Sweet Pea

SWEET. Very sweet, pink floral! Smells like a gorgeous and playful spring day. I mix this with lilac, but both are just splendid on their own. This is one of my favorites from Demeter. Did I mention this is sweet!!?

Superb fragrance: perfect for body, room or car. Not too hard, not too soft. Has a very natural aura. Made my college dorm room feel like home.

Sorry, but this smells nothing like the sweet pea climbing plant of days gone by. Yes, it is a light floral and not fruity, however, it has an unpleasant after smell. Cannot explain what it actually smells like, as it doesn't last long enough on the skin (1-2 hours maximum). So disappointing as I was expecting something better than this for the price. Poor sillage and very poor longevity too. Cannot recommend, so save your money, as I've wasted mine.

As with the majority of floral notes, the scent of sweet pea (Lathyrus odoratus) is represented in perfumery by constructed accords. Of course the perennial question (though sweet pea is an annual...) is how close do these aromachemical constructs match the true fragrance in vivo. Demeter Sweet Pea does make a valiant effort at recreating the sharply sweet scent of sweet pea, but the final product does seem to lean too spicy, with cloves almost suggesting carnation. Such spiciness is probably added to give the sharp, candy-like nuance of a fresh sweet pea, ...but instead of spicy components, I might suggest judicious use of methyl anthranilate, or even a light influence of wintergreen oil. This fragrance is also a tad too aquatic-leaning as well. True sweet pea is a somewhat dryish floral scent. Perhaps one could even describe it as sub-powdery. Edit: I just wore this again today, a couple months later, and feel inspired to say more about it. Demeter Sweet Pea really is an exceptionally pleasant, lightly floral scent; one that might easily have been described and marketed more elaborately by another brand. However, I do still stand by my claim that it does not truly replicate the scent of sweet peas, ...but instead, suggests a softer aspect of the carnation accord, one that is only lightly spiced with cloves.

It is now the very beginning of spring and the sweet peas (Lathyrus odoratus) are beginning to bloom. (They used to wait until April...). As such, I am now able to directly compare them side-by-side with Demeter's Sweet Pea fragrance. Any similarity between the two is only partial, at best. Actual sweet pea blossoms smell primarily of methyl anthranilate (so like artificial grape) and powdery nuances suggestive of orris and violet. The effect is sharp, bright, dry, and candied. The Sweet Pea fragrance from Demeter, on the other hand, adds additional notes suggestive of rose and musk to the composition. While some effort was made to maintain some sharpness to the scent, the overall effect is ultimately more rounded, complex and 'perfumey', ...and also far less indicative of the scent of sweet peas, or indeed, any natural floral aroma.