Molecule 01 Mandarin

Fresh Cutie!

I was pleasantly surprised by Molecule 01 + Mandarin. The opening smells exactly like peeling a fresh Cutie or tangerine. Its bright, juicy, and incredibly realistic. A lot of citrus fragrances lose their citrus character within minutes and turn into something completely different, but this one retains that mandarin character much longer than I expected.The dry down is gentle and clean, with the mandarin still present rather than disappearing entirely. Compared to Molecule 01 + Ginger, I found the mandarin note stayed recognizable much longer. It never became overly sweet, perfumey, or heavy on my skin, which is a huge plus for me since many fragrances eventually drift into territory I don't enjoy. If you like realistic citrus scents and wish more orange fragrances actually smelled like fresh fruit instead of cleaning products or generic perfume, this is worth trying. For me, it's easily a top-five fragrance and one of the most realistic mandarin scents I've encountered.

Molecule 01 Mandarin

Good, not Great

I'm sure this fragrance strikes a chord with some, but it did not live up to the hype for me. There is nothing wrong with it, but it hits me as quite average.