Demeter Fragrance Reviews: Peach, Stringbean, and Leather

Date: 2008.05.09 | Category: fragrance | Tags: Clarins,cologne splash,Demeter,fragrance review,Leather,Peach,Pick Me Up Sprays,Stringbean

Ok, I should get this out of the way. I love Demeter PMU Sprays. I’ve been purchasing from this company for over 12 years now. They’re fun. They’re cheap. they’re weird. I know that lasting power does not exist in Demeter’s dictionary. I know that you can get some real duds too. But, I don’t care. I keep buying and hoping for the best. I don’t want to smell like a paperback book all day anyways. So, I’m going to start reviewing some of these delicious (and not so delicious) accords.

Peach: I bought this one on a whim. I don’t even like to eat peaches. I have a thing about not eating food that is fuzzy. Anyways, at first the fragrance is fresh, soft and fruity. It smells like peach schnapps due to the alcohol content. It smells a wee bit artificial or saccharin. It doesn’t have that “fuzzy” smell, so you won’t smell a texture with this one. It doesn’t smell “succulent”, actually it smells weak. After drying down for a few seconds, it smells exactly like Clarins Water Comfort One-Step Cleansing Water for dry skin (it contains peach essential water.) It dries down to something almost unnoticeable. It’s a pretty odor but very, very faint and almost infantile. This cologne is not repulsive but I will not buy it again due to its lack of authenticity. Of course, this is coming from a Southern gal that does not like peaches. So should you trust me?

Stringbean: For me this fragrance was a bit of a disappointment because it was a bit too “pretty” and jazzed up. It is too much of an interpretation of a naturally pretty item. At first it smells floral and very green, almost “hissy”, almost smells like Pine-Sol laced with tuberose. It eventually dries down to a fresh citrus. Like Peach, it lacks texture and does not smell “fuzzy”. The website describes this as being the fragrance of what stringbeans leave on fingertips, so maybe that was why I was disappointed. I wanted the smell of stringbeans humidifying in hot summer air in a wicker basket hiding away in the shade: hot, dirty and green.

Leather: At first I disliked Leather, but it has grown on me. I wanted dirty, rugged leather and now I finally see this in this product. On first spritz, splash, whatever form you choose, it smells… new and… black. It doesn’t smell like a worn in brown leather bomber jacket, old boots, or a book. It smells crisp, masculine. For some reason it smells jock-ish to me. Probably because this note is so often found in popular men’s fragrance (Kenneth Cole Black, Vera Wang, Ralph Lauren Polo, etc.) It smells like leather car seats, but not in that “new car” kind of way. As it begins to dry down it becomes softer and warmer unlike the crisper and cooler initial spritz. It begins to resemble loose, perfectly worn leather gloves or a baseball mitt. It is a very unisex accord and has the ability to conjure many memories. If I mix mine with Dirt PMU then it reminds me of my dad’s work boots and putting those big things on as a child. Leather smells like my first biker jacket from my rebellious youth (ok, goth days) but turns into my favorite Via Spiga purse that I have lugged around for years.