the scent of narcissus

March 10, 2022 7:27 AM

I really like the smell of paperwhite narcissus and would love to have oil that smells like them to make either my house or myself smell faintly like them sometimes. I see a handful of options on etsy but as someone who typically leads a lower-scent life I don't have experience with this stuff. Are these oils all going to be roughly the same product? Is it probable that they're all real and not synthentic? And if anyone is specifically familiar with paperwhites, will other narcissus oils smell similar or should I look for something that's specifically made from paperwhites?
posted by needs more cowbell to Grab Bag (3 answers total)

I love the smell of narcissus, so much so I have a bottle of Chloë Narcisse. I've smelled a LOT of narcissus and daffodils and most of the flowers in this family smell the same, paperwhites just smell the strongest.
I don't know much about oil extracts but a search for narcissus perfume oil comes up with a lot, some meant to smell like Narcisse.
posted by fiercekitten at 8:32 AM on March 10, 2022

Thanks, I ordered some inexpensive sample vials of Chloe Narcisse (apparently discontinued) on ebay (well, it says Narcisse and is subtitled FLEUR DE NARCISSE, so maybe a different formulation) to see if I like those.

I suspect this question won't get much more attention but if anyone else knowledgeable about this stuff more generally can comment about high quality sources for tiny amounts of oils like this I'd love to hear about it. I know years ago I bought jasmine oil at a cheap bricks-and-mortar store and felt a bit disappointed in what it actually smelled like compared to the jasmine I'd smelled outside--which might be unavoidable or might be a quality/synthetic vs real thing? IDK.
posted by needs more cowbell at 3:54 AM on March 12, 2022

COVID and lockdown resulted in my developing a fragrance hobby and, as is typical with us ADD humans, I've hyperfocused on tracking down every last source of information I can get on my new obsession.

Anyway, Dawn Spencer Hurwitz is an indie perfumer with an excellent reputation whose Paper White {a paper narcissus perfume} gets a lot of love from reviewers who I trust. Paper White is sold in myriad formulations, including an Organic Bath/Body/Massage Oil ($32 for 4 oz). A sample vial of the eau de parfum costs $6.

Ms Hurwitz is known for being happy to engage with people who are interested in scent, and I think she would be open to answering any questions you have about whether her oils are real vs synthetic. Good luck!
posted by virago at 4:23 PM on March 13, 2022