Demeter has launched the Orchid Collection, featuring five new floral fragrances.
Since ancient times Orchids have been associated with love, luxury and beauty. By the 18th century orchids were a collectible, but only accessible to the very wealthy. Today, orchids are the second most popular plant in the world (after poinsettias). Their popularity, and broad and fascinating range of floral scents makes Orchids a perfect subject for a Demeter Collection. With almost an infinite number of variations, we hope to be adding unique and unusual floral scents to this collection on a regular basis.
Twilight Orchid ~ "The heart of this sensuous fragrance is red ginger orchid and midnight orchid, balanced by warm amber and oud wood. While the focus is on the Twilight Orchid, this complex, yet linear blend includes yuza, pink grapefruit and jasmine, making it lighter, fuller and more complete and wearable anytime."
Calypso Orchid ~ "Inspired by the velvety texture of fresh calypso orchid petals, this fragrance captures the olfactory impression of these pink colored flowers, creating a unique exotic, and almost tropical effect. We tried to create the experience like “bathing in orchid petals’’, taking a truly a different approach to constructing this fragrance."
Aphrodite’s Slipper Orchid ~ "This is a spicy floral, variously described as cinnamon or cloves mixed with honey, or freshly mowed hay. Exotic and irresistibly unique Aphrodite’s Slipper reveals different aspects of its character at different moments in time. Aphrodite’s Slipper is also known as Masdevallia."
Cattleya Orchid ~ "Cattleya is a slightly sweet and creamy floral with a citrusy top note, but we used patchouli to create a different kind of depth and sophistication."
To Yo Ran Orchid ~ "This is a light, transparent white orchid that centers on a bright, but soft, lemony note, with green undertones. This is a really great scent for daytime or layering with other fragrances."
The Demeter Orchid Collection fragrances are available in 30 and 120 ml Cologne ($20 / $39.50).
(via demeterfragrance)
Do orchids actually have a scent? Other than the generic “I am a Plant” smell of, you know, plants…
Ellen Covey of Olympic Orchids smells orchids and recreates their scents in perfume. I LOVE her Golden Cattleya perfume — happiness in a bottle. Her Red Cattleya is very nice as well –in it, she created a fruity floral for adults without making it smell like rot, fermentation, or booze.
Olympic Orchids has been quite successful and Ellen Covey has received some awards lately, too. I’m wondering if her work caught Demeter’s eye??? Personally, I’ll stick with Olympic Orchids, the perfumes are so unique and the orchid scents are based on years of study and a great love of orchids and plants in general. Not an easy act to follow!
Some do and some don’t. None of the orchids I’ve ever grown at home had a scent, but a local conservatory has a huge orchid collection and some of them smell amazing.
Some orchids also apparently only smell part of the time or at certain hours of the day (to attract pollinators), and I understand it can also be true that you can buy a scented orchid and have trouble getting it to “smell” at less than perfect conditions in your home.
“Complex yet linear”–I guess it’s possible.
I would guess that if you had a whole bunch of elements that all evaporated at the same rate, the scent could be complex and linear at the same time. I really prefer scents that develop over time, though.
Too bad these aren’t sold in smaller sizes or in a set.
They don’t seem to be doing the collections in the minis…but 30 ml, could be worse.