Top Notes 
Bergamot
Nashi pear
Heart Notes 
Cattleya orchid
Freesia
Base Notes 
Musk
Vanilla
kittea
65 Reviews
kittea
1
The flower is there, but where's the rest of the orchid?
I have talked in the past about my memories of orchids ( Red Cattleya ) as something my grandfather grew, and a scent I became familiar with. Red Cattleya didn't smell like an orchid, but I gather it was not trying to. I'm not normally the person to focus on the accuracy of a scent's name. But in the case of Caswell-Massey, the marketing and naming are absolutely trying to conjure the idea of a real orchid, so I think it's fair to make the comparison.
Scent memories can be a bit deceiving, so I wanted to smell this side by side to an orchid to test. My grandfather died years ago, and all the orchids I find in florist shops are of the scentless phalaenopsis variety, but a visit to a tiki bar provided me with the orchid I needed.
So, does it smell like an orchid? Yes, absolutely. Comparing the cut orchid against my wrist, there's very little difference between the two. And, well, here is where I think Caswell-Massey are missing out on an opportunity.
See, the orchid I'm comparing against has been cut, probably some time before I made the comparison. Not only does headspace analysis show that cut flowers differ in scent from living ones, there's a lot of greenery and humidity you might expect to go along with the smell of a truly Living Floral Orchid, something that will place the flower within the context of a tropical jungle and make it smell more, well, living. That's not here. It's a context-less floral scent which is probably going to be very difficult for most people to identify as "orchid".
I think it's a good scent. It's certainly accurate. But it's missing something to elevate it from decent to great.
Scent memories can be a bit deceiving, so I wanted to smell this side by side to an orchid to test. My grandfather died years ago, and all the orchids I find in florist shops are of the scentless phalaenopsis variety, but a visit to a tiki bar provided me with the orchid I needed.
So, does it smell like an orchid? Yes, absolutely. Comparing the cut orchid against my wrist, there's very little difference between the two. And, well, here is where I think Caswell-Massey are missing out on an opportunity.
See, the orchid I'm comparing against has been cut, probably some time before I made the comparison. Not only does headspace analysis show that cut flowers differ in scent from living ones, there's a lot of greenery and humidity you might expect to go along with the smell of a truly Living Floral Orchid, something that will place the flower within the context of a tropical jungle and make it smell more, well, living. That's not here. It's a context-less floral scent which is probably going to be very difficult for most people to identify as "orchid".
I think it's a good scent. It's certainly accurate. But it's missing something to elevate it from decent to great.
Daccord
