The Story
Why it exists.
The beginning
Citrus Grandis arrived in 2022 as part of the Anima collection from Chris Collins, a niche house built around scent as an emotional language. The fragrance was composed by Nathalie Feisthauer, and the composition was built around a citrus accord designed to hold its shape well past the opening spray. The Anima collection captures feelings of attraction, daring, and freedom, each scent a distilled mood rather than a literal narrative. Citrus Grandis is the bright one, the chapter about stepping into light, a composition that takes the sharp clarity of citrus and gives it enough backbone to last. The yuzu, citron, and pomelo trio at the top hits colder and more aromatic than a standard citrus opening, and the heart adds green bitterness from verbena alongside the tart lift of blackcurrant.
What separates this from the dozens of other citrus releases is how it treats yuzu, citron, and pomelo as the foundation rather than afterthoughts. Feisthauer builds the opening around these three notes, a trio that hits colder and more aromatic than the usual bergamot-led citrus entries. Then verbena and blackcurrant arrive in the heart to add green bitterness and a faint fruity tartness, giving the composition real dimension instead of a single-note shimmer. The structure holds the first hour without collapsing into generic freshness.
The evolution
When Citrus Grandis launched in 2022 as part of the Chris Collins Anima collection, it led with cold yuzu, citron, and pomelo, an opening that felt sharp and almost sweet in its crispness. The citrus trio sits at the top of the composition, and the freshness hits immediately on skin. Over the first hour, the verbena and blackcurrant heart cools the citrus into something greener and more reflective, adding herbal sharpness alongside a tart fruitiness that gives the composition weight. By the second hour, vetiver and sandalwood pull the fragrance toward a warm, incense-tinted drydown that sits close to skin for hours. The yuzu-to-cedar arc became the talking point among wearers: a citrus that settles into something meditative rather than fleeting. The elemi adds a peppery flicker that keeps the base alive, and the musk rounds everything out with a soft, skin-like warmth.
Cultural impact
Part of the Anima collection, Citrus Grandis sits alongside fragrances like African Rooibos and Danse Sauvage. The collection as a whole captures a range of moods, and Citrus Grandis represents the bright, daytime register within it. The fragrance has found a following of wearers who want citrus with actual structure, a composition that doesn't fade into a generic fresh scent after the first hour. It wears well in spring and summer, holds up in transitional weather, and offers enough depth in the base to carry it into cooler settings as well.
