• From: Montreal
  • Registered: 2012-03-29
  • Posts: 2,201

Topic: Orange blossom smells like rubbing alcohol to me ??

We recently had a very bad heat wave and I moved all my perfume out of my bedroom from their drawer and into the living room where the AC is. I was worried because of the difference in temperature within a short period, so I decided to test a few of them. I sprayed Emeralds and Diamonds on a paper and noticed what I thought to be a strong alcohol scent. Within a few minutes it was gone, it smelled exactly how it usually smells. Tried a few other and they all seemed fine (some older and not even as well taken care of as the Emeralds and Diamonds) then I got to Oscar and noticed the same thing. My husband said he smelled no alcohol at all, to him the smelled as they normally do.
I looked up the top notes and they both contain orange blossom. Could that be what I am smelling ? How strange I never noticed it before, and am I the only one who thinks orange blossom has this scent (or, perhaps I really am just smelling alcohol, lol) I have only recently begun to notice isolated notes in perfumes, I find it quite tricky !

  • Registered: 2010-06-10
  • Posts: 641

Re: Orange blossom smells like rubbing alcohol to me ??

If the bottles were warm from being in the bedroom, when you sprayed them the alcohol (being warmer than usual) would lift off your skin and enter the air (evaporate) faster than usual.  This would account for the strong alcohol scent when you sprayed them as well as the return to the normal smell after the alcohol had evaporated.

Orange blossom does not smell like alcohol to me.

  • From: Montreal
  • Registered: 2012-03-29
  • Posts: 2,201

Re: Orange blossom smells like rubbing alcohol to me ??

They had already cooled down for a few days, but this could be the case anyhow, I found a bottle of orange blossom water in the back of my fridge I forgot I had. It smells a bit bitter, but quite lovely , and not a thing like rubbing alcohol.
I think perhaps the fact that I am suffering from allergies at the moment and it is making me have a hard time identifying smells. I thought cigarette smoke was coming in from next door the other day but it was a cooking chicken  17

Thanks for the explanation !

  • Registered: 2011-08-03
  • Posts: 776

Re: Orange blossom smells like rubbing alcohol to me ??

I love orange blossom. It has so many personalities like musk notes do, depending on what other notes accompany it. It can smell soapy, fruity, aldehydic, clinical, synthetic, bohemian, or any other way it wants. It is an amazing note and heavily used because of this. In your case, it might be blended with a hefty dose of aldehydes...causing it to give off a clinical and soapy notes, which can sometimes be mistaken for "alcohol" odors.

I'd give it some time and thought, and see if you can identify some other notes that might be contributing to your orange blossom taking a left turn.

  • From: Montreal
  • Registered: 2012-03-29
  • Posts: 2,201

Re: Orange blossom smells like rubbing alcohol to me ??

I wore the Emeralds and Diamonds today, and noticed that yes, it did smell like alcohol a bit (most likely due to what was mentioned) but not in a way that makes me think the perfume went bad, just a fresh alcohol scent, BUT, there is also a clinical smell ! You are right ! I smelled the orange blossom water I have again over the course of the day and it also has a similar smell, like astringent, not in a bad way, in a clean way (I also used to use the orange blossom water on my face, so that could be why I am associating it with being clinical or alcohol-ish) I am going to go see if there are any other notes they share, and then cross reference with other perfumes. I find it fascinating because I never once noticed this smell in the past but my husband swears up and down it has always been there , hahaha.



I just checked, they also share top notes of peach and gardenia, so perhaps it is the mix of all three in the top notes that are giving me this idea that it smells clinical, of course I would have to check a few other perfumes that are similar to be sure (gives me a good excuse to hang out at the perfume counter and bug the sales people, mwhahaha)

Last edited by mi-jo.sayegh (2012-06-23 19:38:26)

  • Registered: 2011-08-03
  • Posts: 776

Re: Orange blossom smells like rubbing alcohol to me ??

Another thing to keep in mine is that the perfumers never reveal exactly how much of a note that they add to a fragrance. Sometimes, you may get the impression that you are smelling a huge whiff of a particular note like orange blossom, when in actuality it's just a slight "fume" of that note combined with a similar note- like rose or a green note. In the case of rose, it could be added to make the composition even rosier- where there is little actual rose in the composition (like Red Door by Elizabeth Arden). In the case of bitter green florals, orange blossom can be used to make them fresher, cleaner and more wearable (like Catalyst by Halston).

And, you can have this note in the composition, but it not be formally listed. Have you noticed that they never list every single note in Joy by Patou?  glad

It's food for thought, anyway.

  • From: Montreal
  • Registered: 2012-03-29
  • Posts: 2,201

Re: Orange blossom smells like rubbing alcohol to me ??

very true !   I have quite a few perfumes that share almost all the same notes, even in regards to top notes, etc, and they smell very different

  • From: back in the U.S.A.
  • Registered: 2009-08-10
  • Posts: 5,713

Re: Orange blossom smells like rubbing alcohol to me ??

Hi mi-jo-

The first few times I smelled orange blossom in a fragrance, it smelled a little medicinal to me- like calamine lotion!

http://fimgs.net/images/perfume/m.1268.jpg L Artisan Parfumeur La Chasse aux Papillons



<a>But I agree, orange blossom is a chameleon- sometimes it smells both soapy and animalic to me, as in these:</a>




Prada Ephemeral Infusion Collection Infusion de Fleur d`Oranger </a>




Oscar de la Renta Oscar </a>




Hermes 24 Faubourg
</a>

The Lord is my light and my salvation- whom should I fear? The Lord is my life's refuge- of whom should I be afraid?
  • From: Montreal
  • Registered: 2012-03-29
  • Posts: 2,201

Re: Orange blossom smells like rubbing alcohol to me ??

It`s amazing, I am very intrigued by orange blossom now, it is in quite a few perfumes I have been sniffing lately and I think I can detect it and it really does smell quite different and yet at the same time still very distinct