Grapefruit Perfume

I'll admit it: I love grapefruit. I love the smell, the taste and the bright ruby color of a juicy pink grapefruit. So, if you're like me, maybe you just love to wear grapefruit perfume because it makes you happy.

But there are plenty of other reasons to wear grapefruit perfume, too, such as recent research that shows that wearing grapefruit perfume can peel years off your age -- and might even help you lose weight.

If you're interested in learning more about the amazing properties of grapefruit perfume -- as well as how to find the best grapefruit perfume for you -- here's a guide to help you get started:

Did you know there are scientists who study smells and tastes and their effects on the brain, on perception and on human behavior? While aromatherapists for years have contended that certain scents affect people in certain ways, scientists are now trying to find the hard evidence of these connections.

One scent that has been studied by these scientists is grapefruit. A few years ago, Dr. Alan Hirsch of the Smell & Taste Research Foundation in Chicago, asked a group of men to don nose masks that emitted a variety of scents, then to estimate the ages of various women. When the male test subjects were exposed to the scent of grapefruit, they guessed (on average) that the women were six years younger than their actual ages. So, spritzing on some grapefruit scented perfume can take years off your age.

And, according to RealAge.com, preliminary studies show that just smelling grapefruit oil might be able to suppress the appetite, curb craving for sweets and promote weight loss. More studies are needed, but in the meantime, wearing grapefruit oil or grapefruit scented perfumes -- which smell great anyway -- can't hurt, right?

If you want to wear a grapefruit scent, you have several options:

A pure grapefruit fragrance. If you're looking for a perfume that's just grapefruit, and grapefruit only, it can be a little bit more difficult to find, but it is out there. (Perfumes that just have one note, instead of having top, middle and base notes, are called linear perfumes.) One such perfume is called Just Grapefruit by Arran Aromatics, and it's a light, lively scent.

A perfume or cologne with grapefruit as one of its notes -- probably a top note or middle note. (Now Smell This perfume blog explains the difference between top, middle and base notes in perfume.) One example of this type of fragrance is Jo Malone Grapefruit Cologne.

Grapefruit oil. You can buy grapefruit perfume oil, which can be applied directly out of the bottle, or buy grapefruit essential oil and blend it with a carrier oil to make your own grapefruit perfume. This way, you know you're getting grapefruit and nothing else and, if you use an essential oil, you can be sure it's all natural.

So, what's the best grapefruit perfume? That depends on you and your personal preferences.

If you like light perfumes, you might want to go with perfumes with grapefruit, and just grapefruit, or perfumes that have grapefruit and other citrus scents. If you like heavier or more feminine scents, you might want to go with a more complex grapefruit perfume that has musky and floral notes too.

If you're adventurous, and have some extra cash, you might want to just try out several different grapefruit perfumes and see which one you like (every perfume smells different on every person, after all.) But, if you're more cautious, you might want to check out reviews from other grapefruit perfume wearers:

At the perfume review site Basenotes.com:

Pink Grapefruit by Floris got good reviews. Positives were that it smelled fresh and clean, like fresh grapefruit. (But a few people thought it was too fresh and in-your-face, and one person said it smelled liked laundry detergent.)

Jo Malone Grapefruit  got mixed reviews and was described as woodsy, with notes of mandarin, rosemary and jasmine. (Some people complained it smelled soapy.)

Parfums Series 8 Energy C: Grapefruit got good reviews, and reviewers said it has notes of mandarin and a floral character.

Other possibilities include Bath & Body Works' Pink Grapefruit, Mark Jacobs Splash Grapefruit, and Demeter Grapefruit Tea.

If you have a favorite grapefruit perfume or have tried any of these perfumes and have thoughts about them, please leave a comment and share.

Photo credits --

Grapefruit photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/calliope/ / CC BY 2.0

Pink perfume photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/wendati/ / CC BY 2.0