Taking note of the scents that inspire us

Taking a little break from the long list of florals that are making our heads swirl to give the proper call out to one of the fragrance industry’s biggest players: Lemon leaves. Yes, just the leaves for now because they tell such an important part of the scent story.

Before going diving into your neighbour’s lemon tree to pull leaves, remember the branches have really long spikes (I forgot that in my excitement to prune ours and am typing with a bandaid now!). After you have carefully pulled a few leaves, rip them to release the potent scented oil. Enjoy the scent and keep going back to the broken leaves to get more layers.

First up, of course, is the super-lemony (almost to the point of Lemon Pledge) note that will fill your nose.

But like all naturals, the scent is far more complex than that. Even if the lemon scented detergent association is hard to shake, you pick up hints of fresh green grass, corn silk, and even unripe nectarine and green apple notes lingering in the background. There is a waxy aspect as well to the overall scent. If you’ve used lemon (or other citrus) essential oils you’ll notice they are much more strident. Essential oils found commercially often include the peel along with the leaves and branches making them much more zesty, less green. And don’t even get us started on the citrus flowers. That’s an entirely different olfactory adventure and for another time.

You can find layers of citrus notes in our i’khana eau de parfum. Grapefruit, lime, mandarine give the otherwise spicy scent an initial lift.