What do jasmine, rose, and oud have in common? They're some of the most expensive perfume ingredients in the world. Although pricey to produce and time-consuming to harvest, these notes aren't necessarily uncommon. You can find thousands of cheap perfumes made with these elegant olfactives, prices be damned. But have you ever sniffed—or heard of—orris? This rare material, which comes from the root of the iris flower, costs more per kilogram than all three of the ingredients mentioned above.
Because of its price, orris isn't frequently used in mainstream perfumery. However, when a brand does decide to include the note, the result instantly captures the attention of die-hard fragrance fanatics. Take Commodity, for example: When the independent fragrance house brought back its cult-favorite Orris perfume for a limited run, people started to spiral—in a good way—and it sold out online in minutes.
I consider myself a fragrance expert—I do write about perfume for a living, after all—but I hadn't paid much attention to orris until a recent trip to Paris. I sniffed my way through the city's niche perfume shops, and the only scents that completely blew my mind featured the same elusive note: Orris.
What is orris?
Orris comes from the iris plant, particularly the root. "Iris is the plant—specifically iris pallida, iris germanica, or iris florentina—but the scent we associate with 'iris' in perfumery doesn’t come from the flower," explains perfumer Gustavo Romero. "That striking bloom doesn't yield fragrant oil. The real magic comes from below the surface."
The scented concentrate that ultimately gets blended into perfume is extracted from the iris plant's rhizomes, which are thick, root-like structures. "The rhizomes are dug up, peeled, dried, then aged and stored for three years—kind of like fine wine," explains Romero. "Only after this slow curing process do they develop irones—the aromatic molecules responsible for the creamy, powdery, suede-like orris scent that perfumers love," he explains.
What makes orris so rare and expensive?
Iris plants can be found on every continent and are pretty easy to take care of. Heck, your mom or grandma maybe even grow irises in their gardens. Despite their prevalence, harvesting the roots for perfumery purposes is a lengthy, time-consuming process. "Orris demands a very labor-intensive extraction method that takes several years of drying and aging to develop its scent, which is why it's considered a luxury ingredient," explains Bella Varghese, fragrance development manager at dsm-firmenich.
Not to mention, you need a ton (literally 2,000 pounds) of ground orris root to yield about 4.5 pounds of orris butter. Ben Krigler, a fifth-generation perfumer who runs Krigler, says that a tiny amount of orris butter can cost perfumers about $50,000.
Orris' naturally powerful aroma also jacks up the price. "From an olfactive standpoint, the note depicts a luxurious effect because of the extreme richness of its profile," says Varghese. "Just a trace of it gives an amazingly intense impression."
What does orris smell like?
Sooooo, here's the interesting thing about orris. No one can pinpoint exactly what it smells like. Every perfumer will give you a different answer. Some say powdery and woody, while others will say sweet, yet slightly bitter. Orris is one of the most nuanced notes in perfumery—it completely transforms depending on what it's paired with, another aspect that makes it a highly-prized ingredient.
"Orris is quiet, yet unforgettable," says Romero. "It’s soft and textural, powdery without the fluff, and floral without being overly sweet. Imagine violet petals pressed into suede, dusty paper warmed by skin, or the inside of an old leather-bound book. It doesn’t merely scent a perfume; it shapes its atmosphere."
Sometimes orris is included in a fragrance not because of its unique aromatic profile, but rather because it acts as a booster to strengthen the overall fragrance. "Orris also works as a fixative—a material used to stabilize and prolong the scent of a perfume—which can help enhance all of the other notes," explains Varghese. "Interestingly, orris has a natural fixative property that slows down the evaporation of the top and middle notes, helping the fragrance last longer on skin and maintain its character over long periods of time."
What notes pair well with orris?
Truthfully, orris meshes well with virtually every note. "Orris is a natural harmonizer," says Romero. "It rounds out compositions and adds polish without overpowering the end result."
When orris was first introduced in perfumery, Varghese says it was most often paired with "bold florals, like roses and a medley of musks." As fragrance houses have gotten more experimental, perfumers have pushed boundaries to meld orris with leather, vanilla, and raspberry—but that's just the tip of the iceberg.
Orris smells ~totally different~ in these two iconic perfumes:
The Maker Naked Eau de Parfum
Byredo Eyes Closed Eau de Parfum
For example, The Maker Naked leverages orris' powdery facets by combining the note with violet, spicy pink pepper, and papyrus for a musky, bewitching skin scent. On the complete opposite side of the perfume spectrum, the addition of orris in Byredo Eyes Closed softens the spiciness of cinnamon, cardamom, and ginger so the scent lays like smooth velvet on skin.
What perfumes contain orris?
Due to the fact that orris is so damn expensive, the most prestige fragrance houses only have one or two perfumes that feature the note. Take Tom Ford—out of the 135 scents the brand has produced over the years, Fucking Fabulous is the only one to include orris. Valentino recently introduced orris to its perfume catalogue with the launch of its elevated Anatomy of Dreams line. Amouage, often touted as the most luxurious perfume house in the world, rarely includes orris in its scents. You can find it sprinkled into a few perfumes, including Lustre, from its newest collection. Krigler has one sole perfume in its permanent anthology that features orris—Palm Dream 219—but the prestige house can custom make an orris scent for you... it'll just cost tens of thousands of dollars.
Splurge-worthy orris scents that will make you feel like royalty:
Tom Ford Fucking Fabulous Eau De Parfum
Jill Sander Coffea Perfume
You don't have to go into debt to experience the magic of orris, though. (I promise!) Some perfume houses have begun incorporating the ambiguous note into their scents without reaching exorbitant prices. (I have no idea how, but I'm not complaining.)
Phlur combines orris with lush fig and dewy jasmine in Father Figure, one of its bestselling creations. Snif continuously churns out budget-friendly perfumes that rival luxury houses, and they've thrown themselves into the orris ring with the mega-successful Me, a peachy, musky skin scent that achieves universal appeal thanks to—you guessed it—orris. The influencer-founded brand Ledda created one of the most stunning orris scents I've ever smelled. Orris 22 is nothing short of angelic, and it embodies a cozy rainy day spent wrapped in your lover's arms with orris, marshmallow, jasmine, and sandalwood.
Affordable orris scents that are completely captivating:
Phlur Father Figure Eau De Parfum
Snif Me Eau de Toilette
Imaginary Authors O, Unknown! Perfume
Bath & Body Works Butterfly Fine Fragrance Mist
Escentric Molecules Molecule 01 + Iris
The final verdict:
"If you want something that feels thoughtful, intimate, and subtly expensive—something that invites people to lean closer—orris is your note," says Romero. I'm a firm believer that no perfume collection is complete without a scent that contains orris. Since discovering—and falling in love with the ingredient—my fragrance library feels more elevated and distinguished. In the words of Krigler, "it's pure art."
Meet the experts
- Gustavo Romero is a freelance fragrance consultant who develops perfumes for a range of brands. He is also the founder of the Fragrance Alliance Network.
- Bella Varghese is a Fragrance Development Manager at dsm-firmenich where she oversees the creation of perfumes.
- Ben Krigler is a fifth-generation perfumer. His great-grandfather Albert Krigler founded Krigler in 1904, and the brand has since developed bespoke fragrances for royalty across the world.
Why trust Cosmopolitan?
Mary Honkus is a beauty contributor for Cosmopolitan with over seven years of experience researching, writing, and editing beauty stories, including a deep dive on the strawberry perfume trend, finding the best wedding scents. She is an authority in all beauty categories, but has a sweet spot for fragrance with a collection of over 200 scents. After becoming completely captivated with orris perfumes, she began researching the rare note. For this story, she interviewed three fragrance experts to learn more about orris and what makes it so rare.
