel-size (at Amazon)

Citrine 8ml travel-size (at Sephora @ Kohl’s)

Citrine 50ml (at Sephora @ Kohl’s)

Bastide Nue au Soleil

• Top Notes: bergamot, mandarin, petitgrain
• Middle Notes: mint leaf, geranium, tea
• Base Notes: mate, moss, musk

Bergamot leads the pack out of the gate in this fresh, clean citrus fragrance. The mint and tea notes quickly follow. I get the greenness of the geranium and petitgrain and the earthiness of the moss. All of the notes play so nicely together to form a clean, minty, citrusy fragrance that’s easy to wear anywhere.

Similar performance to the rest of the lot. Another likable, unisex citrus offering from Bastide that anyone can enjoy.

Find it here:

Nue au Soleil 10ml, 100ml (at Bastide)

Maison Margiela Replica Under the Lemon Trees

• Top Notes: Kalamansi flavor accord (acid orange or Panama orange, resembles a cross between mandarin and lime), petitgrain essence, cardamom essence
• Middle Notes: coriander essence, mate absolute, green tea extract
• Base Notes: cedarwood essence, musks

This fragrance is well-named, it definitely opens very lemony! Clean and quite light in the beginning, though it picks up in strength as it dries down. At about the 5-minute mark, the spicy coriander and cardamom notes start to pick up and it becomes quite a spicy/herbaceous scent. There’s a touch of greenness from the petitgrain and green tea. I find the musk to be very quiet. Overall, this is a very green and herbal-citrus scent.

I find the projection to be pretty light. Unisex with a slight masculine lean. Lasts a good 2 hours before fading to a light skin scent. Read my review of some of the other Replica fragrances here (I’m planning on doing a part two with more reviews of this fun-to-explore house soon!)

Find it here:

Under the Lemon Trees 1ml decants, 100ml (at ZGO Perfumery)

Under the Lemon Trees 1ml, 2ml, 5ml, 9ml & 100ml full bottle decants (at Scent Split)

Under the Lemon Trees 30ml, 100ml (at Macy’s)

Under the Lemon Trees 30ml, 100ml (at Nordstrom)

Ellen Tracy Bronze

• Top Notes: lemonade, mandarin, bergamot, green apple
• Middle Notes: violet leaf, honeysuckle, orange blossom, lily-of-the-valley
• Base Notes: heliotrope, coumarin, amber, vanilla orchid, cedar

Sweet vanilla lemonade powder is the overwhelming scent profile here. I get serious Country Time powdered lemonade vibes from this fragrance. There’s slight hints of the green apple, orange blossom, amber, and heliotrope (my favorite note, after vanilla!) But the lemonade and powdery violet leaf are absolutely the stand-out notes. I get plenty of vanilla as well, it’s slightly sweet and in addition to the lemonade, I also get some impressions of lemon meringue pie. There’s something very cozy and comforting about this scent. It has a feeling of uncomplicated childhood summertime memories that include sipping a lemonade while on a porch swing.

This perfume has a bit of a throwback feel, it instantly takes me back to the early 90’s. I was surprised to find out it was actually launched in 2011! The projection is good and noticeable for a good couple of hours before fading to a nice skin scent. One of the best parts about this fun summery hidden gem? It is DIRT CHEAP! I recommend the gift set that includes a large 100ml bottle PLUS body lotion and shower gel. At the time of this writing, that whole bundle is selling at FragranceNet for an incredible $23! (link below)

Watch my Reel about this fragrance here or check out the YouTube version below:

Find it here:

Bronze sample vial, 10ml, 30ml, 100ml (at FragranceNet)

Bronze gift set includes 100ml perfume & 100ml body lotion (at FragranceNet)

Bronze gift set includes 100ml perfume, 100ml body lotion, & 100ml shower gel (GREAT deal if you love this fragrance!)

Imaginary Authors Saint Julep

• Top Notes: sweet mint, tangerine
• Middle Notes: southern magnolia, bourbon
• Base Notes: grisalva (synthetic ambergris-like note with nuances of ambergris, leather, and amber), sugarcube

This delicious fragrance is all about the sweet mint, sugarcube, and synthetic ambergris. It’s very clean, minty, and definitely unisex. Reminds me of mint candy or Orbit Sweet Mint gum. I lightly get the tangerine, it’s not overwhelmingly citrusy, though. And despite the listed bourbon note, I also would not classify this fragrance as boozy.

Projection starts strong, but calms down to be more intimate after about an hour. This lasts as a quiet skin scent for many hours. Read my review of half of the Imaginary Authors line here. Part two of the line coming this fall!

Find it here:

Saint Julep 1ml, 2ml, 5ml, 9ml decants & 50ml full bottle (at Scent Split)

Saint Julep 14ml travel-spray (at Imaginary Author’s Amazon shop)

Saint Julep 2ml sample vial, 14ml travel-spray, 50ml (at Imaginary Authors)

Guerlain Aqua Allegoria Mandarine Basilic

• Top Notes: mandarin, basil
• Middle Note: green tea
• Base Notes: woody notes

The opening of this fragrance smells like a very fresh and realistic navel orange and is not sweet at all. ‘Bitter orange’ is definitely the overall experience here. The basil lends an aromatic feel. I also detect the green tea note, which adds to the overall green, aromatic, and tart vibe. It does project slightly sweeter than what I smell up close on my wrist, though I would never refer to this as a sweet fragrance.

The projection is on the lighter side but definitely noticeable for about the first hour and then fades to a long-lasting skin scent. This fragrance is easily unisex, I would almost even say it leans ever-so-slightly masculine, but only just. If you’re looking for a great, non-sweet orange fragrance, this should be a winner.

Find it here:

Aqua Allegoria Mandarine Basilic 75ml (at Bergdorf Goodman)

Aqua Allegoria Mandarine Basilic 125ml (at Bergdorf Goodman)

Aqua Allegoria Mandarine Basilic 125ml (at Bloomingdale’s)

Aqua Allegoria Mandarine Basilic 125ml (at Nordstrom)

Atelier Cologne Pacific Lime

• Top Notes: Mexican lime, Italian lemon
• Middle Notes: coconut
• Base Notes: spearmint, eucalyptus

The opening gives me loads of lime and spearmint; it’s very fresh and aromatic. This is sort of reminiscent of a tooth gel, not paste-y, definitely like a cool gel. Almost equally lime and mint with a splash of the eucalyptus. The coconut is not a strong player here. It’s a quite light, background impression and more like a thirst-quenching coconut water. The dominating lime and mint notes remind me of a refreshing mojito.

This has the typical lighter projection of a freshie. I get a good 3-4 hours from this cologne absolue. Easily unisex. Some interesting news about the house here. In the FragranceNet link below, be sure to select ‘Pacific Lime’ from the list of available fragrances. Read my review of the Atelier line here.

Find it here:

Pacific Lime 1ml, 2ml, 5ml, 9ml decants (at Scent Split)

Pacific Lime 1ml sample, 10ml travel-spray, 30ml, 100ml (at FragranceNet)

So there you have my loooooong list of citrus freshies! Lots here to choose from. Do you enjoy citrus fragrances? Do you have a favorite to add to this list? Please let me know in the comments! 🍈🍊🍋

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