African Orchid

It is hard for me to believe there is no anise here, it smells so strongly of fresh star anise on my skin. On initial spray, this is an anise bomb sprinkled with a smooth, heady, indolic orchid smell. After settling, the florals center up, accompanied by whole spices, ripe passionfruit, and a bed of woods. Together these notes create an intoxicating darkness that I cannot get enough of. Sultry is the word. I get everything I want when I wear this. Sillage is strong at first and eases over time. After a full day of wear, it is a complex incense skin scent that I couldn't believe at first. After sampling 20+ Olympic Orchids scents, I was shocked that this was my favorite. After trying this I immediately knew it was the best fragrance I had ever smelled. I cannot go without it. Try African Orchid if you like spicy, layered fragrances that develop over time without losing the plot, you want to feel like a succubus, or you want to experience another dimension of the floral genre. In my opinion, this is the most under-rated offering from the house. Sublime.

This is one intense fragrance. Almost medicinal. I definitely get the passionfruit, cyclamen and ylang up front. Some kick from the clove with jasmine. It settles and then I get the sweetness with the sandalwood and vanilla. Ive got to say its a good few years since I smelt root beer but I can just about remember it. I see what people mean about it being present. I like this better than the smell of root beer. Its a fragrance that hits you in the face on the opening but once the alcohol vanishes it just keeps getting better. It becomes more fruity but still a sexy floral of the night. Do be patient when testing this and you will be rewarded. Moderate sillage and longevity.

African Orchid Olympic Orchids شروع کار بسیار زیباست، مقدار کمی انیمالیک و ادرار گونه. در ادامه فضای کلی گلهای زرد به چشم میاد این اولین ارکیده ای هست که تست کردم پس نمیتونم به خوبی تفکیک کنم که کدوم بو بوی گل ارکیده است ولی حدس میزنم اون گرمایی که کنار ایلانگ ایلانگ حس میشه رایحه ارکیده باشه، در کنار میخک کمی فضای ارکیده دارویی شده که به نظر من زیباست، کلا میخک در کنار گل ها زیباست. ترجیح میدادم وانیل اینجا نباشه ولی در پس کار داره خیلی آروم خودشو نشون میده که به نظرم تمایل کار رو میبره سمت زنونه بودن ولی باز یونی سکس میشه حسابش کرد کاملا. من ایلانگ ایلانگ رو دوست ندارم تقریبا تو هیچ عطری ولی این کار الن کووی دوست داشتنی و دنج بود. یه عطر شبونه گرم و صمیمی.

Lovers of Tubereuse Criminelle's wild opening might rejoice with this scent. African Orchid has the same methyl salicylate (wintergreen) meets candied white floral opening salvo that the Lutens does, albeit with the "weird" and the volume both turned down. From that, it segues into a lovely, sensual ylang ylang middle with hints of indole over an ambery, cuddly, vanilla-musk base. Additionally, this isn't just some expressionistic vague department store floral...there are little touches here and there that bring to mind petal-like nuances and greenery, evoking the experience of sticking your nose in a heady tropical flower. Lovely and easy to like.

African Orchid opens with an astonishing, breathy, celestial white floral with layers of complexity. In a few minutes a realistic tart passionfruit also comes out, balancing the pearly florals beautifully. It smells exactly like a fresh passionfruit, and it’s wonderfully tangy and refreshing. The far drydown is a soft, dusty floral musk with a lingering tropical aura. I love this. African Orchid has one of the most arresting white floral openings I’ve encountered, and the passionfruit is lovely.

I received my sample of this scent from thelady as well. It's sweet without being too cloying- the cloves, birch, sandalwood, and woody notes help temper the sweetness. I find it nice and cozy- a great scent to toss on before heading to work or school or whatever. As with California Chocolate, it's best to apply it gently to keep the sweetness from being too overwhelming.

The first thing that popped into my mind immediately after I put this on was "elegant Red Hot gum," which after looking at the notes makes sense, though not what I expected. That powerful opening fades pretty quickly, although it lingers, into a very nice, realistic orchid with woodsy notes. On me I think it smells fantastic, but I think I would only wear it in winter.

Holy. Am I sticking my nose directly into a flower pedal? Might as well. This brings me back to grade school when you learned about different parts of flowers. Stem, pistil...something something. This has it all. This is so, so good. I would swoon over anyone wearing this. To me, the combination of the notes here is other-worldly.

I've needed to try this one a few times, months apart. I haven't felt ready to review it until now. It's really odd, and I wasn't sure how to feel about it. Sometimes it's very satisfying to me, other times it's a little urinous and the ylang ylang is too indolic. The vanilla lays heavily atop it, and kind of doubles down on the skanky nature of it. However...during moments I'm really, really into it, and it's only funky in the best ways. If florals could be animalic, it would be this sort of ylang that borders on overripe banana...teetering on the edge, but never becoming gross. It's a little primal, and more than a little evocative. I'll just say it; it's pretty sexy. I get annoyed with people sorting things by age, but this truly is a fragrance for *women*, not *girls*, if you catch my meaning. I don't smell fruits or other sweet notes beyond the vanilla and ylang ylang, and jasmine that feels a little sweaty and warm (like clean female sweat). There's vanilla absolute used in this, and in generous amounts. I'm certain that that's what Ellen used here...it smells *real*. If I smelled this on someone I'd probably initially be a little taken back, it doesn't smell at all like stuff on the market. It smells predominantly like rich essential oils (or absolutes, in the case of jasmine and vanilla). It's lavish, because the cost of these natural materials is significant. It's truly intriguing, but I'm not sure I personally want to smell like this all the time. In the opening stages I feel a little insecure about the primal nature of it all, I really need to pick and choose where I'd be comfortable wearing, and around whom. I do fear this would be really misunderstood by most people who don't busy themselves with fragrances often. I'll enjoy my sample when I have free days to just be at home to enjoy it. Cold air helps, and this bears up well outside...although I'm really curious about what how the florals would behave in hot summer sun. Now *that* might really be a sexy trip 🤭🤫

African Orchid is such an unusual fragrance. I received a sample of it with some other fragrances I purchased from Olympic Orchids. I like many of the other "orchid" scents in the collection, which are almost photo-real renderings of orchid flower scents, rather than abstract perfume orchid bouquets. I've never smelled an African Orchid blossom, but I suspect this perfume is one of those photo-real scents, too, and if you like the others, this will probably appeal to you. The best way I can describe it is a warm, waxy white floral next to a bottle of root beer. It's got that realistic flower quality, in which the leaves, the petals, the blossoms, the pollen are all present. The spicy notes lend a warm, fizzy root beer aroma to the scent, and there's a woody hint as the fragrance dries down. As with all the Olympic Orchid scents I've tried, the top notes are very strong. This could be overpowering if the fragrance is applied with a heavy hand or when you're in close quarters, but the dry-down is lovely, with comfortable sillage and good longevity. Overall, it's unique and so nicely done!

A rough start with a blast of smoky birch-infused cloves which smothered the underlying florals. Once the birch-cloves have fumigated the room and retreated enough to smell anything else, I get ylang-ylang, jasmine and a lovely sour-sweetness, but the dominant note remains birch-clove until the perfume's heart. These top notes are pungent and leaning masculine for me. But as time passes the jasmine becomes dominant and feminises the scent, clearing space for the rise of passionfruit, the source of that sweet-sour fruitiness almost medicinal in its potency. I like Bubbles 1964's take on it as "a kind of appealing antiseptic mouthwash smell" although, for me, that stage didn't last once the vanilla appeared, mellowing everything. This is interesting. I grow orchids and there's definitely a whiff of orchids in here, albeit deeper, steadier and with a darker heart than mine. I'm enjoying everything from this perfumer. Distillation: fumigating cloves medicinal sour-sweetness in the orchid's heart

I get a kind of appealing antiseptic mouthwash smell with African Orchid. It’s sweet, medicinal, flowery and musky. I can pick out the cinnamon and clove notes, and yes, even a little bit of urine. This is a strange one, and maybe not a good match with my chemistry. Still I’m not going to downvote. Because like my initial feeling, African Orchid is oddly appealing. From my experience growing a few fragrant orchids, the scent is perplexingly similar. And because of that connection, I admire the composition.

The cloves and birch lend the composition a bit of a wintergreen or root-beer note, especially at the beginning. The orchid is very photorealistic - animalic, waxy and I can detect the stem, this may sound like a complaint to some, but I assure you it is not. Passionfruit and ylang-ylang are sharply tropical. Healthy helping of vanilla. Overall though the orchid keeps it smelling quite primal even with the sweetness. 7.5/10

MUST have something in common with Serge Lutens Tubereuse Criminelle. Blast of Methyl Salicylate followed by a photorealistic orchid. In fact, more like burying your face in a pile of velvety orchid petals, their enchantingly delicate headiness and oh-so-subtle waxy, cold, stemmy twinge. I think it demands attention in kind of a nocturnal villainess way.

Beast mode, sweet, floral goodness. Doesn't get enough credit. The real floral notes are potent. Gorgeous fragrance, like most that O.O. produces. They have FANTASTIC discovery sets. Tons of juice to try out. I'm impressed, to say the least

This smells like an orchid! It brings me back to when I would go to the orchid festival at the Chicago Botanic Garden. The perfume is a very dark, rich intoxicating floral. Not getting any urine smells like other reviews.

Super unique one. Slightly sweet fruity but with a wisp of jasmine and then lots of clove and smoky wood. Gummy bears melting in the pocket of a leather jacket hung up in a warm dentists waiting room.

Before I read people mentioning how this smelled like root beer my initial impressions were this might be something a spry, old lady might wear. I didn’t overly dislike it, but I did realize it wasn’t really for me. After reading some comments about root beer, I couldn’t unsmell it and that idea basically dominated my thoughts about this fragrance. AO is a pretty boisterous, linear floral with a soft base of wood and vanilla. The opening gave me impressions of medicine. This has a pretty good sillage and longevity, not intensely overbearing but noticeable. The intensity sort of just waned over time for me and that’s about it. This grew on me after wearing it several times, but not in a way that would make me want to purchase a bottle. However, I think others might find this really nice.

Jasmine and orchid smack you in the face initially, but soon a medicinal note pokes through. For me, this is probably caused by the sweet notes combining with birch. Therefore, it is very much like taking a strong whiff of a fresh flower bouquet immediately after ingesting cough syrup. I'm not always a jasmine or orchid fan, but I do enjoy you ylang ylang and some of the other notes listed. Unfortunately I can detect literally none of them, and smelling like Robitussin isn't my vibe.

Olympic Orchids fragrances are really hit or miss with me. This one isn't my favorite. All I smell is root beer. I love most of the notes listed in this fragrance, but I'm not detecting them at all in African Orchids.

Sadly it is like cat urine on my wrist. Instantly reminds me of why I avoid the passionfruit accord in perfumes.

This perfume is so incredibly polarizing. My nose spots 3 sides: The first is a beautiful ylang-ylang with passion fruit... tropical, sharp and exotic. The second is an overly sweet medicinal note that literally smells like what kids medicine tastes (On my first sniff it immediately threw me back to when I was a kid). And lastly is the worst -- An animalic orchid that sits between animal piss and a rotting corpse. It's gross, which I would be able to tolerate if this didn't literally smell like children's flavored antibiotics. It's similar to Tropic of Capricorn but with the medicinal note on top of this becomes a no-go for me. If you decide to pick this up, go with caution!

It smells exactly like the public bathroom at the Livingston, MT Sacajawea Park on a warm summer day. It is floral and musky and urine-y.

It's quite a notes list, but what I got was orchid, a scent I couldn't call to mind but when I smelled it yup that's it. It's funerals and corsages. Floral with depth. We get a lot of requests on Fragrantica for "witchy" scents, and this is witchy like the professors on the Magician's would wear. Floral with well intentioned darkness. Edgy. Mysterious.

Starts like wintergreen or spearmint, must be the birch. It dries to smell like you rubbed a dandelion between your fingers. That weedy smell but still with a bit of birch behind it. I could see this striking someone as beautiful, it’s pretty unique. Won’t be buying a full bottle however.

Wow. This is heady, dark, and clearly floral. My first impression was night queen/cereus and tuberose with the dark floral aspects of cereus and the creamy headiness of tuberose. Very bold and elegant but also smells quite natural.

OMG. No one is going to believe me, but with my skin chemistry, I am getting fried bacon surrounded by stargazer lilies and this is extremely weird and amazing at the same time xD