Red Cattleya

This is the heady scent of being blessed by The Goddess. Be light handed with this one, as your offering. One spray will have you at her temple. You instantly pick up on the lush dense florals of the orchids laid at the feet of her alter. The basket of fruits meld for a sweetness that pushes past ripeness. There is also a solid undertone of woody spices, perhaps similar to Gonesh incense? All very powerful upon first smell. You become one with the exotic and precious feminine energy. As time elapses, the scents smolder, radiates and trails off the skin. Embrace The Goddess. Tested on a hot July evening of 95*F in central Texas (no wind and dry heat). I personally recommend this for all seasons except spring (just my personal opinion - winter is best ). Applied to my collarbones for a social outing at a trendy cocktail night spot. Longevity: about 6+ hours (I was not too heavy handed {2 sprays} in my application but this juice is very concentrated ). Sillage: Continuously radiated within arms reach and left a distinct trail. Impression: The lush , exotic embodiment of the feminine Goddess. Warm, sultry, hedonistic musk. This is a syrupy sweet scent for a woman who will not be ignored. It drips sexiness and has no tolerance for the shy or the meek. It does actually have the presence of the hothouse orchid scent supported by other "tropical" miscellaneous florals. Bottle design: 5 out of 10. My bottle is plan and simple, not like the posted pics. A plain rectangular glass container with no features and a black top. It was divinely wrapped when I ordered it. Beautiful red tissue paper with a gold metallic seal. Tip: Wear alone without any scented lotions, cosmetics or hair products. It should be experienced on your unique skin. Appropriate for ADULT women who know themselves. ;) I love this creation. Definitely a prize wrapped plainly.

Ellen Covey, the creator of this fragrance, is known for her award-winning but sometimes challenging scents - if you haven’t experienced any of them, check out Bat and Blackbird to see what I mean. Interesting fragrances, ground-breaking even, and I can appreciate their originality, but.... I can’t wear them. Red Cattleya is nothing like those. Far from being challenging, it is approachable and immensely wearable. I’m going to try to do this justice, but whatever I write here, just know that in the flesh, it’s even better than I can possibly describe. Right from the get-go, I get a blast of the juiciest peach/apricot that fills the air; the effect is somewhat like smelling a bowl of freshly sliced peaches and apricots lightly drizzled with honey. There’s no honey listed, but something is giving this a syrupy sweetness. It’s not cloying, but rather dense and rich, creamy. Vanilla then starts to make its way to the front row, but never overtakes the fruit. The middle portion of this scent is my favorite part...fruit and flowers and honey and vanilla....all humming along in harmony. Hours later, in the drydown, the softest blanket of woody notes makes its appearance, and stays until the end. Each stage of its development is gorgeous, and the sum of all its parts, blended together by a very talented perfumer, is what makes it so. It’s strong, it projects, and it lasts. I get compliments, but I wouldn’t care if I didn’t. I love it. I’m on my third bottle, and would not ever want to be without this. Top ten in my fragrance wardrobe.

Another unique perfume from this inspiring perfumer. Opens with a rich apricot juice infused with something sour and sharp, steeped in brandy. It's complex and potent; difficult to untangle each olfactory thread while inundated with this level of diversity. After 10 minutes the sour note reveals itself to be melon-citrus which is fused with the juicy apricot; it's a similar note to the passionfruit in African Orchid. Purple florals surge up in the perfume's heart. I get hyacinth-lilac dominant, with violets and gardenia giving a plush velvety vibe in the background. Vanilla and a lovely dry cedar-sandalwood provide a warm atmosphere from around 30 minutes for the 3+ hours I can smell it. It's powerful and perfumes the entire room in plush scent. I love orchids and hothouses but I don't get the impression I'm standing in one. Hothouses are full of life and corruption & are far more pungent than Red Cattleya (Night Flyer is more like a Victorian Hothouse) but I do very much like this and so does my husband. He rarely comments on my (200+) perfumes, let alone enjoys them, so bravo Ellen Covey! Distillation: sour apricots in a purple-flower mist pleasing my husband

This is a dense, fruity floral that can start out just this side of sickly sweet, but wait a minute or two and it settles into a heady mix of dewy orchids, melons, and peach nectar. Fortunately for me it never develops the powdery/musky notes others have mentioned. It definitely has a tropical vibe that would work in summer, but I think it would also chase away those mid-winter doldrums! This might be a little oozy sweet for some but I'm absolutely smitten with it, and so far so are the people around me that could smell it! Popcorn/foody smell? Whaaa?! My nose picks up nothing even close to that. Still, it's intriguing to hear about all the different interpretations of a perfume.

26th My favorite OO scent and this was FB worthy to me, if you love peaches. I love peaches, but nice ones are hard to find and this is a fresh, strong peach with some floral aspects, though not any specific flower that I can pick out. There is a very vague sweet melon note in it, but it fades so fast and does not make me nauseous (I hate melon/aquatic notes). Not much of that plasticky peach note either. Goes on strong like all OO scents, but wait a while and it keeps giving beautiful breezes of the best peaches (sweet, tart, floral, fresh). Great all year round. 9/10