Iris (soft, powdery)
Orris root extract (species Iris pallida) is one of the most expensive perfume raw materials due to the long manufacturing process and very low yield. After flowering, the iris root has to rest in the ground for three years before it is dug up, carefully hand-cleaned and dried in the sun for another three years. All in all, it takes seven years to get the absolute used in perfumery. For 1 kilo of absolute, you need about 2 tons of roots. It’s not surprising that the prices can easily be around 60,000 euros per kilo, depending on the quality. Therefore, real irises are hardly to be expected in relatively inexpensive fragrances. Even where real absolute is used, it is usually added in tiny amounts and is supplemented with similar but cheaper powdery materials (e.g. carrot seeds or synthetics). As a result, most iris fragrances we know don’t quite capture the true smell of the absolute, but accentuate the (rightly) popular soft, powdery, somewhat violet-lipsticky nuance. And this is the side of iris is what we’re talking about here.
