It has been a long time since I’ve tried anything new from Demeter, the line that specializes in bottling individual smells. Demeter is all about the fun factor; you don’t look to the line for complicated perfumes, and lasting power is not their strong point. Here are a few of their latest fragrance releases:

Baby Powder is, well, just that: a dead ringer for Johnson & Johnsons. A bit of sharpness in the top notes, then, baby powder. I don’t much like the smell of baby powder, but if you do, I suppose this is less messy than the real thing? After 30 minutes, it is very soft and clean and pleasant, actually. Several sprays lasted about 3 hours.

Ginger Cookie: something plastic-ish in the top notes resolves within about a minute, leaving the smell of a ginger cookie — you can see where these reviews are going, right? — heavy on the ginger and molasses and clove. If, like me, you aren’t planning to do any holiday baking this year, this is a nice substitute for the real thing, although be warned, this will make you hungry. If you are planning to bake, there is a recipe on the label. Better than average lasting power. Demeter also makes Gingerale and Gingerbread, but I haven’t tried either…

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I tested 4 fragrances from Demeter over the weekend. I have no detailed reviews here, as there is only so much you can say — Demeter specializes in capturing a particular smell, and while they are frequently successful, these are not complex perfumes. Here is what I tried:

Grass: Like many of the fragrances in the line, it is short-lived on the skin, but for the time that it lasts, it smells pretty much like a freshly mown lawn. It is perhaps a little sweeter…this must have been a lawn with a few flowers here and there, or perhaps it is a particular kind of sweet grass.

Greenhouse: Starts a little sweet, but fades to a pretty floral that also captures the rest of the greenhouse: green leaves, humidity, soil. Nicely done, and lasted considerably longer than the others listed here…

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