Orris: the slow-dried iris root that smells of violets
Orris is not a flower note but the root of the iris, dried for years before distillation into a solid essence reminiscent of violets. Prized as a fixative, it is described as the most expensive material used in the fragrance industry.
Where does orris come from?
Orris is the rhizome of Iris germanica and Iris pallida. Iris pallida, native to the Dalmatian coast of Croatia, is cultivated in the Chianti region of Italy for its fragrance, as Wikipedia's article on Iris pallida notes. After an initial drying period that can last five years or more, the root is ground and distilled. According to the article on orris root, one tonne of iris root produces about two kilos of essential oil, a yellow-white solid sold as orris butter.
What does orris smell like?
Orris smells of violets, with a heavy, woody, tenaciously floral character, and the scent of the root differs from that of the iris flower. Its key molecules are the irones, methylionone odorants that form through slow oxidation of triterpenoids in the dried rhizome. The entry on irones describes their odour as sweet, floral, woody and ionone-like.
What does orris do in a perfume?
Orris is used mainly as a fixative and base note in perfumery, and it is the most widely used fixative for potpourri. It sits in the florals family, close to violet, whose scent is recreated with the related ionones. In French perfumery history, the Guerlinade base created in 1921 by Jacques Guerlain combined iris and vanilla balms, according to French Wikipedia's perfumery glossary. Orris also flavours many brands of gin.
What should you know about orris?
Orris is described as the most expensive substance used in the fragrance industry: it takes years of drying and a tonne of roots to obtain two kilos of orris butter. Its use for scent is old, too: orris was already used in the 15th century to give linen a fresh smell, and for potpourri the root needs only two to three months of drying before it is ground. The class on extraction methods covers the distillation behind orris butter.
Often paired with
Further reading
- Iris pallida (Wikipedia) en.wikipedia.org
- Orris root (Wikipedia) en.wikipedia.org
- Irone (Wikipedia) en.wikipedia.org
- Ionone (Wikipedia) en.wikipedia.org
- Glossaire de la parfumerie (French Wikipedia) fr.wikipedia.org
Orris in the feed
ingrid_berlinin Florals & Bouquets · Berlin ·
Discovery
Orris root smells nothing like the iris flower
A piece of orris root from a friend's pot-pourri jar. Not a flower at all: carrot, cold earth, a powder that sits very low, like a bass note you feel more than hear. The orris page says the root dries for years before distillation. I wear orris since two…
theodora.fig We have an old pot-pourri bowl at the shop and the dust at the bottom smells exactly like that. I always blamed the velvet.
ingrid_berlinin Wearing Fragrance · Berlin ·
Scent diary
Orris that nobody notices, on purpose
I wear orris at the studio since two years and no colleague has ever said a word. Good. I want it like room tone: there only if you stop and listen. Who else wears scent mostly for themselves? /Ingrid
jess.in.philly Me, with musk. Though some days I wonder if I can even smell it, or if I'm just remembering it.
aunty_valin Wearing Fragrance · Liverpool ·
QuestionItchy neck after my rose and powder scent
Since the cold weather came in, my neck goes red and itchy where I spray my rose and powder perfume. Should I put it somewhere else, love, or rub some cream on first?
harriet.hay A red, itchy neck needs someone who can look at it, so your GP or a pharmacist first, before anyone here guesses.
hamish_heatherin Florals & Bouquets · Edinburgh ·
ChallengeThree words, one flower: guess it
Aye, a wee game for a dreich weekend. I describe a flower in three words, you guess, and whoever gets it posts the next one. Folk who come into the shop play this with whisky and never loose interest. Mine: custard, rubber, sunshine.
dex_in_brooklyn custard and rubber is a weird combo but you're describing ylang-ylang, I'd bet my knives on it
mags.lavenderin Welcome to the Club · Norwich ·
Memory
What was on your nan's dressing table?
Morning all, A few of our new members have mentioned a grandparent, so here's a lovely gentle one for everybody. My nan's dressing table had a cut-glass bottle of something violet, a powder puff that left clouds everywhere and a little dish of lavender from…
rafa_azahar On my grandmother's table in Seville there was always a bottle of orange blossom water, for the cakes and for her hair.
carys.cardiffin Florals & Bouquets · Cardiff ·
DiscoveryReading up on violets and their vanishing extract
Read the violet page on my lunch break. Sweet violet was a favourite scent of the late Victorian period, yet true violet flower extract had almost disappeared by the late 1950s. The violet in a bottle today comes from ionones, a name taken from the Greek word…
aunty_val My mother's powder compact smelled like that, violets and something sweet. I never knew it wasn't the flower.
In the Classes
Class no. 10 · 7 min read
How to wear fragrance: where, how much, and why you stop smelling it
To wear fragrance well, spray it from a short distance onto clean skin or a fabric that won't mark, don't rub it in, and stop before your own nose asks for more. You'll learn where to put it, how much to use and why you stop noticing your own scent while everyone around you still can.