Bergamot
Citrus bergamia
Perfumery’s most widely used citrus. Fresh, yet slightly bitter and floral – which is why it sounds more elegant than lemon.
The note’s label
- Family
- citrus note; among fragrance families, citrus
- Position
- top note
- Impression
- Pairs with
- Evokes
- morning · summer · Earl Grey tea · a clean shirt
- Raw material
- fruit peel, cold-pressed
- Natural or synthetic
- The natural oil is widely used. For perfumery it is often treated to contain less bergapten, a phototoxic furocoumarin.
What it is
Bergamot is a citrus fruit grown not for eating but for the essential oil in its peel. Most of it comes from Calabria in southern Italy. You know the same aroma from Earl Grey tea.
Besides limonene, the oil contains linalool and linalyl acetate – substances that are also typical of lavender. Hence the natural affinity between bergamot and lavender.
In perfume
Bergamot opens a huge number of fragrances: colognes, fougères, chypres and modern woody scents. As a top note it shows on the skin straight away and gradually fades; its job is to give a fragrance light and air.
In a chypre it forms the basic “light and shadow” contrast with labdanum and oakmoss.
On the label
Bergamot oil (Citrus Aurantium Bergamia Peel Oil) is one of the 56 allergens added to Annex III of the Cosmetics Regulation in 2023. It must be listed above 0.001% in leave-on and 0.01% in rinse-off products.
In the fragrance archive
- Kenzo Kenzo pour Homme (1991)
- Azzaro Silver Black (2005)
- Calvin Klein CK One (1994)
The archive is for reading only. Nothing in it is for sale.