bdk Parfums
A unique visual signature based on accords, character, and seasonality
The Italian citrus oils explode immediately—tart, zesty, almost aggressive in their brightness—before the neroli swoops in with its green-bitter petitgrain facets and subtle mothball undertones. Fig adds a milky, coconut-like creaminess that softens the acid bite, whilst eucalyptus provides an unexpected cooling menthol quality that makes your nostrils flare.
As the volatiles dissipate, orange blossom absolute reveals its full indolic character, rich and almost narcotic, whilst immortelle's curry-maple strangeness wrestles with a tart strawberry accord that smells more of sun-dried fruit than fresh berries. The jasmine remains subtle, a supporting player adding white floral heft without dominating, and that aquatic accord becomes more apparent—a salty, ozonic breeze that prevents the composition from becoming cloying.
The base is surprisingly tenacious: patchouli and vetiver create an earthy, slightly musty foundation that feels worlds away from the opening's citrus exuberance. Tonka bean lends a subtle almond-vanilla sweetness, whilst white musk provides a clean, skin-like quality that unifies the disparate elements into something vaguely nostalgic, like the memory of expensive sun cream on warm skin after a day by the sea.
Citrus Riviera isn't your grandmother's eau de cologne—this is a solar citrus composition that veers between the tart brightness of Amalfi citrus groves and the honeyed, almost resinous warmth of Mediterranean scrubland. Schwieger has orchestrated something rather clever here: the Italian lemon and mandarin burst with expected vigour, but the neroli and orange blossom absolute create a heady, indolic undercurrent that stops this from being another watery summer throwaway. The immortelle adds a peculiar maple-like sweetness that clashes beautifully with eucalyptus's medicinal edge, whilst the strawberry—often a catastrophe in perfumery—reads more as a jammy, oxidised fruit accord that grounds the composition rather than sweetening it into oblivion.
What makes this compelling is the tension between its fresh facade and the comparatively heavy base: Indonesian patchouli and Haitian vetiver create an earthy foundation that feels almost incongruous beneath all that sunshine. The aquatic accord whispers rather than shouts, lending a saline quality that evokes sea spray on sun-warmed skin rather than the laundry-detergent blast of marine notes. This is for the fragrance wearer who finds traditional colognes too fleeting but summer blockbusters too synthetic—someone who wants citrus with backbone, preferably worn on holiday with linen trousers and architectural jewellery, or by the determinedly stylish throughout a dreary British summer, willing optimism into existence.
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3.9/5 (210)