Citrus · Natural material · Top notes, Heart notes
Grapefruit
Grapefruit is the citrus Citrus × paradisi, a cross between pomelo and sweet orange. It smells fresh and juicy with a distinctive bitterness, like the moment you cut the fruit open. In perfume, grapefruit usually sits in the top notes for a bright opening, and sometimes appears in the heart notes too.
· Written by the FRAG team
What does grapefruit smell like?
Grapefruit smells like a freshly cut fruit: fresh, juicy and a little bitter. Compared with lemon, grapefruit is less sour and rounder. A sharp, bitter edge from the peel makes grapefruit easy to tell apart from other citrus.
On skin, grapefruit is clear at first and then slowly fades. Pink grapefruit, which has reddish flesh, usually smells a little sweeter than grapefruit with yellow flesh.
Where does grapefruit come from?
Grapefruit came from an accidental cross between pomelo and sweet orange. It was first recorded in Barbados, in the Caribbean, in the 18th century. Its scientific name is Citrus × paradisi, and the × shows that grapefruit is a hybrid.
Much of grapefruit's typical scent comes from nootkatone, the most valuable aroma compound in the fruit. Nootkatone was first found in the wood of the Alaskan yellow cedar, and today it is also made from valencene, a compound found in oranges. Grapefruit oil for perfume comes from the peel.
Grapefruit in a perfume
Grapefruit almost always sits in the top notes, and sometimes in the heart to keep the fresh feeling going. It makes the opening clean and light, which suits fresh and woody perfumes. How long the scent lasts still varies with skin, weather and concentration.
Common partners for grapefruit are pink pepper and ginger for a light spicy side, rhubarb and mint for a green feel, then vetiver and cedar in the base. Grapefruit with vetiver is a classic pairing because their bitterness complements each other.
When to wear a grapefruit perfume
Grapefruit suits daytime, light exercise, work and hot weather. Because it is not sweet, it feels comfortable in humid air and never heavy in a closed room. Grapefruit with vetiver or cedar also suits the late afternoon, because the base is drier and warmer.
